She turned to go, then stopped at the door and seared him with one last look. She shook her head slowly. “You don’t deserve a family.” Her tone was harsh, unforgiving. Not that he was asking for any.
He was alive and the baby, the child he hadn’t wanted, was dead.
Chapter 15
JT held Casey up for a clear view of the 3-D printing machine. She literally vibrated with excitement as she watched what looked like a robotic arm make the mold for her new prosthesis right before her eyes. She’d had a laser-guided scan for the most precise fitting a couple of hours ago. With that information, the computer was building the mold. Next, a clear sheet of thermoplastic would be heated and vacuum-formed around that mold to make a test socket.
“And after this it’s ready?”
“Not quite. After we make sure it fits, we’ll make the real one.”
“The purple part?”
“Yes.” For the socket, she’d chosen black polypropylene with specs of purple that glittered in the light.
Casey had miraculously run out of questions five minutes ago and was now content to watch. He was content, too, as he adjusted her in his arms. He’d done better with her today than he would have thought. She’d eaten and laughed and hadn’t cried for Paige even once.
Month after month, as Lynn’s unborn child grew, so had his guilt and regret over the child he’d lost and the man he hadn’t been. He’d assumed it’d be the same with Casey, but it wasn’t. Instead, he was filled with an overwhelming sense of protectiveness, even pride.
A door opened and closed behind him, and he turned to see Lynn ambling toward him.
“Hey. You okay?”
“No. I’m going into labor and came to find you.” She rolled her eyes at his panicked expression and reached down to pet Boulder on the head. “I’m kidding. I was looking for you, though, but I see you’re busy. Who’s this?”
“This is Casey. Casey, this is Lynn.” He’d told her about Casey and that he was reworking her prosthetic leg, but that didn’t explain why he had her here in the lab with him.
Casey finally tore her gaze from the machine and found something else interesting. “Hi. You’re going to have a baby!”
“Yes, I am.” Lynn patted Casey’s little back, smiling even as her eyes filled. “Hush,” she told him before he could comment. “It’s hormones.”
“I love babies,” Casey went on. “I never held one, but I love them. They’re like kittens. Maybe I can hold yours.” She cupped her hands together like she was holding water.
Lynn gathered herself and rubbed Casey’s back again. “You are just the sweetest thing.”
“Thank you. We’re making my new leg, and it’s gonna be like Jake’s except more sparkly because he’s a boy. I’m going to name it.”
“Really?” Lynn asked. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Maybe Leggy.”
“I like that,” Lynn said, nodding, then sent him a questioning look.
“Paige had to go back—Casey’s mom,” he corrected when Lynn’s eyebrows shot up, “had to get back to work.” Back for an extra half shift she shouldn’t have worked today. He hadn’t seen her since Sunday, and damn, she’d looked tired. “I suggested Casey stay after we got the scans we needed so she could see how a prosthesis is made.”
“Interesting.”
Yes. It was interesting, but Paige’s stress and the shadows under her eyes combined with Casey’s enthusiasm to spend time at Evolution had prompted him to insist. He’d even stretched the truth a bit, telling Paige that Casey had to stay in order to finish the scans. He just opened his mouth and the words were out before he could talk himself out of it. A perpetual problem around Paige that he was beginning to expect.
“Are you having fun?” she asked Casey.
“Yes. I’m going swimming with Marcy and now we’re doing this, but it won’t be done today, and we’re going to ride horses.”
“Horses?” Lynn’s surprised gaze swung to his.
JT looked at Casey. “Um…”
“He said we maybe would at his brother’s,” Casey added.
“Ah. I see.” Lynn sent him a teasing glance, knowing full well he was in over his head.
Shit. He’d already talked to Stephen and Hannah and had everything worked out except the timing. He hated not telling Casey, but he couldn’t say anything before he talked to Paige. He just had to find the right time to present it. “Right. I’ll get on that.”
“That’s a good idea,” Casey said, nodding. “Sometimes you just gotta make it happen.”
Now Lynn did laugh and so did he. She really was the sweetest thing, JT thought, holding her a little tighter, feeling special that even with the glorious Lynn standing here—easily one of the top five human beings on the planet—Casey chose to stay in his arms.
He held her a little closer, his chest feeling a lot tighter, as they went back to their task of creating something he prayed would make her happy.
It was almost seven thirty when Paige appeared in his office doorway, looking decidedly more strung out than she had just four hours earlier.