Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
FLETCHER
I tried to stay calm in front of Christine, but as soon as I take off toward the parking lot, all bets are off. I call out for Casey over and over, my heart sprinting in my chest.
Like Liam said, he’s probably just hiding somewhere.
There’s no way something happened to him. There’s no way someone took him. Not when I was standing right there. I was right there.
I blink, and for a moment, I’m back in the fire. I’m chasing Lucy up the stairs, barely able to see a foot in front of me through the smoke. I’m calling for her, but my voice strains against my throat.
I shake my head to clear it.
Casey. I have to find Casey.
I search every corner of the park on the way to the parking lot, but he’s nowhere to be seen. My hands shake as I unlock my car, jump inside, and turn it on. I’m about to shift into drive when a flash of movement in my rearview mirror catches my attention. I whip around, and there it is again through the back window.
I jump out of the truck and circle to the back.
And there in the bed, tucked in the corner, is Casey.
A choked sound escapes my throat, and I nearly fall to my knees.
“Christine! Liam! Over here!” I shout before jumping into the bed and hurrying toward him.
He’s curled into a ball, his arms over his head like he’s shielding himself from an explosion.
“Casey,” I say gently as I crouch in front of him.
He peers up at me, his cheeks stained with tears.
I take his face between my hands, inspecting every inch of him. “You all right? You okay?”
He sniffles and nods.
“Oh, thank God.” I pull him against my chest and let out a shaky breath.
“I’m sorry,” he hiccups.
“Oh, Casey. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay.” I peek over the top of the car to make sure Chris and Liam heard me. Sure enough, they’re both hurrying over.
“I don’t want to go with him,” he whispers.
I tighten my arms. “You don’t have to, Casey. I promise.” I pull back and look him in the eyes. “But you can’t run off like that, okay? You scared your mom and me really bad.”
God, he looks fucking terrified. Of his own dad.
I hate this for him. I hate it so goddamn much. I’ve always had a soft spot for him, even before Christine came into the picture. He’s probably the smartest kid I’ve ever met, and genuinely funny. He makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts sometimes. And he’s kind. Not in a just following what he’s taught is polite kind of way. You can tell that empathy comes naturally to him.
But I’ve seen what bad situations can do to kids. Seen their personalities change, their lights dim. It was all around me growing up.
Logically, I know this isn’t the same. But the thought of that happening to him, I can’t bear it.
His lower lip wobbles. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. Come on. Let’s go see your mom.” I scoop him up, and he wraps his arms around my neck as I climb down from the truck.
Christine is fully sobbing by the time she reaches us, and I gently transfer Casey to her arms.
“He’s fine,” I say. “He’s okay.”
She falls to her knees and brushes Casey’s hair from his face, inspecting him much like I did a second ago.
“I’m sorry,” Casey cries.
“Oh, Casey. You can’t run off like that, okay? Promise me.”
He nods, and she pulls him into a tight hug.
I check for any sign of Julian, but Liam already beat me to the punch. The two of them stand a few yards away, arguing and gesturing wildly with their hands. But after a few moments, their dad relents and turns for his car.
I crouch on Casey’s other side and run my hand over Christine’s hair. Despite having Casey back now, she hasn’t stopped crying, and her breathing is dangerously close to hyperventilating. I lean my forehead against hers. “He’s gone. He’s leaving. It’s all right. You’re okay. You’re both okay.”
Tears stream down her cheeks as she pulls in a shaky breath. Casey’s face is buried against her chest, and she keeps one arm protectively wrapped around him, her other hand fisted in my shirt.
For a moment, I’m lost in her eyes as the adrenaline subsides.
But then. But then.
My eyes widen, and I drop my hand from her face and pull back.
Her eyebrows tug together in question before she sits up a little straighter, as if also just now remembering where we are.
That there are many, many people around.
“Chris,” I breathe, hoping she can see how sorry I am in my eyes. “I didn’t—I wasn’t thinking?—”
She shrinks into herself as she looks around, her arms tightening protectively around Casey, but then she turns back to me. Her eyes flick between mine, something I don’t quite understand brewing beneath the surface, and she leans in.
