Page 56 of Defending Casey

Her friend’s sweet words made her eyes water.

“Hale was always like that too. While some guys on the football team were just like rampaging toddlers, Hale was focused. Mature. That’s probably why college teams wanted him. He was as talented as he was collected when it came to plays on the field. He’s an old soul, too.”

Casey smiled. “I agree. He’s got that way about him that makes him easy to lean on.”

“Easy to trust?”

Those words. That question. The solemn look in Sparrow’s eyes made it hard to argue with the truth that Casey felt.

“Yeah.”

“Then where’s the problem?”

“Me,” Casey tasted bile on the back of her tongue. “I’m the problem. I’m worried that I’ll make another stupid mistake like I did back then while Hale is just starting to forgive me for lying to him. For sending him away.

“I worry that he’s going to wake up one day and realize that he could have… should have had more time with Nora. I worry that he’s going to think I didn’t try hard enough to find him.”

“But you did.”

Casey’s smile was a little tepid. When she had started getting to know Sparrow and becoming friends with the other woman, Casey had told her about her past with Hale and how she’d broken up with him. “I know. At least I feel like I did, but I’m just worried he won’t think that and one day he’s just going to break things off for real.

“I don’t think I could survive losing him again like this.”

“You can’t think that way, Casey. It’ll drive you nuts.”

Casey’s little hiccup of a laugh made her groan. “I think I might have broken that threshold already.”

“I think you need to stop borrowing trouble, Casey.” Sparrow’s expression changed, became tighter and more serious. “Being an officer is a hard job. The uniform commands respect from some, hate from others. Every time an officer puts on their uniform and steps out onto the street, or drives out on patrol, there are a million and one things that could happen.

“If I worried about each and every possible bad outcome from every move I make I’d never leave the office.”

Casey shook her head. “Then what do you do?”

“We’re trained in any number of circumstances. We’re trained to plan ahead but be ready for anything to happen. We have to believe that our training and our fellow officers are going to be able to handle whatever happens. You don’t know what the future holds, Casey. No one does. Worrying about problems before they happen is just going to weigh you down. It might even make things harder for the two of you to get things back on track.”

Casey felt a gentle arm wrap around her waist and turned to see Avery standing beside her.

“I agree with Sparrow, Casey. You can’t worry about all the things that could go wrong because then you won’t enjoy what’s right in front of you.”

Casey wasn’t sure what she should say right then, but a knock on the glass window at the front of the shop turned everyone’s heads in that direction.

Nora and her father were standing outside waving at her.

The three ladies waved back, and Avery leaned in for a one-armed hug. “Your flowers are ready at the front. Want to take them with you?”

Casey smiled and found that she meant it. The weight she’d had on her shoulders since receiving Hale’s message had lightened considerably. “I’ll take it with me.”

She looked at the other two and felt her heart ease.

“Thanks, both of you. I don’t know how this will all work out or if it even will, but I know one thing I’m going to do differently thanks to you two.”

Avery smiled and Sparrow looked a little hesitant at the comment.

“I’m going to go home and, later, when Nora’s down for the night, I’m going to go and see Hale. I think there’s a lot we need to talk about, and I’ve been putting it off not wanting to stir up bad memories or cause any trouble between us. I feel like I’ve been putting that distance between us because I’m not sure I’m still the one that he wants in his life. But I’m not going to put it off anymore either.”

Together, the three walked to the front counter and Avery placed the vase in Casey’s hands.

“Beautiful, just like you.”

Casey chuckled. “I wish I was… but thanks.”

Before she got to the door, her father opened it up for her.

Casey couldn’t wait to get home because she had someone important to see that night. After all, she needed to thank him for the flowers, at the very least.

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