Page 53 of Defending Casey

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Casey didn’t knowwhat to think when she got the message from Hale. He had to meet with his team.

Okay.

With an odd little shrug she realized that she was more than a little disappointed that they had to cancel. Then again, if she had been with him during his time in the military, a message like that would have just been something she had to get used to.

They were just starting to reconnect with each other, she couldn’t help but think there was something else going on. No, she could think it was just Hale meeting with his team, but she wasn’t feeling all that confident about whatever it was developing between the two of them.

Looking at her phone again she blew out a frustrated breath.

There might have been a time when she would have stared at her phone all day waiting for him to send another message, but she wasn’t a teenage girl anymore.

She was a woman grown and she had a child she was raising. Staring at her phone? That was a luxury she didn’t have. She didn’t want to be ‘that’ woman.

Besides, she had more than enough chores to keep herself busy at the house. Since Brian had kissed her and she sent him away, he hadn’t come back to see her. It was better this way until they figured out how to be friends or even if they could still be friends after he’d crossed that line.

Before she went inside the house to tell Nora that they had a change in plans, she heard the screen door open behind her.

Her father took one look at her face and knew something was up. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

She shook her head. “I just got a message from Hale. He had to cancel today and meet with his team.” Casey hated that she frowned as she said it out loud. “I’m sorry, dad. It’s got me in a mood.”

He stepped outside and the screen door swung closed behind him. “It’s tough, seeing you unhappy, Casey.” He put an arm around her shoulders and tugged her close. “You’ve been in love with Hale for more than ten years, but you’ve only been with him for a little less than two. What has you worrying?”

She turned in her father’s half embrace and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “It’s just silly really-”

“Hey,” he brushed her hair back from her face with his free hand, “nothing is silly when it comes to the heart. And you, my dear girl, have a heart as big as the sky. If you feel something, don’t ignore it or shove it down thinking you shouldn’t feel it.” He let out a sigh and continued. “I think if I’d talked to you more when you broke up with Hale… If I’d made you tell me what was going on… Maybe we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“You forget how stubborn and headstrong I was then.”

He gave her a wink. “And how stubborn and headstrong you are now.”

They shared a soft laugh together.

“Okay, I own that too, dad.” She leaned into his reassuring warmth. “I guess I thought that we were working toward something and today was like this… this big step in the right direction. So when he messaged me to call it off, I think I started reading into it almost immediately. It’s like I’m waiting for something to go wrong. Something to drive a wedge between the two of us.”

He nodded. “It happens. One moment you’re flying high and then something goes wrong and you’re going to worry over every little thing that pops up. The best thing you can do is not let old habits create conflicts for you.”

She narrowed her eyes at his face and puzzled her way through his words.

“Old habits… huh.”

He smiled at her suspicious look. “Hey, I’m just offering some advice.”

“You’re giving me a riddle.”

He shrugged. “You say potato.”

“I say tater tots.”

He hugged her close and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “And you wonder where Nora gets her sassy nature.”

Casey laughed. “It’s in her DNA, dad. I can’t fault her, but just remember this when you encourage her to speak up for herself and she turns it on you.”

He held up a hand in surrender. “I know, I know… you were always a little too literal for my peace of mind. Your mother on the other hand had this way of talking to you and I felt like she communicated more with just her presence than her words. Like you could feel her words like her love.”

They both blinked back tears, but it was Casey who spoke. “I wish I could be half the mother she was.”

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