by Conley, Anne
“I know, I just had to ask…I’m worried.”
“About what?”
He didn’t answer right away, instead spinning her in his arms, examining her from head to toe before pulling her back against his body. “Your tennis shoes are green…” He murmured into her hair.
“So?” She was aware he was changing the subject, but allowed it. She didn’t want to think about Kevin right now, either.
“I’m just picturing you at the sink, in your bra, panties and these tennis shoes, all matching.” His hands at her waist pushed her back into his arousal. Casey giggled.
“How very old-fashioned of you.”
“I’m just making observations.” He kissed her neck, his hot breath making her shiver.
She turned around in his arms, so she was facing him. Brent looped his fingers through her belt loops and pulled her closer. His mouth swept across hers hungrily, before he pulled back, not letting go. He continued his playful tug on her belt loops, bouncing her gently against his body.
“You feeling better?”
A lazy grin stole his features. “Absolutely. In fact, I was wanting to see if you wanted to go out tonight. Do you still like dancing?”
Casey grinned in response. Dancing was perfect. They needed to get out of the house, and there would be lots of people at the Gin. It would be safe.
“I’ve got to run home and check my mail for those re-done surveys before I go out.” At the seriousness on his face, she continued. “I won’t stay, just check my mail and grab some things. Promise.”
“Okay,” he relented, but she could see he wasn’t happy about it. “I’m going to go shower.” He ran his hands through his hair, sighing. “This whole thing with the horses just has me stressed out, I guess. Be careful?”
“I will. I’ll meet you there.”
Casey stayed until Brent had successfully navigated the shower, before she got into her car and drove home. She had called her mom every day of their self-imposed exile from their home, and her mother had been going back to the house to check on things daily. Gloria hadn’t noticed anything missing, but most of Casey’s things were at Brent’s now anyway.
At her house, there was in fact a package from UPS, a large envelope filled with papers detailing the surveys that she required to finish the job. Casey heaved a relieved sigh. She needed this to finish the job, and she had a sneaking suspicion this would be her last job as a telecommuter.
As she shifted everything in her arms, she noticed another package, addressed to her. It was from Kevin. She sighed again, this one a sigh of frustration. As soon as she managed to get him out of her mind, something would happen to make her think about him again, and none of her memories of Kevin were welcome.
She sat on the couch and opened the small box. It was a photo album, one of those that hold five by seven photographs. Each page had a photo, and the page facing it had some note Kevin had written about the event in the photo. It might have been romantic, if the written notes hadn’t been so weird…
For example, opposite a photo of the two of them at the beach, an afternoon which had ended in a ridiculous fight over who would pay to wash the salty sand off his Lexus before it rusted, was a note about how that was one of his favorite days with her. She had cried herself to sleep that night, after being called names and finally washing his car. Hardly something she would consider a favorite memory.
There was another picture, of Casey in the kitchen, dressed to the nines wearing the stiletto heels she was currently missing, with an apron tied around her waist. She had been so angry at him, coming home from work to find out he’d invited co-workers over for a dinner party that night. She’d frantically run to the store, rushed around to get ready, and barely had a decent meal on the table in time. His note? “Remember this? That was a magnificent meal, and the bosses were impressed. I got a raise after that.”
There was even a picture of him and Pamela at her baby shower, a picture that Casey herself had taken, not realizing yet they were lovers. Her knuckles whitened on the page as she read the note accompanying that photo. “This was a great day. You were so generous and giving, making all the food, decorating the conference room, writing down who gave Pam what. I’ll never forget your selflessness that day. You are an amazing woman.”
If she had realized she was doing all that for his mistress, and his baby, she wouldn’t have bothered, and it pissed her off he was acting like she knew and did it anyway.
Her jaw gaped as she slowly turned the pages, re-living horrible memories through his twisted re-telling of events that didn’t happen the way he remembered them. Numbness filled her head as she wanted nothing more than to forget she’d ever met Kevin.
