Page 73 of Defending Casey

They shared a laugh.

“Seriously though, I’ll stop. I have to get the munchkin up anyway. I’m going to get her off to school and then I’m going to help dad at the store for the rest of the day. You better take some pictures so I can see what it looks like.”

“I’m going to need a massage after all of this hard work.”

Before she could answer she heard a door slam and then another curse from Hale.

“What happened?”

Hale sighed. “The guys said I needed to cool off and just sprayed me with water from the hose. I may have to kill one of them today…”

She laughed along with him, happy that he had friends who could joke around with him. “Well, you have enough land out there to hide the body, make sure its somewhere remote and bury them deep enough so that predators don’t scent them and dig them up. Oh, and if-”

“Case? Have you been watching those real crime shows again?”

“No, not in a while. Why?”

His laugh was damn sexy. “I think you need to stop watching those for a bit, you’re kind of scaring me.”

“Okay, I’ll lay off the crime shows. For now. I’ll talk to you later.” She kissed the air near the phone and felt butterflies in her stomach. “Love you, Hondo.”

He paused for a moment before he answered. “I love you enough for both of us, Case. The man and the soldier. I’ve loved you as both and I’m going to keep on loving you.”

“Wow,” she sighed. “If you’d said that to me before you left, I would have given you a big ol’ thank you kiss.”

“I’ll collect on that tonight, baby.”

“I’ll be counting on it.”

“Casey, I-”

“Damn it, Hondo! Tell her we all love her so you can get your ass back inside and show me where you hid the Allen wrench.”

“Bye.”

He hung up a moment later and she felt the heat from her cheek against her palm.

Life was really looking up for her.

But first she had to get up out of bed and wake up Nora for school.

* * *

Brian drovestraight down the main street of Fool’s Gold and smiled. No one turned to look at him. Well, no one turned to look at the beat-up old Ford Ranger he was driving in and he smiled. The tint wasn’t the only thing putting up a front at the moment. To anyone outside on the street, he was just going through, they didn’t know he was back for one last look before he put the town behind him for good.

Ever since he’d seen Casey at the furniture store, he’d been on a rollercoaster. Seeing her, happily in Hale’s arms, smiling at him, picking out furniture for a living room. Then a child’s bedroom set.

Bunk beds.

And a crib.

A fucking crib.

His hands tightened on the wheel, and he had to jam on the breaks when someone stepped off of the curb.

His knuckles were white, and his head ached at the thought of Casey letting Hale touch her again after everything she’d been through because of him.

When the way was clear, he put his foot down on the gas and continued on with a quick look at the clock. School had started and even if Nora had been a little late getting up, she’d be in her class and Casey, well, Casey would be headed for work.

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