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She’s right. Casper is special, and even if I only have a month left, I want to get to know her. Which is why I’m hustling away from the food being delivered to the table.
By the time I make it outside, Casper is gone.
It’s not like I don’t know where she’s going. Besides, I’ve just about had enough of keeping my distance and chasing my tail like an idiot. I told her that I’d get her to go on a date with me, and I meant it. In fact, I’m even coming up with a way to make it happen, to convince her that she should give me a chance, when I see that she’s sitting on the stairs that lead to my condo, not hers.
She’s staring at me with wide, fear-filled eyes, and I want to beat away whatever nightmares have left those shadows clearly haunting her.
“What’s wrong?”
The phone she’s been clutching in her hand tumbles to the concrete a few inches below her hands, and I barely have time to hold out my arms before they’re full of Casper. That’s when I notice the swelling on the side of her face, and the blood wiped on her sleeve.
“What happened, Casper?”
She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she just holds on to me like there’s nothing in the world that will take me away from her. Here I am, turning maudlin at the way she feels in my arms, when something has happened to her that not only has her bleeding, but afraid. There is nothing I can do except hold her for now. I have to wait for her to process whatever is happening. Having her there feels right, so I do the same thing Mimi used to do for me when I was younger.
I hold her in my arms, and I sit down on the steps without letting her go. Then I rub her back and tell her everything about myself that I can.
“I’m the youngest of three boys. My oldest brother is Miles, and then comes Sean.” She sniffs but doesn’t say anything. I take that as a good sign, so I keep going. “We all joined the military, like our dad had done before us. Miles did it after college, and Sean went in after high school. But me, I waited until I was nineteen. Joined on a five-year stint. I have about six months left, and I was supposed to deploy this month. But I got in a car accident.”
“Cassie was in an accident,” she whispers against my chest. “That’s what started all of this.”
“I know.” She’d told me about it when we were drinking together. “I’m sorry you have to pick up the pieces she left behind.”
“I keep hurting myself.” She nods toward the blood. “Falling or forgetting how to walk. Is this what it’s always going to be like now?”
“I don’t know. When my parents died, we were old enough to take care of ourselves.” I cough and try to keep from getting choked up. I’ve never let anyone else in, not like this, and I don’t even know much about Casper. “But that didn’t mean we couldn’t fall apart. We did fall apart, every single day. I fought, got in trouble, almost flunked out of school before I pulled my head out of my ass. Casper, I don’t know exactly what you’re feeling. But whatever you’re going through, I can’t imagine the feeling of losing a sibling. You’re allowed to feel it. Feel all of it. You don’t have to talk about it. You don’t have to tell me about it. Just know, whatever you need right now… it’s allowed.”
“I slipped.” She’s whispering. “I didn’t pay attention to where I was going and I slipped. I hit my cheek and my nose started bleeding… then I just fell apart.”
Knowing that she hadn’t been attacked doesn’t give me cause to relax in the slightest. I’m hit with the realization that I can’t keep her safe. I can’t fix everything for her even if I want to. That fact stings like a bitch. What is worse, though, is that Casper Townsend is still just as much of a mystery to me now as she was the day I met her.
“Thank you,” she says quietly before pushing back from me. “I didn’t realize how badly I needed a hug.”
“Don’t worry.” I wink. “I’ll get you back in my arms again too.”
She rolls her eyes, which looks like it hurts when she winces. “You’re too cocky for your own good. Someone is gonna have to knock you down off your pedestal.”
“As long as it’s you, I’m fine with it.” Cheesy? Hell yes, but that doesn’t stop me from saying it. Especially when it brings a smile to her face.
I watch her climb up the stairs, to her sister’s condo this time. I rack my brain, trying to come up with a reason to stop her, but there isn’t anything there. I’m too busy staring at where she’s standing that I miss the fact that she turns back.
“You never called.” Her simple statement should have sounded like an accusation. Had it come from any other female, it may have been one.
Casper? She doesn’t strike me as the type of woman who’d act like that.
“We’d been drinking,” I explain. “I didn’t want to call or text if you didn’t want me to.”
“I wanted you to.”
Then she slips through the front door. I reach into my pocket, calling her before she can change her mind.
“I literally just saw you.” Her voice is laced with laughter.
“Go on a date with me.” I don’t ask her, don’t even suggest it. I’m telling her, hoping that she’ll say yes.
“No.” She sighs. “I’m only here until I get my sister’s stuff taken care of and get her condo ready to sell.”
“So? I’m only here for a little longer, and then I have to report to San Diego before deploying to join the rest of my unit. None of that means we can’t enjoy the time we’re both here.”
