Chapter 3

Thank you for all of the positive reviews and follows. Sorry I took some time off, but thanks to the Corona Virus, it looks like I will have some more time for writing…in addition to making my very much hands-on high school courses into on line learning courses…hmmm….this should be interesting. For those parents now suddenly faced with home schooling…I'm saying a prayer for you. If you are like me and are a teacher suddenly having to revamp your curriculum to an online method…I'm with ya and feel the pain. I've always been pretty good maintaining an online portion of y classes, but its definitely going to be a challenge teaching knife skills, how to measure ingredients and teach recipe execution without having that hands-on experience. Plus, I haven't been able to SEE my students since early December…I was sick and had to take some time off. So I already have a hefty dose of cabin fever BEFORE all of this social distancing started. I did get to see my second year class a week ago Thursday…I popped in to give my sub a thank you card and small gift….the kids were so excited to see me and insisted on getting a group photo with me (AWWW). I worked the next day (it was a teacher workday/student holiday) and last week was our Spring Break. This morning was a real bummer to know that I would not get to see my classes and find out what they have been up to. Hopefully we can finish our year soon. In the meantime, everyone stay healthy and safe…and let me know what you think about Luke and Penelope's journey so far.

"Good Job Roxy!" Penelope clapped as she watched Luke and Roxy make their way through the agility course. Dan had turned on the flood lights so they call could watch Roxy run through the course. Roxy ran up one ramp and quickly down the other, her long legs stretching out. She zipped through the tunnel faster than even Luke could reach the other side.

Finally, Luke whistled and he and Roxy both jogged over to where Penelope and Dan were sitting on benches on the edge of the course. She smiled up at him and handed him a large bottle of water. He reached over for Roxy's travel bowl and poured half the water in it and gave it to Roxy before taking a long drink from the bottle himself.

"You two looked great out there," Penelope exclaimed.

"Roxy loves it. She could have been a great K9."

Dan nodded in agreement. He still helped some K9 partners and offered assistance in selecting good puppy candidates. "She's a clever one, for sure."

Roxy finished her water and laid down at Penelope's feet, panting hard after her run. Penelope bent over to give Roxy a good rub down. Luke smiled as he watched the two. "I brought some things for dan, I'm going to unload and then we can pack up Rox and head out, if that's okay with you."

"Sure. Do you need help?" Penelope looked up as she asked.

"Nah. Stay here and let Rox rest a little. I'll be right back." He nodded to Dan and they walked back towards the gravel driveway. They turned the corner and Dan glanced back at Garcia.

"So that's Garcia, hmm?"

"Yeah. She's something huh?" Luke answered

"Well, to be honest, the way you kept going on and on about "Garcia this" and "Garcia that", I kinda thought that she would be, well, different."

"What do you mean?"

Dan looked over at Luke before answering. "Jenni and I thought that Garcia was a guy. I even told her maybe you were…you know…"

Luke stopped walking and faced Dan, confused. "That I was what?"

"Gay."

Luke started laughing.

'Yeah, well, you just kept talking about "Garcia" …how was I to know?" Dan grumbled. "At least now I can tell Jenni she was right."

"Oh, well I'm glad your WIFE knows all my secrets…no like I fought with her in a war or anything." Luke teased.

"Yeah well…. why do you call Penelope by her last name anyways?"

Luke shrugged. "That's what she does by in the office. But I use her first name sometimes. It's not really a big deal, I guess."

Dan smiled. "Man do you have a lot to learn…when it comes to women, it's all a big deal. I bet she notices when you call her by her given name…especially if not everyone does."

Luke thought about it as they made their way into the storage shed.

Penelope leaned over from her seat on the single bench, petting Roxy and talking to the beautiful canine.

"You were amazing girl! I couldn't believe how fast you zipped up those stairs and flew down the ramp!"

The Belgian Malinois looked up, still slightly panting, but loving all the attention she was getting. Suddenly her ears pricked, and she sat up into a sitting position, her eyes watching carefully over Penelope's shoulder. Penelope watched as Roxie's tail started a small wag on the grass as the rest of her body remained perfectly still.

A whistle rang out from behind Penelope. She turned as Roxie took off at a sprint to join Luke and Dan. Roxie immediately fell into pace with Luke, looking up at her master occasionally as they made their way back to Penelope.

"Ready to go?" Luke asked cheerfully, offering his hand to help Penelope stand. She smiled back at him and accepted his hand. Once she was standing, she thought he would let go, but he kept holding it as they fell into step heading back to his SUV.

Luke opened the door and watched her climb into the SUV. He then whistled for Roxy and opened the rear passenger door. Roxy jumped inside and sat down with her head positioned between the two front seats. Luke closed the door and walked around the back of the truck to the driver's door. He lifted a hand to Dan and as he sat in the SUV pulled his seat belt around.

"How about some dinner" he asked.

