Gabi sighed. It was a shame, but it didn’t look like anything would alter the situation.
‘Anyway, enough about me.’ Amber changed the subject. ‘What’s going on with you and Walker?’
‘I think I’m going to miss Walker more than anyone,’ she said and watched Amber’s eyes widen. ‘I’m sitting here tonight, and I’ve thought about him every minute since he went to work.’ Amber considered that for a moment.
‘I’m so sorry. That’s a tough one. But maybe you’ll get used to being on your own again, after a while,’ she said.
‘That worries me too,’ Gabi sighed. ‘I’ve always been so independent, just doing my own thing without any thought for anyone. What if I slip back into bad habits?’
‘So, you’re scared you’re going to miss him too much and you’re frightened you’re not going to miss him enough,’ Amber said.
‘That about sums it up.’ Gabi gnawed at her lip. ‘I feel so torn. I never expected to catch feelings.’
Amber met her gaze. ‘Could you not just see how it goes? Maybe try long distance?’
Gabi wrinkled her nose. ‘Our lives are just so different. Even when I’m in the UK, I’m not normally in Honeybridge. . .’
‘There’s always a room for you here,’ Amber said, and Gabi felt a surge of love for her. She blinked back unexpected tears. God, she was all over the place.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’ll be fine when I’m gone. I always am.’
‘Maybe you should follow your heart,’ Amber said, her big blue eyes serious now. ‘Seems such a shame. . .’
‘Don’t worry about my heart,’ Gabi said, pulling herself together and squeezing Amber’s hand. ‘Walker was always meant to be a holiday fling, and I’ve still got until this weekend to make some hot memories.’
‘You need to make the most of every minute,’ Amber said before picking up her phone. ‘Right, talking of the weekend, let’s get your leaving do sorted.’
Girl Gang WhatsApp group
Amber: Goodbye Gabi party at ours on Saturday afternoon. Kids welcome.
Wren: We’ll be there!
Isabella: Wouldn’t miss it.
Amber: Bring booze.
Isabella: And tissues. I’m going to miss you, Gabi!
Gabi: I’m going to miss you girls too. See you Saturday.
Chapter Sixty
Walker
The night shift always went one of two ways. It was either crazy busy with callouts, or quiet as a graveyard and boring as hell. Tonight was the latter and it was giving Walker too much time to think. He wanted to speed through deserted country lanes with the sirens blaring, or walk into a house fire with an oxygen tank to rescue someone. He wanted anything apart from to be left alone with his thoughts.
Walker’s team were all sleeping in their bunks. They’d done their drills, they’d checked their kits, their engine was ready and waiting if they got a call. But now, at 1.30 a.m., it was silent. And so, they took the chance to sleep as long as they could.
Walker lay on his narrow bed and tried to rest but his mind was racing. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Gabi. Her face looking up at him, wearing her mischievous smile. Her twinkling laugh. His chest swelled with a strength of feeling he’d never had before. Tired of tossing and turning, he quietly took himself outside.
Walking over to one of the fire trucks in the forecourt, he climbed up the ladder and onto the roof, where he lay back with his hands behind his head, and breathed deeply. The cloudless night sky was spangled with stars, and he felt himself wishing on them that Gabi didn’t have to leave.
This was the longest he’d been away from her for a whole week, and he was already desperate to get back to her. He imagined her at Amber’s, asleep in her bed, and wished she had stayed at his. Not that he would be there right now, but at least then he could have snuggled in with her in the morning when he got off shift. They only had a couple of mornings left and he wanted to make the most of every minute.
He’d heard about her goodbye party on Saturday, but even the words written on his phone made his stomach drop. How was he actually going to say them in real life to her on Sunday when she left for the airport?
He watched a satellite on its long curving mission around the world. He imagined Gabi’s plane taking off on Sunday night, flying her to California to a future without him. The flight itself was just the start of it, flying her back to a life on her own. Leaving him here to do the same. His arms ached to hold her again.
