It was close to three o’clock when I heard the gallery door open. I expected to hear heavy footsteps but when there was nothing, I left the studio and walked up front. I was surprised to see a pregnant woman wandering around the space, her hand resting on her protruding belly. I knew instantly who she was because I’d seen her picture in the many articles I’d read in the hopes of understanding her connection to Jonas.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
The woman startled and I felt bad when I saw a rush of fear go through her briefly before she gathered herself.
“Sorry,” I said.
She laughed and shook her head. “No, it’s my fault. I was thinking about something else. Um, is Jonas here?”
“No, he’s not, but he should be back soon.”
“Are you Mace?” she asked as she gave me a quick once over. I liked that she closed the distance between us. With my size and my tats, I wasn’t exactly the most approachable guy.
“I am,” I said as I automatically held out my hand when she introduced herself.
“I’m Casey Prescott. I’m a friend of Jonas’s.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. An uneasy rush of emotion went through me as she spoke because the lilt of her voice and her warm smile reminded me of someone I’d lost long ago…someone I’d driven away. Someone who’d once been my entire world.
“This place looks amazing,” she said as she looked around. “May I?” she asked, motioning to the doorway that led to the studio.
“Please,” I said.
“Wow,” she said as she took in the now clean room. I’d managedto get the last wall up the day before and had started on hanging the lights.
“Case, you here?” I heard Jonas call.
“Back here!” Casey called. She met him in the doorway and there was no hesitation between them as Jonas dragged her into his arms. A twinge of anger went through me at what Jonas was doing with this woman’s husband behind her back, but I reminded myself he was a victim.
“I thought that was your car out front,” Jonas said as he pulled back. I could see Cole standing just behind the pair.
“Devlin had a Board meeting to attend, so I thought I’d tag along and see how things were coming along. It’s perfect, Jonas,” she said as she looked around the room. “The kids are going to love it.”
The wide smile that spread across Jonas’s lips had me shifting uncomfortably. He looked so genuinely happy that I had to wonder if he’d somehow compartmentalized his actions, because I couldn’t explain his complete and utter lack of guilt.
Unless he didn’t have anything to feel guilty about.
The thought was so unexpected that I actually took a step back. Was that even a possibility?
“Case, this is Cole,” I heard Jonas say despite the roaring in my ears. “Cole, this is Casey Prescott.”
I picked up on the sudden tension in Jonas’s voice and that helped settle the disturbing thoughts that had started to rattle around my head.
“Hi,” Cole said as he extended his hand. But like Jonas, Casey wasn’t having any of it and she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Cole. And just like with Jonas, he seemed caught off guard by the hug but he recovered quickly.
“I’m so sorry about Carrie, Cole. I wish I’d gotten there sooner…”
At Casey’s words, I froze. Had she known Carrie? How was that possible?
I thought back to what little I knew about Casey’s life before she’d married her husband. The possible connection between herand Cole’s sister hit me hard and fast and I was actually reaching for my phone to call Mav before I remembered where I was.
“Mace?”
I had no idea how Jonas’s voice pierced the fog that clouded my brain but when I looked up, I saw all three of them looking at me with concern.
“What?” I asked.
“You okay?”
