Ch. 19: the shadows in the background
Walt looked down at where her hand still held his arm, refusing to release him. His eyes lifted from Vic's hand to her face and he saw something there that stopped him in his tracks.
What was he doing?
Walking away.
How many times in his life had he done that when he simply didn't want to deal with something? Far too many. A sudden surge of guilt washed through him and the frustration that roared to life inside of his chest when he realized what she and Cady were talking about in his absence dissipated.
His eyes stayed on hers and he could read what she was broadcasting. Determination bordered by anger.
Anger.
She'd said "please", but the word wasn't really in her tone of voice. It wasn't a plea as much as…he couldn't come up with the word in that moment. It came out too forcefully for that.
He almost told her he wasn't walking away. What else would you call it, though?
His intention was to get some air and clear his mind. He didn't want to get into an argument with her in the office. So far, they had done a decent job of keeping their personal issues outside these walls. There was no reason to allow that to collapse at this point.
"Don't walk away from me."
She repeated it, this time with more statement than anything else. It almost came out as a…command?
Maybe that was the word that he was looking for.
He turned back towards her and her fingers eased up on his arm once he was fully facing her again. Her eyes narrowed almost to lasers and stayed on him.
"I won't take this from you, Walt. Not anymore."
Her voice was low in volume, but it didn't lack power. Her hand left his arm completely and fell back to her side. He looked down at the floor before lifting his eyes again. She was calling him out and she wasn't being subtle. It was more of the old Vic than he had seen from her in some time and it got his attention strongly.
"Jesus, will you say something?"
"I…"
He faltered, still unsure of what to say.
He might have been at a loss for words, Vic certainly was not.
"You can't walk away every time something pisses you off. Or…you don't want to deal. You, of all people, should know that at this point. If you're willing to walk away from this conversation, then it's not worth pursuing. That's what you're saying."
Her words scalded him as they were meant to.
"I wasn't…walking away."
Vic folded her arms over her chest.
"Bullshit."
"I was gonna take a walk."
"Same thing. You get uncomfortable and you bail. I don't know who you think you're dealing with, Walt. I know you too well for this."
He slowly removed his hat and set it on the table near the office door.
"Okay."
She looked surprised by the move. She must have expected the opposite reaction. Resistance.
"Okay. Really?"
Walt reached up and smoothed his hair down.
"If you want to do this now, we'll do it."
She shook her head.
"I don't want to fight with you. Not at work, or anywhere else. I just want you to hear me."
"I'm listening."
She took a breath now that the standoff was over.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Cady and Zach. I told you that. Could you stop for a minute, though, and see things from my point of view here? I told her that she needed to tell you. It's not my place to tell you her personal business."
Walt let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm not mad about that."
"You're doing a hell of a good impression."
"I'm not mad. I'm disappointed."
"That's your right. But, you can't treat people like this, Walt. You do it too much and you gotta stop. If you want this to work, you have to stop. I have spent too many years of my life trying to live up to other people's ideals and I won't do it anymore."
Her words hit home.
"I'm sorry."
She didn't look convinced.
"Don't say it if you don't mean it."
"I mean it, Vic. I'm sorry. You're right."
He saw her shoulders relax somewhat at his admittance.
"What as that?"
He shifted on his feet.
"You're right."
"About?"
"I shouldn't have tried to leave."
Her head tipped to one side.
"Is that all?"
He wasn't willing to give all the way.
"I don't want there to be dishonesty between us, Vic."
"Neither do I. Cady…begged me not to tell you. She was genuinely concerned that you wouldn't approve and take it out on Zach."
That burned him. His own daughter didn't want to tell him things because she was afraid of his reaction. What hurt the most was that her fears were warranted based on his past behavior. He felt a wave of shame at the thought.
"I like Zach."
He offered it up weakly not knowing what else to say.
"Don't tell me that. Tell Cady."
He nodded and ran one hand over his jeans.
"I will."
She studied him.
"Still mad?"
"I wasn't mad."
