by Amanda Tru
Maybe.
Something they’d need to discuss.
Before he knew it, the afternoon session ended.
The minute she could close down, Casey grabbed the tablet and cash box. “Can you grab Bruce and send me directions to that vet?”
“I’ll take you. You’ll have a hard time finding it, even with your phone helping you.”
“Thanks.”
Customers had been cleared out of the convention center, but a few people he knew called to him, and almost everyone wished them luck at the vet.
Once outside, he took Bruce from Casey. He opened the passenger door for her then stowed the crate in the middle seats.
As they drove, he pointed out sites he thought she might find interesting, though there weren’t many. They did cross a branch of Serenity Lake to get to Trumanville. A couple of miles outside Trumanville was the Pond Creek County Vet Clinic. Inside, the slate tile and cold fireplace couldn’t offset the feeling of warmth he felt just walking in.
“Is this the famous Bruce?” the receptionist asked. “We just saw you on the news.”
“Already?” Mark glanced at his watch. It was after six by the time they’d made it out there.
“Yep. Let’s weigh Bruce, and we’ll get him checked out.”
Bruce seemed a lot more lethargic than he probably should be, but he let himself be weighed. A minute later, they found themselves in a room with the vet and one of her techs.
She ran her hands over Bruce and checked a few things, like pinching the back of his neck and watching how fast the skin went back the way it was supposed to.
“I want to do some blood tests to make sure, but I think he’s going to be fine,” she reassured Casey after a few minutes. “Do you have a list of what you need? You said Bruce isn’t your cat, correct?”
“A new friend was supposed to have someone from a cat rescue bring me most of what I need, but I guess the lady was out of town and she’s a one-woman operation. A list would be great. I know me. I’ll forget something crucial, like kitty litter.”
Mark chuckled. “It wasn’t on the list you sent me earlier, but I knew enough to add it.”
Casey’s shoulders slumped. “See? I haven’t even told Rachel or contacted Mrs. Christian to let her know that I have Bruce. She’s a neighbor who was supposed to stop by and check on him. I don’t know why Rachel trusted me with him. I clearly don’t know what I’m doing.”
Unable to take it any longer, Mark moved next to Casey and wrapped his arms around her. “Hey. You’re doing your best and asking for help when you need it. That’s all anyone can ask you to do.”
The feel of her head resting against his chest was something he’d been waiting years to find. He couldn’t tell her that, not yet. He didn’t think finding out he worked for a royal family would scare her off, but telling her that holding her felt right in a way he never had before? That was probably too much.
How weird was it that Casey didn’t care that the kind vet and her assistant were witnessing her first hug with Mark?
First?
Did that imply she hoped there would be many more to come?
She didn’t let herself over-analyze it. Not yet. That would come later. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy being held like this.
It hadn’t happened in a long time, and she wanted nothing more than to relax into it, but their audience precluded her from doing that.
She pulled back. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
“It’s the truth.”
The vet jumped in. “He’s right, you know. As soon as you knew you needed help, you did what needed to be done.”
“You have no idea.” Mark’s wry tone made her smile.
“Do I need to leave him here?” Casey asked.
The vet shook her head. “Nope. We’ll take him to the back and draw the blood. We’ll run it first thing in the morning. We’re here until noon, but we’ll call you long before that to give you an update.”
“Thanks.”
The vet and her assistant left her alone with Mark for a few minutes.
“Thank you again for everything today. When they’re done, you can just drop me back off at my van. I can take it from there.” She really hoped he wouldn’t. She wanted a dinner date with him, though she wouldn’t be dressed her best or have her makeup just so.
“Nope. We can drop the cat off at your hotel if you think he’ll be okay there, then I’m going to take you to dinner. Nothing fancy, but some good local food.”
She didn’t let her shoulders slump in relief. “That sounds wonderful.” Except she wasn’t sure if the hotel would let her leave Bruce there. “I should probably call and explain what happened. See if the hotel will let me pay a pet deposit or something.”
Before she could, the vet brought Bruce back in. “He’s good to go. We’ll call you in the morning. If it was mid-summer, I’d be much more concerned, but even coming from Texas, it wasn’t nearly as hot as it could be. He’s clearly not frostbitten or overly dehydrated, so I think we’re going to be just fine.”
A few minutes later, she was back in Mark’s very nice SUV. She’d noticed it looked far more upgraded than any she’d ever been in before. Rather than asking, she just poked around the center dashboard-console area until she found the heated seats.
“Does this car go along with the security thing you talked about?” she asked as he pulled out onto the rural country road.
“It does. It’s much more secure than your normal SUV.”
“I noticed. So, the people are super VIPs.”
“You could say that.”
Casey pulled out her phone. She wanted to do a search for what celebrities called Serenity Landing home, but instead called her hotel and explained the situation.
They gave her the answer she most dreaded.
No pets.
No exceptions.
Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks, but she willed them back. After thanking the woman for her time, she opened her browser on her phone. “I need to find a hotel that takes pets.”
“Don’t worry about it. Jonathan already told me you’re welcome to the apartment over their garage if you needed it.”
