Safe in His Arms (26 page)

Casey nodded and finished getting dressed, then headed to the annex to pull on his shoes. Lon stumbled out, pulled some shorts over his nakedness, and made for the door to head to the toilets. Casey picked up his backpack and was opening his mouth to tell Lon that he had to get going when Lon froze in front of the door. Surprised, Casey looked over and saw the piece of white paper with Olivia’s phone number on it.

“What’s this?” Lon asked.

Casey completely missed the edge of danger in his voice as he grabbed his wallet and phone off the table. “Oh, yeah. Some girl came past on Saturday looking for you. That’s her name and number.”

“Some girl? What did she look like?”

Lon’s voice had deepened and that gave Casey a moment’s pause. What was up? “I dunno. Late twenties, blonde hair, really thin. She had a beautiful smile, though. Oh, and she was pregnant.”

Lon had gone pale. Really ghost-white pale. Casey noticed his hands were shaking and was about to ask him what was wrong when Lon exploded. He simply detonated right in front of Casey. “You fucking arsehole! You let her go? Why the fuck didn’t you call me? I’ve been home for six fucking hours and you’re just getting around to telling me?”

Casey dropped back a step and looked at Lon with fear. “She told me to. I told her you wouldn’t be back until the twelfth, and she said she’d wait for your call on the thirteenth. How the fuck was I meant to know who the hell she was?”

“She’s my fucking sister and she’s been missing since the night my parents died! I thought she was dead, and you just let her go? You don’t even tell me? How could you do this to me?”

“I didn’t know,” Casey cried in horror.

But Lon wasn’t listening. He savagely ripped the number off the wall and stormed back inside the van. “Get the fuck out of here, Casey.”

Casey’s blood froze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know, Lon,” he cried again. “How was I meant to know?”

Lon stopped and sighed loudly, but he didn’t turn around. “Go to work, Casey. I can’t deal with you at the moment. I have to ring my sister.”

He slammed the van’s door, cutting off Casey’s apology, even though it wasn’t necessary to close the van off from the annex during the day. He was placing a physical as well as a mental barrier between them, and Casey knew it. With a heavy heart, he grabbed his bag and left, not knowing if he’d ever be welcomed back again.

L
ON
DIALED
the number with shaking fingers, knowing the woman couldn’t be his sister, not after so long. But still his heart held hope. Blonde with a beautiful smile? Could it be?

“Hello?” The voice that answered was wary but oh so familiar.

His soul sang as he sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God. Livvy.”

“Lon? Oh, shit. Where are you? I was told you were up north working, so I wasn’t expecting your call for a couple of weeks.”

“There was a cyclone, and I came home early. Livvy! Where the hell are you?”

“I’m…. Well, I can’t say. But I can meet you. I’m at a women’s refuge, so I can’t give out the location, and you’re not allowed to come here. Can you meet me at Esplanade Park instead? There’s a coffee shop on the edge.”

“I’ll be there. Give me about thirty minutes, okay? Oh, God. I love you, Livvy. You’re not going to run again, are you? You’ll be there?”

“I’m through with running away from you, Lon. This time I need your help, so I’m running to you. I love you too, big brother. I’m sorry for everything.”

“Don’t be sorry, Liv. I don’t care about anything. I just care that you’re here now. Anything you need, Livvy. I’ll see you in thirty, ’kay?”

C
ASEY
WORKED
hard that day, but his smile was empty, and his exuberance for life was gone. Several times Natasha asked him what was wrong, but he shrugged her off and told her it was nothing. She didn’t believe him, but left him alone in his misery.

Time seemed to drag. Still he was surprised when three o’clock rolled around and it was time to go home. He hesitated. Did he want to go home? Did he still have a home? Did he even have a boyfriend?

No messages had come through on his phone, and after being so summarily dismissed this morning, he didn’t want to disturb Lon. If the woman was indeed his sister who’d been missing for eight years, he needed to concentrate on that, not some silly little boy hanging around and getting underfoot.

