Sirens flashed and a few neighbors gathered behind the yellow police tape as police moved from Micah to Shawn to Casey to Emery and TJ asking questions and recording answers. Through it all, Casey kept her arm firmly around her sister, scanning the crowd for the moment her mother would appear, truly see her as unfit, and take Emery away.
Forever.
“I’m glad you came,” Emery mumbled into Casey’s shoulder. Casey squeezed her tighter.
“Always, Em. You hear me?” She gently nudged her sister so she could see her face. “Always.”
Casey hated the tear tracks, but she would take them any day over her sister lying in one of the ambulances. Or TJ. Or even Coleman. Everyone got out safe.
Thanks to Micah. Thanks to her warrior.
To think she’d almost let her pride push Micah out of her life for good.
Micah sauntered up to the bench where Casey and Emery sat just outside the doors of Ellie’s Place and bent down on eye level. He did a quick scan of Casey, and she offered him a small smile. He slipped his fingers in her free hand and turned to her sister, resting a hand on Emery’s arm. “How ya doing there, Champ?”
“I’m thinking you’ve got to be insane to choose a job that involves facing bad guys with guns.” She shuddered. “But I’m also thinking you’re pretty brave. I could never do what you did. Thank you.”
“Sure you could, Em. And I’ll tell you a secret.” He wagged a finger her way, motioning her closer. Casey grinned and leaned in with her sister.
“I was terrified,” he whispered.
“You’re joking.”
“Not even a little bit.”
“How come I couldn’t tell?”
“Here’s the secret, Emery. It’s not really about bravery. It’s about the people you have at your side, your back, and in front of you. And you . . .” his brown eyes drifted to Casey and that smirk she loved so much lit up his face. “You, kid, have a pretty incredible team.”
Casey tightened her hold on Micah’s hand, tears pricking her eyes. For the first time, she saw total peace in his gaze. And he’d reminded her of something, too. She needed people next to her, behind her, and before her, too. And she had that. She just didn’t always let them play the part. Something she would be fixing in the days ahead, starting with the man in front of her.
“Yeah, Casey’s pretty great. Too bad . . .”
“Casey Stewart, there was a gun pointed at my baby? A gun?” Mona Rodriguez came charging across the parking lot, tripping over cracks in her stilettos and flowing, leopard print dress, complete with dramatic coat.
Teagan and Shawn left their post talking to TJ’s mom and grandma and rushed to Casey, TJ quickly following. A couple of officers turned to acknowledge her mother. Across the parking lot, Al’s focus shifted to Casey and her tornado of a family reunion. He ended his conversation with an officer, his long legs eating up the concrete as he approached. “What’s the problem, Mona?”
“Don’t Mona me, you child stealer. You probably started her on this crusade.” She came to a stop in front of their gathered group, all huddled around Casey. Her team. Micah slowly rose and stood next to her, her hand still firmly clasped in his. Their team.
“Mona, calm down. I didn’t steal Casey from you, and she isn’t trying to steal Emery or put her in harm’s way. This was just an unfortunate situation.” Al tried to place a soothing hand on Mona’s arm, but she jerked away.
“She rescued Emery, Mrs. Rodriguez. She’s taking great care of Emery.” Teagan chimed in, resting her hand on Casey’s shoulder.
“How is this taking good care of her? There are police all around.” She reached for Emery. “Come on, Emery. We’re going home.”
“I don’t want to go home, Mom. I really want to stay with Casey.” Emery peaked from behind her sister.
“Look what you’ve done to her. Officer,” Mona motioned over the nearest man in blue. “I demand you arrest my daughter. She almost got my baby shot and now she’s trying to steal her from me.”
Officer Donal’s gaze volleyed from their group to Mona. “Are you talking about Casey here? Ma’am, she’s one of the few people that makes this neighborhood better. She didn’t almost get your daughter shot. Another fool kid did that.” Officer Donal smiled in Casey’s direction. “In my opinion, Emery has some of the best people looking out for her in this part of Texas, ma’am.”
“Ugh. Do not call me ma’am.” Mona pinched the bridge of her nose. “How do I know she’s going to be okay here? You’ve never raised a child before, Casey.”
