Page 50 of A Lonely Road
I shook it and shot Jake a look. “I don’t know about infamous, but yes. It’s nice to meet you, Casey.”
“I’m going to go check the booking information. I’ll be as quick as I can,” Jake told us. “Sit, chat, give Casey the third degree about my background. Casey, you have my permission totell her anything, unless it makes me look bad. Donotmention that birthday party junior year.”
He winked at me and I laughed, grateful to him for not abandoning us to awkward silence. Casey returned to her seat across the table while I pulled out a chair. Though her lingering smile was friendly, her gaze was razor sharp on my face.
“He’s crazy about you,” she said.
“Sam said the same thing,” I replied evenly.
I got the impression that Casey wasn’t being possessive of Jake, only protective. It struck me much the same as Sam’s attitude, a fact which I filed away to think more about at a later time.
Casey nodded and relaxed into her chair. “I had dinner with Sam last night. She might have mentioned it a few dozen times, but I’ve seen it for myself.”
“You caught me on a bad night,” I said, grimacing.
“To be perfectly frank, I thought I was going to be posting bail for him when that guy grabbed you. Not only was I pretty impressed with the way you brought the sucker down, I was also grateful that you took care of it before Jake could get involved. He’s not a violent man, but he’s got a protective streak a mile wide. Maybe two miles now, with you in the picture.”
A wry smile curled my lip. “Glad I could help out.”
“Are you as crazy about him as he is about you?” Casey asked. My eyes narrowed on her face and she gave a small, unapologetic shrug. “I’m not trying to force any declarations out of you, I just want to know he’s not going to get his heartbroken. Sam doesn’t think you’ll hurt him, but she tends to be an eternal optimist.”
“I have no intention of breaking his heart,” I replied quietly. Part of me was annoyed by the probing, but the other part was pleased to know Jake had friends who were willing to put themselves in uncomfortable positions in order to watch his back. “I’ve never really been known for making declarations of any kind, so I’ll just say that I’ve never wanted something to work as much as I want this to. Does that answer your question?”
Casey’s smile was swift and satisfied. “That’s what I was hoping to hear.”
“Good. I promise I’m not the enemy here, Casey. I—I’m happy. For the first time in a long time, and Jake is the reason for that.”
The expression on Casey’s face softened, but instead of speaking, she reached out and squeezed my hand on top of the table. As my throat clogged with emotion, I gave a quick nod and squeezed back.
It seemed that my friend count in Spruce Hill was slowly increasing.
Once I’d gained control of my voice again, I refocused on Casey with a flare of interest. Maybe it wasn’t my place to question, but I was intensely curious—and desperate to shift the conversation away from myself.
“So, you and Sam seem to be very good . . . friends?”
“Hmm,” Casey replied thoughtfully, but her eyes narrowed for a second before she grinned. “Good friends, yes. We all grew up together.”
It was a very careful non-answer, but I smiled back at her. “Okay then, new subject. Junior year birthday party?”
Apparently, that was the opening Casey had been waiting for, because she launched into a hilarious recollection of Sam and Jake’s seventeenth birthday party. Jake had been dared to chug a half gallon of blue raspberry snow cone syrup and ended up vomiting all over the cake. As a result, his twin gave him a black eye and the guests were all sent home early.
Damn, I wished I could have been there to see it.
Jake reappeared a few minutes later and shot a glare at Casey. From the way I was trying to muffle helpless laughter with my hand, he must have known the subject came up. Unfortunately for him, he could barely muster up even fake outrage and I saw that dimple peeking out at me beneath his scowl.
“Dammit, McDonald. I asked one thing. One thing!”
Casey gave an unrepentant shrug. “Sorry, Jakey boy. She asked. How could I refuse when she turned those big brown eyes on me?”
He grumbled under his breath, sliding into the chair between us. “Yeah, yeah. You get a pass this time, I guess. She’s pretty irresistible.”
I preened for a moment, but my smile quickly dropped. “Did you get the names?”
“I found the host’s name on the booking and sent it over to Chief Roberts. He’ll follow up with them to figure out who else was there. I need to hit the hardware store, Nora. I could have Sam come hang with you at the house, if you want?”
Casey choked back a laugh when I turned my narrow-eyed glare in his direction. “That’s my cue, folks. Nora, it was a pleasure meeting you. Jake, I’ll see you around, if you survive the next ten minutes.” With that, she pushed out of her chair and left the restaurant with her hands in her pockets, whistling a jaunty tune.
Jake blinked at me in confusion. “What did I do?”
