Page 3 of Defending Casey

She shook her head and the curly ends of her braids bounced around her shoulders. “He’s tired.”

“Tired? Like sleeping?”

“Tired,” she repeated, with extra emphasis on the pronunciation. “Like when you stop working after years and years and years.”

“Ah, retired.”

She nodded. “Yep, like I said, tired.”

Setting his hands on the counter, he spoke again. “So, are you in charge of the store?”

Her eyes widened and her chin dropped as she stared at him. “I’m a kid! I can’t run the store… yet.”

Hale chuckled. She was so adorable. “Point taken. I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “It’s okay. Grampa said it’ll be mine someday, but I have to finish some school first.”

“That’s a good idea. School is good.”

“School,” she sighed dramatically, “I’ll be going to school for-ev-er.”

“I know how that feels.”

Apparently done with that topic of conversation, she leaned forward against the counter. “Do you have a farm or livestock?”

He must have shown his confusion on his face. “Not really.”

His answer confused her in turn. “Then why are you at the feed store?”

It was a good question. “I used to work here when I was younger. I was hoping I could see Mister Sumner and see if he knew what happened to a friend of mine.”

“That’s all? I can help with that. I know everyone around here.” She leaned her elbows on the counter and set her chin into her hands. “Pretty much everyone in town comes into the store at one time or another.”

She sounded like a sage, wise beyond her years.

“You’re a smart kid.”

Grinning at him with pride, she stood up and reached her hand out to him for a shake. “Sonora Foster. You can call me Nora, everyone does.”

Hale went cold, all the blood in his body disappeared.

Foster?

Suddenly, his gaze, already fixed on her face, cleared and memories flooded back.

Foster!?

“Hey, mister. Are you okay? You don’t look good.”

She tugged at her hand, but he couldn’t let it go. He dropped his gaze to look at her hand held in his.

His whole world was turning on its head.

How had he not seen it?

“Oh, you’re not gonna puke, are you?”

He didn’t have an answer for her, not when his heart was in his throat.

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