Page 44 of Defending Casey

Chapter 8

When they gotout of the truck at the trail head on Saturday morning, Hale could hear Nora wiggling around in her car seat in the extended cab, singing along to a Miranda Lambert song on the speakers.

“You can’t ride in my little red wagon…”

Casey shook her head. “That’s not the same version of the song I used to sing in camp.”

Hale chuckled. “Yeah, we sang the song at Scout camp, but not quite with the same sound.”

She reached out a hand and set it on his. “Wow, we’re sounding like old folks. ‘Back in my day…’”

They laughed together until he turned to look at her, the sunlight outside enough to highlight the healing cut on her lip.

His good mood dimmed, but before the frustration could even start to bubble over, Casey gave his hand a squeeze. When Hale looked at her, she smiled at him and mouthed, ‘It’s okay. I’m fine.’

She’d assured him of that fact more than twice already since he’d shown up at the house, but it hadn’t actually reassured him.

The idea that Brian, his own cousin, had not only kissed her, but had done it without her permission, violently?

The image it had put in his head made him see red.

His mind was filled with the same thoughts he’d had earlier when she’d told him about Brian’s visit to the house when he’d been in Denver with Zeke on an assignment.

In just those few days Brian had put his hands on Casey.

“Hey,” Casey leaned over and pressed a kiss on his cheek, “I thought we went over this earlier. I’m fine.”

He turned and kissed her, just beside her mouth unwilling to put pressure on her lips. “I know why you didn’t call me about it, but I can’t help but think what might have happened and I would have been clueless about it.”

Casey tipped her head toward the back of the truck where Nora sat. “If you want to talk about it later, fine. But,” she gave him a little wink tipping her head back toward the horse trailer and the four-legged surprise that Hale had planned, “I think you’d rather see what Nora has to say about the…” She grimaced a little. “I was about to spell ‘it,’ but she knows that word.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at Casey’s curious expression. “Of course she does. She’s a Fool’s Gold kid. We all know ‘that word.’”

He was grateful for the distraction.

No, he wasn’t going to forget what Brian had done to Casey, but there was no need to let his thoughts on that matter ruin the day for his girls.

Just that thought alone made him smile.

His girls.

He had them all to himself, so he better get a move on.

Hale stepped down from the truck as Casey got out and unbuckled Nora from her car seat. He made his way around to the back of the horse trailer and had Casey’s horse out first.

The buckskin mare was a sweet horse, almost as sweet and beautiful as her rider. He put Savannah’s bridle on and looped the reins over the door handle before he went back in for the second horse.

He heard Nora’s soft sounds of delight as he led the bay gelding out and secured his halter to the side of the trailer before looking down at Nora. “This is my horse now. George is a big boy, but he’s really sweet. The man who trained him wouldn’t agree to sell him until he saw me ride.”

Nora grinned up at him. “George?”

He nodded and gave her a wink. “You don’t like the name?”

Her nose scrunched up a bit. “I guess. It’s kind of a strange name, but as long as he likes it, it should be fine.”

Hale held out his hand to Nora and she took it instantly. Picking her up, he held her at his waist as he walked around to George’s head, giving the horse a good look at them before they walked up closer.

The instant Nora realized that they’d been towing a horse trailer, she’d almost vibrated with joy. It was amazing that she’d been able to pay attention as they reminded her about the basic safety rules regarding horses. It probably wasn’t something she needed to hear since Nora had been riding before she could walk. Still, it was something his parents had taken seriously and drilled into him as a child.

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