Al stepped forward, tucking his hands in his pockets and cutting off any reply Casey could have made. “With all due respect, Mona. In the short time Emery has been here, my understanding is that her grades are up, she is making friends, she is helping her friends, and she is helping around the house.”
Casey smirked at Emery’s grimace. They were still working on that last one. But everything else Al said was true. Emery had changed from a sullen teenager to an eager learner, a compassionate friend, and a sweet, if not a little sassy, young lady.
Clearly, they had experienced a few hiccups. She cast a quick glance at TJ. He stood with his hand on Emery’s shoulder. He’d apologized profusely as soon as Coleman was in handcuffs, begging Casey and Emery to forgive him and not hate him.
“Emery is thriving here, Mrs. Rodriguez.” Shawn stepped next to Micah, crossing his arms over his chest. Casey knew it took a lot for him to be respectful with her mother.
But it was Micah who took another step toward a now dumbfounded Mona. “Your daughter is incredible, Mona. Both of them are. But Casey is a protector, defender. She is kind and passionate, even if a little feisty at times.” Casey dug her nails into his hand from a step behind him.
Micah chuckled and shot her a wink before turning to face her mother again. “She loves Emery, and she only got a lawyer involved so she can understand the legal ramifications of not having full custody of Emery should she need to make a decision on her behalf.”
“But,” Mona’s voice sounded weak even to Casey, “Emery’s my daughter.”
“Mom.” Casey stepped to Micah’s side, wrapping her free hand around his arm. “I love my sister. I’m going to take good care of her. But we both know you don’t like having teenagers around. Why not let her stay with me? I don’t want to fight you for her.”
Mona’s gaze darted person to person surrounding Casey. Casey was overwhelmed by the love she felt from this group. Behind her, beside her, and before her. Just like Micah said. And it was their support that finally convinced Mona to cave.
“She can stay.” She shuffled a step back, her shoe unsteady on the broken concrete. “She can stay as long as you acknowledge I’m still her mother. And I want her to come home every once in a while.”
This time, Casey stepped forward and made herself reach for her mom’s hand. She couldn’t remember the last time her mother had touched her. But she could do this for Emery. For herself. “You will always be her—our—mother. I’ll send her home for some of the holidays. Maybe I’ll even come for a few days.”
Mona offered a twisted smile. “Well I do think you should come home. You haven’t seen all the changes I’ve made to the bar.”
Casey bit back a groan. She would never have a mother who truly parented. But she could still love her mother. God hadn’t given up on Casey after years of pushing Him away. Casey could figure out how to fight for the woman before her. “You’re right, Mom. I haven’t been home in a while. It’s past time.”
Mona pulled her hand back and took a few more steps before turning to walk away. She cast one more look over her shoulder. “You’re different, Casey-girl.” Her eyes roamed over Casey’s friends again. Her family. “You sure have made a home for yourself.”
Casey took her place next to Micah, slipping her hand into his. “It’s Emery’s too. As long as she wants it, and as long as you are okay with it.” She would deal with custody if she needed to. Right now, she would count Emery staying as a win. It might be better to have peace and later conversations with her mother than push too hard right now.
With a nod, her mother turned and hurried to her car. Her friends and family erupted in conversation, pulling Emery into hugs, checking on TJ. But Casey had eyes only for the man who had pulled her into his arms.
“You really have let this God thing change you, beautiful. You handled your mother with more kindness and respect than she has earned.”
Casey bounced onto her toes and slipped her arms around Micah’s neck. “I think we need to stop calling it this God thing. He is a good Father who gives good gifts to His children. And sometimes,” she ruffled her fingers through the hair brushing Micah’s neck, “when the hard things hit, He brings good through those, too. Even when it’s more difficult to spot.”
Micah placed a feather-light kiss on her nose. “Nailed it, Ace. Does this mean, you and I are okay? You don’t want me to leave?”
Her grip around his neck tightened. “I’m so sorry, Micah. I didn’t mean it. I want you to stay more than anything.”
He kissed her cheek. “Good. This thing we have here . . .” He kissed her other cheek. “Is pretty good, too.”