Penelope looked back at Roxy before answering. "Well, it sounds great, but I wouldn't want to leave Roxy in here while we eat…"

Luke grinned. It wasn't every woman-or person- who would think of an animal before their own needs.

"Actually, I was thinking maybe we could pick up something instead of dining in… nothing fancy," he hurried to clarify.

Penelope smiled brightly. "Oh, well, sure!"

Luke started the engine and looked in the rearview mirror. "Roxy, back up." Roxy twitched her ears and quickly jumped over the rear seats to the back of the SUV. She turned twice and laid down in the back.

Luke looked over at Penelope. "It's not safe for her to ride without a restraint, but she doesn't like the dog belts. So, we trained on her laying in the back while the car is moving. She has more room, and I added some extra side padding." He drove carefully around the circular gravel driveway and headed back to the main road.

"What sounds good?"

"Hmmm…. I'm not picky."

"Come on Garcia…. help me out a little…what did you have for lunch?"

"Ummm…. Well, I kinda skipped lunch."

Luke glanced over at her. "Why?"

"Just busy…. setting up my new office…talking to the team…it wasn't a big deal."

The SUV slowed as they approached a red light. "How does Cuban sound?"

Penelope nodded. "Sure…sounds great."

Luke moved his hand and turned on the Bluetooth speaker. "Call Cucina Cabana"

The phone rang twice and a woman answered. "Cocina Cubana ¿Cómo puedo ayudarte?"

"Hola Isabel. Es Luke Alvez. ¿Puedo hacer un pedido para recoger en treinta minutos?"

He looked over at Penelope. "Anything specific you want?"

She smiled. "Surprise me."

Luke nodded and winked at her. "Dos especiales de pollo, arroz amarillo y dos arepas. Ah, y Roxy está conmigo." Luke finished giving the order and ended the call.

"Show off," teased Penelope.

"What? My Spanish? Come on Ms. Garcia, I'm sure you understood all of that."

"Well, I don't know what the special is exactly, but yes. I was adopted though…I can get through the basics, but I definitely am not entirely fluent."

Luke smiled. "You are plenty fluent in other ways. So maybe learning a little more Spanish is a goal…or not. I'm available to help translate for you anytime." He smiled and turned on the radio as they made their way to the restaurant.

Garcia watched from the SUV as Luke jogged up to the pick-up window of the small building. A young woman smiled and waved. Very soon she handed over a cardboard box with what looked like Chinese paper take out boxes peeking from the top. Luke and the woman talked, and the woman looked over to the SUV and Penelope, then back to Luke. They chatted again briefly and as Luke lifted the box and turned towards the SUV the woman looked again to Penelope and waved. Penelope smiled and gave a little wave back.

Luke opened the door behind the driver's seat and placed the box on the floorboard. He got back into his seat and started the engine again. "OK if we eat at my place?"

"Yeah great." Penelope replied. "So, do you come here often?"

"Fairly regularly. Isabel went to school with my sister Cara. Her mom makes the best arepas."

"Yum! Sounds delicious."

"They have a little bit of everything…. it's a small place, but the food is great." They continued to make small talk the rest f the way towards Luke's apartment. Once he pulled into his parking space he opened the door to pick up the food and called for Roxy. She jumped out and waited for him to walk towards the front of the SUV, falling into step. Garcia closed her door and followed the pair into the building and up the stairs to the second floor.

"Make yourself at home. Let me just get Roxy's food set up and then we'll eat." He headed into the kitchen and quickly pulled out some of the boxes onto the counter. He walked over to the opposite side of the room and reached up to get a metal food bowl. Very quickly Roxy's feast of bits of steak, carrots and sweet potatoes was placed in front of her. She waited for the command to start, then quickly dived into her bowl.

"I didn't know dogs liked carrots and sweet potatoes"

Luke looked up from the sink where he was washing his hands. "Yeah…I feed Roxy kind of on a whole food diet."

"Does it cost a lot more to do that versus the typical dog foods?"

Luke shrugged. "Not really…I mean, if I were feeding her kibble, I would go for the best I could get. It was more of a conscious decision of what is the healthiest and best decision for Roxy." Luke looked over the bar at Garcia. "She's my girl…got to keep her safe and happy."

Garcia smiled and walked over to the bar, watching Luke plate their meals. "So… a Cuban restaurant that serves out of Chinese takeout boxes…clever."

Luke chuckled. "Isabel says its better for the environment. It drives her nuts how much waste even her small restaurant creates…so she tries to recycle what she can as much as possible. But," he said dramatically, carrying two plates over to the small table outside the kitchen, "your dinner is now served."

She walked over to the table and sat down. The chicken was grilled with chopped garlic and sautéed onions piled on top. Next to it was yellow rice and a small serving of black beans. There were also two small lumps of something…carmelized but Garcia couldn't think what it was.

"Plantains…they are delicious." Luke filled in for her. He sat down across from Garcia and waited for her to pick up her fork before he started eating.

