CHAPTER 2

The next morning, after a fairly sleepless night, I called Rick and asked if he could meet me at the Santa Monica pier. He could tell in my voice that I really needed to talk to him, so he agreed to meet me. Whenever I was troubled, I always went to the beach, and Rick knew that. Something about being near the ocean was very soothing to me. I did my best soul searching there.

I found a bench overlooking the water and sat down. Rick pulled up just a few minutes after 1pm, he spotted me and started walking over.

I watched a 'blue jeans and white T-shirt' clad Hunter walk over towards me, complete with his Ray-Ban's on and that oh-so-famous toothpick in his mouth. God, he looked good. He definitely had charisma, and suddenly I realized why any man would be intimidated by him and his presence in my life. His tight Levi's clung nicely to his toned and tanned body, leaving very little to the imagination. Well, let's be real here, I didn't have to imagine anything. 'Been there, done that.' I thought as I smiled and recalled what was probably my greatest sexual conquest, ever.

'UGH, what am I doing? I've got to snap out of this' I thought to myself as I tried to get that sheepish look off of my face. I reminded myself that I am marrying Alex and then I tried to justify my devilish thoughts by saying that a girl can still window shop, as long as she leaves the credit card at home! It's the truth, right? Right!

"Hey." He said as he approached me with that charming smile of his that I loved oh so much and sat down beside me.

"Hey yourself" I replied and smiled back.

"Dr. Hunter, at your service!" he said with a laugh and a smile. He always did have a way of using his humor to soothe me whenever I needed it. God, I loved that about him. I realized at that moment, how much I was really going to miss him.

"What's up? Everything ok? You sounded a little stressed on the phone. And, I know this is 'your spot' so tell me, what's going on?"

I looked at him and smiled faintly. "Yeah, I am ok. I just wanted to talk to you. We've been so busy lately with work, and with Peterson's murder and I wanted to catch up. How are you? Are you doing okay?"

"I'm as good as I can be. We're still trying to find the guy that did this."

"Peterson was a great guy. He will really be missed." I offered a consoling hand and placed it on his thigh.

"Yeah, he sure will be." Hunter paused for a moment and continued, "Now, I know you didn't bring me down here to talk about me or Peterson, so spill it. What's up?" He knew me so well.

"Yeah, you're right. So, yeah...I haven't gotten the chance to ask you, and I wanted to know….what do you think of Alex?" I asked, nervously awaiting his response.

"He seems like a nice enough guy. Decent. Why?"

"Well, you're my best friend, and from a man's perspective, I wanted to know what you think. "On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you give him?"

Rick thought for a second and looked at me, "a 9.5."

"A 9.5? Really? Why not a 10?" the detective in me inquired. I mean, a 9.5 was pretty good, though. Knowing him, I'm surprised he didn't say a 5! He never did like anyone I ever dated.

"Because he's not a cop!" Hunter said with a laugh.

There he goes again; more humor.

"HA-HA" I replied. "Well, listen, there's more…..." I paused before continuing. "Alex asked me to marry him."

"WHAT?" Hunter exclaimed, looking at me in complete shock.

Gee, that didn't sound like the 'congratulations' I was expecting to hear, I thought.

"What did you say?"

"I said yes."

"Wow! When did this happen?"

"A couple of days ago. But with everything else going on, I didn't get the chance to tell you. And…. well, that's not all of it... He asked me to move to London with him. He was made a great job offer there, and they want him to start right away."

"London? Are you serious? What about your life here? What about your job? Your family?" Rick asked.

His heart started racing. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. All he could think of was that he was losing her; the one constant in his life for the last 6 years. She was the one person that ever truly meant something to him, and she was slipping away before his very eyes.

"Well, you know I can't keep this up forever. Police work is not exactly conducive to being a mother, and you know how badly I want a family of my own."

"I know, but it seems like you have to give up an awful lot here ya' know? What about him? What is he giving up? This is all so sudden, too, don't ya' think?"