“Chris,” I murmur, right before she presses her lips to mine.
The way I kiss her back is immediate, instinctual.
“I don’t care anymore,” she whispers, and more tears fall as she meets my eyes.
The… defeat in her voice, I can’t stand to hear it. “Chris,” I breathe.
She shakes her head. “I don’t care anymore. Let them—let them. I can’t care anymore.”
Hesitantly, I cup her face and stroke my thumb over her cheek. This woman who’s never done anything to anyone, and she hasn’t deserved even a fraction of what she’s gotten.
And the way she looks at me, with so much softness, so much trust, I think I could do just about anything as long as she keeps looking at me this way.
“Let me take you both home.”
She gives a shaky nod and keeps her death grip on Casey as they rise to their feet.
“We’ll take your car.” I leave one hand on her back as I guide them that way. When I meet Liam’s eyes, his expression is blank, but he’s very much staring at us now.
I strap Casey in first, then squeeze Christine’s shoulder as she climbs into the passenger seat and let her know I’ll be right back before bracing myself and walking over to Liam.
He says nothing as I approach, but his eyebrows are sky-high as he looks from me to Chris.
“How’d it go with your dad?” I ask.
Liam rolls his eyes. “He backed off. For now, at least.”
“Look, Li?—”
“So how long has this been going on?”
I sigh. “What I told you a few weeks ago, about her coming into the bar, that was true. But we’ve also…run into each other quite a bit since then.”
Liam frowns and nods slowly. I can’t get a good read on him. With how easygoing he is about most things, I guess I just assumed he wouldn’t be upset by this. But he and I usually don’t keep things from each other.
“I really didn’t know who she was until that first day of camp,” I hurry to add, as if that makes it any better, and run my hand along the back of my neck. “So, over a month now, I guess. And I would’ve told you, but I promised her I wouldn’t say anything.”
He blows the air out of his cheeks, but then all he says is “Huh.”
I grimace. “Huh?”
He shrugs. “It’s fucking weird, I’m not going to lie. But also…I don’t know. I don’t have anything against it, I guess.”
I mean, that’s more than I could’ve hoped for. “You’re cool with this? Really?”
He shrugs again, then a slow smile that I don’t at all like the look of splits his face. “But to be clear, since she technically used to be my stepmom, does that mean I should call you Dad now?”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Shut up.” I jab a thumb over my shoulder. “I’ve gotta?—”
“Yeah.” I turn, but don’t make it far before he calls, “Fletch?”
When I look back at him, his eyebrows are drawn low over his eyes. “Just…if anything else comes up with my dad, if you guys need anything, call me, all right?”
I nod. “Thanks, Li.”
Casey is so quiet in the back seat that I think he’s asleep at first. But when I glance in the rearview mirror at a red light, I see his little face scrunched up like he’s thinking hard as he looks from me to his mom.
What just happened seems to truly sink in for Christine about halfway into the drive. She sits up straighter, every muscle going rigid, and turns around to look at her son.
I have no idea if me jumping in right now will make matters worse, so I keep my mouth shut and wait for her to take the lead.
“You were so great today, honey,” Chris finally says. “I was so impressed watching you. I don’t know how you do it. It looked so scary.”
“It’s not that scary,” Casey mumbles.
Casey, who usually glows under even the smallest scrap of praise.
This is not good.
I open my mouth, close it. I don’t know if Casey still views me as his friend or as Public Enemy Number One now that he saw me kissing his mom. I glance at Christine out of the corner of my eye, but she seems as lost on what to do here as I am.
We pull up to the house, and I’ve barely shut off the engine before Casey unbuckles his seat belt, throws open his door, and marches toward the porch. He grabs the rock that hides the extra key and lets himself inside.
Christine hurries after him, but I hesitate in the car and rub my eyes.
Stupid. What was I thinking ? I just fucking lost my mind back there. I was barely aware of where I was. All I knew was I needed to find Casey, and I needed to make sure he and Christine were okay. No one else around us registered. No one else around us existed.
And now Chris will be the one to suffer for it.
