Chapter 222 Are Things What They Seem?
Case headed out of the local mall to the truck he and Andrea had rented, hoping the last minute gifts he’d gotten for Andrea’s family would be something each of them would like. While he knew Andrea had already gotten them gifts, he wanted to let them know he was thinking of them as well. Maybe he should’ve said something to her about it, but he didn’t want to wake her in the morning,
He’d had some time to think about the situation with Malcolm and why it had been making him so uncomfortable. It just seemed like Andrea and Malcolm got along so well together. He hadn’t ever seen her relate to another man like that, other than himself, and it made him nervous. It was probably silly for him to feel that way; it wasn’t as if he’d ever had any reason to doubt Andrea’s loyalty to him. Even when she was working, kissing famous actors, she’d never seemed interested in any of those other men. So it was silly of him to be worried about her having any sort of feelings for anyone else.
Christmas music played on the radio as he headed back to the farmhouse. Last night, he was sure he’d kept Andrea from having as good a time Christmas caroling as she might have if he hadn’t been in such a foul mood. It seemed ridiculous now. It wasn’t as if she’d even mentioned Malcolm to him before, so he couldn’t have been too important to her, could he?
Unless she hadn’t mentioned him because he was so important, she didn’t want Case to know about him….
Shaking his head, he dismissed that reasoning, deciding it was ridiculous, and pulled into the driveway.
Case took his packages and headed inside the house, hoping he and Andrea would have a chance to talk before things got too far out of hand.
He walked inside and saw Jack sitting in his seat, reading the paper. Or maybe he was sleeping. He didn’t lower the paper when Case walked by, so he decided not to disturb him and went up the stairs thinking maybe Andrea was still asleep.
When he got to the room, he saw that she wasn’t there. Sitting the packages down on the floor, he headed back downstairs to the kitchen to see if maybe she was in there.
Karen was at the stove, cooking. She turned as he walked into the room. “Oh, hi, Case. Andrea went for a walk with Malcolm. I think they’re out in the woods, but you can text her to find out for sure.”
“Okay….” Case immediately felt like something was off about what Andrea’s mom had said. Why would Andrea need him to text her? Why couldn’t he just go out there? Was she trying to hide something? Feeling a bit vindicated for being alarmed about the nature of Andrea’s relationship with Malcolm, Case headed out the door, hoping that he was overreacting again, but the feeling in his gut told him otherwise.
As he trudge through the snow, Case couldn’t help but think about the wedding. He had hoped that Andrea would want to get married this winter. Granted, it was a rush, and he’d told her he’d marry her whenever, wherever she wanted, but he was ready to make her his wife. After everything they’d been through together, the last thing he wanted was to continue to have to wait to say, “This is my wife, Andrea Sparks-Meyer.” He wanted that to be the case now.
When she’d decided to wait another year, it had been hard for him to accept, but he was pretty sure he’d hidden it from her well. Normally, it wouldn’t seem like a big deal to wait a year. But both of them had gone through some hellish experiences that year, and waiting just seemed like a good way to taunt fate.
Now that she was out in the woods walking around with an ex-boyfriend, he had to wonder if they weren’t tempting fate even more. What if she hadn’t realized she was still in love with Malcolm until he’d shown up on her mother’s doorstep? Was this just another way for the universe to mess with them?
The snow wasn’t very deep but it was slushy on top with a layer of ice beneath it. He was glad he had on thick boots with a deep tread on them or else he could fall down on the slick ice. His jeans were already wet at the bottom, too, so he was glad he’d put on thick socks or else his feet might be numb already, making it hard to walk.
Case had almost reached the woods when he heard voices coming from between the trees. He couldn’t understand what was being said, but he did hear a lot of laughter. He recognized Andrea’s giggle and knew whatever it was they were talking about Malcolm had truly made her happy; that wasn’t her fake laugh. A pang of jealousy hit him as he headed through the thick branches of pines and cedars, hoping she didn’t think he was acting suspicious just showing up out there, but if something was going on, he needed to see for himself.
Case made his way through a break in the trees and couldn’t believe his eyes!
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