Page 55 of Defending Casey

When Casey and Avery shared a look, Sparrow leaned back.

“What? It was him, right?”

“Of course.” Avery put the vase she’d been working on off to the side and set another one in front of her. It was purple glass and a simple bowl style. “He asked me to put together something pretty for you. I get the feeling there’s a reason why he wanted to get you some flowers.”

Casey sighed and leaned against the counter. “Maybe. I don’t know actually. Nora and I were supposed to go to his house this afternoon to see him, and he texted this morning that he had to go meet with his team.”

Avery looked over her shoulder at the refrigerated case and paused. “So… I’m going to go with something pretty with bright colors.” While she walked over to the cooler to pick out some flowers, Casey felt Sparrow move a little closer.

“You think something’s going on?”

Casey felt her cheeks pink. “I don’t know.” She turned toward Sparrow and leaned her elbow on the counter. “I think I’m at the point where I’m questioning all kinds of things. It’s not all about Hale. I had a thing… a confrontation with Brian.”

Casey could see the moment when Sparrow melded friend with law enforcement officer.

Sparrow reached out a hand and touched Casey’s arm. “You’re okay, right?”

There wasn’t an answer that Casey felt comfortable with. Yes or no didn’t adequately cover it. “I’m working on it. I just had no idea that he had feelings for me the way he did. He never said a thing to me before and now…”

“Hale’s been gone for a decade. Brian probably thought he had plenty of time, but now that Hale is back, he…”

Casey bit into her bottom lip and watched as Avery set two bunches of flowers on the counter beside her. Purple hyacinths and white tulips. They were so beautiful and lush that they should have completely distracted her, but still in her heart she felt that moment of panic when Brian had grabbed her.

“Casey?”

She turned to look at Sparrow. “I’m okay. I really am. Hale had a talk with Brian about it and Brian left to talk to a friend about a job in Colorado Springs. I think that’s the best thing for now. So please, can we just drop it?”

Sparrow lifted a brow at Casey’s words but didn’t press her further.

Avery cut the ties holding both bunches and gave them a little shake over the large greens bucket at the edge of the counter. Some leaves fell into it before she set them back down. “So, the flowers are because of the change of plans for today, I’m guessing.”

Casey shrugged. “I guess, but he doesn’t have to send me flowers when he needs to meet with his team. I’m not saying I understand the kind of bond they have since I haven’t learned too much about what they’re doing here in Fool’s Gold.”

“So…” Lifting her shears, Avery cut the bottoms of a couple of stems at an angle and continued on to the next stems as she talked. “Is it because he doesn’t want to talk about it? Or something else?”

Casey was surprised by the question. Not because of Avery, but because as soon as Avery said the words, she realized that there was ‘something else’ kind of holding her back.

“It’s me, I think.”

She saw the others look at each other before Avery continued cutting the stems.

“I’ve been feeling like I’m stuck in some kind of time loop. One moment when he kisses me, I’m back in high school and then I look at him and he’s not that boy. He’s a man. A man who has lived through danger. He said he’s been shot a few times. He’s lost friends. Seen innocents die. Gone after the people who killed them and stopped them from hurting other people. I feel like he’s lived this whole life outside of Fool’s Gold. And except for the time I went to the PBR in Vegas to talk to some feed distributors, I’ve never been outside of Colorado.

“He’s moved on from those days, but I feel like I might be stuck in them. Yes, we have a child, but he’s the only man I’ve ever been with and that was only one night. I think,” she put her hand to her chest and found her heart beating furiously under her palm, “I think I’m afraid to ask him more about his life because I know he’ll ask about mine and I don’t have much to tell him. That would be a very one-sided conversation and really, I’m going to look like a total bumpkin. What’s he going to want with me then?”

Avery was stumped. She didn’t say a word, but she studiously worked on the flower arrangement before her. Not that Casey blamed her. This was a ten-year long argument with herself knowing that Hale was out in the world discovering things and she was back at home doing daily chores and changing diapers. He wouldn’t intentionally judge her for her lack of experience, but she didn’t want him to feel the weight of their differences.

Casey felt Sparrow set a hand on her shoulder and she reluctantly looked at her friend. She told herself that she’d be okay as long as she didn’t see any pity in Sparrow’s expression.

“We never really knew each other during high school, but I knew Hale back then.”

A flare of sunlight flashed across Casey’s face, and she saw the front door open up and an older couple walked in.

“Come over here.” Sparrow tilted her head toward the back of the shop and Casey nodded, following her so they wouldn’t block the counter. Standing near the door to the back of the shop, Sparrow continued. “Have you ever heard folks talk about ‘old souls?’”

Casey gave her an easy smile. “Yeah. My mom, she was one. She had this settled nature about her like things didn’t phase her like they did other people. I wasn’t lucky enough to inherit that part of her.”

Sparrow shook her head. “You got other gifts from her. I’m sure that’s why you’re such a great mom.”

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