Page 57 of Defending Casey

Chapter 10

At first,Hale didn’t hear the knock at the door.

His mind was focused on the box sitting on the card table he was using in the kitchen to eat off of at mealtimes. He’d already read through a half a dozen letters and he was exhausted. Each letter was like traveling back in time. Every word affected him in some way, lifting his spirits or crushing them as well.

There were times he wanted to go back to his father’s house and raise hell and then there were times he wanted to grab his keys and go over to Casey’s house and tell her what he’d learned. He just couldn’t seem to leave the letters behind or any one of them unread.

She’d delivered every single one to his father and his father had told her each time that he didn’t know where Hale was.

His father had lied to her every time, turning her away.

The admission had taken something out of the old man, but Hale couldn’t feel all that sorry for him.

He’d seen Casey pregnant.

He’d let her beg him to pass the letters along and all he’d done was stuff them in an old cigar box and pack them away in the closet.

Closing his eyes, Hale felt his head sink forward as he willed away the blind rage he felt toward his father.

All of that time… lost.

Knock knock.

Hale paused for a minute, unsure if he’d heard the sound or if it was just wishful thinking.

Knock knock.

That, he heard.

Getting up on his bare feet, he walked across the room to the front door and at the last moment saw Casey’s face through the glass panels at the top of the door.

He opened the door just as she raised her hand to knock again. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she answered back. “I’m sorry to come over without calling, but I wasn’t sure-”

He wrapped his arm around her body and stepped forward until he had her pressed against him. “I missed you, Case.”

She was startled and stuttered a bit. “I… I missed you too, Hale. I-”

“I love you, Casey.”

He saw the widening of her eyes and heard the soft intake of breath as her lips parted a little more.

He kissed her.

He slanted his lips over hers again, needing the connection.

He tilted his head one way and then the other, coaxing a soft sigh from her lungs and then he swept his tongue inside her mouth and felt a breathy moan rise from her chest. He drank it down and wrapped his arms tighter around her.

When he finally pulled back it was only to look down into her face. Her eyes were dark in the evening light. The golden glow from the lamp above the door didn’t really touch her face since he stood between them, but he could see well enough to know that her pupils were wide and the slightly glazed look in them was because of him.

There were hundreds of things he wanted to do, thousands, but he had to slow down. He had to at least find out why she was there.

Before he could ask, she started to speak. “I got your flowers. They’re beautiful.”

“Just like you,” his words were whispered but he felt them on his lips, or maybe he was still feeling their kiss. “Come inside.”

It was an invitation, but it took a moment for him to release her enough to let them walk inside. Feeling her against his body, he just didn’t want to let go, not for a moment.

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