"Well, it's not exactly sudden. It's not like I just met the guy. We've dated on an off for the last 8 years. Ya know, maybe fate brought us back together and the timing is finally right, for both of us." I smiled at the thought.

"8 years? McCall, I never really heard you mention this guy. I hate to say this, but how serious can you be about him if I've never really heard you talk about him?"

"I don't tell you everything. A woman does keep some things to herself, ya know."

As soon as I said the words, I instantly regretted them. I looked at Hunter, and could see that he was hurt by my statement. It wasn't like me to not be open with him about my personal life. After all, we did spend almost every waking moment of our lives together for the last 6 years. Why did I never really mention Alex to him?

"I don't know. I mean, if you're happy, then I am happy for you" he said. I didn't really believe that he meant those words, but offered it up more because it was the right thing to say. "But…."

And now for the "but" I thought.

Rick continued, "….you're dropping your whole life for him. No wonder you haven't been yourself lately. I've been feeling like he's messing with your head and you're losing focus and I was sure to tell him that when I paid him a little visit yesterday."

"Speaking of that... Alex mentioned to me that you stopped by. What was that about? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why, what did Alex say about it? Judging by your tone, it sounds like he was upset" he said with a semi-arrogant laugh.

"Yeah, actually, he was upset; he started going off on me about us, our partnership, our friendship, our history…it was weird, because he had never done that to me before. He also said something about you telling him that you love me."

And there it was; it was out.

Rick cringed a little as she said it. He was foolish to think that Alex wasn't going to repeat what he had said to Dee Dee. But, the truth was, he did love her. As a friend, yes, but lately, it's been more than that for him, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was actually going to marry this guy! He was losing her and he felt completely helpless.

"I shouldn't even admit this, but he actually freaked out and said that he didn't want me to see you anymore. I told him he was crazy. He'll get over it. He left last night for London for a few days. He'll cool off," I laughed, trying to make light of the situation. I mean, he will get over it, right?

"Are you kidding me?" Hunter snapped back at me.

Oh shit, did I say too much? Obviously, he didn't find my statement humorous at all. After all, I didn't think Alex really meant it. He was just angry and said it in the heat of the moment, I reasoned with myself.

"Don't you see what he's doing here? C'mon Dee Dee, you're a detective! THINK! He's trying to rip you away from everything and everyone that you have here! Look, I don't think you should just step aside here and let some guy take control of your life and who's in it. That's not who you are."

"Some guy?' Rick, he's my fiancé! This is unbelievable! I was going to ask you to stand up for me, as my Man of Honor, but, you're not even happy for me!" In sheer frustration, I threw my arms up in the air and slapped them down hard on my own thighs. Damn, that hurt.

"Dee Dee, this isn't about not being happy for you. He's trying to control you. C'mon, this is not like you. You are the strongest, bravest, most independent woman I know! You're just going to give up everything you've worked you're whole life for, on a moment's notice, and move halfway around the world for this guy? He's been back what, 4 days? Something doesn't seem right here. I don't think he's right for you."

"What do you know about what's 'right' for me? For years, ever since Steve, I've been trying to find happiness again, and I think I've finally found it. You know I want marriage and children. Why are you trying so hard to talk me out of this?"

"Look, I'm not gonna get into it. Now is not the time or the place."

Rick got up and began to walk away from me. He made it about 3 steps before turning around. "Oh, and I change my answer. I'd rate him a 2 and only a 2 because he's a doctor. Otherwise….. " and gave me a thumbs down, and walked away.

"Rick!" I called out, but he didn't even turn around. Instead, he flashed me a goodbye wave over his shoulder and headed back to his car.

And there he goes…. Mr. Non-Confrontational! I picked up the first rock I saw and hurled it into the ocean, with a fastball-like speed that would make even a Dodgers pitcher jealous. "Dammit!" I yelled, and spun around and plopped back down on the bench. "God, I hate him."

I sat there for what seemed like hours, going over it again and again in my head, trying to figure out what it all meant. Why was Hunter acting this way? And why was Alex acting that way?

(continued….)