She turned to look at him. “Are you serious? How much?” She’d pay it, whatever it was, but she was already going to be out two nights at the hotel anyway.
“He wouldn’t charge you anything. He has the space. You have a need. End of story. His wife may have been at the craft show. I’m not sure if she had a booth or not. If not, she’ll be shopping, I’m sure.”
“What does she do?”
“When she’s not pregnant, she dyes yarn.”
Casey blinked. “She’s not Show Me Yarn, is she?”
Mark shook his head. “Kenzie’s Kreations, I think. She knows the other ladies though. Most of the locals know each other.”
“I’ve used her yarn before I think. She does good work.”
“I’m sure she’d love to hear that.” He flipped on his blinker. “We’ll drop Bruce off there. I’m sure their daughter would love to play with him. We’ll grab some dinner then pick up your things at the hotel. I can take you back to Jonathan’s then.”
Before she could protest that she wouldn’t have her own vehicle, he was making a call to his friend.
While he talked, she decided to do that web research. Famous people in Serenity Landing turned up a weird hodgepodge of unrelated articles, except for one about some HEA TV star filming a show for MyBingeFlix. She vaguely remembered the original show, 2 Cool 4 School, a show about teenage twins in high school, but had never really watched it.
But it seemed that Christopher Bayfield lived in Serenity Landing full time, so that couldn’t be who Mark worked for.
“Jonathan and Kenzie are at So Cheeeezzy already. We can give Bruce to them. We can eat there if you want or go somewhere else.”
Casey blinked. “First, I need to know what kind of food is served at a place called So Cheeeezzy. Is it all grilled cheese and ma
caroni all the time? Because I could totally get on board with that.”
Mark laughed. “Sorry. It’s a New York style pizza and Italian restaurant. Locally owned and operated. Decent food.”
She didn’t try to hide her slight disappointment. “That will work, though an all grilled-cheese-and-macaroni restaurant would be okay, too, if you have one of those around here.”
“Are those even a thing?” Mark slowed as they neared the town of Serenity Landing. “It sounds good, I guess, but I’ve never heard of one.”
“Pizza and Italian sounds good, too. I can always eat pasta and pizza.”
He flipped on his blinker then turned right on what appeared to be a main thoroughfare. In a block, he turned into a parking lot near a house-ish looking building. They pulled into a spot on the other side of an empty one from another large SUV. A man was putting a child into a car seat as a woman helped a little girl in the other side.
It wasn’t until the man turned around that Casey gasped. “Jonathan Langley-Cranston? Your friend is Jonathan Langley-Cranston?”
As he pressed the button to turn the engine off, Mark glanced over at Casey. “You know Jonathan?”
She shook her head. “Not really, but Rachel follows a bunch of the royalty websites. She was all excited about the possibility of him marrying some European Crown Princess, but I guess they broke up, and she married someone else. She made me wake up to watch the wedding.”
How long would it be before she put two and two together? If her friend was that invested in Addie, wouldn’t she realize it was Serenity Landing at the center of all of the stories, at least on the American side?
Rather than dwelling on it, Mark opened his door. “I’ll introduce you.”
Before he could make it around to the other side of the SUV, Jonathan had already turned and opened Casey’s door for her and was introducing himself.
Mark worried Casey would be one of those people who didn’t know how to act around someone they perceived to be famous, but she just smiled and thanked him for the offer of a place to stay and taking care of Bruce.
“Lorelai will love having a cat around for a few hours,” Jonathan told her as Mark opened the rear passenger door. “She adores them, but I’m mildly allergic.” He held up a hand. “I’ll be fine, but we can’t have one.”
“Then thank you.”
Kenzie walked around the back of their SUV. “She may never let you have him back even though Jonathan’s allergic.” She held out a hand to Casey. “I’m Kenzie.”
Casey glanced up at Mark. “Mark says you dye yarn. I think I’ve used some of your stuff before. It’s fantastic.”
“Thank you.” She bumped Jonathan with her hip. “This guy is almost as good as I am these days.”
Jonathan laughed. “I just follow her recipes. That makes it a lot easier.”
“I can’t mix dye when I’m pregnant,” Kenzie explained. “Jonathan does it for me when I can’t.”
Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder for a quick hug. “Congratulations. I haven’t seen you since the announcement.” He’d already mentioned it to Jonathan.
“Thanks. I’ve had a lot more morning sickness this time around, but I’ve been craving calzones, so here we are. I can’t get them to come out right to save my life.”
Mark let his arm fall and pulled the crate out of the back seat. “Thanks again for taking care of him for us.”
Jonathan took the crate from him. “Our pleasure.”
Kenzie looked between them. “You’re not from here, right, Casey?”
“I’m just in town for the craft show,” she confirmed. “I’ve never been here before.”
“Then how do you two know each other? Did you meet in Montevaro at some point?”
So much for keeping it a secret. Mark looked at Casey who’d turned a becoming shade of pink as she looked at the ground. “Addie signed me up for a dating app. Casey’s friend signed her up. They matched us, and she needed help. I had the day off. The rest is history.” More or less. No sense in hiding it.