At the first bite Garcia closed her eyes. The burst of flavor from the chicken was unreal. Looking at the plate before tasting she had thought that the amount of garlic and onions might be too much. (Who wanted onion breath when in close quarters with anyone?!) But she was surprised at the savory and delicious flavor. "OMG! This is amazing!"

Luke grinned. "Pretty good, huh?" "Pretty good? I think it's the best chicken I've had in…forever!" Luke nodded. He pointed his fork at Garcia. "Next time I'll get the pork chops for you. You won't believe how good they are!"

Garcia blushed slightly, thinking to herself 'He's planning on another meal with me?' She nodded and looked back down to her plate, trying a little of the rice.

They took their time with their meal, chatting and enjoying the food. Luke asked questions about Garcia's new job and entertained her with a few stories about the new technical analysist assigned to the team. Garcia felt a slight twinge of guilt that maybe the team didn't have the right person for that job, but Luke assured her that Charles had pulled through in the end and they had caught the unsub. Luke was careful to not provide too many details; he knew Garcia had seen too much of the ugly truths his job entailed. He did not want to cause her more pain and sorrow.

The cleaned up the dishes together, working amicably in the kitchen. Garcia took over washing the plates and he dried and put them away. After the last dish was put away, they took Roxy out for a walk. Luke's apartment was near a city park, and he was able to let Roxy run and let off some energy. Garcia sat in the new spring grass and watched the two play with a large stick and laughed as Roxy played "Keep Away" from Luke.

Luke finally jogged back to join Garcia, falling in the grass and laying back, catching his breath.

"She won" Garcia said wryly.

"Oh, I know." He said breathlessly. He breathed in deeply a couple of times and then sat back up from his position. "She's a character."

Roxy looked over at them from where she was laying, gnawing on the stick. Her ears pricked again, as if she knew they were talking about her and she jumped up and trotted back towards Penelope and Luke. Garcia reached over and gave Roxy some firm pats to her flank. "She's a clever girl."

Luke smiled watch the two enjoy each other's company. He looked around, realizing the sun was about to set. "We should head back." He stood up and offered his hand to help Penelope stand as well. Once she was standing though, he didn't let go of her hand. They walked back towards the apartment building, enjoying the twilight air and watching Roxy run just ahead of them.

Luke unlocked his apartment door and held it open for Garcia. "I guess I need to get you home; you must have an early day tomorrow." Garcia nodded, surprised how much time they had spent together and how quickly it had seemed to pass. She said goodbye to Roxy and gave her one last hug, then walked with Luke back down the stairs and towards his SUV.

The traffic to Garcia's apartment was much lighter than it had been on the way from the restaurant. It only took Luke fifteen minutes to pull up to the curb in front of the older building. He turned off the engine but didn't make a move to get out of the car just yet.

"So…I was thinking maybe we could try having that dinner this weekend."

Garcia smiled. "We just had dinner."

Luke shook his head. "No, I mean a real dinner…a reservation, a nice restaurant, maybe a little dancing."

Garcia felt her cheeks flush. "Really?"

Luke reached over for her hand, holding it firmly. "Of course really. Who wouldn't want to spend time with you?" Garcia watched him walk around the front of the SUV and he opened her door. She mentally shook herself awake and unfastened her seatbelt. As she stepped down from the SUV Luke took her hand again and held it as they slowly walked towards the entrance to the building.

"So…are you free Saturday night?"

"Ummm. Yeah…yes of course," she stammered. "But are you sure?"

Luke stopped walking and pulled gently on her arm so they were facing each other. "Why wouldn't I be sure?"

"I just meant…the team…your schedule is always so busy…and random."

Luke nodded. "Yeah… But I'm going to take a chance that fate will be on my side…and that if I do have to reschedule my date will understand." He flashed her one of his crooked grins. Garcia smiled widely. "I guess I could understand if you had to save the world."

They kept walking up the stairs and quickly came to a stop at Garcia's door. Luke released her hand as she dug into her purse for her keys and waited while she unlocked the door.

"So do you ah, want to come in? I can make some tea…" she offered.

"That sounds great, but I know you have an early day, and I should probably get back to Roxy. Can I have a rain check though?"

Garcia nodded. "Of course, anytime. Mi casa es tu casa."

Luke smiled and moved in to give Garcia a hug. He breathed in deeply, smelling the familiar scent of her shampoo. "Ok…I need to let you get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow and we will decide what time on Saturday."

Garcia nodded again his shoulder and stepped away slightly, reluctant to let him go. "Tell the bad guys to take a weekend off, "she teased.

Luke laughed. "Yeah…I'll have Matt put out the APB."

Garcia laughed and watched him turn around and slowly walk back down the stairs. At the landing he turned around and raised his hand for one last goodbye. She gave him a little wave and quickly turned around to step into her apartment. She pushed the door closed with her back and leaned against it. "It's going to be a long three days," she whispered to herself.