Chapter 16 #2
His concern warmed her. There he was, sitting at the table, as comfortable as if he were one of the family.
The odd thing was, he seemed to just fit.
They barely knew him, but he already fit.
She was willing to bet that if his decisions had been different, and they didn’t have their disagreements about development and the type of lifestyle he wanted stacked against them, it would be easy to love him.
“I hope everything’s okay,” she said quietly, trying not to show her feelings. “It was nice to see you.” She produced the most casual smile she could.
“You too.”
“I’ll see you around eleven.”
“Okay.”
She wanted to stay and talk with Jake, but Casey needed her, so she walked down the hallway to her sister’s room, tapped on the door lightly, and pushed it open.
Casey was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, her chin resting on her arms. The phone sat beside her, not in use.
She looked up at Faith and smiled a half smile, as if that was all she could muster.
Faith couldn’t read into the call at all just from looking at her, and she was dying to know how it went.
“Isabella told me you were talking to Scott,” Faith said, sitting down next to Casey. “What did he say?”
“He’s going to Colorado. He’s flying out Friday.”
“What for?”
“To meet with the manager at the Boulder office. I think he’s planning to relocate.”
Scott was relocating. That meant that he was moving on, starting over without Casey. Faith watched her sister closely for emotion. She wanted to be ready when Casey fell apart, but Casey didn’t. Her face was blank, empty.
“What did you say to him?” She wanted to tell Casey to snap out of it, get back on that phone, and scream at Scott not to do it.
What about Isabella? Would she have to fly back and forth from state to state to see her parents?
Or was he going to just leave them behind?
She knew him well enough that she couldn’t imagine he’d do that. What was he thinking?
“What could I say, Faith?”
They sat in silence, side by side as Faith tried to digest this information.
She thought way back to those years she’d known Scott, trying to find some rational reason why he’d go so far away from his wife and child.
People did it all the time—she knew that—but Scott wouldn’t do it.
At least the Scott she knew wouldn’t do it. …Unless he was running.
She remembered what it felt like to see him after he and Casey were married.
She didn’t want to have to watch his affection for someone else, let alone her own sister.
She didn’t want to bump into him in public, have to smile as if nothing bothered her, knowing that her life had been altered.
What if he felt the same way about Casey?
What if he worried she’d find someone who didn’t mind her sporadic work schedule, and the fact that she was never still?
What if she started to fall for this new person and he’d have to run into them in public?
What if Scott loved Casey too much to endure that?
“You need to tell him to stay. Tell him you don’t want him to go.”
“It’s clear what he wants. I’m not going to grovel. I can stand on my own two feet.”
Casey was trying to act as if she was okay with everything. She was too proud to admit defeat, and she wasn’t used to not getting what she wanted, so she pretended like this was what she wanted. But Faith was determined to get through to her.
“What if he wants you back so badly that he can’t stand the idea of seeing you if he can’t be with you, Casey? Did you tell him how you felt?”
“He didn’t give me a chance.”
“Let me call him.” She hadn’t really spoken to Scott in any significant way since that party so many years ago.
She had never thought the idea of calling him would come so easily for her.
But it had been long enough. Scott had been her best friend; she’d told him everything at one point in her life.
She wanted to find out his side of things.
“What?”
“I want to call Scott. I want to find out what he actually thinks about all this.”
Confusion was clear on Casey’s face as she looked at Faith.
Her whole life, Faith had thought everything came easily for Casey, that she never had to struggle, yet she, too, had insecurities—Faith was finding that out more and more.
Even Casey didn’t feel confident enough in her own relationship to tell Scott how she felt.
It seemed so silly. Was she worried he wouldn’t feel the same about her?
Faith knew what her sister needed and she might be able to fix it all if her hunch was right.
“Let me call him. Mom’s getting Isabella’s breakfast. You can help her.”
“I don’t know…”
“Casey. I want to do this as much for me as for you. I’d like to talk to him. I promise not to plead with him or tell him what you think. But I want to hear what he thinks. And he might tell me, Casey.”
Still slightly hesitant, Casey reached for her phone on the floor, typed in her passcode, and handed it to Faith. “Come get me when you’re done,” she said, and then stood up and left the room.
Faith’s fingers felt light with anticipation as she tapped the phone icon and typed in Scott’s name.
His number came up. Seeing his name and number, gave her pause.
As she stared at his name on the screen, she realized how long it had truly been.
This was a big move for her, and she knew it, but just like Nan had said, it was important to take a chance.
She needed to finally be supportive of her sister and her brother-in-law.
She hit “call” and put the phone to her ear.
Her heart pounded as the phone pulsed its ringing signal.
“Casey,” he answered on the first ring. Had he been hoping she’d call back?
“It’s,” she cleared her throat. “It’s Faith, actually.”
She heard rustling on the other end of the line, as if he were sitting up. “Faith? Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no.”