Without waiting for him, Casey met his lips with hers. Micah Richards was a gift. The people around her were a gift. And a God who gave second chances to children who doubted His character, that was a pretty big gift, too.
Casey tugged the blanket tighter around her shoulders and curled her cold fingers around her coffee mug. She loved the warmth of Mama Rosie’s kitchen. More than anything, she loved the people around her. Micah sat next to her, his body relaxed, one hand on her leg and the other nursing his own coffee mug. She liked him like this. Confident in his surroundings, any lingering traces of doubt gone.
Mama Rosie sat a plate of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven in the middle of the table and then sat down across from Casey, Emery and TJ on either side of her. She cupped Emery’s cheek saying something in Spanish to soothe the girl before resting a hand on TJ’s back. “My babies are all safe and home now. Don’t scare me like that again.”
They all nodded. Micah passed out the cookies, offering one to Casey last with a smile that held a thousand promises. After all her running and retreating, pushing him away, and then calling him in her worst moment, he’d showed up.
And he’d been willing to jump in-between her and a gun.
She couldn’t, wouldn’t lose this man. She didn’t know how to be in a relationship like this, but she wanted to learn. Micah slipped his fingers through hers. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. I think that is one of the worst phone calls I’ve ever received.”
“You’ve had worse than knowing your girlfriend was on the other end of a gun?” TJ asked, chomping down on a cookie.
Micah’s eyes landed on Casey. “That one was probably the worst but only by a little.” The butterflies took flight. They were definitely butterflies, and they loved Micah.
She loved Micah.
The acknowledgement warmed every part of her.
“What ranked next?” TJ continued.
“Probably the phone call we got that my sister was in the Haiti earthquake and we couldn’t get ahold of her.”
“Your sister was in the earthquake?” Emery’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Did she make it?”
Micah nodded. “She made it. My best friend and I went in to find her. Then we got a phone call that a terrorist was stalking her.”
“You what?” Emery choked on her cookie.
“No way. What’d you do?” TJ gawked.
“I’ve got mad skills.” Micah winked at TJ and Emery. Casey planned to ask him for details later.
“Did you kill him?”
His smile bore the weight of a secret. “Not exactly. But Kaylan is no longer being stalked. She is safe, happy, and now married to my best friend.”
Emery sighed, a sappy look on her face. The same sappy look she’d had since Casey had kissed Micah in front of Ellie’s Place. Casey was learning that her sister just might be a closet romantic, too.
“Well I never want a day like that ever again. It is not good for my heart. And you, young man . . .” Mama Rosie pointed at TJ. “If you ever resort to running drugs before you ask for help again and I find out about it, I will personally lock you in my basement and throw away the key. Understand?”
TJ sat up straight. “Mama Rosie, you don’t have a basement.” But there was a question in his tone.
“That’s what you think. I got skills, too.”
He gulped and Casey bit her lip. TJ might be safer in prison than if Mama Rosie got hold of him again. Mama Rosie had shown up at the school as the police finished interviewing TJ. Coleman had been taken into custody. The police had found drugs in his car. After searching the exterior of Ellie’s, the police found TJ’s package in a different location than he originally thought. Under pressure, it seemed TJ had forgotten and looked in the wrong place. Casey was thankful her mom had left before the big drug reveal.
“You just remember that we’re your family.” Mama Rosie gripped TJ’s chin in her weathered, brown hand. “That means we help one another. If you hurt, we hurt. No more doing things on your own, sí?”
“Sí, Mama Rosie.” He nodded.
Her gnarled fingers smoothed his dark brow, and her smile split her face into a million wrinkles—a sign of moments spent smiling and days spent in the sun with her kids.
Casey leaned into Micah, seeking his touch. She hadn’t grown up here, but the Lord knew what He was doing when she’d met Al during college. He’d introduced her to Mama Rosie, introduced her to Ellie’s. She’d found a home, a purpose.
A family.
Micah placed a gentle kiss against her hair. She curled closer into him, watching Mama Rosie fuss and fawn over her little sister.
And God had brought her Micah, too. He was everything she’d never admitted she wanted and more.
“I’m glad you’re staying.”
His fingers traced lazy circles on her arms, but his silence hung heavy.