An hour later, she was finished, without realizing how long she’d been absorbed in the photos.
A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her there was more to this than she realized. Everything seemed to point to Kevin as her stalker, but the Kevin Casey knew wouldn’t have the nerve to do anything that malicious. The photos showed a skewing of his perceptions, a loss of a grasp on reality. And it frightened her.
Then she remembered Kevin as she knew him. He was an average guy, trying to live an above average lifestyle, getting caught by the realities he was trying to avoid. This was nothing more than his way of molding his life to fit his skewed perceptions of reality. Maybe he was suffering from some sort of mental illness that kept him living in an alternate reality?
Making the conscious decision to deal with it later, she frantically rushed to shower and change before heading to the Gin. She did her damnedest to get the pictures and notes out of her mind. She was ready for a drink.
When Brent got out of the shower, he was rummaging around looking for a shirt to iron. Casey hadn’t seen him in a dress shirt since she’d moved back up here, and he wanted to impress her. And he was excited to show her off, let everyone in town know that she was his, finally. He needed to look the part.
He’d shaved carefully, using the aftershave he knew she liked. He was pulling out a shirt from his closet that was a blue plaid pattern he knew brought out his eyes, and setting up the ironing board when he heard a truck pull into his driveway.
He peeked out the window to see a white Ford F150 pull up. When the doors opened, three leggy brunettes piled out, talking and laughing together. He could see their mother in their coloring and long curls, although he knew better than almost anyone that that’s about as far as the similarity went. Eagerly, he threw open his door. Mooch was beside himself greeting the visitors, barking gleefully, running from one to the other, nipping at heels and wagging his hind end. Brent could swear the dog was smiling.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He watched as one by one, his cousins Lauren, Alexis and Haley walked through the door, each one laying a chaste kiss on his cheek as they walked by.
“We were in the neighborhood,” Alexis said cagily, and he raised one eyebrow at her.
Lauren cut her off in a no-nonsense manner that Brent was familiar with. Even though she was ten years younger than him, as soon as she could talk, she’d been the bossy one. “We heard about what happened to you, and wanted to kill a few birds with the stone, so to speak. Haley needed to bring some calves to the sale barn, and we all thought we’d tag along and see how our favorite cousin was doing.”
“Well, I’m doing much better. In fact, I have a date at the Gin tonight. Y’all want to tag along? I’d like for y’all to meet Casey.”
Haley’s eyes got round. “The Casey?” He nodded, chuckling to himself. Of course Haley would remember. They’d talked about Casey when she was having boy troubles of her own.
Alexis was practically bouncing in her seat. “I would love to go to the Gin. I haven’t been there since I had to use a fake ID.” Lauren looked at her little sister with a disapproving look, but Brent could see the love and pride shining through. He and Summer and these girls had been close at one time. Brent and his sister spent the summers at their ranch when their pa
rents had been alive. It was one of the reasons Brent had gotten so interested in ranching himself. Although rescuing horses spoke to him more than raising cows did.
He briefly told the girls about the trouble he was having at the main barn, the glass in the horse feed. They were genuinely sorrowful, then inspiration struck.
“While y’all are here, Haley, will you take a look at a new mare I’ve got? She’s the one who broke my ribs, and I’m wondering if a woman’s touch might be what she needs. She may have been abused by a man, which is why she tried to kill me when I gave her the shot.”
Her eyes lit up and she smiled. “Sure!”
“Cool, we’ll do that first thing in the morning. She’s tucked in for the night right now, and I don’t want to disrupt our precarious schedule. Let me iron my shirt and we can go, if y’all want. I’m supposed to meet Casey there in a little while.”