He turned away from the bus stop and headed instead for the large shopping center up the road. He browsed a couple of shops, bought some junk food, then decided to walk to Devon’s house. It would’ve been quicker catching the bus, but he had nowhere to go in a hurry, so he walked. Devon was delighted by the visit, and Casey invited himself to dinner.

“But what about Lon?” Devon asked. “Hasn’t he just arrived home? Won’t you want to be with him?”

So Casey spilled the beans about Olivia and then said, “I don’t want to intrude. Lon hasn’t really said, so I don’t know if I’m officially living with him. He told me I could stay in his van while he was away to watch over it, but now he’s back. So, do I still live there? Last time he was home, he had me stay with him, but that was for the sex. I don’t want to assume that I’m allowed to stay, then turn up and find his sister there with some big family reunion going on.”

Devon hugged him. “Oh, darling. It sounds terrible. Why don’t you just send Lon a message and ask him?”

“He told me he couldn’t deal with me. Oh, Dev. Am I really that much trouble? I know that I’m fucked up with my past and all, but I really thought I was getting my shit together. Was I fooling myself?”

That earned him a kiss on the cheek and another bone-crunching hug. “Definitely not. You’re no trouble at all. I should know. There’s only allowed to be one drama queen in my life—and that’s me. If you were that much trouble, I’d be kicking you to the curb for stealing my spotlight. Now buck up and tell me what we should have for dinner.”

They dined magnificently on frozen pizza and Cheezels while watching
Queer Eye
reruns, which Devon loved and Casey sat through to be a good guest. It was hours later when Devon’s phone rang, and he jumped up to answer.

“Hello? Oh, hi. Oh. Yes, he’s here. Oh. I don’t know.” Casey cringed as he realized that Devon was probably talking about him. “Yes. Some. Umm. Well I guess he doesn’t know if he’s welcome back. Lon kind of kicked him out and Casey doesn’t have any rights to the place since your buffoon of a friend hasn’t officially asked him to move in or anything.”

Casey wanted to die right then. It must be Paul on the other end of the phone, since that was the only friend of Lon’s that Casey knew. They had probably exchanged numbers during the cyclone crisis.

“Oh?” Devon was asking. “And how is Casey supposed to know this? ESP, perhaps? It doesn’t matter now, anyway. I’m rather rich, you know, and I’ve decided to keep Casey. He can live here with me.”

This was news to Casey, and he rolled over on the couch to stare at Devon in amazement. Devon was rich? Devon was going to keep him? The guy had a huge grin on his face and gave Casey an exaggerated wink to tell him he was bullshitting Paul. He pulled the phone away from his ear and grimaced as he obviously received an earful in reply to that suggestion.

Finally the person on the other end stopped shouting, and Devon frowned as he said, “This is all nice telling me, Lon. But perhaps you should’ve told Casey this?”

Lon? Lon was on the other end of the phone now? Casey jumped off the couch, ran to Devon, and tried to snatch the phone from him. But the guy skipped out of reach. “No, no, Lon. I don’t care for such language. Now put Paul back on the phone so I can talk to a civil person.”

Devon took refuge on the other side of the kitchen bench while Casey made gestures to hand over the device. “Paul,” Devon trilled as the man came back on the line. Casey pouted and shoved his hands on his hips to show his dissatisfaction. Devon ignored him and continued to talk to Paul. “Oh, yes. I know. I never signed up to be an agony aunt either, but what can I do? Yes. I suppose I could do that. I’ll tell him. Okay. Thanks. I’m sure we’ll talk later. Bye.”

Devon hung up with a sigh and turned to leave the room. “Devon,” Casey cried. “Tell me what he said.”

“No,” he replied with an airy swish of his hand. “As I told Paul, I’m keeping you. You don’t need to know that Lon’s been ringing you all afternoon and is waiting at home to apologize with a romantic dinner.”

“What?” Casey screeched, and dove for his backpack. His phone was there, blinking its message of eleven missed calls. The damn thing was on silent.

Devon was smiling, holding his car keys in one hand and gesturing for Casey to follow him with the other. “C’mon, Julietto. I’ll drive you home. Your Romeo is waiting.”

