A/N: Cranking out another one
Casey Conway was not that girl.
Casey prided herself on being fiercely independent. She had to be. She was a single mother raising a son who was growing up way too fast on the mean streets of District Five.
But here she was, constantly glancing at the telephone at Mickey's dinner, waiting for it to ring. It had almost been two weeks since Bombay called.
Bombay called her the first night in, as promised. He and thirty other players had arrived at the Minnehaha Waves summer training facility in Grand Rapids.
Basil McRae had vouched for Bombay to whomever would listen. The assistant head coach of the Minnehaha Waves, John Sheldon, had owed Basil a favour and agreed to offer Bombay, despite his 'advanced' age, a tryout with the ECHL team, the Minnehaha Waves.
"Snap out of it, girl," Jade said, snapping her fingers. "If the boss sees you like this, you'll be in trouble."
Casey immediately snapped out of the daze she was in. "Right," she nodded.
After accidentally letting out Jade's secret, Casey attempted to make things right by getting her a job at the diner.
The evening sun filtered through Mickey's Diner's windows, casting a warm glow over the checkerboard floor. Jade wiped down the counter for the third time that evening. She glanced over at Casey, who was cheerfully serving a group of regulars. She could hear laughter filling the room.
Jade frowned. She knew it meant nothing. All the waitresses flirted with customers in hopes of getting a large tip. It's how they made their money. They all made minimum wage, but sometimes you did what you had to do to make ends meet. Jade understood all of that, but it still felt wrong to her. She had just started to repair her relationship with her husband and didn't want to give him any reason not to trust her after she had violated his trust many times over.
She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt every time she looked at Casey. Jade had heard from her sons that Casey was now dating Gordon Bombay. She wanted to be happy for her, but she couldn't get the image of Tracy being in Bombay's apartment just a few months earlier.
'It's none of your business,' Jade reminded herself. '
"Hey, Jade, are you alright?" Casey's voice broke, and she rang in the most recent order. She stood in front of Jade, a look of concern on her face.
"Yeah, I'm just tired, I guess," Jade replied, forcing a smile. "Busy night tonight."
Casey nodded sympathetically. "Tell me about it. I swear, Mr. Jones always changes his order just to flirt with me. I don't mind, though. He tips well."
Jade laughed. "He does have a talent for that."
As the supper rush ended, the flow of customers died down, and Jade found herself at the counter again, changing out the till. Casey joined her, leaning against the counter, staring at the phone for the tenth time that hour.
"So, how are things with Gordon?" Jade asked, hoping her voice sounded casual.
"I wish I knew," Casey sighed, wiping her hands on her apron. "I haven't heard from him in a while."
Jade's stomach twisted. She wanted Casey to be happy—she really did—but she didn't want to see Casey get hurt.
"Can we talk for a minute?" Jade asked in a more serious tone.
Casey's smile failed, sensing the tone in Jade's voice. "Of course. Just let me cash out."
Casey opened her till and counted the bills and coins. "Not bad," Casey smiled, counting her tips. "I'll actually be able to make rent on time this month."
Jade took a deep breath. "It's about Gordon."
Casey immediately looked up.
Jade hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "I know you're excited about this relationship, but I'm worried." Jade stopped for a moment. "For the both of you."
Casey frowned. "Worried? About what?"
"Long-distance relationships are hard, Case. They take a lot of work and trust. " Jade paused for a moment. "And… Gordon has a history. You know we both went to AA together."
Jade wanted to say more but felt she had already crossed a line.
Casey shook her head. "Jade, Gordon isn't like that."
"I'm not saying he is," Jade clarified quickly. "But he's struggled with it before. That kind of history can make things even more challenging, especially in a long-distance relationship. I know it's not my business, but I don't want to see either of you get hurt. "
Casey crossed her arms defensively. "You're right about one thing. This isn't your business."
"Recovery is a lifelong journey. Bombay will have to work on it every day, and it's not easy," Jade explained. "Trust me, every day is a challenge."
Casey's eyes softened with empathy but remained resolute. "Jade, I get where you're coming from, but I've seen real alcoholism. My dad was an alcoholic. I know what it looks like, and Gordon isn't like that. ."
Jade reached out and placed a hand on Casey's arm. "I'm not trying to compare him to your dad. Everyone handles things differently."
Casey sighed again. "I appreciate that, Jade. I really do. Gordon has worked hard to turn his life around, and I want to support him. And he's so good with Charlie. "
Casey caught her breath for a moment. She lowered her voice almost to a whisper.
"And you're not going to believe what he said when I asked him how serious he was about 'us,'" Casey confided.
"What did he say?" Jade asked, genuinely curious.
"He said he'd be willing to adopt Charlie to show me that he's serious," Casey said.
"Casey, are you sure that's a good idea? You haven't been together that long," Jade warned.
"It feels longer, tho," Casey said. "We officially started when the Ducks won the state championship, but it feels longer. I remember the first game against the Cardinals, where we couldn't take our eyes off each other. That must have been three, maybe four months ago now. And even before that, right after the game against the Jets, when he came over to apologize to Charlie..."
Jade froze. 'Game against Jets?' she thought to herself. 'That game was months ago. Bombay was with that girl around that time.'
Jade bit her tongue. She wasn't the morality police, far from it. But if Casey had feelings for Bombay back then while he was off with another woman...
Jade tried to mask her feelings. " Isn't that a bit fast?"
Casey nodded. "I thought so myself and told Gordon so, but he told me the process could take months. Years even. And that there was no harm in getting the ball rolling, so I relented and told him he could look into it. It's not like Charlie's real father will show up any time soon. "
"Does Charlie know?" Jade asked.
Casey shook her head. "No," Casey said sadly." And I'm not planning to either. I don't want to get his hopes up. It would crush him if he knew and Gordon and I didn't work out."
Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes. Each wrapped up in their own thoughts.
As they finished their shift and closed the diner for the day, the phone rang just as they were going to lock the doors.
Casey rushed over, nearly tripping over a stool, grabbing the phone on the last ring.
"Hello?"