Notes: Mari and Sammy – the path that led us to where we are is one I am so incredibly happy to be on. And there is no one I'd rather be on it with than the two of you.
Esther – let's just say we both have really good taste in friends . . . and desserts :-)
Readers and REAL McRollers – your amazing support is a gift I absolutely treasure.
Hope you enjoy!
The Right Path (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Tuesday
Catherine stood next to Steve's chair in his office, pointing to blueprints on his laptop.
"See?" she said. "Greer was using this route to–"
She was interrupted by the sound of her phone and reached into her pocket to pull it out.
"That might be my source with more information on–" She stopped as she looked at the caller ID and her brow furrowed. "It's Esther," she said with a quick glance at Steve who straightened in concern. She answered the call. "Esther? What happ–"
"Cammie's fine. She's fine," Esther said.
Catherine relaxed upon hearing the normal tone in their friend and dogsitter's voice, and Steve did likewise as he saw the tension leave her body. He turned back to the laptop as Catherine took a step to the side.
"I'm sorry to call you while you're working," Esther continued. "I just have a quick favor to ask."
"What's up?" Catherine asked.
"Would it be all right if I used your oven while I'm over this afternoon? Ours is acting up, and I need to make a cake today."
"Of course, that's fine. What are you making?"
"Coconut cake. I hope it turns out. I've never made it before. It's for a friend."
"That's totally fine." She smiled. "I'm sure it'll turn out great. If you need any ingredients or anything, feel free to use what we've got."
"Oh, I think I have everything. But thanks."
"Okay."
"Okay, well . . . I'll let you get back to work. Thanks again," she said brightly.
"No problem. Happy baking."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Catherine ended the call and turned back to Steve who raised his eyebrows.
"She wanted to ask if she could use our oven to make a coconut cake," she said.
He nodded and started to turn back to laptop. He stopped. "Wait . . . isn't that Kamekona's favorite dessert?"
Catherine nodded thoughtfully, folding her arms. "And his birthday is today."
Steve sat back. "Yeah, he said he had plans tonight. That's why we're all going to dinner next week instead."
"Right." She bit her lip.
He studied her. "I know that look. What are you planning, Rollins?"
She shook her head. "I'm not planning anything. Esther and I are having lunch this weekend. I think I'm just gonna ask."
"Just like that?"
She smiled. "Just like that."
Saturday
"I'm so glad we did this," Esther said as their server walked away after taking their orders.
"Me, too," Catherine said. "I'm just sorry we haven't done it before."
"Yeah."
"Esther, I hope you know you're so much more than our dogsitter. We're friends."
"I do know that."
Catherine nodded and took a sip from her water.
"So . . ." she continued with a small smile. "Did Kamekona like his birthday cake?"
Esther's eyes widened.
"You–" she started. She sighed with a smile. "Of course you figured it out."
Catherine gave a slight wince through her smile. "Kind of in the job description."
"I mean, I wasn't trying to hide anything . . ." She shrugged and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Not really."
Catherine smiled reassuringly. "You don't have to tell me if anything's going on. It's your business. Though, if there is . . . or isn't, and you want to talk . . ."
"He's . . . we're . . . friends." She sighed at Catherine's quirked eyebrow. "Really. Friends. We could be more but I . . . I want to take things slow."
Catherine nodded. "There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's a good idea."
Esther bit her lip and paused, slowly spinning her water glass in place on the table.
"Can I ask . . . you and Commander McGarrett–"
"Don't you think it's time you start calling him Steve?"
Esther groaned good-naturedly. "I know, he keeps reminding me. It's a hard habit to break."
Catherine smiled.
"You and Steve," Esther started again. "How did you guys . . . I mean, when did you . . ."
"Steve and I were friends first. For a couple years actually." At Esther's surprised look, she explained, "When we met, a relationship wasn't possible. It was my first year at the Academy, and there are regulations. Neither of us was willing to risk our spots. And there were other . . . reasons why it was better for us to wait. But we got to be very close friends over the next three years. And that friendship has been a really important part of our relationship."
