Chapter 11

Kasey chatted quietly with Rachel at Chris’s the next morning. He was on the phone and hadn’t done more than stuck his head out of his office when they’d arrived saying he’d be there in a moment.

Rachel grinned at her. “How was last night?”

Kasey rolled her eyes. “Way, way out of my comfort zone.”

Steven came into the dining room and dropped into a chair grinning at them. “Am I interrupting girl talk? I hope so.”

They both grinned back at him.

Kasey watched Cora and Leena come in and sit down. “No, not girl talk, I just wanted to know how Kasey found the party Chris took her to last night.”

Leena leaned over and grinned. “I’ll bet you looked fabulous, though. That dress looked so good on you.”

Kasey smiled.

“I had to watch every man in the room drool on her feet all night,” Chris said as he stepped into the room. Kasey watched as he walked around the table. He hadn’t even looked at her.

Dade winked at her. “I can see that.” Then he turned to Chris. “Change of pace for you, counselor, you’re used to the ladies drooling on you.”

Chris gave him a brief smile and sat down.

Cora picked up the juice and poured some. “How was the food?” Everyone looked at her. “What? I need to ask. It’s an obsessive thing.” She laughed.

Kasey crinkled up her nose. “It was never ending courses of unidentifiable and not altogether tasty blobs of stuff.”

Cora’s mouth dropped. “Really? You don’t know what any of it was?”

Kasey shrugged and went to speak when Chris answered for her again. “It was imported delicacies, mostly the type that people with money,” he looked right at her with a cold look, “indulge themselves with from time to time.” His eyes brushed over Kasey’s face with harshness. “I’m afraid Kasey didn’t find them enjoyable, or familiar.” With that he turned to Steven. “You went to see Rhonda?”

Kasey dropped her head down and played with some food on her plate, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes. When she looked back up, Steven was looking at her.

Steven studied her for a moment, then turned a curious look to Chris before starting slowly to answer. “Yes.” He looked around the table at everyone. “She’s been conscious several times now, but as I explained before, she’s very medicated. All of her vitals are really good, though, so her doctors are thinking of moving her out of ICU.”

Steven paused and picked up his cup and then looked at Kasey for a second. “Kase, can you pass the coffee this way?”

Kasey picked up the coffee urn and stood up. “Allow me to serve you, Dr. O’Reily.” She gave him a sweet smile. All shocked eyes were on her as she walked to the other end of the table and poured the coffee into his cup.

Jaws dropped when she turned to Chris and asked sweetly, “Could I pour your coffee for you, Mr. Larkin, sir?” She bit out each word slowly.

Chris met her eyes with as much determination as hers held. “Please do.” He gritted his teeth and watched her unsteady hand pour his coffee. She set the urn gently down beside his cup and went back to her seat.

He picked up the cup and took a sip, watching her with an angry stare the whole time. Nonchalantly he looked back to Steven, who looked shell-shocked. “You were saying?”

Dade sat up closer to the table and studied Kasey.

Steven took a few drinks. “Her hands are a mess, but she has been moving them in her sleep, so that’s a good sign that there isn’t too much nerve damage.”

Kasey glared at Chris, and he glared right back at her.

Shaking his head, Steven continued. “Her back will always be scarred. No surgery will ever remove those completely. The cuts on her face weren’t as bad as they looked. It’s as if he started cutting her there and then got angrier as he went.” He took a bite of a croissant. “Uh...oh, Patrick still has the room under guard, and it will stay that way. They’re going to start...”

Kasey jumped up to take the bowl of fruit around to Dade when he’d been leaning over to reach it.

Steven paused and watched until she was sitting again. “They’re... going… to start lowering her meds and try to bring her back slowly so she doesn’t just jump up and try to move too much. By the end of next week, if all has gone well, she should be completely conscious and able to move around a bit.” He shrugged. “She’s not going to be able to get up and walk without therapy, though. There was far too much area involving too many muscles and nerves. It’s going to be months before she’s functioning at a close-to-normal level.”

Kasey broke her stare from him and looked at Steven. “Do you think we’ll be able to help her?”

Her voice was vibrating with an emotion Chris had never heard from shy Kasey before.

Steven smiled at her. “Well, I don’t think anything we do would hinder her in any way, Kase. I left the stone you charged hanging by her window, but once she’s conscious, something stronger would definitely be of help.” He winked at her. “I have had more than enough energy since you gave me that one at Solstice.”