I climb out of the car and hesitantly let myself into the house. The main floor is empty, and quiet voices drift from upstairs. I head that way but pause when I make it outside Casey’s door.
“Well, that’s okay,” says Christine. “You can think about it, and we can talk again later when you’re ready, okay?”
Casey’s response is too quiet for me to hear, then Chris is stepping into the hall, her shoulders drooped and her eyes exhausted.
I follow her to her bedroom at the opposite end of the hall so we’re out of Casey’s earshot before saying, “Chris, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”
She lays her hand on my arm. “Fletch.”
“I panicked. I wasn’t thinking?—”
“Fletcher.”
“God, and to spring this on Casey…”
“Fletcher.” She takes my face between both hands, forcing me to look at her, then brings her lips to mine. I freeze, and the kiss is over as quickly as it started. Her blue eyes bore into mine, and she gives my face a little shake. “I’m not upset with you.”
“You’re not?”
She tilts her head to the side like the thought is baffling to her. “For standing up for us? For finding Casey? For making sure I was okay? No, Fletcher, of course not.”
I take my first full breath since we pulled into the driveway.
She smiles sadly and drops her hands.
“How’d it go in there?” I murmur.
She sighs and shakes her head. “He doesn’t want to talk about it right now. I guess I’ll just give him space.” She chews on her lip. “I don’t know how to handle this. I’m supposed to be the parent here, but I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Can I…would it be all right if I talk to him?”
She looks from me to Casey’s door. After a moment, she nods. I squeeze her shoulder, and she stays put as I turn for Casey’s room.
He’s sitting on his bed when I step inside, holding a stuffed sea lion in his lap.
“Hey, Case,” I offer and hesitate a step into the room. He doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t ask me to leave, so I push forward and take the seat next to him.
I try to put myself in his shoes, to imagine what would be helpful to hear right now. But seeing as I never had a bond with a parent at his age like he does with Chris, it’s difficult to picture.
But maybe he doesn’t need a parent right now. Maybe he just needs a friend.
“You want to go get ice cream?” I ask. “Just you and me?”
He peeks up at me.
“And we can talk about it if you want to. Or we can just eat if you don’t.”
He hugs the sea lion tighter to his chest and nods.
We take the ice cream to go, then I park next to the beach and let him sit in the front seat with me while we eat. He inhales the first of his two scoops without a word, but just when I’ve started to give up hope in this little expedition, he says, “So you and my mom are boyfriend girlfriend.”
He doesn’t say it like a question, but I nod anyway. Honestly, I don’t know if that’s true. Don’t know if that’s how Christine sees this, or if this is something casual that I just paraded out in the open like an idiot. I’m not about to fumble my way through explaining that to a seven-year-old though.
His face scrunches together as he processes this answer.
“We’re friends, aren’t we, Case?”
He peeks at me out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, he nods.
“I want you to know that being with your mom doesn’t change that for me. Does that make you not want to be friends anymore?”
He frowns down at his ice cream. “I still want to be friends.”
“Well, good. Because I’d be sad if you didn’t.” This time when he peeks up at me, he’s smiling a little. “Do you have any questions you want to ask me?”
He thinks about this for a while. But finally, he says, “Are you mean to her?”
I rear my head back. That’s definitely not what I was expecting. Is that what this is about? I could understand wanting his mom to himself, or even feeling like someone was trying to replace his dad. But he’s worried about Chris ?
“No, Casey,” I say softly. “I’m never mean to her.”
He nods once, his little forehead scrunched up. “My dad’s mean to her.”
It feels like my heart falls into my stomach. How much did he hear before Chris left? How much did he see? Of course he’s worried about his mom being in another relationship if the only one he’s ever seen was something bad.
I swallow hard. “I care about your mom a lot, Case. And I care about you. I would never hurt either of you. You don’t ever have to worry about that. And you don’t ever have to worry about me being mean to her. I’m sorry that this probably surprised you.”
“Can we go home now?”
I can’t read the look on his face, can’t tell if this made a difference or not, but I force a smile and keep my voice light as I say, “Yeah, bud. Let’s go home.”