Page 12 of Under Ground

“We’ve gone from ‘don’t talk to strangers’ to ‘adopt one off the street’.” She lowers her arm, a lopsided smile on her lips.

“Just as well it was me. Not all strangers are nice guys.”

She swallows hard and nods. “I know. I’m grateful for that.”

Reaching for Casey, she pries her out of my arms and lowers her to the floor. “Honey, leave Alex alone. He just got here.”

“But I miss Daddy.”

“Well, I’m here now, and we’re going to have some dinner. We need to have a chat, Miss Casey,” I say.

Lana wrings her hands together. She’s nervous, but I’m going to do my best to put her at ease. I’m no psychologist, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Casey. She needs some understanding, and I have plenty.

Casey sits on the couch, and Lana smiles. “Dinner’s probably ready. I’ll just go and check on it.”

I trail behind her, entering a small kitchen. My apartment back home is tiny, but hers isn’t much bigger for the two of them. I clamp my lips shut because Lana doesn’t need my judgment.

“I didn’t ask you if you were a vegetarian or anything.” Lana raises her palms to cover her face. “You can tell I’m not used to having people over.”

I reach for her arm and pull one of her hands away. She blinks rapidly, and tingles spread up my arm. “I’ll eat anything. Don’t you worry about me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I know I’m gonna need a bite of whatever that is you’re cooking in the oven because it’s making me drool.”

Her wide smile brightens the room. “I’m glad I didn’t get that wrong, then.”

“You know, even if I was a vegetarian, I’d probably still eat anything you cooked to impress you.”

Lana laughs. “That’s very sweet, but completely unnecessary.”

“Thank you for inviting me over.” I bow my head slightly to get a closer look at her.

“Thank you for not upsetting Casey. I know she needs to understand the truth, and I did try to make her see reason, but …”

“You can’t reason with a three-year-old.” I finish her sentence, and she screws up her face.

“No, you can’t. I just never thought we’d ever run into you. I thought maybe she’d get old enough to talk her out of it and then we’d be fine.”

I stroke my chin. “I guess I really screwed up your plans then.”

“Yes, but I’m not complaining.” Her cheeks pink up. “Dinner’s nearly ready if you want to go back to the living room. We don’t do anything formal here.”

“Whew.” I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand.

“It’s difficult to when you don’t have a dining room. Or a dining table, for that matter.” Lana waves me away. “Go, sit, and I’ll get us some food.”

Casey’s watching television when I walk back in, and she looks up and grins as I sit beside her on the couch.

“What are you watching?” I ask.

“It’s Paw Patrol, Daddy.”

“Is that right?”

For the first time since I met her, her focus isn’t on me—it’s completely on the television. But I get to observe the happy little girl who’s so very intriguing.

I always thought about having kids in an abstract sense. It would probably happen eventually. But my focus these past few years has been on my career, although I wasn’t actively trying not to settle down.

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