8. Casey
Chapter Eight
CASEY
When Leo asked me out to dinner, all I did was stare at him until he prompted, “Casey?”
I kicked at my brain, ordering it to function.
“Of course! When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“So you’re going to dinner with Leo?” Janet asked the next morning.
Bless her heart, she had actually vacated the premises the night before. Which kind of shocked me, but then maybe she hoped Leo and I would get it on in the café. I definitely wouldn’t put that past her.
“Yeah,” I said, feeling breathless just thinking about it. “I’ve been meaning to ask you what you wanted to tell me about him.”
“In case you didn’t know, he has a daughter named Dora. She’s six, and he never knew about her until Dora’s mother died because she never told him about her.”
Seeing as I wasn’t ready to tell Janet that I’d set up fake therapy with Leo for some crazy reason that made no sense to anyone other than me, I wasn’t ready to tell her that I knew all that. I just nodded.
I was relieved when Josie came striding from the back into the front precisely when a group of customers entered. I could get away with vague responses if Janet wasn’t paying too much attention. While I knew the whole story about Leo’s situation with his daughter, part of me was a little puzzled that it didn’t give me pause. What the hell was I doing going on a date with a single dad? I didn’t need extra complications in my messy life.
“Hey!” Josie stopped beside me at the counter, bouncing lightly on her toes. She finished tying her apron around her waist and got to work beside me.
“So, who are you having dinner with?” she asked a few minutes later while we were in the thick of prepping coffees and serving customers.
I slid my gaze to hers, feeling the heat flash into my cheeks. “Oh, so you heard that?” I hedged.
“I sure did.” Her eyes were twinkling.
Josie was newly in love with a childhood friend. There was a little drama around it because they’d been cheated on by their respective partners in high school. I personally thought it was perfect karma that they ended up falling in love.
“Leo,” I said under my breath.
“Oooooh!” she exclaimed. “Leo is a good guy. I told you a month ago he thought you were cute.”
She looked so satisfied with herself I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
She shrugged. “I love being right about love.”
“We’re having dinner,” I protested. “I think talking about love is getting a little ahead of things.”
“I like Leo. And he’s a single dad. Points for him.”
“How do you know that?” I couldn’t even restrain my curiosity.
“Uh, Tate. They’re firefighters together,” she pointed out. “Tate says Leo’s great, so he gets my vote.”
I snorted. “Well, good. So, if I have more questions about Leo, are you the one I should ask?” I teased.
Josie lifted one shoulder in a light shrug. “I may not be as shameless as Janet, but I’ll find out anything I can. My mom usually has the down-low on all the gossip.”
Our conversation was interrupted by a large group of customers. I proceeded to obsess about Leo during any spare moment. When I went home that night, I was restless. I tried to watch some distracting TV shows, but nothing sucked me in enough to stop thinking about Leo.
My body kept remembering his kiss while I wondered just what kind of mess I had potentially made for myself. Whenever I started to worry too much about anything, not just Leo, I reminded myself I’d already been through something rough. Surely, in the wheel of random events, I’d get a pass for a little while. My sister had died, and I would miss her for the rest of my life. Worrying about a dinner date didn’t rank too high on the list of things to be particularly concerned about. With the tangle of complications I was facing with my sister’s death, I knew that I couldn’t run away from my problems. They followed me no matter where I went.