Cattle Valley Mistletoe CV2 (9 page)

The fact was, Hal was in a good enough mood to go out to eat but not good enough to ask Casey. It was times like this, Casey wished he was a cussing man. A few choice words directed at Hal would probably make him feel much better.

“You look like you’re ready to go,” Nate said walking over.

“Yeah.” The last thing he wanted was to go back to Hal’s house and wait for him.

“Would you mind dropping me off at my place?”

Nate looked at Casey for a few seconds. “You sure?” Casey nodded. “If Hal wanted to see me he’d be here instead of working on the addition.” Casey shoved his hands in his coat pockets and walked toward the parking lot.

As they passed the church, Casey spotted Hal’s truck around back. A sharp pain hit him in the stomach. He wasn’t sure if it was the ulcer flaring up or seeing Hal’s truck and 56

knowing he couldn’t go after him. Casey pressed his fist to his gut, hidden in the darkness of the backseat.

Nate stopped the SUV and turned to look at Casey. “You sure this is where you want to go?”

“Yeah. Hal has a few things he needs to work out. I’d just be in the way.” He received a nod from Nate in reply. Opening his front door, he waved back before stepping inside.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, Casey tore off his coat and made his way to the bathroom. “Please don’t let me throw up,” he moaned as his stomach started to roll. He felt a little better after splashing his face with water, so he decided to take a shower and just go to bed.

With two large cups of hot chocolate in hand, Hal made his way through the thinning crowd. When he didn’t see who he was looking for, he asked Mayor Madison if he’d seen Casey.

“I saw them leave about an hour ago,” Quade replied.

Stopping long enough to dump the full cups into the trash, Hal headed home. Even though he’d yet to make peace with his past, Hal knew Casey was definitely his future.

The important thing now was to make sure Casey knew it.

When he arrived home, he was surprised to find the house dark. “Casey? Baby?” When no reply came, Hal quickly walked from room to room. Finding no sign of Casey he called Nate.

“Hello.”

“Hey, it’s Hal. I just got home and Casey isn’t here, are you guys still out somewhere?” There was a slight hesitation before Nate answered. “Casey wanted us to drop him off at his house. He said you had some things you needed to work out and he thought it best that he stay at his house until you do.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry, man.”

Hal felt numb. “No problem, he’s right. I need to get my head on straight and deal with some stuff. Thanks for taking him tonight.”

“No problem.”

57

“Bye.” Hal hung up the phone. He admitted to himself that Casey’s attitude hurt. Yeah he needed to do some more heavy thinking, but he thought Casey understood it no longer had anything to do with their relationship. Evidently, Casey thought differently.

Grabbing a bottle of whiskey out of the cupboard, Hal poured himself a drink and walked toward the living room.

Casey wasn’t sure how long he’d slept before he woke, with a persistent pain in his stomach. Sitting up in bed, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. It was only eleven so he hadn’t been in bed long.

Deciding maybe some antacid pills would settle him down, he rose and walked toward the kitchen. Grabbing the bottle out of the cupboard, he went to the sink for a glass of water. Looking out the window, he saw the lights were still on in the addition seconds before he noticed the smoke. “God help me,” he said reaching for the phone. After a quick call to the fire department, Casey was out the door racing toward Hal and the burning building in nothing but his underwear.

He was surprised to find the door locked. He banged several times, calling for Hal. When he got no answer, Casey tried looking in the window. The smoke was getting thicker by the second, and he could barely see a couple of feet. Afraid Hal had been overcome with smoke, he quickly searched around for something to break the window.

Coming back with a large rock, Casey broke the glass, yelling once again for Hal. With the mutton bars on the windows, he knew there’d be no way he could climb in. Reaching his arm up as far as he could his fingertips brushed the lock. Taking a calming breath, Casey tried again, feeling a brief sting as his fingers managed to flip the lock.

Hearing sirens in the distance, Casey pushed the window open and hoisted himself inside.

“Hal!” Casey tried to cover his nose and mouth with his arm. He felt the sticky wetness of his own blood against his face and looked down. A large jagged cut on his upper arm made him a little woozy. He hated the sight of blood.