Esther nodded slowly, regarding her earnestly but staying silent.
"Every relationship needs to take it's own path," Catherine continued. "Don't let anybody tell you differently. Only you know what's right for you."
Esther gave her a pained smile. "You sound so sure."
"When it comes to me and Steve . . . yeah."
She smiled, thinking about one of the many conversations she'd had with Carrie when she and Steve were 'just friends.'
"Are we meeting McGarrett there?" Carrie asked as she cleaned off her desk, putting a pen and several papers in her desk drawer.
"No, he's coming here," Catherine said, straightening her chair. "Should be here in about five minutes."
"And then I get to spend another evening as a third wheel," Carrie said with feigned brightness as she shut her drawer.
"Oh, hardly," Catherine scoffed, turning to her roommate. "Come on. First of all, there will be four of us there. Second, Steve and I are just friends, as you know very well. And third, if anyone is a collective third wheel, it's me and Steve with you and John making eyes at each other all night."
"Well, at least John and I aren't dancing around our feelings."
Catherine sighed. "Carrie, it's not like that."
"It sure is from where I'm standing," she said, her arms folded. "You've been waiting for him to make a move for two years now. Technically three, but I'll give you that first one due to regs."
"That's not what . . ." Catherine sighed again. "It's not that I'm waiting for him to make a move. Not . . . exactly."
"Explain."
Catherine paused.
"I'm waiting for him to be ready."
Carrie balked slightly in confusion. "Ready? Why wouldn't he be ready?"
"Just . . ." she closed her eyes momentarily. "He's not yet. Trust me."
"And how will you know when he is ready?"
"I'll know," Catherine said, her voice confident. "And until then, it's not the right time."
"I feel like I should remind you that he's graduating in May."
"It's not the right time," Catherine replied firmly. "We need to . . ." She shook her head and exhaled. "We're not you and John. We need to follow our own path. And this is it."
Carrie sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to push, Cath."
Catherine gave her a skeptical look.
"I'm not," Carrie said. "Really. I just . . . I've seen the way he looks at you."
Catherine's expression softened.
"He's got feelings for you, that's clear enough. And I know you have feelings for him."
Catherine inhaled and shifted where she stood.
"I don't get why the two of you are waiting," Carrie continued. "But if you say it's not the right time, then it's not the right time."
Catherine nodded gratefully.
"I won't push," Carrie said.
"Thank you."
Carrie grinned slyly. "Doesn't mean I won't still bring it up from time to time."
"Of course you will," Catherine said with a resigned smile.
"And not just with you."
"Carrie!"
"What?" She shrugged. "He's my friend, too."
Catherine groaned but her response was prevented by a knock on the door.
"Speaking of . . ." Carrie said with a little smirk as Catherine went to the door.
She opened it to find Steve in the hall. When he saw her, a smile slowly grew on his face.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she said, returning his smile. "Punctual as always."
He gave a little shrug. "I aim to please."
"Good aim."
Their gazes held a moment in silence before Carrie cleared her throat.
Steve blinked and tore his eyes from Catherine. He inhaled and looked over her shoulder. "Hey, Stagler. You ready?"
"Oh, I'm ready," she said and tossed a knowing smile at Catherine as she stepped past her roommate through the doorway. "More than ready."
Steve gave her a curious look.
"Let's go," Carrie continued and started down the hall. "John's meeting us there."
"Ready?" Steve asked Catherine.
"Ready to beat you at pool? Absolutely."
His lip twitched and he raised his eyebrows. "Is that what's about to happen?"
"It is."
He smiled broadly and held his hands out. "Bring it on, Rollins."
Catherine was pulled from her memory by Esther's voice.
"So you think being friends first is the right thing to do?"
Catherine smiled. "I don't think there's one right path for all relationships. But I think there's a right path for every relationship." She gave a little shrug. "Admittedly, I'm a little biased, but yes, I think being friends first is a really important base for a romantic relationship. I mean, that's not how every relationship starts but . . . I think it helps get things on the right path. Certainly for me and Steve."