Brent spent some time ironing his shirt, trying to get the creases just right, while the three girls squeezed into his tiny bathroom to change. He chuckled to himself as he travelled back in time to listening to them do the same thing at their own house, thankful he only had the one sister. When he was dressed, they emerged. Lauren was wearing jeans and a sleeveless button down shirt with her worn boots. Alexis was wearing a rather skimpy sundress with boots that he raised his eyebrows at, but didn’t say anything. Haley was dressed for the summer heat, wearing shorts and a T-shirt with sandals. They all looked really good, having done something to their hair and faces that transformed them from country cousins to bar-ready femme fatales. Brent was in for it tonight.
“Y’all ready?” His query was met with a chorus of nods and yes’s as he led the way out to his truck.
“You still not drinking?” Lauren asked him as she scooted herself up into the truck. Haley and Alexis took the backseat.
“Nope. It makes everything else…a little easier.” He had told them at his Nana’s funeral. He’d been having a hard time staying clean those few weeks, and Summer had convinced him to open up to a few more people about his addiction and his difficulties. He had to admit, the immediate unwavering support had been a life-saver for him.
“So, what’s going on with you and Casey?” Haley was leaning up from the backseat, her hand on his headrest.
“Um…We’re officially a couple. But I’m trying to do everything right, you know?”
“Does she know? About…”
“Yeah. And that’s why I’m trying to be real good. She was pissed when she found out.”
“Why?” Alexis had been the one to ask that question. Brent figured it was probably because she had her own mistakes she was living with due to others’ reactions too.
“It’s a long story, but the gist of it is that her dad was an alcoholic, and I lied about myself to her. She had sworn she would never have a relationship with someone like that, and I knew it. So I lied. When she found out she was pissed.” He grinned in an effort to lighten the mood. “But I think I’m wearing her down.”
They finally pulled up to the parking lot of the Gin a little late, but Casey wasn’t there yet. Brent pulled out his phone to send her a text, but Alexis tugged on his arm to get him out on the dance floor with her. He led her through a complicated series of spins and twirls around the dance floor, and when the song was over, he saw Lauren smiling widely at him. He gestured her over for a turn. After dancing with all his cousins, they cajoled him out on the floor for a variation of the Harlem Shuffle that they’d all done as kids.
Panting and out of breath, they all stumbled to the side of the dance floor and Haley went to get them drinks and water. Alexis wrapped her arms around Brent and fingered his hair.
“You need a haircut, Cuz.” Her fingers twirled through his mop of curls on top.
After taking the bottle of water that Haley brought him, he pulled out his phone to check the time, and was shocked to find that Casey was over an hour late.
“I need to text Casey.”
“Dance with me first, Cowboy.” A strange grip nearly pulled his arm out of socket, dragging him back out onto the dance floor. When he turned to see who it was, he saw Lindsey, her eyes glazed and cheeks flushed with alcohol.
“I really need…” He was interrupted by her jerking his body close to hers, and she started swaying rather slowly to the song playing, a love song. Of course. Brent sighed and resigned himself. “Just the one dance, Lindsey. I’ve already told you…”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. You don’t do relationships. I get it, you hate me.” She pushed her body flush against his, slowly grinding her hips into him. He tried to pull away without making a scene.
“I don’t hate you, I’ve got a girlfriend.”
She looked over his shoulder at his passel of cousins. “Which one? I don’t see the one from your house.”
Through his clenched jaw, Brent bit out, “Those are cousins. Casey’s not here yet.” He lowered his face to hers and lifted her chin so he could be sure she saw his eyes when he told her to leave him alone. “Lindsey, I’ve been trying to be nice, because I don’t want to hurt our professional relationship. You’re the best vet in town, but you’ve got to stop this. I’m with Casey now.”
As if she didn’t hear him, she raised herself up on her toes and broached the distance between their lips, kissing him. He tasted the alcohol, the stale cigarettes, and coldness. He pushed away from her.
“I told you to stop, Lindsey. No more.” He dropped his arms from around her waist and left the dance floor before the song was over, finding his cousins, and escaping Lindsey’s tentacles.
