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“Casey,” he called as he strode out to the deck with Calvin a few beats behind. “There’s somebody here to visit you.”
Casey looked at Zane and smiled. Then his gaze darted over Zane’s shoulder, shot upward. His eyes rounded bigger than planets, his jaw dropped. The plastic bottle slid from his limp hand and landed on the deck, spilling a foamy puddle.
The child’s mouth worked soundlessly. Finally a small awed squeak emerged.
“Chewbacca” growled a greeting ... and a brilliant grin lit up Casey’s small face. “Chewie!” he whispered. He gulped. “Zane! You’re a friend of Chewbacca’s?”
“Yep.”
Breaking free of his daze, Casey ran to the costumed Calvin, who knelt and scooped the kid into a hug.
Jillian filmed the ensuing “conversation” in the last rays of the setting sun as Casey nattered a mile a minute and “Chewbacca” answered with various vocalizations, and Dean and Loucinda beamed. Zane was surprised his own face didn’t crack from grinning so hard.
Jillian eventually reluctantly lowered her phone. “I have to go, sweetie.”
“Okay.” Casey cheerfully hugged her, waved goodbye and continued his chat.
Zane followed Jillian into the kitchen.
“Oh, Zane, you must’ve spent a fortune having that professional costume choppered over from Portland and then express delivered to the house, and renting the limo for Calvin … but you made your son so happy.”
Yeah, Zane was having a serious bout of the warm-and-fuzzies himself. He didn’t live extravagantly, covering his everyday expenses then banking the rest, so he had a healthy savings account. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend his money. “The joy on his face was worth every dime I own. And the limo was already arranged for us, so you go ahead and take it.” That way, she wouldn’t be driving alone. “I’ll put on my monkey suit and follow as soon as possible.”
Jillian hugged him, planted a kiss on him that scorched him with erotic promise. “I really have to run, but believe me …” Violet irises glowed with pure carnal sin. “You’re going to get big-time rewarded later tonight.”
The warm-and-fuzzies rocketed into afterburners. “Looking forward to it.”
He loped upstairs to shower, shave, and change, giving Casey more time to yak the ears off his new BFF. The plan was for Chewbacca to depart after a reasonable visit. Calvin would then sneak into the garage and transform from furry-wear to formalwear, and he and Zane would drive to the gala together.
The plan hit a snag when Zane tried to put on his shoes. Some other guy out there was wearing his tux with clown shoes, because the swamped rental shop had given Zane a pair that was at least two sizes too small. He checked his watch again. The shop had closed several hours ago.
Hell, now what? All he had were his grungy runners.
He strode downstairs barefooted. A short convo with Dean revealed that one of Jillian’s brothers wore approximately the same size shoe, and Dean was sure he could scrounge up a black dress pair at his house. If not, Zane could run by Value-World on the way out of town and hope they had something suitable.
Dean assured Zane it wouldn’t take too long, and that way Casey would get a little extra time with one of his heroes.
Zane texted Jillian about the additional delay, and she quickly pinged back,OK don’t worry abt it. Almost there. I’ll save u a dance.
Dean departed and Zane hung out with Casey, Loucinda and “Chewie” on the deck for another twenty minutes as the stars glimmered on overhead. Finally, another glance at his watch had Zane giving Calvin the signal to split.
Hugs were exchanged, and Casey watched Chewbacca depart with a thrilled sigh. “This is the bestest day of my whole entire life!”
Zane grinned at his son.
“I wanna watchStar Warsagain now, okay?” Casey said. “Can I? Can I please watchStar Wars?”
Zane glanced at Loucinda. She’d be the one stuck watching with the kid.
She grinned and nodded. “Sure thing, squirt. I wouldn’t say no to a hefty dose of Han.”
The trio went to the living room. The final inning of the ball game had been interrupted by a special bulletin announcing a bomb threat had been phoned into Congressman Reynolds’ local campaign headquarters. The screen showed squad cars surrounding the building and dozens of swarming cops, including Officer Ray and his K-9, Axel. The scene then switched to a photo of Wade and Lynn as the news anchors speculated about the bomb threat being connected to Reynolds’ run for the presidency.
Zane grabbed the remote and switched channels away from impressionable young eyes, but the damned thing was on every station.
As Calvin strolled into the living room, a tug on Zane’s suit jacket had him looking down into his son’s anxious face. “That’s the lady who came to my house, that Miss Lynn.”
“Yeah.” Zane stabbed the “off” button and the screen went black. “Mrs. Reynolds has been here quite a bit with your aunt planning the dance for tonight. Which is where she’s at now, so they’re both safe.”
