Passion In James County XI: Abby
Chapter twenty-nine
"Abby, I think that was just about the best meal you ever made for me!" Greg exclaimed when he finished eating. She'd prepared a very tasty chicken and vegetable casserole for dinner. Greg, who didn't normally like chicken, found it delicious.
"I know you don't like chicken," Abby said, "but I really like this, and it's easy to make, so I took a chance and made it. Did you really like it?"
"It really was good," Greg said. "Actually, recipes like this could make me change my mind about chicken."
They got up and began clearing the table.
"How was your day?" Abby asked.
"Boring," Greg said. "Would you believe the most significant piece of police work I did today was issue a defective equipment ticket? How was your day at the hospital?"
"Not much busier," Abby said. "A couple of sick people came in, but no real emergencies."
"It's weird, isn't it?" Greg said. "When the tourists are here, most days I wish they'd go away. Then when they're gone, I wish they'd come back."
"Yeah, it is kind of like that, isn't it?" Abby replied. "I saw Leila today," she continued. She decided to take a chance, drop a hint, and see how Greg reacted. "She said she thinks I ought to start dating again."
Greg wasn't sure how to respond. It could be that Abby was offering him a chance to ask her out, but he wasn't sure. If he did ask her out and she turned him down... "Ah...yeah...well, it has been what, nine months since your divorce?" he responded. "What do you think?"
"I think, probably, she's right," Abby said, confused by his response. Had she been wrong? Was it possible she was mistaken about how he felt about her and he didn't want to go out with her after all?
They finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher, then retired to Abby's living room to watch TV.
"So..." Greg ventured, "Has anybody asked you out?"
"Dr. Demarco has asked me a couple of times," Abby replied. "And some of the guys from the rescue squads and a couple of the police officers have, too. But I really didn't feel comfortable going out yet."
"Demarco?" Greg responded, making a face. Recently, he had a run-in with Dr. Demarco over a drunk driver he'd brought in after a crash. The doctor had refused to do a blood test Greg wanted. "The guy's an arrogant dipshit!" he said without thinking.
"I know you and he aren't getting along right now," Abby said, "but he's really not as bad as you think he is."
Greg knew he'd never have a better chance to ask Abby out, to let her know how he felt, but he couldn't do it, and didn't exactly know why.
Abby, a bit hurt by the fact that Greg wasn't responding to the hints she'd given him, grew more and more silent as the evening went on.
About nine o'clock, Greg yawned and stretched. "I guess I'll head home," he said. "I need to get some rest so I'll be alert for another boring day on patrol tomorrow." He stood up. "See you in the morning," he said.
"Yeah, sure," Abby replied absently. She was feeling a little peevish and made no attempt to hide her emotions.
"I wonder what's wrong with Abby?" Greg thought as he walked back to his place. "She was real quiet tonight."
After Greg left, Abby went into her bedroom stripped off her uniform, took a shower, then she slipped into a white cotton nightgown with lacy decoration around the neck, wrists, and hem. "I did everything but ask Greg to take me out," she thought as she slipped into bed. "Doesn't he want to go out with me?"
Greg got in bed, but he couldn't sleep. He turned on the TV, but after a short period of channel surfing, didn't find anything he was interested in. He picked up one of the books lying on the night stand next to his bed, but couldn't get interested in that, either.
"This is really stupid!" he thought as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Dammit, why the hell didn't I ask Abby out tonight? I mean, it isn't like I don't want our relationship to be more than it is now. She's all I've thought about for the last nine months."
He rolled over and looked at the phone. "OK," he thought, "I've got to do it. I'm going to call Abby and see if she'll let me come back over so we can talk. I...I have to tell her how I really feel about her and I have to do it now." He picked up the phone.
Abby wasn't having any better luck getting to sleep than Greg was. After tossing and turning for a while, she got out of her bed and began to pace. After a few minutes, she stopped, a determined look on her face. "I guess I'll have to take charge, since Greg doesn't seem to want to," she thought. "The only way I'll find out how he really feels about me is to ask him, I guess. And now is as good a time as any to do it."
Intending to go over to Greg's house and get this settled once and for all, she stepped into a pair of slippers and headed for the door. Just as she went out, her phone began to ring. She paused for a moment, debated whether or not she should answer the phone, then she decided not to. "My answering machine can get it," she told herself. "I've got to do this now, when I've still got the courage." She closed the door to her house and started walking toward Greg's house.
Greg heard Abby's answering machine start and was confused. She was home not an hour ago and he hadn't heard her go out. Why wasn't she answering her phone? Then he heard his back door open.
"Greg, where are you?" Abby called when she walked into Greg's house.
"I...I'm in the bedroom," Greg called back. He wondered why she'd come over this late at night.
Her heart pounding, Abby walked in that direction.
Greg, his chest tight, heard Abby's soft footsteps on the padded carpet and watched the bedroom doorway. The sight that greeted him when Abby appeared caused a surge of excitement to rush through him! He thought Abby looked more beautiful in the cotton nightgown than he had ever seen her. Although it covered her from head to foot, the nightgown looked very sensual.