"You were mad. I've seen you mad enough times to recognize it, Walt. You don't do yourself any favors by ignoring how you really feel."
He grimaced.
"You sound like a therapist."
One side of her mouth quirked up for the first time during this entire conversation.
"God knows we both probably need one."
She eyed him.
"Are we done with this?"
He huffed out a breath.
"Yeah, we're done."
"Really done? Or…is this gonna come up again later when you're mad about something else?"
"We're done."
Satisfaction crossed her features.
"Good."
She smiled.
"Look at that. Resolution without a fight."
He couldn't keep the small smile off his own face.
"Guess we're making progress."
"That we are. So…you're going to talk to Cady, right."
It wasn't a question.
"I will talk to Cady."
"Calmly?"
"Yes."
"Rationally?"
He gave her a knowing look.
"You're one to talk about being rational."
She rolled her eyes and he felt a measure of relief that she was acting more like herself.
"Funny."
She reached up and touched his chest, allowing her hand to linger for a minute before she pulled it back and left his office.
xxx
"How bad is it?"
Cady gave her an apologetic look as soon as she walked out of the office. Cady was seated by her desk, looking out the window. When she heard the door open, she turned and rose quickly. Cady reached Vic in three long strides.
"I'm sorry."
Cady didn't even give her time to answer the first question before apologizing. Vic raised her hand and flapped it at her.
"It's okay."
Cady didn't look as though she believed the claim.
"Really?"
"Yes. We talked. Don't worry about it."
Cady studied her with serious blue eyes.
"I shouldn't have asked you to keep something from him."
Vic couldn't help but agree.
"No, you shouldn't. But…I could've told him anyway. We all makes choices."
Choices.
It was a matter she had given a lot of thought to lately. Maybe too much. A series of choices led her to where she was now. While they were painful and she was still feeling the repercussions, she was reaching a point where it almost felt necessary.
It was hard to reconcile.
Had she made different choices, her child would still be living inside of her. There was also a chance that she wouldn't be with Walt. It almost felt like a tradeoff. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Was that the way things had to be? Sadness in exchange for happiness. That was certainly the way it felt.
"Right."
Cady's comment pulled her back into the moment. She didn't even realize she lost herself in her mind. That seemed to happen to her more lately than ever before. It wasn't unlike the way that Walt got at times. As different as they were, it sometimes felt as though those differences were narrowing and there was some odd merge happening with their personalities.
Vic blinked and looked around the office. Ferg must have left after leaving Walt's office. Ruby was at her desk, but she wasn't paying them any attention, keeping her eyes on whatever she was working on.
The door to Walt's office opened and he walked out, pausing only momentarily before he spoke directly to Vic.
"There's a wreck out on the highway just past Wailing Creek bridge. Semi tipped over and it's blocking the road. It's gonna take some time to clean up."
Vic slipped back into work mode, grateful for the distraction.
"Got it."
Cady moved like she was going as well but Walt spoke up.
"Cady, you stay. We'll talk some about the transition."
That was what he was calling it now. It was a fitting term she supposed. They were certainly in transition. All of them in one way or another. Walt out of office and into a life that was different than anything he experienced before. Cady possibly from one career into another she never pictured for herself. Even Ferg was back with Meg now, picking up where they left off.
She didn't even want to think about her own personal transition. She wondered if and when it would ever be over. Sometimes it felt like it would go on forever.
She was actually relieved that Walt wanted Cady to stay. She normally would have groaned about having to deal with a wrecked truck and traffic. Since that meant being left on her own for a while, she didn't mind at all.
She grabbed her keys and left the office. It was another nice day and Vic slipped behind the wheel of her truck and started out of town. It was a scenic ride out to where she was going. Most of the rides around here were, especially once you got out of town and there was nothing to break up the landscape except the mountains.
The truck wasn't any issue to find. The driver had already put out orange markers, warning drivers to slow down as they approached. Vic pulled in behind him and left her blue lights flashing as she unbuckled and got out, walking down the roadway.
