Page 166 of Rags's Awakening
“Wait a minute…” Casey pushed away from the wall. “Did you do something about the debt I owe from JT?” Her eyes widened. “Now I remember. You brought it up at the club party when you guys were fighting. I meant to ask you about it, but so much happened that night I forgot.”
“We can talk about this later. I gotta get a crew together, and you need to finish that report so you can get outta there before Hog leaves.”
“I’m just asking if you paid it off. When I went to make a payment, the account showed a zero balance. I thought it was a computer glitch. Was it?”
“No. I paid it off.” His voice hardened. “Saber’s a weak-ass. What kind of man sponges off his woman or any woman?
Casey blinked quickly. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I told you. I got your back.”
“And I’ve got yours,” she said softly.
“I know you do, babe.”
“Thank you.” She grabbed a tissue from the box and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
“Yeah.”
“It’s starting to snow,” she murmured, watching thick flakes drift down, coating the roads, the streetlights, and the shoulders of people hurrying for shelter.
“I gotta go, Case. I’ll call you later.”
“Be careful out there. Love you,” she said.
“Love you too, babe.”
Casey stood staring at the dark screen for a long moment before letting out a slow sigh. Ever since Rags had opened his heart to her, happiness had been swelling inside her almost nonstop. But tangled with up it came the panic, the suffocating fear that everything was happening too fast, that she was too happy. And in her experience, being this high up only meant the fall would crush her.
Her mom had flitted in and out of her life like a ghost until she finally disappeared for good with some man. Then there was JT.Stop overthinking everything. Stop it now.She closed her eyes, thinking of the way Rags looked at her, held her close, and had her back. He made her feel like she mattered. For the first time in her life, she didn’t feel like she was standing on quicksand. Rags made her feel steady. Safe. The fear still whispered that none of this could possibly last. But as she slipped the phone into her pocket, Casey made herself push the thoughts away. Rags loved her. For once, she just wanted to let herself be happy.
She gathered up the grant files and shoved them into her briefcase. After making sure she had everything, she shrugged into her coat and stepped into the hallway.
Snow fell fast and hard as she trudged toward the parking lot. Every time Casey glanced over her shoulder, a smile tugged at her lips when she saw Hog following behind her, his black leather jacket dusted in white. She cursed under her breath while brushing snow from the windows of her car. Tossing the brush onto the back seat floor, she slipped behind the wheel and started the engine.
When she arrived at her townhouse, she stood in the hallway as Hog walked about checking the locks and windows. He moved up the stairs. Soon, he clomped back down the stairs after securing the second-floor, then made sure again that the first floor was all good. He stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind him.
Casey pulled it open. “Thanks. Drive safely,” she said, standing in the doorway.
Hog’s face remained stoic as he brushed snow from his shoulders. His gaze drifted to the doorknob and his jaw tightened.
“Oh, sorry. You want to make sure I lock the door.”
She pushed it shut, turned both locks, then tapped the code into the security panel. The high-pitched alarm beep echoed through the room. Casey walked to the front window and watched Hog head down the stairs. The blowing snow quickly swallowed him and his SUV.
All at once, the quiet pressed in around her, and she wished Rags were there. She missed him and hoped he could find a break to stop by before nightfall. Glancing at her briefcase, she groaned. She didn’t feel like digging through the budget sheets, but at least it would help pass the time.
After changing out of her work clothes, Casey sat at her desk and pulled out the grant folders. Then Curtis’s earlier text flashed through her mind. She opened the middle drawer and reached toward the back. Her fingers brushed over the coolmetal of the midnight blue .38 JT had given to her as a wedding gift. He’d told her she needed protection when he wasn’t around. He’d spent time teaching her how to use it, and after he’d lost interest in both the gun and her, she’d sharpened her shooting skills at the range for years. Since moving to Pinewood Springs, she hadn’t been to the shooting range once, but figured it was like riding a bike, or at least hoped it was. She shook her head and slid the gun back into the drawer. She was being paranoid. Sitting down, she opened her laptop and pulled up the first grant file.
Two hours later, Casey rolled her shoulders before standing and stretching. Satisfaction threaded through her: she’d finished four of the six grants. She peeked out the window. White blanketed the neighborhood, and the streetlights glowed soft amber beneath the falling snow.
Turning away, she padded toward the kitchen. She filled the electric kettle with water and was just about to set the temperature when the doorbell rang.Shit. Curtis came anyway.Frustration and dread swirled through her. She stood rooted to the floor as the bell rang again. Tiptoeing toward the door, she carefully avoided the spots that creaked. She peered through the peephole and saw Devin standing on the porch holding a box.
“The letters,” she murmured in relief.
She’d forgotten she’d asked Devin to stop by with the historical letters he’d told her about from the Colorado gold and silver booms. According to him, most had been written by miners’ wives to their husbands. They sounded perfect for the article she’d been commissioned to write forTrue Frontier History.
“Hang on, Devin,” she called when she saw him turn away. “I’ll be there in a sec.”
