Chapter 7

Almost one year later…

Don walked over to his desk. There was a book sitting in the middle of it with a piece of paper on top. He picked up the paper. It was a flyer for a book signing. As he read the name of the author, he almost dropped the paper. "Fading Hearts" by Casey Jensen. She was coming to New York for a signing at a large bookstore.

Don set down the paper and lifted up the book. There was a post-it on the cover.

"She still asks about you.

-Lindsay" Was all it said.

The book signing was the next morning at ten a.m. Don debated about going. He hadn't seen Casey in almost a year. What if she didn't even remember him? But apparently she did if Lindsay was telling him that she asked about him. Suddenly he had butterflies in his stomach- a sensation he hadn't had in years.

His phone rang pulling him from his thoughts.

That night when he got home from work he sat and started the book Casey had written. The story was of a young girl who visited her grandmother and fell madly in love with a young man about her age. But the girl had to leave and go back home to marry someone her father had arranged for her to marry. Then the young man she loved came and they ended up together in the end, but the girl had to leave her family and they ran away. The story took place in the early 20th century.

As Don read he became more and more aware of the similarities between the story and the short romance he and Casey had shared. The book was funny in parts and also sad in others.

By midnight he was about three-quarters of the way through. He couldn't put the book down. He needed to go to bed because he had to get up for work, but he just couldn't force himself to sleep.

Finally, a little before three in the morning he went to bed having finished the story. Sleep didn't come easy with Casey and her book straining his mind.

At seven in the morning he got up and dressed and showered for work. He drove to meet Danny at the lab to see if they had any new developments in their case. Even though he was talking to Danny and Danny was talking to him he was completely distracted. Danny knew something was wrong.

"Yeah I'm fine," Don answered his question. He looked at his watch. "Hey, I gotta go do something. I'll catch up with you in about an hour, or so. Is that cool?"

"Yeah, everything ok?"

Don nodded. "Yeah, I just need to take care of something and this might be the only chance I have." Now Danny caught on to what he was referring to.

Don left the lab and drove to Romain's Bookstore. He was nervous. He grabbed the book from the passenger seat and got out of the car. When he walked in the door there was a line of people off to his left. He stood at the back of it.

Slowly the line moved toward a long rectangular table. Don couldn't see Casey yet around the people in front of him. Suddenly he was the third person in line. He could see Casey- her hair was shorter and darker. She smiled at the young lady she was talking to, and Don was forced to smile too.

As he approached the table Casey's head was down and he slid the book to her across the table. "Who's this for?" she asked as she opened the front of the book.

"For…the one that got away," Don stated forcing Casey to raise her head.

She smiled and Don returned the gesture, both without a word. She turned her attention back to the book, and scribbled down a message then handed it back to him. "Thanks," she said almost as a whisper.

Don took the book from her hand and walked away. He was kicking himself for not saying more to her. He was too scared and hurt to do anything else but leave.

When he got in the car he opened the cover of the book and read the message Casey had written. He smiled.

"They didn't hate it," was all she had written then signed her first and last name. Only he would really know what that meant.

Chapter 8

Don knocked on the hotel room door. After less than a minute, the door opened. Casey stood there probably shocked at the sight of him.

"Hey," she greeted and flashed a smile.

"Hey," Don replied.

"How did you find me?"

"Lindsay told me where you were staying and the room number?" He heard a male voice from inside the room asking her who it was. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here. I'm just gonna go." He started to walk away.

"Stop," Casey said and grabbed his arm before he got too far away. "Just come inside." She pulled him by his hand into the room and over to the sitting area. There was a man sitting on the couch with papers and a planner spread on the coffee table in front of him. "Don Flack, this is my publicist Eric Tanner." The man stood and accepted Don's hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Don stated.

"Eric, can wee finish this stuff later?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, I'll just call you in the morning." He said and picked up the papers and left the two of them standing in awkward silence.

"Well, have a seat. Do you want something to drink?" Casey started away from him, but he stopped her and pulled her into a hug.

"I've missed you," Don whispered into her ear. He held her for a while. This was what he had wanted from her since she had left him almost a year ago.

"I'm sorry," she started. "You didn't deserve what I did to you," they parted. "I should've said goodbye, and been honest with you about…" she trailed off.

"About what, Casey?"

"I was scared. I'm still scared. Love has never been easy for me, Don. The fact that maybe this could actually work just scares me to death. What the hell is wrong with me?" she almost yelled the last part, forcing him to smile.

"Casey, there's nothing wrong with you. I'm just as scared, but running isn't the answer. I hope you realize that now. And I'm thinking you've been just as sick over me as I have been about you."

Now she smiled. "So, are we gonna do this? Try to make this work?"

"I'm game if you are."

"Yeah," she said and kissed him gently. "I have to be honest, though, right from the beginning. I'm not gonna be here long." His smile was gone and he looked crushed. "But," she started, "I'm coming back. And I'm…staying." His smiled reappeared and it was brighter now.

"Casey?"

"Yeah," she said her face close to his.

"I think…no I know…I'm falling hard for you."

"You're just as scared to say it, aren't you?" she didn't let him answer. "I'm falling in love with you, too."

Two months later, after Casey finished her book tour, Don helped her move into her brownstone on the west side.

As they lay on the floor of the living room, surrounded by boxes Casey laid her head on Don's chest. She yawned and he copied.

"Maybe we should go take a nap before we start unpacking boxes." Don said as he rubbed her back.

"If you can find which box has the sheets then we can take a nap, but this right here is pretty nice. I'm too tired to move."

"You know I'm kinda feeling just laying here."

There was a knock at the front door. "Are you kidding me?" Casey asked in rhetorical frustration. "Come in," she yelled.

The door opened and Lindsay came inside with Danny close behind her. "What do we have here? Sleeping on the job, are we?"

"Hey, we got all the work done. You guys got here just in time to find the sheets so we can go take a nap." Don told them without even opening his eyes or lifting his head.

It took Casey and Don a few minutes to finally get up and greet their friends. Casey and Lindsay started to unpack boxes in the kitchen and put the dishes in the cupboards. Don and Danny were putting her bed together.

An hour later they were all sitting on the floor eating pizza and drinking beer. They had all commented on the need for some kind of dining room table. Casey had laughed and said, "I don't know, we could just eat like the Chinese." They had all replied with a resounding "no."

Lindsay and Danny left soon after the pizza was gone and Casey made her way to the bed she had longed for earlier.

Don walked into the room and she was already asleep. There were no sheets or blankets on the bed; she was the only thing on the mattress besides a small pillow. He smiled then sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her hair as he watched her sleep. He found the box he had discovered the blankets in earlier, and took out a quilt. He laid down next to Casey and threw the blanket over them.

He kissed her hair and whispered. "I love you, Casey Jensen."