Shaking it off, he pulled his underwear off and held it against the wound as he continued to search the large room. Not finding Hal in the main room, he quickly ran toward the bathroom. He was glad the fire seemed more smoke related than anything else. Just as he was coming out of the women’s restroom, the door to the outside was kicked in.

Casey looked up at the fireman, complete with oxygen mask. “I can’t find Hal,” he cried, seconds before passing out.

58

The ringing phone brought Hal slowly out of a deep sleep. He ran a hand over his face and realised he was still on the couch. His second thought was a phone call in the middle of the night was never a good thing.

Scrambling for the phone, Hal managed to reach it before it clicked over to the answering machine. “Hello?”

“Hal, its Ryan. I just got a call from dispatch. A fire was reported at the church.”

“Fuck.” Hal ran a hand over his bristled jaw. “The church though, right? Not Casey’s house?”

“No, looks like the addition. Casey’s the one who phoned it in. I’m headed there now.”

“Right behind you,” Hal said and hung up.

He quickly ran to the kitchen and slipped his boots and coat on before rushing out the door. As he drove down the drive, he tried calling Casey’s house. He knew he wouldn’t reach him, but he had to try.

The closer he got to the building, the more a sense of urgency overwhelmed him. Fire?

How had the building… “Oh fuck,” Hal said. A sudden vision of the coffeepot came to mind and the small spark earlier. Had he inadvertently burned down Casey’s church by leaving it on, or was the wiring the culprit? Neither option sat well, nor was he prepared for the sight before him. Not only was there a fire truck in front of the church but an ambulance as well.

Hal was out of the pickup and running toward the ambulance in a split second.
Please
don’t let it be Casey inside
, he thought as he wove through the milling crowd of onlookers. He reached the ambulance just as two paramedics were lifting a stretcher into the back. “Casey,” he yelled, pushing past the fire fighters.

“Hal,” he heard the muffled reply. Looking over the paramedic’s shoulder he could see Casey, white as a sheet, with an oxygen mask over his face. He looked so small on the stretcher it almost dropped Hal to his knees. He started to climb in, but Zac, the new paramedic in town, stopped him.

“Sorry, Hal, but you’ll have to follow us to the clinic.” 59

Warring with himself between arguing with the paramedic, and letting them get to the clinic, Hal nodded. Looking at Casey, he held up his hand. “I’ll be there before you are, baby.”

Without giving a second look to the building behind him, Hal ran for his truck. He was waiting for the ambulance as it pulled up to the back emergency entrance to the clinic.

Hal stepped through the automatic doors and acknowledged Dr. Sam Browning. He didn’t know Sam well but had met him on several occasions. He knew all three physicians in practice at the clinic were good, he just hoped Sam was the best.

As soon as Casey was wheeled into the brightly lit room, Hal saw Casey wince. Hal took his place at Casey’s side. Reaching for his lover’s hand, he noticed the blood soaked bandage for the first time. “What happened?” Hal asked Zac.

“He cut himself trying to unlock the window to get into the building,” Zac said after filling Sam in on Casey’s vital signs.

Sam looked at Hal. “I need to get him into the operating room and get the bleeding stopped. Wait out here and I’ll let you know.”

The gurney carrying Casey disappeared behind a swinging door, and Hal turned to Zac.

“Is he gonna be okay?”

“Probably,” Zac said, taking off his latex gloves and tossing them into the trash in the nurses’ station. “He was inside searching for you when the fire truck arrived on scene.”

“Looking for me?” Hal asked, running his fingers through his hair.

“Seems he saw the work lights on and thought you were still in there.”

“He risked his life thinking I was in danger?” Hal asked, more to himself than Zac. He couldn’t understand it. Hal cursed under his breath. It was totally his fault Casey was in that room. First whatever he’d done to catch the damn building on fire, and then being in such a hurry to find Casey at the park that he’d left the lights on.

Needing some air, Hal made his way toward the entrance only to be stopped when Ryan, Rio and Nate pushed through the double doors.

“How is he?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know. They brought him in and took him immediately to one of the exam rooms.

His arm was bleeding pretty badly though.” Hal scrubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes.

60

Ryan’s hand landed on Hal’s shoulder in sympathy. Nate didn’t stop there but instead wrapped his arms around Hal’s waist. “I’m so sorry.” Giving Hal’s shoulder a slight squeeze, Ryan released him. “The actual damage to the addition was minimal. They won’t know for sure until they have a few more hours to go over things, but it seems a power surge might’ve been the culprit. The coffeepot was left on.”

