Hi, honey, I’m home,” Dale announced as she entered Peter’s rented colonial in Washington, Connecticut. She’d made the drive in less than an hour and a half. It was a new record.
He rushed to the entryway and helped her take her coat off with one hand and pulled her to him with the other. He kissed her. “How was your day, dear?” he asked.
It was one of their inside jokes, pretending they were a normal couple. She smiled and kissed him back. She was where she belonged, and her whole body melted into his embrace. She moved her hands to his face and held it to hers.
He pulled back and looked at her. “You hungry?” he asked.
She laughed. “I’m starving. What are you cooking?” She noticed the massive undertaking in the kitchen for the first time. Appliances lined the kitchen counter. A bread maker appeared to be heating up. The food processor was in use, and various blades and attachments littered the countertop. At least half a dozen pots and pans were spread from the stovetop to the butcher block.
“How long have you been in there?” Dale asked.
“It took me a while to get started. I dragged the agents back to the store three times for things I forgot. I’m making homemade pasta with peas and crab. Sound good?”
Dale slid in next to him in the kitchen, and they chopped and steamed and sautéed and boiled as effortlessly as they seemed to do everything else together. He handed her a glass of wine, and they cooked and drank in silence for a while.
“So, what’s going on in that head of yours tonight?” he asked.
“I need to tell you something, and I know you’re not going to be excited, but you need to be excited for me, because it’s a really good thing,” Dale said.
“You’re leaving me for a man who can take you on a date in a restaurant?” he asked.
“Very funny,” Dale said. She’d trade a million dates at fancy restaurants for one night with Peter. “I’m going to Afghanistan,” she said, lifting her wine glass to her mouth and taking a large sip as soon as the words were out.
He lifted his glass and did the same. “I think you’ll be very happy there, honey. I hear Kabul is beautiful in March,” he said.
“I’m serious. I’m going with Charlotte for the elections. The White House is taking a very small press pool, and they asked me to go.”
They hadn’t exactly asked for her, but she was going. They’d invited the network, and Billy had insisted that they take Dale.
Peter stopped chopping and looked at her. He didn’t move toward her or say anything; he just looked at her. Dale’s heart was racing. She needed this trip. She was slipping away from the hard-news circles at her network. It was a trap she’d seen many women in the business fall into. She knew that if she did too many soft profiles and easy interviews, she’d be on a fast track to daytime cable. She wanted to anchor an evening newcast someday. She needed to keep herself in regular rotation for substitute anchor during the week. She needed to be seen in a war zone with the president. And she wanted Peter to be happy for her.
“I’ll be with Charlotte the whole time, and nothing is ever going to happen to her. The military will make sure of it. I’ll be fine. I promise,” she said, smiling hopefully up at Peter.
“It’s been really bad lately. There are no safe places in Afghanistan right now, so you can’t promise me that you’ll be fine,” he said.
“You can’t guarantee my safety when I drive the two hours here and back every weekend,” Dale answered.
Peter winced. “You’re right. I can’t even protect you from a traffic accident. But I do know a lot about these places, Dale. Charlotte’s been going over there for years. She takes risks I wish that the mother of my children wouldn’t take, but I gave up my right to weigh in on the chances she takes with her life when—” He stopped and looked away from her.
“What? When you started cheating on her with me?” Dale said, sounding defensive.
“When I fell in love with you,” Peter said quietly.
Dale moved toward him. He stiffened at first but then put his arms around her and pulled her toward him.
“Nothing is going to happen,” she promised.
He sighed deeply.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you?” she asked as Peter stroked her hair and held her to him.
“Mmm,” he said.
She stood on her toes to kiss him. He put his hands on both sides of her face and looked her in the eye.
“You are the only thing that propels me through my own strange existence, and I wish I could make you understand how frightened I am by the thought of you going over there without making you feel like I’m not supportive of your career.”
“I do understand, but I am not making the choice that you think I’m making,” Dale said.
Peter gave her a look she couldn’t read. She tried to kiss him, but he pulled his face away from hers. She leaned into his chest, and they stood like that for a long moment. Then he sighed again and stepped back. He put his hand under her chin and looked into her eyes.
“You don’t owe any explanation or apology to a man who can’t walk down the street with you and hold your hand.”
She stood on her toes and tried to kiss him again. She was desperate to show him what she couldn’t tell him, that she would choose him, that she wouldn’t make any other choice when he was hers. But right now, there was no excuse she could offer her colleagues at the network. She had no family and no personal life that she could claim, and until that changed, the holiday shifts and hazard assignments were hers for the taking.
“I’m sorry that I’ve put you in this situation. I can’t help but wonder if you’d be risking your life on a trip like this if you were married to some nice guy who could give you the life you deserve instead of sneaking around with me,” Peter said.
“The answer is yes. I’d still be taking a trip like this, because this is what I do. I cover the president of the United States, and she is going to Afghanistan, so that’s where I have to go to cover her. And you are the nice guy who gives me more happiness than I deserve,” Dale said, moving closer to him and planting kisses on his neck.
He was kissing her back now. He lifted her off the floor, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He set her down on the kitchen counter and unbuttoned her blouse. She kissed him hungrily and pulled his body closer to hers with her legs. He buried his head in the space between her collar bone and her shoulder. She couldn’t get close enough to him. She kept pulling him closer, and soon their bodies moved as one.