Kasey’s eyes were cloudy as she looked up at Steven, but she still smiled briefly. “I’ll find the right one for her before next week then.” She sat back again and played with the glass of juice in front of her.

Steven sat back when Kasey got up and walked to the end of the table again and refilled Chris’s coffee cup. Without a word, she went and sat back down. Chris picked it up without hesitating and drank.

“So, are we going to be able to see her next weekend then?” Cora asked Steven.

Steven had to turn his head slowly away from Kasey before speaking. “As long as there aren’t any setbacks, yes, I don’t see why not. Patrick is actually anxious for us to go see her, feeling we may be able to help more.”

Chris sat back and flicked his eyes over Kasey before speaking. “We’ll plan a visit next Saturday?”

Everyone nodded. No one spoke.

Leena cleared her throat. “Chris, were you able to find out more about Kasey’s house? Does she have to move?”

Chris realized at that moment he’d forgotten to tell Kasey the night before what he’d been able to do. “I actually hadn’t even gotten around to discussing it with Kasey yet, Leena. But unfortunately, the new owners are within their rights and have done everything without any loopholes.” He paused to see Kasey watching him quietly, her chin held high. “I was able to get her another week’s time to find a new residence, and a bit of compensation for the inconvenience they’ve caused her.” He picked up his cup and took a sip.

Kasey watched him silently. She had to move. She had few weeks and then was homeless. It made everything she’d said last night seem even more of a reality to her. Here he sat in this house, sipping coffee, looking not one bit disturbed by the fact that he’d gotten someone to pay her off quietly so she would go away and find somewhere else to live.

Kasey sat back and looked over at him again. “Make sure you bill me accordingly for your time.” She would not fall apart in front of him. She let out a hushed breath.

His angry eyes met hers. “I didn’t do...it...for...the...money,” he said, pausing on each word.

Kasey lifted her chin higher. “That’s fine, but I’m sure it took time away from more important things you had to do.” She crossed her arms and sat back, wishing she could melt into the chair.

Dade hissed out a loud breath and sat back. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve about had all the light brunch conversation I can stand.”

Several heads nodded in agreement.

Kasey stood up. “Why don’t all of you go relax on the terrace, and I’ll clear this up.” She began picking up dishes and stacking them.

“Enough!” Chris bellowed as his closed fist slammed on the table hard enough that the dishes rattled.

Kasey turned and glared at him, her hands on her hips. “Oh, I don’t think so!” she spat.

Chris shoved his chair back and stood.

She flashed a hand out at him, and an unseen force sent him flying back into his chair and sent it sliding back three feet. “Don’t!” she practically growled.

Chris flicked a hand, and all the dishes from his end of the table went crashing onto the floor.

Everyone scrambled back from the table as he slowly stood again. “Do. Not. Slap. Me. Back. Again,” he growled quietly.

Dade ran around the side of the table and stood beside him, his hands out to his sides. Chris didn’t even turn to look at him. “Stay out of it.”

Dade lifted his hands and backed up a few feet.

Kasey’s chest was heaving with ragged breaths. “At least I slap at you with something tangible instead of taking cheap shots with words, Christopher Larkin!” Her fists were clenched at her sides. She opened them, and the table shook with a force she’d never used before. The dishes lifted up, and then they dropped down hard enough, several shattered. Kasey watched the glass and china scatter everywhere and then looked back at Chris. “Take that out of the payoff money you’ve swindled for me!” With that she ran out of the room.

Chris stood there feeling every bit as angry as she had looked. He wanted everyone to go away and leave them alone. He started to step towards her and then stopped and clenched his hands at his sides. His knuckles were white.

Leena went to go after Kasey and smacked up against an invisible wall. She felt her hand over it for a second, then turned and looked at everyone in the room.

“Someone tell me what the fuck just happened!” Dade bellowed.

All eyes turned to look at Chris as he stood there trying to gain some control over his temper. He looked around the room.

Rachel puffed out her cheeks and then exhaled noisily. “I didn’t even get to give her the present we got her. Gee, you don’t think she’s all pissed because she thinks we forgot her birthday, are you?”

Not intimidated in the least with how dangerous Chris looked, Leena walked over to him with her hands on her hips. “If you’re not going to explain, then you damn well better find a way to remove that wall and go find Kasey and make sure she’s all right.” She glared at him.