Esther nodded and sipped her water.
Catherine licked her lips and continued, "As long as there's also . . ."
"Also . . .?"
"Here, look at this." Catherine took her wallet out of her purse and pulled out a small slip of paper. "I got this in a fortune cookie once and really liked it." She handed it to Esther.
" 'Love is friendship set on fire,' " Esther read. Her eyes widened. "Wow. That's beautiful."
"Even with friendship as a base, you need . . . something else. A spark. Attraction. Fire. Whatever you want to call it. I think you need that, too."
"Well, you and Steve definitely have something," Esther said with a grin. "Anyone can see that."
Catherine smiled and raised her eyebrows. "And what about you?"
Esther paused as a small smile appeared on her face. "Yeah, there's something."
"Then you take things at whatever pace is best for you and him. Make your own path."
Esther sighed happily. "You're really easy to talk to, Catherine. Has anyone ever told you that?"
Catherine smiled and said, "As a matter of fact, yes. Steve has said that for years." She reached over and squeezed Esther's arm. "And I'm glad you think so, too. If you ever want to talk, I'm here."
Esther returned her smile.
Catherine sat back and said, "But you didn't answer my question."
"What do you mean? I told you we're–"
"Not that question." She grinned. "Did Kamekona like his birthday cake? I mean, I know it was good based on those coconut cupcakes you left us. You didn't have to do that, by the way, but thank you again."
Esther laughed. "I noticed they were gone when I was there yesterday."
"Yeah, we devoured those," she said with a chuckle. "You can use our oven anytime if you plan to leave treats behind."
"Deal," Esther said with a happy nod.
Catherine raised her eyebrows. "So . . .?"
Esther smiled. "Yes, he did. He loved it. He joked about venturing into the bakery business next."
Catherine laughed. "Are you sure it was joke?"
"I–" she started to speak but stopped. Her brow knitted as she thought about it. "Well . . ."
Catherine cocked an eyebrow and the two started laughing.
When Catherine arrived home that afternoon she found Steve out back with Cammie.
"Hey," he said when he saw her step out the backdoor, a smile appearing on his face instantly.
"Hey," she said and returned his smile.
Cammie bounded toward Catherine who knelt to greet the energetic dog. She stood as Steve reached them, and Cammie took off again for the surf.
Steve held Catherine's upper arm as he leaned down to kiss her.
"Well?" he asked.
"Oh, you know better," she admonished.
"Seriously?" he asked incredulously. "You're gonna pull the 'girl talk' card?"
"I'm sure you can deduce enough from that, Commander."
He nodded. "That's true. If there was nothing going on, you'd say so."
"Let's just say . . . they're finding their own way."
He held her gaze a moment. The corner of his mouth rose in a smile and he nodded.
"Okay. That's good."
She smiled in response.
"Come here," he said and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
She settled into him, her own arms coming around him as she rested against his chest. She smiled as she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head before laying his cheek there with a contented sigh.
Her gaze drifted over the yard. She straightened slightly as a thought came to mind.
"What?" he asked, looking down at her.
She turned to the side, and he shifted to follow her eye line while keeping an arm around her shoulders.
"So with the new deck," she started, "we're probably going to be doing some landscaping, too, don't you think?"
He nodded. "Yeah, probably."
"What do you think of a path?" she asked and looked at him.
"A path?"
"Like a stone path. Maybe around the foliage there," she said and pointed. "Or going out to the chairs?"
He looked around, nodding thoughtfully.
"I like it." He looked back at her. "What made you think of that?"
She turned to face him. "You and I know how important a path is. Making our own path."
He paused, looking into her eyes, and smiled.
"And we make it together," he said.
"That's the key," she agreed.
His smile grew, and she slid her hand up his neck to bring him down for a kiss that sealed the plan.
Hope you enjoyed!
Note: Thanks to Mari for that AMAZING fortune from her most excellent and aptly named story Fortune Cookies.
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