It probably wasn’t in their best interest, but he wasn’t going down that road. That wouldn’t be in his.
“I don’t understand why Mac feels as if he needs her. Do managers usually have someone help them with their duties?”
“Not really. Most every decision is made by analytics and it’s all computer driven. And they don’t need anyone to answer the phone. Everyone has a cell.”
“What exactly is she going to do then?”
“Probably help him with the social piece. He does a lot during the season to bring people together.”
“Galen doesn’t help with that?”
“She’s usually booked with clients. She can’t give it the time and attention it needs on a regular basis.”
“And Casey can just up and leave the management of the complex to someone else?”
“She’ll be flying in and out, but she’s got a competent assistant manager to hold down the fort while she’s away.”
“And Greg really didn’t know she was going until this morning?”
“He must have suspected. He dropped in on her unannounced.”
He shook his head, trying to keep up.
“They’re engaged. I’d think that was allowed.”
“That’s the thing. Casey refused to move in with him until after the wedding and she doesn’t let him stay at her place. The writing’s been on the wall for weeks, but I think I’m the only one who saw it.”
“You were probably looking harder than anyone else.”
She tilted her face toward him and asked smugly, “Would you have agreed to that?”
“I have agreed to that. We’re staying in separate places in Florida. And we’re not only engaged, we’re married.”
She went over to where he sat and dropped down beside him.
“There’s a reason for it but I’m certainly going to take advantage of as many nights in your bed as I can.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Her arms twined around his neck and she burrowed her face there. “I don’t want you to find another sky to take flight in.”
He pressed her closer. “Have you looked up lately? There is only one.”
Just as he was about to kiss her, there was a loud knock on the door. When Allie opened it, Casey stood there with her suitcases and a bright smile.
He was stunned and said, “I thought you said she was upset.”
From her expression, she was as confused as he was.
Allie jumped up asking, “What the hell happened?”
“He demanded I make a choice. I chose. The relief feels soooo good.”
“What kind of choice?”
She wriggled her finger which was now unadorned.
“That kind.”
Allie looked at him, then back at her friend.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Of course you do. Just get it over with and tell me you told me so.”
“But I never—”
“Sure, you did. You said it all in what you didn’t say, Allie.”
She closed the door after Casey stumbled in, her suitcases obviously too heavy for her.
“Okay, fine. I never liked him.”
Casey exhaled a deep breath. “I can’t say I did either at the end.”
She put her attention on Mateo, pushed up her glasses with her index finger and said, “I’ll just have to find myself a guy like yours.”
“That might not be such a smart idea.”
“Why? I like yours. Is he going to live with us? We’ll have to tell him—”
Allie was quick to cut her friend off. “No. He’ll be living with Rique and Seb, as planned.”
He was beginning to feel like he was caught up in a Cuban soap opera. He hoped the acting was better. His curiosity had piqued now. What was Casey going to say? Was she about to give away another Greenie secret?
“We have to get going. I have to check with everyone before we board.”
Using her Uber app, Allie texted for a driver, and between the three of them, they got the bags and all Allie’s paraphernalia down to the lobby. She never left home without her briefcase, her laptop, her purse, and a satchel that held an outfit in case her luggage went missing. She’d offered to let him take one as his carry-on.
While they waited, Allie probed, “Tell me what he said when you broke it off.”
“He called me a spoiled princess who never grew up. I told him he was a prick for making me choose, gave him his ring back and asked him to leave.”
“Where was Mac?”
Mateo knew she was living in something like a casita on her parents’ property. Apparently, her father hadn’t been in attendance when all hell broke loose.
“At Harborside. He was holding a coaches’ meeting before the flight. He’s also putting together a team cookout for the first Thursday in March. That’s the first day we have off so he’s planning a big bash. Or should I say I am. He wants everyone to get a feel for each other, so I’ve been scrambling over the last twenty-four hours putting it in place. The intramural game with the Red Sox is scheduled for the week we get back to Boston. I have to have the complex ready in case of rain.”
“You going to play in that this year?”
Casey barked out a laugh. “I thought you wanted to win again.”
“Your dad’s part of management. He can’t play, so you have to represent the family.”
“You can put me on the roster. I know you too well to think you’d put me in for any other reason than to even the playing field if you took a one-hundred-to-four lead.”
“You’re really not as incompetent out there as you make everyone think.”
“Compared to the others on the team, I am.”
As the women talked about the barbeque, upcoming duties, Galen’s expected arrival on Monday, Mateo let his mind hook on to the new development. With Casey no longer engaged, what would it mean for Seb? Would he give in and go back with her? Or was he still committed to playing the dating field? Should he break it to him before it become public or keep the pledge he’d made?
Seb would probably know soon enough. The missing bling would be sure to give it away.
He
