34. Leo
Chapter Thirty-Four
LEO
Our therapist looked between us. Every so often, I almost burst out laughing at these appointments. It all started as a joke. Casey didn’t even talk much about why she dragged me in there to be her fake fiancé. Now that we were actually a couple and we’d fessed up to our therapist about how the whole thing started, I honestly thought, if her parents showed up in town, I could roll with it and pretend like we were engaged.
There’d been a time in my life when the idea of being engaged to anyone would’ve given me hives. Ever since Dora had come into my life, I truly hadn’t had time to think about relationships. And yet, I wanted my engagement to Casey to be more than fake.
“So, you’re trying to figure out the timing for when Casey can actually spend the night at your house when Dora is there?” Delaney prompted.
I took a slow breath. “I am. By the way, I feel like there should be an instruction manual for parenting. There are so many unknown factors. Whenever I ask people for feedback, everybody gives me a different answer.” I lifted my gaze to Delaney. “You’re the expert. Tell me what to do, how to handle this part.”
She laughed softly, and I started to laugh with her. When I glanced toward Casey and saw her hands twisting in her lap, I knew something was amiss.
“What’s going on with you, Casey? You seem nervous and I don’t sense it’s about when to stay over at Leo’s house.” Delaney’s gaze instantly sobered.
Casey’s breath drew in quickly. She turned to look at me, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I think it’s okay if we don’t know yet and we wait. I didn’t know how to talk to you about this, but Nathaniel’s still out on bail. My parents think he’s going to win the case. He sent me a message that felt threatening. I just… I don’t want anything to happen to Dora.”
Anger and fear slammed into my chest. It felt like someone had literally punched me, directly over my heart. “Casey, he can’t hurt Dora or me. He’s in North Carolina.”
She twisted her hands again. “My parents don’t believe he’s had any involvement. I don’t know how to get them to understand, or believe me.”
“What does this mean for us?” I pressed.
“You and Dora mean a lot to me, and I don’t want to mess this up. I need to make sure he can’t cause any problems.”
“What is he doing, Casey?” Delaney chimed in.
Casey burst into tears. Over the next few minutes, between sniffles, blowing her nose, and wiping her eyes with tissues, Casey explained that Nathaniel had texted her and was threatening to somehow cause problems for her father. “Nathaniel told me not to talk to the police, but I already did, and I don’t know what to do.”
Delaney was quiet for a few moments before she gently offered, “It makes sense that you’d be afraid. I can’t tell you what to do, but I think you should talk to the police officer about what’s happening.”
Casey looked toward me, and I felt all twisted up inside. I wanted to help her, but it felt like she was trying to keep me at bay.
“What do you think I should do?” she asked.
“Let me help you.”