Casey had known there was something off with Vera from the moment he first saw her because her smile was different. It was fake today.
None of the smiles he had seen from her before were fake. The difference was jarring.
Something had to be going on with her but she insisted she was fine…right up until she burst into tears because a deer spooked her. That was definitely a straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back situation if he had ever seen one.
What on earth had happened to her? She was the cheeriest person he had ever met. What could make her break down like this?
Casey had absolutely zero experience dealing with a crying person because Kane never cried but he did his best to comfort her. It was alarming when his attempts to make her feel better only seemed to make her cry harder.
His heart raced and his stomach was in knots the whole time he watched her cry. Vera wasn't supposed to be upset. She was supposed to be laughing or talking with that excited sparkle in her eyes. Right now her eyes were sparkling with tears and that wasn't the same thing at all.
The car ride back to their apartment building was heavy and silent. He realized halfway through that she had fallen asleep.
This wasn't a problem until they arrived and he had to poke her to wake her up, hesitating as if he was poking a sleeping bear rather than a small, unthreatening woman. Apparently he didn't do it hard enough because she didn't even flinch.
"Vera," Casey said softly. "Vera, we're here."
Her eyelids fluttered at the sound of her name. "Nn? Casey! Where are we?!"
"The parking garage. Sorry for waking you up but you'll probably sleep better if you aren't sitting up in a car."
"Right. Sorry."
"Like I said, don't apologize. Take it easy, okay? I need to be at work by 8:30 but if you aren't okay with getting to the shop early—" Casey began but Vera cut him off, shaking her head.
"No, that's fine. I have stuff I can work on before I open. Thanks again for the ride home. What time do you need me to be ready?"
He pulled out his phone to look up how long it would take to get to the shop from here and from there to his office. "7:20. Do you want to meet in the parking garage?"
"That works. Goodnight, Casey. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight."
Casey walked over toward his own apartment and discovered Kane was outside around the corner so he hadn't been visible from the angle Casey had been coming from. He jumped back and clutched a hand to his heart. Vera's jumpiness from earlier must have rubbed off on him.
"What are you doing out here?!"
"Watching a good show," Kane replied casually. "Why are you going to see Snow White in the morning?"
"She felt sick and couldn't drive home. Her car is still at the house so I offered to take her to work and then on to the house afterward so she can drive it home tomorrow night," Casey said, leaving out the fact that she felt sick because of how hard she had been crying.
"…that's an awful lot of involvement with another human being. Who are you and what did you do with Casey Parker?"
Casey scowled at him. "She helped me out once. I'm only returning the favor."
"Was that the day you came home soaked?"
"Yeah."
"Huh. I suppose you don't like owing people but it's still weird that you had the guts to offer. Or did she ask?" Kane asked with a raised eyebrow.
Casey gaped at him. "What kind of person asks for a favor like that?!"
"Someone who isn't as big a wimp as you."
He should have expected that. Kane called him a wimp at every given opportunity and he hadn't even done something cowardly this time! He was never going to escape that insult, was he?
"I'll take that as a no," Kane continued. "Good for you actually daring to speak to another human being. I bet you were barely able to get the words out though."
"Shut up," Casey muttered, indicating he was right.
He opened the door and the two of them went inside. He got ready for bed but had a hard time falling asleep because he was worried about Vera. What could have made her react like that earlier?
In the morning she didn't seem much better off than she had the night before. Her smile was even faker and she radiated exhaustion. The puffy eyes didn't help.
"Morning, Vera," Casey said softly. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Not really, as you can probably tell," Vera replied with a self-deprecating laugh.
He could but he hadn't wanted to say anything. He decided not to say anything now either.
Casey dropped her off and told her he would be back around 5:45. She nodded and thanked him for the ride before waving and turning to unlock her store. He didn't leave until he saw she was safely inside.
He worried about her on and off all day, barely able to focus. He couldn't get caught daydreaming though or he would get in trouble and getting in trouble at work was the last thing on earth he wanted to do. So he forced himself to snap out of it and get his work done.
It was a very long day. She didn't seem any better when he went to go pick her up so he somewhat nervously asked if she had eaten and when she said no he got food for her at the drive-thru he originally planned on going to solely for himself.
"I can pay you back," Vera said but he shook his head.
"Not necess-essary."
"If you're sure. Thanks, Casey."
"…no problem."
Casey barely managed not to sigh. He sounded like an idiot when he had been doing so good around her lately. She had really thrown him off by crying yesterday and now that he was trying to do something nice for her and standing his ground to make it happen he was stuttering again now too.