Casey shook his small hand, then looked at Grace. “And what’s your name?”
Grace moved behind Rags and peeked around his leg, her big blue eyes staring at Casey. He grasped his niece around the waist and lifted her up. She giggled and looped her small arms around his neck, showering one side of his face with wet kisses.
“I want you to meet Casey,” he said between chuckles.
“Who is she?” Grace asked, hiding her face against his shoulder.
“Someone special to me.”
Grace raised her head, glanced over, then burrowed against Rags again.
“Hi, Grace. It’s okay if you don’t want to meet me just yet,” Casey said before smiling at Rags.
“Casey made a kickass Snickers ice cream cake,” he whispered into her ear.
Grace jerked her head up and glanced over at Casey again. “She did?”
“Yep. I brought it over to Grandma’s yesterday after work.”
“I hope you like it,” Casey said.
“I will,” Grace murmured, turning back to him. “Tell her how ice cream is my most favorite, Uncle Rags.”
“You tell her,” he whispered.
“Uh huh,” Grace said, shaking her head.
“Maybe you’ll let me know if you like it after you try it,” Casey said.
“You promised we can get on your motorcycle,” Tyler said with Lucas chiming in.
Before Rags could answer, he spotted Meagan heading toward them.I hope she doesn’t say anything stupid or bring up Julie.
“Rags, how long have you been here?” Megan asked, her gaze darting to Casey then back to him.
“Just got here when these hooligans cornered me.” He laughed as he set his niece back on her feet.
“Tyler, don’t get on the motorcycle. They’re dangerous and you can get hurt,” Megan said, her gaze drifting back to Casey.
“Relax, it’s cool. I’m standing next to him,” Rags said. He reached out and grasped Casey’s hand. “Case, this is my sister Megan, and”—he looked at his sister—“this Casey.”
A wide smile spread across his sister’s face. “Nice meeting you,” Megan said.
“Same here. Your children are adorable,” Casey said.
“Thanks. They’re a handful, but my husband helps out a lot. I set the rules before we had kids. You have to do that, you know?”
Casey nodded.
Rags cleared his throat. “We better go inside.” He picked Lucas and Tyler up from the leather seat and set them on the sidewalk. “Later on, I’ll take each of you for a ride around the block.”
“Yay!” both boys cried in unison.
“Don’t encourage them. I won’t tolerate them getting a motorcycle,” Megan said, her forehead creased.
“They’re only eight and six, so don’t start worrying about that now.” He wrapped an arm around Casey’s waist, anchoring her against his side. “Let’s go.”
“Me too,” Grace said, pulling on his jeans.