Romeo wasn’t the only one waiting. The headlights picked up Paul’s figure as Devon dropped Casey at the entrance to the caravan park. Or should that be Mercutio, since this was Shakespeare? Casey climbed out of the car and faced him.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” Paul said jovially. “I’m just hanging around to ask how you two could so royally fuck things up in less than twenty-four hours?”

Casey’s hung his head in shame. “I know.”

Paul went on. “I left you at midnight saying ‘I love you’ to one another. Then I swing past after my shift to find Lon in a state because he doesn’t know where you are. Then he starts carrying on about Olivia finally turning up, but that he’d yelled at you. So he’s all upset about that, but you can’t even pick up the phone?”

“I’m sorry. I had my phone on silent from when I was at work. I didn’t realize.” Casey was dying of shame now.

“But the worst thing was having my best mate blubbering at me about God hating him. He thinks that it’s all his fault. He’s been praying for eight years for Olivia to come home, and she does, only for him to think he’s lost you? He’s been telling me to ring the hospitals to see if you’ve had an accident. He thinks that he has to choose between having you or having his sister home—that God won’t let him have both, or some crap.”

If Casey thought he knew what shame was, he was wrong. Fuck. He felt bad now.

Paul continued. “So you’d better fucking run to that man. Then you need to allow him to apologize. Then you need to fuck like men in love and stop pulling this shit on each other. I can’t stand it.”

“I know.” Casey kicked at a stone on the driveway. He was a total coward.

“Then what the hell are you still doing standing there?” Paul growled.

“I—”

Paul cut him off and pointed in the direction of Lon’s van. “Go!”

He didn’t need to say it twice. Casey ran. And much like that first time, he barreled into the annex, dashed for the haven of Lon’s embrace, wrapped his skinny arms around the man he loved, and hugged for all he was worth. Lon grabbed him with those tree-trunk limbs and squeezed him tightly.

“Casey!”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. I didn’t mean ‘go away.’ I’m sorry, love.”

“No, no, no. It was my fault. I’m sorry I didn’t get your calls. I left my phone on silent. I was trying to give you space.”

“I didn’t want space, love. I wanted you. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’m so sorry about your sister, Lon. I didn’t know.”

“I know, love. How were you meant to know? I’d never opened my fat mouth and told you about it. You told me all about your deepest secret, and I didn’t even bother to tell you about my brother or sister.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do. I love you. I want to be with you. You should know all of my life, not just the good bits I want to tell you.”

“I don’t care. I’ll take any part of you that you’re willing to give.”

Lon reached down and kissed him then. It was a kiss of love, but also of forgiveness. “Paul says I never officially asked you to stay. He’s right. I’m very sorry about that. I want you to stay, Casey-love. I’ve been looking at houses and making plans to buy one so we can have more room. I love you, Casey, and I want to give you a home.”

Casey pulled back in surprise. “A house? Really?”

“Yes, really. Somewhere that you’ll feel safe when I’m not around. It’ll be our home, love. Somewhere with a garden for all your sick plants to grow strong and healthy. But most importantly, somewhere for you to mend and heal. A home for us, love. My first home since my parents were killed. And I want it with you.”

Casey felt as if his heart was so full it was about to overflow. “Yeah? With me?”

“Yes, baby. With you.”

“Safe?”

“Yes. Guaranteed safe.”

Casey leaned back so he could stare into Lon’s brown eyes. “Anywhere is safe as long as it’s with you. I just need your arms around me, and I can take on the world. I’m Superman.”

The smile Lon gave didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I love you. But before you go vowing to God or making promises, you need to know the whole story. Remember last night I told you I would tell you about my brother? Well, it’s not a pretty story. I made us a dinner and everything this afternoon, ready to show you and tell you all about it. But I put the cart before the horse. I was ready, but I forgot to invite the guest of honor. So, Casey Douglas? I’m inviting you to dinner and I want to tell you a really sad story, which has some happy bits, but a lot of sad bits too. Will you come?”

“I’d love to.”

Chapter 20