Chapter 59
—Reed—
When my personal phone rang, the name on the screen almost stopped my heart.
Connie.
My palms immediately grew clammy with dread, and I answered the call a little too gruffly. “What is it?”
“Uh…” Poor Connie stammered thanks to my rude greeting.
I hissed a curse. “Sorry, Connie. I panicked. How are things?”
In my mind, I could see her pursing her lips. She took a second to collect herself, then steadily said, “Things are good, Posie is absolutely okay.”
My stance deflated in relief, only to pull taut again when she added, “But we’ve had a development, sweetheart.”
Concern had me shifting forward in my chair, ready to bolt from the office. “Which is?”
Connie’s voice dropped to a murmur. “Kasey’s here.”
~
“I need to go,” I announced, snapping to my feet with my phone still clamped in my hand.
Eric did a double take as I hurriedly shut down my computer and snatched up my car keys.
He was poised to bolt with me. “Where?”
“Home.”
Confusion pulled his brows lower as his spine straightened. “Why? Has something happened?”
My brain scrambled to function through the shock as I explained, “Kase is there.”
“What?” Eric pushed his rolling chair away from his desk. “At your place?”
I worked my tongue around my mouth, demanding it to lose the numb sensation. “Apparently. Connie just rang. Kasey turned up out of the blue.”
“Shit, dude. Do you need backup?”
Shaking my head, I rushed around our desks, gunning for the exit. “No. But can you let Gary know I’m at home for the afternoon? Call it a family emergency.”
Eric’s confirmation faded as I wove through the hallways that connected the open plan office room to the front desk at reception.
Gary, the station chief, was coincidentally coming in as I hastened from the building.
“Where—?”
“Family emergency,” I barked. “Call me if you need me.”
“Fuck, Gatlin, unwedge your attitude from your ass, will ya?”
Ignoring him and anticipating a reprimand when I returned to work, I jogged to my car and threw myself behind the wheel.
The haze refused to clear from my head, and I drove while feeling incapable and unfocused. My chest grew tighter the closer I got to home, and my coordination was straight-up embarrassing as I hit the curb pulling into my driveway too fast.
I slammed to a halt next to Connie’s car, then launched myself through the front door of my home. My dramatic entrance was a stark contrast to the lull inside. Within the glass and timber construction, Connie calmly approached with Posie in her arms. I glanced around her to see Kasey outside on the deck, staring motionlessly out across the lake.
Connie explained before I needed to ask. “She’s patiently waiting and chose to get some fresh air while we had a chat. Would you like me to stay, or shall I call it a day?”
I lifted Posie from her arms. “Thank you for calling me, Connie. I appreciate it. I’ll take it from here though.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Text me later if you need me tomorrow.” She patted my arm affectionately. “She’s worried about you, you know. We all are.”
With that, Connie shouldered her bag, gave me one last sympathetic smile, then thanked me as I opened the oversized front door for her.
I waited for her to drive away before closing it with a resolute thump.
Heart in my throat and lungs squeezing with overwhelming insecurity, I silently made my way into the living area and gently laid Posie under her baby play gym. I willed my pulse to calm as I slowly stood, and after taking a measured inhale, I turned toward the large glass slider that led onto the deck.
If sight alone could cut me off at the knees, I would have been on the floorboards within a blink. Kase no longer looked out to the lake; she’d turned and stared directly at me through the double-glazing that separated us.
Frozen in disbelief, time stood completely still for one, two, three beats before shattering when Kasey set a hand on the door handle.
She slid the door open, never breaking eye contact, then took the first tentative step toward me.
“Hey,” she offered, no more than a whisper, but loud in the tension.
“Kase,” I breathed out.
“In the flesh.” Her smile visibly wavered at the corners, giving me an odd sense of satisfaction to know that she was as uneasy as I was.
She quietly slid the door closed behind her, keeping her movements slow and smooth as if sneaking up on a wounded animal.
“Simone called…” Kase started.
A wash of relief lightened the ever-present burden, but the fear that came with her knowing how much I’d struggled recently created a sharp spike of shame.
I nodded, unable to speak around the knot in my throat. My gritted jaw did nothing to stop the sting from increasing in the back of my nose, nor did sniffing hard. My body vibrated with the effort it took to hold myself together.
As soon as Kase opened her arms in invitation, I shattered harder than I ever thought possible. Exactly the way I needed to.
The relief.
The sweet, sweet relief.