Vic paused and surveyed the damage. Luckily, the truck wasn't loaded, so there was no cargo to spill out on the road. She'd dealt with that before and it sucked. There didn't seem to be much in the way of traffic. The truck and trailer were blocking the entire road, but there was enough room and firm ground for traffic to get by if they eased off the road.
The driver came from in front of the truck and started her way. He lifted a greasy cap from his head and swiped his fingers through his longish light colored hair before replacing the cap. He was younger than Vic expected, maybe around thirty or so. His t-shirt and jeans were dirty with oil splatters and dirt.
Vic looked at him through the lenses of her sunglasses.
"What happened?"
He gestured at the curve in the road as it left the bridge. He wasn't the first to underestimate it. She was willing to bed that he wouldn't do it again.
"Damn curve."
Between his fingers he held a cigarette with a wisp of smoke coming up from the end.
"Got a tow on the way?"
He nodded and lifted the cigarette to his lips, taking a long drag on it before exhaling smoke.
"Yep. Once they get me upright, I can get on down the road. Everything under the hood is fine."
Vic looked back at the bridge.
"How fast were you going?"
He sighed, took another puff from his cigarette, and tossed it on the road, grounding it out with his boot. Vic watched the action, her eyes sitting on the smoldering cigarette butt.
"Not sure."
Vic raised her eyes.
"You wanna pick that up?"
He glanced down.
"What?"
She pointed.
"Pick it up. You're littering."
He looked at her like he might argue, but seemed to think better of it. He bent over and plucked his discarded cigarette up from the asphalt.
"What do you want me to do with it?"
Vic shrugged.
"Put it in your truck."
He sighed and started for the cab. Vic trailed along behind him, her eyes scoping out the damage on the rig. He climbed up and returned half a minute later wiping off his hands.
"Happy?"
"Sure. So…how fast were you going on that curve?"
He looked back towards the bridge.
"Don't know?"
"You must have been getting it pretty good to tip like this."
He shrugged.
"It happens. You writing me a ticket?"
"I should. But…"
She glanced at the truck.
"…something tells me you're in trouble already."
He frowned.
"Bastards will probably fire me for this."
She didn't comment on that.
"License?"
He reached around and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. He tugged his license free and offered it to her. Vic took it and glanced down. She left him standing while she returned to her truck and radioed Ruby to run his name to ensure there was nothing that required further attention. His record came back clean except for a speeding ticket.
She returned to where he stood and handed him back his license. He tucked the wallet back into his pocket and looked at her from underneath the bill of his dirty ballcap.
"Tow ought to be here in fifteen minutes or so. He'll get the trailer upright and I'll be out of your way."
Vic nodded and looked up the road where it straightened out and disappeared into the horizon.
"Where were you headed?"
"Just to Sheridan for a load. Then I'll be headed out of state to North Dakota."
"That's a ride."
He smiled for the first time since she pulled up.
"Yes, it is. Money's good, though. Not a bad life for a single man."
She highly doubted he had tossed in the single part by accident.
"I'm sure."
Vic glanced around again.
"Deputy…Moretti?"
She turned back to find his eyes on her name tag and maybe the area in general.
"Sounds Italian."
"It is."
He was trying to flirt and wasn't very good at it. Maybe too much time spent on the road.
"Absaroka County?"
"Yeah."
"That's not too far from Sheridan?"
Vic suppressed a sigh. He continued before she could derail him.
"I could…buy you a drink."
Vic shook her head.
"No thanks."
He scuffled one foot over the road.
"Come on, Deputy. It'll be my thanks for you not writing me a ticket."
Vic gave him a look that had the effect she wanted.
"Sounds an awful lot like bribery."
His face reddened and he stepped back.
"Right. Wouldn't want that."
Vic shook her head and looked at the horizon again.
"No, we wouldn't."
xxx
"Did you talk to Cady?"
"Yes."
Walt was slouched on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Vic was stretched across the length of the couch with her head propped up on the arm and her feet in Walt's lap. He was tracing his fingers slowly over her ankles.