Chris watched Owen suddenly stand to his full height, seeming ready to protect his woman if Chris didn’t tread carefully. He looked down at Leena and then dropped his head down trying to breathe his anger away. His mind searched for Kasey. “She’s sitting outside on the steps.” He looked around the room at the worried, lost looks on everyone’s face, and the mess of broken dishes and food all over, and sighed.

He put his hands in his pockets and stood there. He’d forgotten her birthday. What a present he’d given her. He had belittled and hurt her. “I am an asshole. Kasey hurt my pride last night, and I took it out on her this morning.” Sighing, he walked towards the door she’d gone through. “I apologize.” He flicked his hand at the unseen wall and walked out.

Chris stepped out the door and studied Kasey from behind. She was shaking and no doubt crying with her face hidden against her knees. All he wanted to do was sit down and pull her into his arms and hold her. A part of him knew that wasn’t the solution. The other part of him was almost afraid she'd throw him on the roof if he tried. She had scared him with the force she’d shown inside. Yet a small part of him fell deeper in love with her for putting him in his place in such a manner.

Kasey turned her head and glanced behind her. “Please leave me alone, Chris,” she whispered with a wavering voice.

He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. “That’s part of the problem, Kasey. I can’t.” His voice shook with emotions he couldn’t control.

She clasped her hands around her knees and looked out across his large lawn. “I’m sorry about the dishes. I’ll replace them.”

Chris bunched his hands in his pockets. “I don’t give a fuck about dishes, Kasey,” he said quietly.

She turned and gave him a startled look. “Is everyone mad at me for all of that?”

He sat beside her, careful not to get too close. “No, I’d say you scared everyone half to death more than upset them. They’re worried.” He looked down at the ground. “Leena tore a strip off me for my behavior.” She still didn’t speak. “And you had every right to put me in my place.”

Kasey sighed. “I may have overdone it a tad.”

“You think?” He wanted to hug her, but knew it was too soon. “When my temper has finally cooled and my nerves are a bit steadier, you’re going to have to explain to me how you managed that slap, as strong as it was, not to mention the wall Leena ran into.”

She threw her hands over her face. “Oh no! Is she all right? She’s not hurt, is she?”

He shook his head. “She’s fine, a little shocked. Everyone is fine.” He looked at her tearstained face. “Kasey, I’m sorry. You hurt me last night with your honesty, and I lashed out. It was childish, and I should know better.”

Kasey studied his face for a moment. “I’m sorry too, Chris. The last week has been a bit overwhelming for me, and I’m not coping very well. I mean, I find out the man I’ve been having fantasies about for several years, that would be you, so there is no misunderstanding this time.” He smirked at that. “I find out he actually likes me and shows me a few things I... well, I could never have fantasized accurately. Then those women...” She took a deep breath. “Then I’m evicted and being whisked off to a fancy party. I still don’t comprehend any of that last night, and I’m not sure I want to.” She let out a shaky breath. “To top it all off, I’m having this breakdown on my own birthday! It’s all been very overwhelming, and I’m a little lost right now.”

Her honesty staggered him. The truth of what she said floored him completely. He hadn’t stopped to think what the last week’s events would do to her. He just kept rushing full speed ahead, forgetting that sweet little Kasey, his sweet little Kasey, was used to a much slower, much more uneventful life.

Chris let out a breath. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t even stop to consider how everything one right after the other would affect you. I should have.” He looked out across the lawn. “And you’ll never know how sorry I am. I was so caught up in things I forgot your birthday.” He hesitated in taking her hand, but felt the strain ease when her little hand closed around his.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Chris. I have three weeks to find a new home.” She leaned against his shoulder.

Three weeks, he thought, and she’d spent a week’s pay to play dress up for him.

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. “That’s what you have friends for. Those people in there worrying about you, and I, are here to help. That’s how it works for all of us, sweetheart.”

She stopped in the door and looked up at him. “Thank you, for understanding, Chris.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. He wanted to crush her in his arms and vow to protect her always, but her words still filled his mind, so he led her back inside to the others.

The present of a jeweler’s heat pen that they had all chipped in to buy, was accepted with shrieking and bouncing. She could finally make her own necklaces for people by mounting the stones to the metal clasp herself.