Page 30 of Defending Casey

Oh that was a given.

And a future with Casey and their daughter was going to be the best.

Casey almost jumpedout of the passenger seat when they arrived at the Feed Store. She was late for work and while her father had told her to take her time, Hale knew she didn’t want to take advantage of the fact that she was family. He understood and loved her all the more for it.

Still, he wasn’t about to do a drive by and leave right away.

Pulling his truck into a space at the far end of the lot he made his way inside and gave a nod to Casey’s father. “Good morning, sir.”

“Morning, Hale.”

A hearty chuckle reached his ears. “Hale? Hale Foster?”

Hale was already smiling when Mister Sumner walked out of the back room with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. “Mister Sumner! Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too, young man.” David took the cup from his hands and Hale walked to the end of the counter to help the older gentleman get seated on the stool that was standing against the wall. “I was wondering if you’d come in.”

Hale’s grin widened. “I dropped Casey off at work and I couldn’t just cut and run. I wanted to come in and see if anything needed doing.”

Mister Sumner gave Hale a pat on the arm before he took his coffee cup back from David. “Can’t say that I’d pass him up on the offer David. You have anything that needs a strong back?”

Casey’s dad shook his head. “I’m all set for the orders I have coming in today.” He gestured between the two of them. “Go ahead and talk. I bet you both have a bit of catching up to do.”

Casey walked into the room and her steps slowed when she saw Hale. Her smile brightened her eyes and Hale didn’t miss the look that passed between the two older gentlemen off to the side. “Hale, did I leave something in the truck?”

“Nope.” He couldn’t help but smile when she was near him. She was just so damn beautiful. “I wanted to see if y’all need any help in here.”

“No. Not me. Dad?”

David waved off the question.

Casey gestured over her shoulder. “I have some accounting work to do in the back. So, um… I’ll go and get that done.” She took a couple of steps backward and stopped. “I’ll see you later at the house?”

He nodded. “I’ve got some things to do at my place and I need to check in with the team, but I wouldn’t miss dinner with the family for anything.”

Hale saw Casey share a quick look with her dad, biting into her bottom lip didn’t darken her smile at all. He was still grinning when she disappeared out of sight.

“So, David tells me you didn’t go to college after you left.”

Hale looked at Mister Sumner. “No, sir. I joined the Army.”

“Army, you say?” Mister Sumner took a sip of his coffee. “Good man. Always knew you’d make something of yourself.”

Hale sighed. “Not my father’s opinion, but I was happy with the decision.”

“I heard some whispers around town of this group of men starting up a security company. You part of that group, son?”

Hale was happy to say, “I am.”

“Heard some talking about a hometown boy, but they called him Hondo. Am I right to think they were talking about you?”

David’s broad smile eased some of Hale’s worry. “That’s Hale, but I’ve yet to hear how he got the name. You free to explain how that happened?”

Hale shrugged. “It happened before I joined Special Forces. We were on patrol in Afghanistan, just me and a buddy of mine. We got a call saying some hostiles had some friendlies pinned down outside of town. We were given permission to go help, which was good since we were already on our way.”

He saw Mister Sumner shake his head, but he never stopped smiling.

“When we got there, we couldn’t find anyone. Just a whole lot of smoking metal. I got an itch at the back of my neck.”

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