"About being Sheriff or about Zach?"
"Both."
She regarded him with an amused look that gave him the urge to smile. He kept a straight face.
"Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"
The admonishment was good natured.
"I've been told."
Vic nudged him with one of her feet.
"So…"
He was quiet for a stretch, thinking of his wide ranging conversation with Cady after Vic left the office. It felt good to clear the air between himself and his daughter. He wanted a better relationship with her and he knew that he would need to work for it.
"She says they're not serious."
"That's what she says."
His eyes were on her feet.
"Do you believe her?"
"No reason not to."
He swiped his hand across her foot.
"Guess this is partially my doing."
Vic settled into the couch.
"How's that?"
He looked up.
"A while back…when I was worried about Shane Muldoon coming after…people I cared about…I hired Zach to look after her."
That was news.
"You what?"
He sighed.
"Cady won't accept help. You two are alike that way. And…Zach had already helped her with a legal situation. So…I asked him to look out for her. Told him it was a job and that I would pay him."
She looked at him for a long moment.
"Did she know?"
"Not at first. He wound up telling her."
"Was she pissed?"
Walt shook his head.
"Didn't seem to be. I couldn't…be everywhere. Shane already threatened her and Henry. And you. People he knew were important to me."
She chewed lightly on her bottom lip and he knew that she was thinking.
"So…you hired Zach to guard Cady. You made me sit on a long ass stakeout with you. What did you do for Henry?"
"Checked that he was armed and told him to use a deadbolt."
She gave him an amused look.
"That's funny coming from you. I've walked right in here before without a key."
"Do you want one?"
He said the words before he even really thought about them. She stared at him for a minute.
"Do I want a key?"
He nodded slowly, hoping that wasn't one step too far.
"Uh…you got a spare?"
"Yeah."
She shrugged.
"Okay."
A weight lifted off his chest. He jutted his chin towards the desk.
"It's in the top drawer."
Vic looked at the desk before returning her eyes to his.
"Okay."
He was quiet for a minute before he shifted the topic to something that didn't feel as heavy.
"I assume the accident was cleared up."
"Yes. There wasn't any traffic so…not a big deal. Driver took the curve too fast."
"You ticket him?"
Vic shook her head.
"No. I might've if he was an ass, but he wasn't too bad. He…"
She shifted around in attempt get more comfortable.
"…asked me out."
Walt's hand still on her feet.
"He asked you out?"
She yawned.
"Yeah."
An unfamiliar feeling pushed up into his chest from his stomach.
"Is…that why you didn't write him a ticket?"
"No. It was after that."
She sounded nonchalant like this happened to her all the time. He knew it happened a good bit, even witnessed it himself. There was no good reason for him to be jealous. He knew that, too. Still, there was that feeling again.
"What did you say?"
She gave him an odd look.
"I told him to pick me up at eight. What in the hell do you think I told him?"
She sat up partially.
"You're not jealous, are you?"
"No."
She eyed him.
"I think you are."
She seemed entertained by the idea.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm not jealous. I just don't understand why he…did that?"
"Well…gee…thanks."
Now her voice was dripping with sarcasm and he felt like he was digging a hole there was no escape from.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"You didn't mean to imply that you don't understand why a man would be interested in me?"
"I know why a man would be interested in you. I just…"
"Why?"
She cut him off and scattered his thoughts. He suspected that was her intention.
"Why what?"
"Why would a man be interested in me?"
He felt red creeping up his face as he grew flustered.
"You know."
"Mmm-mmm. Tell me."
"You're…you…"
He stammered. Vic smiled at him in a way that edged into dangerous.
"I'm…"
He pushed out a breath.
"You."
That was all he managed to get out. Vic laughed.
"Jesus, Walt. You should really reign in the compliments. They're too much."
She sat the rest of the way up and pulled her feet from his lap. Slipping one leg over him, she straddled his lap and looked into his face.
"You know…"
Her warm breath ghosted over him.
