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You’re probably just hung up in a meeting. I’m being weird for no reason.
Gripping her bag, she tiptoed out of the room and down the staircase.
“Ready?” Mitch jiggled his keys and reached forward to take her bag.
“Ready,” she answered and handed off her things. “Thanks.”
The heat beat down as she followed him outside, opening the door to his Ford F-150. The leather seats baked in the sun, and Casey squirmed in her seat, struggling to avoid touching her skin to the black interior.
“Sorry!” Mitch cranked on the air conditioning and grinned. “Never been to California before, have you?”
Casey shook her head. “Nope. True Midwestern girl right here.”
“Chicago, right?” He put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway, heading south down the empty street.
“Guilty.” She grinned, adjusting the vent on the dashboard. “How about you? You always lived in Rosewood?”
Mitch nodded and tapped the lever to spray the windshield with cleaner. The wipers danced back and forth in synchronization. “Pretty much. Did a few tours of duty with the Navy for a few years, but I’ve been back ever since.”
“Oh! I didn’t know you were in the Navy!”
He glanced in her direction. “Yeah, for about three or four years.”
“I had a cousin in the Navy. He was stationed out in Norfolk.”
Mitch nodded and tapped the brake at the stop sign.
“San Diego for me.”
Casey raised her shoulders and grinned. “Makes sense.” She nodded. “How about deployment? Where’d you go?”
He turned onto a larger road, leaving Austin’s neighborhood behind. “I saw ports in Japan, South Korea, Hawaii, and the Persian Gulf once too.”
A whistle sailed from her lips. “Geez, maybe that’s what I should have done after high school too. I’ve hardly ever left the state of Illinois, let alone seen another country.” She turned her head, her gaze drifting out over the fields of wildflowers racing past.
“There’s a whole world out there.” He smiled, turning to meet her gaze.
“What brought you back then?”
A smile grew on his lips as his eyes returned to the road. His cheeks tinged pink and his fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Lauren,” he murmured.
Casey nodded, her smile matching his. “I know I hardly know any of you guys...” Her heart lurched as she swallowed. “But I can tell how much she loves you. You’re really lucky.”
His lips disappeared, flattening into a thin line as he steered the truck into a private driveway. The wrought-iron gate flanking the path was adorned with intricate pale-yellow bows, each ribbon floating in the breeze.
“Lucky...” he whispered as Casey’s eyes widened, the Templeton Manor appearing through the line of weeping willows.
“Holy fuck!” Casey turned and dropped her jaw at the grand Victorian mansion. “This is where you live? This is where Austin grew up?”
Mitch parked the truck in the driveway and killed the engine. He shifted and turned to face her. “Casey, can I let you in on a little secret?”
She nodded and closed her mouth for the first time since the truck left the road.
“I’m not saying the Templetons aren’t good people. They absolutely are.” He huffed out a breath and shook his head. “But take it from me, or Mavs, no matter what you do... you just never quite seem to fit in, or measure up to any of ’em.” He reached over and squeezed her knee. “Austin’s a good guy. But just keep your eyes open, okay?”
Mitch left the truck, his warning hanging in the slowly warming vehicle.
“My eyes open...” she repeated. Casey pulled the handle and hopped down, following him to the front porch.
