Page 150 of Major Love

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he rumbles, his eyes flicking up to the top of the stairs as his brother steps onto the landing, his tan chest sparkling with water and a white towel gripped tight around his hips.

“What’s up?” Mitch asks cautiously, keeping one fist on his towel as he heads down the stairs.

I bring my eyes back up to Jason’s and he watches me carefully. His large palms rub my waist so that he can tug me closer, keeping me safe.

“Jason?” I ask again, not liking the pre-emptive tears stinging in my eyes.

I place one of my hands over his chest and he envelops it with his, squeezing me firmly.

And then he rips the Band-Aid.

“It’s Casey,” he says.

Chapter 36

Sunday

There’s a week of injury care, transportation, and official procedures before I’m finally contacted, saying that Casey is now going to be able to get in touch with me.

Being his next of kin, Haven received contact on Friday outlining that Casey had been injured, but no details were given due to the undisclosable nature of his missions.

All she knew was that he’d been hurt but, incredibly, he’s going to be okay, as long as his injuries are kept protected from infection and he has enough rest to aid his recovery.

So as soon as Jason told me that Haven had managed to contact him – after being unable to get in touch with me, seeing as my cell ran out of power – he’d taken me straight to her place for all of the details that she’d been given, and my eyes burned with grateful tears the second that she told me he’s going to recover.

The officials had told her that he’d already had the preliminary care to his wounds, so now it’s just a waiting game to see how well his body recovers.

And he was well enough to talk to the staff and tell them that he wanted to call his family as soon as possible.

I push my body off the doorjamb that leads into the back office at Casey’s bar, my gaze slowly roaming over the stunningwood desk as I wonder what the hell my brother has been thinking lately.

Buying the bar in Phoenix Falls, and then almost giving me a heart attack because he was injured… my brother has always been so careful and considered that I can’t help but think that his mind must have been all over the place lately.

Why would he buy a bar when he hasn’t left the military yet?

And why buy a bar at all when he’d never paid any interest in the idea before?

I walk slowly around the room, my cowgirl boots tapping gently against the hardwood floor, and I realign one of the hand-carved photo frames, depicting one of his favourite lakes to swim in during the summer.

As soon as I found the photo, I knew that I had to put it in Casey’s office – depicting one of his greatest passions that will always be here for him when he gets home.

Because I don’t doubt that, as soon as he can, Case will be back behind the wheel of his truck, and taking Haven down to one of the lakes in the lower mountains – so long as they’re in their ‘on-again’ phase again but, given what he’s just been through, I’m pretty sure that they will be.

And even if it takes him months of building up his strength and keeping his wounds protected from the elements, the second that he’s given the go-ahead he’s going to be wading through the crystal waters as if he’d never left them in the first place.

But maybe he’ll start small – and dip his toes in the pool that Jason built for him.

I hadn’t been back to Casey’s bungalow in what felt like forever but, after finding out that he’s going to be okay, I asked Jason to take me there.

And I know that Casey will most likely be staying with Haven and Tucker when he gets home – because even if Tucker doesn’tunderstand what’s just happened, Casey is going to want to be as close to his son as possible – but I still wanted to make the cabin as cute as possible just in case he comes home and needs a little me-time.

And when Jason finally showed me what he’d built beneath the pines in Casey’s backyard, my heart clenched tight in my chest, overwhelmed with how perfect it was.

Because if Casey’s going to be recovering, he might want to do a lot of that in private, and seeing the sanctuary that Jason built for him just made me love him even more.

The stunning tiles, the unique curves to the shape, and with enough length for Casey to swim his laps once his wounds are healed and he can get back in the water.

Add a string of fairy-lights to the rustic back porch and Casey’s never going to want to be anywhere else.

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