"…a little jealously isn't a bad thing. It's that…raging, uncontrolled shit that will…fuck you up."
Her choice of words and the manner in which she said them were not lost on Walt. On the contrary, they were having the exact effect on him that he suspected she wanted. Her eyes held his with some power he couldn't see, but he could sure feel.
"You want to try again?"
He swallowed hard.
"You're…"
Her smiled turned feral and she kissed him invasively before he was able to string together a coherent thought. Walt's hands came up to her back and his fingers dug in to the soft material of her shirt.
She pulled back and pressed her forehead into his.
"I told him no."
She kissed him again and it felt like an attack of sorts. Not one that he minded.
She broke off the contact again and took a deep breath.
"Do you know why?"
He nodded mutely. Vic tilted her head.
"Cat got your tongue?"
"No, but you do."
He finally caught up and her face lit up with his comeback.
"Nice."
She butted his head with hers.
"I told him no because I'm not free for the taking."
Walt felt like he was burning up in his clothes and he suddenly wanted to be rid of them. All of them. He shook his head.
"No, you're not."
She brought her face closer to his, but didn't make any contact.
"Tell me why."
She was slowly coaxing words out of him even though his mind was alight with feelings and thoughts that were overwhelming.
"Because…"
His voice broke.
"…you're…"
He stopped again, but she wasn't having it.
"I'm what?"
Her tone was low.
Her lips brushed his ever so lightly, their breath mixing in the barely there space between.
"Mine."
Something crossed her face when he said the solitary word. She nodded slightly.
"Damn straight."
Then she kissed him again.
xxx
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
Walt pressed his chin into her shoulder and she could feel the smug smile on his face.
"It doesn't feel like nothing."
She reached under the blanket and grabbed his hand, pulling it upward. Rolling onto her back, she looked up into his face. He was on his side, propped up on one arm.
"You'll make me late if you start that now. I need to get up."
In the two weeks since Cady made her announcement, it felt like they were caught up in a wave and moving nonstop. In a town the size of Durant, it didn't take news like that long to spread. The paper had already covered Walt's retirement and Cady's potential election too many times to count.
Changing of the guard.
That was how they phrased it.
During that time, Walt shifted his plan into a higher gear. The result was more responsibility on the rest of them and less on him. Gradual was his manner and it seemed to be working. It could be tiring at times, but productive.
As the most senior of his staff, Vic was shouldering the brunt with Cady helping to lessen the load as much as she could. Thankfully, they were being blessed with a lull in crime and spent most of their days breaking up fights in bars and writing tickets. At some point, that would change. They all knew it, but tried not to jinx themselves.
Despite her words, she didn't make a move to actually get up. Walt freed his hand from her grasp and ran it across her stomach as he dipped his face and kissed her.
"Walt."
She mumbled his name against his mouth.
"Hmm?"
She worked her hands in between them and managed to push his bulk up and away.
"I mean it."
"You don't look like you mean it."
"I do. See?"
She pushed him back farther and sat up.
"I'm getting up."
Her hair fell down around her shoulders and she absently pushed it back. Walt looked at his watch.
"It doesn't take you that long to get ready. Or me."
"I need to leave early. I gotta run by the trailer park and pay my rent."
With that, she pushed the blanket off and turned, planting her bare feet on the floor. Walt stayed where he was and she knew that he was watching her. He always did. He didn't bother to hide it.
Vic rummaged until she found her jeans and started to pull them on.
"You've been here all week, Vic."
She turned, buttoning her jeans. Yanking a tank top over her head, she looked at him.
"My rent is still due. Today. You don't want to have to evict me again, do you?"
She meant it as a joke, but his expression didn't change.
"How many times have you been there in the last two weeks?"
She shrugged and started to thread her belt through the loops on her jeans.
"I don't know. Haven't kept count."
"Twice."
She stilled.
"Twice?"
"Yep."
"So…what's your point?"
He finally got up and came around the bed.
