Savior

Chapter 79

-xx-

Cate could not keep the grin off of her face as she settled into the driver's seat of her truck. She had just left a successful lunch meeting at their wedding venue. Shelby had introduced her to her "favorite" photographer, who had availability for their date.

"Kristen and her team are amazing," Shelby gushed over the phone just a few days before. "She's shot a lot of weddings here, so she knows the ins and outs of our winery!"

The sample books she had brought with her blew Cate away. She was able to capture detail in everything; there was no photo that was missed. She had a team of four who attended every wedding. Kristen explained that she would be with her and her bridal party as they got ready in the morning, and Thomas, her husband, would stay with the groomsmen.

Being able to see Kristen's work on previous weddings at the winery was amazing for Cate. They prided themselves on getting photos of everyone and everything at the big day. "You've worked so hard to pick the perfect centerpieces, flowers, and décor – it should be photographed!"

Shelby and Cate finalized several details of the wedding. They scheduled a dinner for the week after Cate and Derek returned from Chicago to finalize their dinner choices. She knew that was one aspect she could not decide on by herself.

The strains of "Heaven" broke up the music playing in the truck. "Hey you," she answered.

"Hey," he replied. "How did the meeting go?"

"We have a photographer." She tapped her nails on the dashboard as she waited for the light to turn green. "Well, actually we have four."

Derek laughed on the other end. "That sounds like overkill."

She shrugged. "The way Kristen explained it, they get everything. And one person takes care of the video, so that'll be nice to have."

"Rossi got me the hook up for the cake," her laugh cut him off.

"Big, bad FBI agents talking about fancy wedding cakes," she chuckled at her own words. "I can just picture it now."

He scoffed on the other end. "Keep it up, little lady, and I'll be the one ordering."

"Absolutely not," she replied. Listening to him laugh on the other end made her smile. "We'll discuss it on the plane tonight."

"I should see you shortly." He was cut off by her cursing at the other drivers on the road. "Hey speed demon," he said, trying to get her attention. "I would like you in one piece for this weekend, please."

"This ass clown," she began, and pointed towards the smaller car in front of her, knowing full well that Derek was on the phone and not in the car, "just cut me off!" She sighed. "Sorry," she muttered. "I'm just going to swing by the house and check on Jeff before I head back to the apartment. I should be home before you anyways."

-xx-

Cate sighed as she paced in the middle of the apartment's kitchen. She was trying to settle herself before their flight, but her mind would not stop running. Between the updates at the house, her work, her health, and ultimately their wedding, she felt like there were not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything.

She had boxes scattered across the dining room table; Cate left her spare key with her sister so she could go through the boxes while they were away. She had ordered parts for her centerpieces that needed to be delivered to Gloria. Her favors sat in different opened boxes, as well as the bridesmaid dresses. Jackie was going to take those to her aunt to make sure they were perfect.

Everywhere she looked there was something else she could be doing. But she knew the moment she started to work on something, Derek would walk through the door and he was already anxious to get right on the road.

She tried to rest as much as she could before today; she unplugged all day yesterday. She kept her cell phone on only for emergencies, and did not answer any e-mails from clients. Cate had wrapped up all sales for the week and informed clients that she would be away for the weekend.

Her head popped up in the direction of the front door as she heard the lock unlock. A smile came over her face as she knew Derek was on the other side of the door. Between his work schedule in the Quantico office and her schedule of trying to wrap everything up before they left, she felt like she barely saw him.

They had met for a quick, late lunch on Tuesday, but they were limited on time as they were putting together evidence for a case trial. Otherwise, Cate was back and forth between her mother's house and the apartment working on things for the wedding that the pair did not get a lot of time together.

When the black man stepped through the doorway, Cate tried to busy herself with finishing up her carry on bag. She double checked that her spare chargers were in the bag, as well as her iPad and headphones.

"Hey you," he mused from the doorway.

She looked up from the bag and grinned in his direction. "Ah, you really do exist," she replied with a wink. "I was beginning to think I was heading to Chicago by myself."

He slipped his keys into his pocket as he stepped into the kitchen. In one fell swoop, he had Cate in his arms. "I missed you, too," he said, knowing what she was thinking. "But we have an entire weekend to ourselves now."

She lifted an eyebrow; Derek lost himself in the twinkle in those baby blues. "Reminder," she started, "We'll be in your mother's house."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Are you worried you'll make too much noise?" he asked as he planted a kiss to her forehead. He released her and walked down the hallway to retrieve his bags.

"I would like to be able to make eye contact with your mother at breakfast," Cate called out with a laugh.

"Well, it's a good thing we're only staying at Ma's tonight," he said as he started out of the bedroom with his suitcase rolling behind him. His small duffle bag was thrown over his shoulder. "We're in the bridal party block of rooms, so you may have to be a little quieter than usual. I don't know where they're going to set Mom up."

Cate scoffed at his words. "I am not that loud, mister."

Derek wiggled his eyebrows and smirked. "No, of course you aren't," he added sarcastically. He stepped in front of her and placed his hand to her chin. "But I love it," he whispered in her ear.

He lined up their suitcases and his bag at the front door to the apartment and turned back to Cate. She had a grin stretching across her face, but he watched as she gripped the island counter. She slowly pulled her lip between her teeth.

"Come on, baby," he said from the doorway. "Or we're going to miss our flight."

She rolled her eyes and shrugged away the sensation he had sent over her body. Cate grabbed her duffle bag and her cell phone from the island and followed him silently to the door.

-xx-