Mýkonos Island, Greece

The Meridio estate changed a great deal over the next six months, mostly due to Eva Meridio's return home. It was as if a cleansing breeze swept through the mansion, the combined force of Olympia and Eva erasing any trace of the man that ran the household previously. Every piece of furniture in Andreas Meridio's private rooms and office had been removed. Since Casey still remained in a wheelchair even after her third surgery, Eva prepared the estate with special access doors and ramps although Casey told her time and again that she refused to let her body stay in the chair.

A paved walkway was put in from the house leading to the guesthouse and a driveway extended back to the private dwelling. Casey was adamant about living in the guesthouse even though both the older women warned that she might not be ready for such a move. It was true the small blonde still had occasional nightmares and crying was at least a once a week occurrence, but she was taking one day at a time. Now the mere mention of Tessa's name didn't send her into a depression, on the contrary, she had recently begun to enjoy Olympia's stories about the dark-haired girl.

Casey dropped the dumbbell into its place on the weight rack. She was glad Tessa had the weight room put in the guesthouse. This way Casey didn't have to go up to the main house everyday. She loved both her mother and Olympia, but being mothers, they could certainly wear on one's nerves. She reached both arms over her head and stretched, feeling her muscles complain at the extra workout she'd put them through today. She grew tired of taking it easy with such slow physical therapy on her legs and asked the therapist for exercises so she could work on her upper body from the wheelchair. Now, the muscles rippled under the soft skin as she stretched, her long hours of weightlifting beginning to show.

Casey moved to the window as she heard a car in the driveway. She maneuvered her chair onto the patio once she recognized the familiar face get out of the driver's side.

"Hello, Jack."

"Hey, there kid. How's tricks?" Jack asked, matter of factly.

The agent had been suspiciously absent of late and Casey assumed he finally had some time to spend with his wife and daughters. He held a large manila envelope in his hand and was beginning to get that, I'm uncomfortable as hell, look.

"Don't beat around the bush, Jack, it doesn't suit you at all." Casey smiled.

Jack remembered the first time he ever saw that smile. It was like someone opened a curtain and let the sunshine in. He watched now and realized that smile had become tempered with a deep-seated pain.

"Okay, here it is," He opened the envelope. "Tessa made me executor of her will."

"When did that happen?"

"The day you were in Athens, in training down at the Center. She left most of her dough to her mom, but she named you in the will too." Jack looked up and not seeing any kind of response, he continued. "She left you a sizable chunk of money in a couple of Cayman Island accounts, then there's this." He handed the photograph to the young woman.

It was the Apógevma Nóstimo, Tessa's Catamaran. Tears welled up in Casey's eyes and she couldn't stop them from rolling silently down her cheeks. She had only been on the large sailboat once, but if she closed her eyes she could see the sunset in her mind's eye that she and Tessa shared that day.

"Well, there's one more thing." He rose and walked over to the van, Casey's curious eyes followed. He opened the side door and two large Dobermans bounded out the door and began running around Casey's chair. The animals sat close to the chair and licked the small blonde's face. Casey cried, even as she hugged Cinnamon and Mahogany.

"Yea, well I guess she made the right choice. I had to drug them just to get them over here." Jack reached over to place a hand on Casey's arm, but froze with his hand in mid air as the dogs growled and bared their teeth at the large man. "Okay, then...I can see that's gonna get you a lot of second dates. Guess I better be going."

Casey laughed at the man's nervous behavior and suddenly realized that this was the first time she'd laughed since the accident.

"I hear you're going to be heading back to the States pretty soon." Jack said from a careful distance.

"Yes, There's a center in Connecticut where I'm going for the rest of my rehab. They're supposed to be able to perform miracles and they think I have a good shot at being out of this chair within a few months."

"You know I'll miss you, kid." Jack said softly.

"Thanks, Jack." Casey responded, absently scratching behind Cinny's ears.

"You know, once you get back on your feet, if you find you ever need a job you might think about giving me a call."

"Jack, are you seriously asking me to join the FBI?" Casey smirked.

"Hey, Quantico could use a cadet like you."

"I don't think so, Jack, but thanks for the offer." Casey smiled sweetly and held out her hand to the tall man.

When at last he looked in the rear view mirror, he smiled sadly at the way life had to go sometimes. His last glimpse of the small blonde was her leaning down from her wheelchair, gripping both the animals in a fierce hug.

One Year later...

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 600