"My point is that you're wasting money you could be saving. Just…move the RV."
"Move it?"
He nodded.
"There's room here. Just like before."
Vic glanced his way, her mind not quite connecting the dots as she was still slightly distracted and looking for a clean uniform shirt.
"You want me to live in your yard?"
Walt placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Stop for a minute."
Shirt in hand, she faced him.
"I'm not suggesting you live in the yard. I'm suggesting you live here."
For the better part of a minute, she just looked at him.
This wasn't their first time having a conversation similar to this one. They touched on it and danced around it, usually with an offhand comment about how little she was actually at her RV these days. He hadn't ever come right out and asked her to move in with him, though.
"I…can't just move in with you."
"Why?"
Vic shifted on her feet and he let go of her. Vic slipped her shirt on over her shoulders and tugged at the open front.
"I still work for you. And…"
He flapped his hand at her.
"Not for much longer. And…everyone at work knows about us. So…"
He didn't finish his thought. His points were valid. Their relationship wasn't top secret anymore. Although, she wasn't sure it ever really was at the office since no one seemed all that surprised when the talk started. There hadn't been any direct comments to them except for Ferg, then Ruby, seeking confirmation. There was just a general feeling of ease now that they didn't need to worry so much.
She suspected it was starting to get around town as well. There hadn't been any true dates where they dressed up or anything, but they ate nearly every meal together when they weren't at work. Easing in. That's what he called it. It suited her fine. It was what she asked of him. Forward movement. The pace was slow. Walt slow. It was still progress. She saw the way people looked at them sometimes. The way they would lean in and say something. On occasion, it seemed to make Walt uncomfortable. Vic ignored it.
"I know. I just…"
She looked down.
"…I'm just not ready for that."
His brow furrowed.
"I don't understand. You wanted to move forward with no expectations. And…we've done that. I've done…everything that you wanted me to do."
"Don't do that."
"What?"
He seemed genuinely confused, not to mention hurt.
"Make me out to be the bad guy here."
"I'm not. I just don't understand your…your logic. You practically already live here."
"Yeah, but…"
She stopped and shook her head.
"I'm gonna be late. Can we table this for now?"
Walt pulled on a shirt.
"There's nothing to table. You said no. That's fine."
"You're upset with me."
Walt shook his head as he snapped up his shirt, his eyes on the task.
"I'm not."
"Then why won't you look at me?"
He raised his eyes.
"I'm not upset."
"It feels like you are. I don't want to leave if you're upset. Or mad."
"I'm not mad."
Vic started for the bathroom, frustration rising up in her.
"Shit."
She pulled her hair back in a ponytail and came back out to find him sitting on the bed putting on socks. He looked up when she came to a stop in front of him.
"Can we talk about this later?"
"There's no reason to. You said no. That's fine."
"I just feel like…we should talk."
Walt stood up.
"I don't want to pressure you. That wasn't my intention."
She bit her bottom lip and considered him.
"Walt…"
"You should go. You don't want to be late."
Vic let out a heavy breath. This still felt unresolved and she didn't like that.
"I'll see you at work."
He nodded.
"Kay."
xxx
He wasn't mad. Maybe disappointed.
It wasn't his intention to ask her to move in with him in that moment. It just came out. For some reason, he was surprised by her turning him down. He probably shouldn't have been. While they were on a forward path as of late, she still balked if he things felt overwhelming. It was just that over the last week or two, things felt so good between them.
Strong.
She spent almost every night with him. Her RV sat empty most of the time except those two nights that she went home during the last couple of weeks. He liked her being there with him. In him mind, it just made sense.
What he saw in her face when he offered up the suggestion struck him hard in the gut.
Fear.
He wasn't sure why she was afraid of the idea. There wasn't any reason to be. At this point, it felt like a formality. He was fairly certain that most of her clothes were already at his cabin anyway.
Naturally, he beat her in to the office. Walt took the steps up, greeted Ruby, and disappeared into his office, closing the door behind him. He hung up his hat and sat down behind his desk, giving the office a good look as he settled in. His days here were numbered. It was such an odd feeling.