She twisted in his arms so she could get a good look at his face. Despite his relaxed demeanor, she could still see something lingering in his dark eyes, something unresolved.
“You are leaving.”
She began to pull away from him, but he held her still. Micah wound fingers through her hair, playing with the tangled strands while Mama Rosie shooed TJ and Emery into her living room for a movie.
“About that. It seems we both have a dilemma on our hands. If I’m staying, then I need a job. And I believe you’re looking for a coach. I think we may just be able to solve one another’s problems.”
Casey tapped her chin. “Well it doesn’t pay much, and your kids may be a little rough around the edges, but you will have excellent coworkers.” She scanned him up and down. “It’s official. You’re hired!”
Micah chuckled. “I look forward to working with you, Boss.”
“I like that nickname.”
“Don’t get used to it.” His smile dimmed a bit, and he grew quiet.
“Micah, what is it?”
“I was on my way to Fort Worth today when I got your call.”
Casey nodded, slipping her fingers over his chest, the texture of his t-shirt cool against her palms. “Your last goodbye.”
“The last one.”
“When are you going now?”
“Next Saturday. I texted Whitney when we got to Mama Rosie’s to make sure.” His fingers wound through her hair, but Casey could tell his mind stared at a different day, one that had been coming since before he set foot in Dallas.
“I realized probably for the first time today that I wasn’t responsible for their deaths, but I was still slow, still hurt, still not all I needed to be in that moment. And what I don’t understand is why God didn’t take me instead of them.”
“Micah . . .”
“It’s not survivor’s guilt, Case. I just miss my friends. I wish I could have done more.” He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers, their breath mingling in a slow rhythm.
Since childhood, Casey had understood how to shoulder the burden of someone else. She’d been the responsible one in her house, taking care of her mom and then Emery. She’d been a few houses away to care for Shawn and Teagan when something bad happened. But she’d never fully understood what it would feel like to care for someone she loved this completely. It was different than the love she felt for others. Deeper even.
She was still figuring out how to let people love her, how to let them in, how to need them and want them. It would probably be a lifelong process, but she wanted to try. She wanted to experience that with Micah. She could feel his sadness weighing heavy, the pain of losing a part of himself hanging like an anvil around his neck.
She kissed his forehead and raked her fingers over his scruff. “Can I go with you?”
“Case, no. This is something I need to do alone.”
“Why?”
“Because . . .”
“Because you are still bearing responsibility that isn’t yours to bear.”
His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Baby steps, Casey. I may not have been the one to pull the trigger, but something I was responsible for cost us precious time. And Whitney, she’s part of my family. My old family,” he quickly corrected.
“They are still your family, Micah. You claimed them today. You donned the title at the core of who you are and ran into a building despite your fear. So let me be clear. I’m not asking if I can go with you. I’m telling you I am going with you. I don’t know how to do this well, but you are the one who told me that a team has each other’s backs. And you are honoring your teammate, even in death. I love that about you. I want to have your back like you had mine today.”
He stroked her cheek. “Is that all you love?”
“Of course not.” She snorted, that unladylike sound that he somehow drew out of her. “I love puppies, the stars, bluebonnets in the spring, watching Fixer Upper, the scent of roses, my sister, Teagan and Shawn, the color of fall.” She rolled her eyes. “And a few other things I’m probably forgetting about right now.”
“You’re forgetting, huh?” He tugged her closer, her chair scraping the linoleum floor.
“There is one more thing that I could never forget.” Casey turned so that she could see him and took his face in her hands. “I love you, Micah Richards. I don’t know when it happened or why it happened.” She grinned at his smirk. “But I want to do this thing with you. I want to figure it out. I don’t really know how to do this team thing, but I want to learn.”
His lips found hers, promising, adoring. Once again, she felt cherished. Micah Richards had shattered every wall and had become her pillar of strength.
“Casey?”
“Yeah?” She pulled away from him, her head swimming a little.
“Would you come with me on Saturday to Fort Worth?”
“You couldn’t keep me away.” She wrapped her arms around him, laying her hand on his chest right over his heart. “We’ll do this last goodbye the right way. Together.”