AN: The story continues. Thanks for reading and to those who've reviewed.

Ch 10

Vic didn't know what in the hell got into Walt lately, but she was enjoying it far too much. So much so, that her crush turned infatuation just leveled up to lust. She decided she needed to come to a decision about her marriage. After all, if her feelings for Walt are growing stronger then the opposite is true of her feelings for Sean. It's hard to work on a marriage together when you're not together. The last two months Sean had been home for 11 non-consecutive days. 11 out of 61. Yes. She needed out of this sham of a marriage.

Shortly thereafter, she would need to find out whether her and Walt would try and make a go of it. Unsure how she would react if he rejected after this last round of flirting, she wanted to get it over with and know one way or the other so she could move forward. She didn't necessarily want to jump from a divorce straight into another relationship, but she didn't want to not say anything and have him go looking elsewhere. She had seen enough with her family. The wives who lose their husbands rarely move on to another relationship. If they do, it's at least a few years after the death of their spouse. The husbands who are widowed are usually seriously dating someone within a year. Mind made up, she would be talking to Sean as soon as he got back from his latest trip.

Walt had called and asked her if he could come by and get her so they could make a stop on the way into the station. She let him know Sean was gone for a couple more days, but he better get coffee on the way. 15 minutes later, he was in her driveway with 2 cups of coffee in the drink holders. Climbing in the truck, she was still favoring her right hand.

"Where are we going?"

"We're making a stop at the range on the way in."

She could continue to question him but she decided to just let it go. Thoughts on how she would tell Sean she wanted a divorce were playing through her mind. There was just no good way to break the news. She must have zoned out for a while because the Bronco was pulling up to the range.

Walt got out of the Bronco then reached in and grabbed both cups, while Vic tried to ease out of the Bronco. She knew that he knew she would be a house mouse for several more days, but he brought her out here anyway.

"Come here, Vic."

She walked over to him, not wanting to touch her gun with her hand knowing it will hurt like hell to hold it. It hurt to put the gun belt on this morning.

"May I?"

Gesturing to her gun, he seemed to have read her mind. She turned her hip toward him and held her arm back so he could take it out without jostling her hand. He unsnapped the strap and slid it out, removed the clip and placed it on the table. He then removed the bullet from the chamber and put it and the gun next to the clip.

"Phone?"

She remembered to put the phone in her left pocket, not her right so she easily pulled it out and set it next to the gun. Walt stepped closer to her and took her forearm in his to bring her hand up where he could look at it. The only thing she could think of at the moment was the warmth of his hand cradling her forearm.

"It looks good. No noticeable swelling. Can you flex it?"

She tentatively flexed her fingers about three quarters of the way to a fist, then stretched them back out carefully.

"Not bad range of movement, but you need to keep flexing them a few times a day even though it hurts or you could risk losing range of motion."

Unsure of where this was going, she was content to follow his lead at the moment.

"Do you want to assemble and holster your gun?"

"Not today. Even holding the phone hurts and it's much lighter. I'll stay on house mouse duty until the weekend."

Admitting defeat really wasn't her style, but it was better than crying in pain. The lesser of two evils.

"Voluntarily?"

He inched closer to her and searched her eyes. She nodded.

"It's only Tuesday and you'll be the house mouse voluntarily until Friday after shift?"

She hadn't thought he'd think of that. Damn. Reluctantly she agreed.

"Yes."

He inched closer to her again, and had her pretty much pinned up against the table without touching her.

"Voluntarily."

She sighed. He was enjoying this way too much.

"Yes."

"Good. I didn't want to have to fight with you about it. Since you're being such a good sport…"

He took her forearm in hand again, but this time just barely pressed his lips to the worst bruise on her knuckles. The tenderness of the kiss bringing tears to her eyes. No man had ever been that gentle with her. Not her father, not her grandfather, not her brothers, or partners or Sean. She felt the tears fall and embarrassment rise to the surface.

"Damnit, Walt."

He had that deer in the headlight look he got when he thought he did something wrong or misread a situation.

"You didn't hurt me and you didn't do anything wrong. It's me. I don't know how to handle tenderness from a man. I've always been one of the guys, so no one's ever done anything like that for me."

The ground seemed very interesting after her confession. So interesting she thought she might just stand here looking at it until Walt got bored and left. No such luck. She felt his finger under her chin and raised her eyes to meet his. She felt him pull her into his embrace, once again with a tenderness that melted her heart. God help her she was falling for this man.

TBC