Page 68 of Defending Casey

They followed behind Tammy as she moved them swiftly through the dining sets and past a selection of carpeting samples and a few moments later they were in a large area with beds, desks, and bunks.

He leaned closer to Casey. “It looks like a couple cabins from a pretty fancy summer camp exploded and all that’s left are the beds.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Exploded, huh? Then this furniture must be really well made.”

“Oh, yes. Of course they are!” Tammy latched onto the idea like a juicy selling point. “All of the furniture we sell is ah-maz-ing. Stepping back she gave them both another head-to-toe look. “Country living, right?” She tilted her head as she looked up at the ceiling, tapping her foot. “Hmm… Oh!” She almost jumped and Hale felt Casey lean a little closer. They both chuckled as Tammy made a beeline through the area. “Come on. Come with me. You’re gonna love this!”

Tammy stopped suddenly and turned back around with a sweeping gesture of her arms. “You’re going to find something here. Look!” She gestured at three bed sets against the wall. “Kathy Kuo Home. Each of these three has ‘Country Girl’ written all over it!”

Hale had to agree she was right. All three of the beds looked like they’d taken a kid-sized playhouse and put beds in them. He listened as Tammy described them all, but when she finished her description, they both agreed out loud. “The last one.”

Hale walked Casey over to look at it up close.

She touched the posts of the bunkbed and smoothed her hands over the ‘walls.’ “It looks like weathered barn wood, but it’s perfectly smooth.”

Tammy was almost bouncing with excitement. “With a single girl, you can set this up any way you want to. There are two beds. A twin and a full, but the full can be set aside if she just wants to sleep up top and use the area underneath as a play space. It really is ideal.”

Hale nodded at her words, but Casey’s was the only input he was focused on. “You like it?”

“Me?” She sighed. “If I had this when I was her age? I would never have left my room.” There was a quiet moment before she shook her head. “Okay, my room and the barn.”

Hale leaned in and kissed the top of her head. “That’s my Casey.”

Before he realized he was doing it, he rubbed his hand over her belly. It had been a little more than a week since that night he’d taken her in their bed, but he could hope. He’d missed her pregnancy with Nora, but no matter when it happened, he was going to be by her side as much as she’d let him.

“Do you want to take a picture and ask her?”

Casey looked up at him and shook her head. “No, the anticipation will kill us.”

“You mean, it’ll kill her, right?”

Casey’s laughter hit him below the belt and in a moment, he was half-hard with wanting her and well on the way to a painful erection when she spoke again.

“She’d be asking you several times a day, every day, until it was delivered and set up. So save us the constant questions and just get it. I mean… if you want it.”

He leaned in and took her lips in a lingering kiss, seeing her dreamy-eyed response. He whispered to her. “I want you.” Then he straightened up to his full height and looked at Tammy. “Yeah, we’ll take it. How long will it take to get it shipped out?”

Tammy took a moment to answer. Her cheeks were flushed with pink as she looked back and forth between them. “This set? We have one in the warehouse. As soon as we can schedule a truck and a crew, that’s all it’ll take. No more than a few days.”

Casey leaned against him, her hand covering his on her belly. “Can you imagine how excited she’s going to be?”

It hit him hard. The idea that in his daughter’s life, this was the first thing he’d done for her. Done something to help care for her, make her happy.

Casey sensed the downturn in his mood and looked into his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Saying the words out loud was even harder than thinking them. “This is the first thing that I’m doing for her, Case. So much time-”

“Don’t think about that. Think about the future.” Her hand on his tightened, comforting him.

“Oh. My. God.”

They both turned to Tammy and saw her staring at them with wide-open eyes. “Are you guys expecting?”

Casey was the one who answered her after a moment of silent laughter. “No. Not yet.”

Tammy playfully swooned. “You guys are soooo cute!”

Casey turned toward him and lifted her hand to his chest giving him a few pats. “Did you hear that? You’re cute.”

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