“Shit,” Hal said and closed his eyes. Could there possibly be a bigger arrow pointing toward whose fault all of this was?

Hal was distracted when Sam came into the waiting room. “How is he?”

“He’ll be fine. Casey lost a good amount of blood, but his pressure’s doing fine and we’ve got him all stitched up. I’d like to keep him overnight, but he’s insisting he be allowed to go home.” Sam chuckled and shook his head. Yeah, Hal could just imagine his little man standing up to the doctor.

“So I can take him home?” Hal asked, rubbing his hands on his jeans.

“Give him a few more minutes on oxygen. He inhaled a little smoke but nothing damaging. He’ll need some clothes though.”

“Huh?”

Sam blushed, “It seems he was only wearing his underwear when he entered the church.

After seeing his arm, Casey did the smart thing and used what he had to hold against the wound.”

Despite the fact Casey was safe, the idea of even a handful of people seeing his man naked didn’t set well with Hal. “I’ll take him home in a hospital gown. Bill me for it if you need to.”

Hal left the hospital with a very drowsy Casey wrapped in a hospital gown and blanket.

Through a little creative buckling, Hal managed to secure Casey so he could stretch out in the seat beside him.

With Casey’s head on his lap, Hal pulled away from the clinic. “The church?” Casey asked, his voice still a little scratchy.

“I haven’t seen it, but Ryan assured me the damage wasn’t anything that couldn’t be repaired.” Hal threaded his fingers through Casey’s hair. He was glad nothing more serious had happened. “I’m sorry, babe.”

61

Casey turned his head and kissed Hal’s hand. “I was so scared you were in that building.

All I could think about was getting to you.”

“When I realised I’d been a shit-head, I decided to surprise you at the park with hot chocolate. You were the only thing on my mind and like a complete ass I left the lights and the coffeepot on.” Hal sighed. “I’ll pay for the damage and do the repairs free.” He wanted to ask Casey for his forgiveness, but Hal knew he didn’t deserve it.

“Hey,” Casey said, looking up at him. “When I saw the smoke? I didn’t give two thoughts to that building. It was you I was worried about. Still am.” Hal tried to watch the road, but his eyes kept drifting down to Casey’s face. “I love you.”

“Good, because you’re going to be seeing a lot of me for the next ten days.”

“I hope for a little more than ten days, babe,” Hal said with a grin.

“Oh, you’re not getting rid of me. I meant I’ll be working beside you during the day and sleeping beside you at night.” Casey gave him a smug look, and Hal shook his head.

Before he could protest, Casey continued. “It’s more stress for me to sit at your house and worry about the building getting done in time. At least this way, I’ll be doing something about it. I may not be the most experienced help you’ve ever worked with, but I’m the cutest.”

“Ya think so?” Hal asked. He tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. “Charlie Brooks is a damn fine looking man.”

“Stop right there, Mr. Kuckleman, before you bite off more than you can chew.” Casey pinched Hal’s leg.

“Good thing I prefer blonds.” Hal pulled into the garage and turned off the ignition.

“What about your arm?”

Casey unbuckled his seat belt and sat up. Moving his arm up and down a few times, Casey nodded. “I figure if it feels good enough for me to be horny, it’s good enough to work.”

Hal looked at the gorgeous man next to him. After everything he’d done, Casey still wanted him. “Really, you’re horny?”

“Always,” Casey said. He leaned in and ran his tongue over Hal’s lips. “My arm may be sore, but my ass is fine.”

Hal’s cock sprang to attention at the image. “Shit, let’s get you inside. We only have a couple hours before we have to get to work, and I plan on fucking you several times.” 62

The feeling of being stretched and filled was pure bliss, Casey thought as he lay under Hal. He could see Hal’s concentrated effort to go slow and Casey shook his head. “Take me, I’m not hurting. But I might be sore in a few hours when the pain pill wears off.

Better take advantage of it while we can.”

Hal’s brow rose as he slid out of Casey’s body before slamming back in again. “Oh yeah, like that,” Casey groaned, trying to lift his ass off the bed, his fatigue from earlier gone the minute they’d hit the sheets.