Chapter 25
Casey had completely lost track of time and knew she was late. As she parked next to Brent’s truck, she felt a shiver of anticipation. She walked into the Gin, and a layer of cigarette smoke sank into her pores almost immediately. She cast her gaze around, looking for Brent and when she found him, she stood transfixed, a torrent of emotions boiling up under her skin.
He was on the dance floor with a woman, spinning her around in a waltz that they danced together as if they’d learned at the same time. They looked like they were made to dance with each other. After the song ended, he stayed in a cluster of women, doing some sort of line dance. She stood there and watched, as three of the women stumbled off the floor with him, laughing and they all went into a darkish corner of the bar. One of them wrapped herself in his arms, and started playing with his hair. Another one spoke some words in his ear. The third one, patted his arm, before walking away towards the bar.
The familiarity of their touch told her that Brent knew these gorgeous women. They were all legs and had long silky brown hair. And they were quite a bit younger than her. She watched as he pulled out his phone, right before Lindsey, the vet, came up behind him and pulled on his arms, tugging him out onto the dance floor. She watched as they danced close, too close, and then they kissed. Biting back the burning tears, Casey spun and ran from the bar.
Outside, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her mom’s number.
“Mama?” The endearment she hadn’t used since she was a child fell from her lips.
“What’s wrong, Baby?”
“I need to go to the cabin for a few days. Is the key still in its spot?” They’d kept the key under a rock formation near the woods surrounding the cabin for years. She didn’t think it would be gone, but she needed to be sure before she drove all the way out there.
“Of course it is, but why are you going to the cabin? Did something happen?” Her mother’s voice was etched with concern.
“I’ll call you later…I-I just need to get out of town for a few days.” The tears were coming and Casey wanted to be off the phone and inside her car when they came. She’d walked to her car, and was leaning on the door.
“Do you want me to meet you out there?”
“No. I just need to be alone.”
“I love you Sweetheart. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do, I love you too.” Somehow, hearing those words from her
mother made her feel marginally better, but she still wanted to break down alone. She would allow herself a mini-breakdown here, then get to the cabin and have a full-on, berserker style blow up, where no one could hear her.
Once in the privacy of her own car, she allowed the tears to fall. She was so caught up in her own misery, she didn’t notice the shadow in the back seat, nor did she feel the car shift when the shadow moved.
She buried her face in her hands on the steering wheel, and cried heavy, angry tears. She felt so betrayed by the man she loved. Strains of country music floated out the door of the bar, encroaching on her solitude, but she couldn’t hear them over her jagged sobbing. She hit the steering wheel with the palm of her hand in angry frustration, angry she’d been duped again. Angry she’d thrown her heart away.
Suddenly, a hand at her throat choked the tears back, and the shadow spoke.
“It sounds like you actually missed me Casey.”
Chapter 26
By the time the girls had been ready to leave the Gin, Brent had regretted inviting them in the first place. They wanted to stay later than he did, especially after it was apparent that Casey was a no-show. Obviously, she’d taken his words at the house more seriously than he’d intended.
He didn’t mean to accuse her of breaking glass in the barn, but it was a question he’d had to ask. Maybe she was madder about it than he realized. They’d been spending so much time together lately, maybe she was needing some space of her own for a little while? He hated the idea of her at her house with Kevin unaccounted for, but maybe she’d decided to just stay in and be alone for the evening. Since his house wasn’t big enough for everybody, he happily dropped his cousins off at a hotel, promising to bring Lauren’s truck out the next day before driving over to Casey’s house.
He couldn’t imagine what had kept her from coming out, and his mind went to all the dark places. His first and worst thought was that she had come home while Kevin was there, and something horrible had happened to her. He’d tried to tell himself that wasn’t likely, which was why he’d stayed with his cousins. That, and if Kevin wasn’t there, she was likely to get pissed at him for encroaching on her solitude. She probably laid down for a nap or something, and time got away from her.