“Addie?” Kenzie’s eyebrows lifted. “Addie signed you up?”
Mark nodded. “She’s convinced that since she’s happily married, and Todd is happily married, and so are her brother and sister, that everyone else needs to be, too.”
“It just doesn’t seem like a thing she would do.” Kenzie shrugged. “I’ve only met her a couple of times in passing, though.”
“I guess she saw a commercial for this Betwixt app and had someone look into it to make sure it was legit.”
Jonathan looked sheepish. “That would be me. I had no idea what she wanted the information for, though.”
Casey squared her shoulders. “Well, I for one, am glad this Addie person signed him up. I don’t know what I would have done without his help today, both with Bruce and in the booth at the show.”
Mark wasn’t sure what to think of the twinkle in Jonathan’s eye. “I remember my first show with Kenzie. I didn’t know much of anything, but I learned fast.”
“Mark did, too.”
A scream from inside the car caught their attention.
“And that’s our cue.” Jonathan put Bruce’s crate in the back seat of their SUV. “We’ll be home the rest of the night. Your code for the apartment and the front gate is today’s date.”
Two minutes later, they were seated in the restaurant. Mark sat where he could see everything going on and both exits. He wondered if Casey would notice he had to sit where he could take stock of things.
“Tell me something about yourself,” he asked Casey. “Besides the business thing.”
“I graduate in May. I have no clue what I want to do with my life except keep working for Rachel. I’m not sure I actually want to use my degree, but I do love the stuff I do for her. Not the packaging and all of that, though I don’t mind, but the marketing side of things. Graphics and all of that.”
“Have you thought about being a virtual assistant? I know Kenzie used one for a while, though I’m not sure what happened. She paid someone to do her graphics and post on social media and other stuff, but I have no idea what.”
Casey took a sip of her Dr Pepper. “That’s a thought. I see people mention it on Facebook sometimes, but I’ve never considered doing it myself.”
“Maybe Kenzie could give you some suggestions on what people look for.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a thought.”
“No, it’s a good one.” She took another sip of her soda. “It’s your turn to tell me something about yourself. Sounds like you’re from Montevaro? Is that in Europe?”
So, she hadn’t put the name Addie together with Queen Adeline of Montevaro. “It is. South of our sister country Mevendia and north of Italy. I did six years of schooling at Serenity Landing University. I have my Master’s in International Relations.”
When Addie had been called home following her father’s skiing accident and subsequent revelation of his Parkinson’s disease, they’d all been given the opportunity to finish their last semester. Mark had, as did Adeline, but Todd decided not to.
Her eyes had widened. “International relations? Well, I guess if you do security work for someone international, that makes sense. I mean, I’d guess your clients are international since you’re from Europe.”
Something started to work itself out in her head. He could see it happening.
“Wait. Addie. You’re from Montevaro.” She leaned in closer and whispered. “Do you work for the queen of Montevaro?”
Though he’d known it couldn’t keep it from her for much longer, Mark had hoped he might make it through dinner. He nodded. “But I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t make a big fuss over it. It’s not a secret, but not something I talk about openly in public very often.”
“That makes sense.”
Their waitress appeared with a calzone for Casey and lasagna for him.
“Do you mind if I say grace?” he asked.
Casey shook her head. “Go right ahead.”
&nbs
p; Mark did something he’d never done on a date before. He reached out and took her hand before giving thanks for the food.
As they ate, he told her a little bit about Montevaro then promised to answer at least some of her questions about his job when they were on their way to pick up Bruce.
“I would imagine your job can make relationships difficult,” she said, keeping her eyes on his.
“It was worse when I traveled all the time. Since I took over here on a permanent basis, it would have been easier when I wanted to spend more time with someone.”
“Have you dated much then?”
He shook his head. “Not really. I dated several women through the app. I never went out on a second date with any of them. I could see why, on paper, they looked like a good match, but we never clicked. You?”
“A few, but same thing. Never clicked, even though we should have been compatible.” She dipped her calzone in marinara sauce. “I would imagine you’ve traveled all over the world?”
“A fair bit, though I never did much of the tourist stuff or was able to explore on my own. I always had…” He glanced around. No one was near them. “Other concerns.”
“I can’t even imagine. Would you like to go back and visit on your own?”
That was a key question about whether this relationship had potential or not.
“When I can. I should be able to take more vacation now. My boss pushes me to when we talk, but I have a hard time leaving things in the control of others. What about you? Would you like to travel?”
Casey pushed the little bit of food left on her plate away. “Like to? Yes. Afford to? Notsomuch at the moment.”
“If the money wasn’t an issue?”
“I would love to.” She leaned forward like she was going to tell him a secret. “I’ve never even been on a plane.”
The way she said it made Mark smile. If this worked out, he’d make sure she got to ride in one sooner rather than later. He had friends he could call for favors.
While he finished, they talked about the places she would visit if she could. All were places he’d been, though he only ever saw the inside of a control room or SUV or watched the crowds for potential threats.