Surreal.
An election date had been set to replace him. So far, no one else had thrown their name in yet and Cady was currently running unopposed. It felt unrealistic to think that it would stay that way. He knew that Sawyer Crane wasn't happy about Cady running. Not that he could do anything about it. She had filed properly, taking care of all the legalities.
Walt figured she had a good chance of winning based on name recognition alone. She was born here and grew up here. She worked in the community both as a teenager and later on after completing law school. Not that she could use that forever. If she was elected, she would need to prove that she was capable and dependable.
Walt didn't doubt those qualities in his daughter.
She was bound to make mistakes based on inexperience. He knew that. He expressed that to her. Not in an effort to erode her confidence. He just wanted her to understand that it was to be expected.
There were times when he wondered if he'd done the right thing by suggesting this. When he expressed these concerns to Vic, she normally brushed him off and told him that Cady was a grown woman.
He knew that, of course. It was hard to digest at times.
His work load was lighter than ever before. He was slowly turning over his tasks to his employees, delegating them out over time in order to help with the process as best he could. The result left him bored at time even though he knew this was necessary.
He tried not to load Vic down with it all in spite of his instincts to turn to her with work issues. For a while, the office would be run in a collaborative effort as he eased out and Cady eased in. There was no reason in his mind to rush the process when there was time do it the right way. Still, Vic was shouldering more than anyone else. She possessed the most experience and was the one primarily training Cady. So, there was no way around it. To her credit, she didn't complain all that much even though he knew that she was under some strain.
It was temporary. That's what they told themselves. At some point, the election would be over and Cady would take the helm of the office. At that point, she would start to take on these jobs, working them in and learning how to manage the office in the way that best suited her. Cady was a perfectionist by nature. He knew that aspect of her personality would carry over into running this office once he was gone. Walt suspected she would be much better at the administrative side of the job that he ever was.
He viewed his retirement with equal parts trepidation and anxiousness. The idea of getting into the next phase of his life excited him on some level. He would be lying to say that he wasn't nervous, though. It was natural he told himself. Looking into the unknown was never a fully comfortable task.
He was aware in his periphery that people were talking about him and Vic at this point. They weren't exactly advertising their new relationship, but they weren't taking great pains to hide it either. Anyone who was paying attention would know.
Being public still made him uneasy. He was a private man by his nature and he struggled with the idea of his personal life being fodder for gossip. He caught the looks when they were out in public together. Especially when they weren't working. He tried to follow Vic's lead and ignore them. That was hard for him at times. He wanted to tell people to mind their own business. He didn't.
The extra attention didn't seem to bother Vic. If she caught someone looking at them too hard, she would stare until the other party looked away. She wasn't one to shy away from a challenge. Even a public one.
What he genuinely preferred was being alone with her. Just the two of them. Those were the times when he felt the most comfortable. Vic offered him a level of ease he hadn't felt with any woman since Martha died. Certainly not with Donna who frequently left him feeling nervous and out of place.
Walt shook his head.
He didn't want to go there.
There wasn't any reason to. They agreed to leave the past behind them.
The phone on his desk rang. Walt sighed and lifted the receiver to his ear.
"Absaroka County….'
He only made it part of the way through his spiel when she broke in and interrupted him.
"Hey, it's me."
Vic. Walt sat up a little straighter.
"Hey…is something wrong?"
If she was calling him and not here, that set off alarms in his head. Her intention was to pay her rent on her way to work. That shouldn't have delayed her all that long. It was just a matter of dropping off payment with Joe Mega
"Can you come here?"
Walt frowned.
"To the trailer park?"
Now he knew that something was amiss.
"What's going on?"
He tried to sound casual, pretty sure that he failed in his attempts. There was a note of anxiety in Vic's own voice and that certainly didn't make him feel any better. He stood up and his eyes shifted to the door while he waited for her to answer.
"It looks like someone broke into my RV again."