Would y'all believe me if I said this chapter had been finished the exact same day I posted the last one? Granted, most of it was already written and then pushed aside into what I call the editing pit, where I put chapters that are either scrapped or put off for a bit. This chapter was honestly on the chopping block but I decided to keep it because Kasey. Hope you lovelies enjoy it! ~Shaymie

Angela

This was the longest the Parker siblings had ever been apart from each other.

"How's everything back home?" Angela settled into the chair next to the phone with an exhausted huff. One of the first big purchases she'd made was a telephone so she could keep in contact with her brother. Unlike her friends, Kasey preferred good old fashioned phone calls over video calls. Which was fine by her, since it meant she didn't have to wander around desperately searching for a sliver of a decent signal. The connection was a little bit better in town, but she didn't want to walk all that way just to gossip with her friends. She'd noticed construction being done on some cell towers so hopefully things would improve soon.

"Found out Jill was cheating on me. So, you know, everything's just fantastic!" Kasey's sarcastic retort was slightly slurred. It didn't take a genius to tell that he was drunk again. Angela felt a pang of guilt at that. Kasey had picked up a couple of self-destructive habits after their father's death. He had gotten past most of them with some therapy (and threats from Angela), but drinking was still a big problem for him. Thankfully he wasn't as bad as their father had been, but alcohol was still the first thing he turned to when things went wrong. They shouldn't have just left him like that, out of the blue with no warning. He had every right to be pissed at them, but after his initial outrage he was normal, supportive Kasey again.

"Oh, Kasey..."

"No no, it's fine. I can return that stupid engagement ring... God, what was I thinking?" Kasey took a shuddering breath. Angela could practically see him running a hand through his hair in frustration. A stupid, selfish part of her wanted this to be the catalyst that made him move to Castanet. She missed him. Being separated like this didn't feel right. She could tell that he had wanted to come, but something was holding him back. Had it been Jill? His job? The house? She wished she could ask him, but she knew it was a lost cause. He'd just keep everything bottled up inside like always.

"Kasey—"

"How about you guys? What's going on over there?" Angela sighed at the blatant change of topic, but decided to humor her brother. Clearly he didn't want to talk about Jill right now. So instead she told him about how her crops were developing (taking down some notes when he offered advice) and how almost overwhelmingly nice all the townsfolk were. She rolled her eyes at the wolf whistle he gave at the mention of Luke. She was beginning to regret taking that picture with him at the Flower Festival, but he insisted.

It hadn't been romantic in the slightest, but everyone seemed to think it was. Just because he happened to have his hand a bit too low when he wrapped his arm around her didn't mean anything. It was an accident, one that he'd apologized profusely for once he'd noticed. They were friends. Just friends. Nobody said a thing when Molly took pictures with Maya and Renee. Luke had quickly become one of her best friends on the island. She just couldn't see herself dating him.

"And Molly? How's she doing? She doesn't really talk to me when she calls."

"Maybe because you bombard her with questions and treat her like an invalid." Angela was guilty of treating Molly like a child, but Kasey was ten times worse. He treated their baby sister like she was a porcelain doll on the verge of tipping over the edge. Molly rarely ever got mad, but it was obvious that she was growing frustrated with Kasey's constant hovering. If it wasn't for Linh and Bridget putting their feet down, he would have probably intruded on her private time with her friends too.

"I don't bombard her," Kasey protested. Angela scoffed. The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Surely he had to know how overbearing he could be. "So she's fine?"

"Yeah, Kase, she's fine." She elected to not tell him about Molly sneaking out at night, knowing that he'd probably have a heart attack if he found out. The last thing she wanted was for him to confront Molly about it. She thought she was getting away with it, and Angela thought it was adorable the way Molly was finally having a bit of a rebellious streak. Their father'd had them on a strict curfew, one that she continued to follow long after he passed. Molly's always been a bit of a goody two shoes.

"Has she been eating? Sleeping? You know you have to keep an eye on her—"

"She's fine, Kasey. She's been eating smaller portions than normal, but that's better than nothing." As for sleeping... Angela held back a sigh. Molly's been sneaking out for the past couple days, coming back just before the sunrise. She'd fall back asleep, waking up just after noon. Angela took care of the animals for her so she could get some well-needed rest. She had no idea what her sister was doing in the middle of the night, but it wasn't hurting anyone and it was none of her business.

Her conversation with Kasey lasted an hour and a half longer, reluctantly ending when Kasey said he had some work he had been putting off for far too long. Angela sighed and stared at the telephone. They hadn't really talked about anything, mostly making empty small talk, but she could tell Kasey was still hurting from the break-up. His voice had taken on that trembling quality it always did when he was trying not to cry. He and Jill had been together since high school, though they had taken a brief break when he started college. Jill had always seemed a bit vain, but Angela kept her disdain for the woman to herself because she could tell that Kasey really loved her. He was even planning to propose!

Angela ran a hand through her hair and got up from the chair, deciding to hop in the shower. Molly was over at the inn, giving Maya another baking lesson. After the last one ended with the house nearly on fire, Angela told them to move it somewhere else. The last thing she needed was another thing around the house to pay for. She had paid the carpenters to do repairs on the house, and they were due to start tomorrow. Now that just left the barn and coop in need of desperate repair. Molly would be devastated if her precious babies got sick.

Nobody ever said it would be easy...