Casey was struggling too though. Because after Vera said it once, she kept saying it. It bounced around his skull on repeat. I love you, I love you, I love you.
She wasn't like Candy. She wasn't!
Vera never did anything to hurt him. She was soft and sweet and affectionate, appreciating everything he did for her. As always, she was the nicest person in his life. The ONLY nice person in his life.
She was his entire world but he still didn't know if he could love her back. He was so broken.
Still, Casey had to try for her sake. He wanted her to be happy more than anything in the world. She deserved that.
There was nothing he wouldn't do for her. And that was what finally made him stop dragging his feet about selling the farmhouse. It was just sitting there rotting, not doing anyone any good.
Kane wasn't very happy about this. He didn't think Casey could handle it.
There was no denying how sick he felt whenever he went there with Vera, who was capable of fixing all the problems with the wood at the very least. She was more experienced with that than he was and with the state he was in going out there…
She more or less took over the project and had him handle regular orders at the shop. She truly was an angel. She didn't even ask questions when she saw how freaked out he was.
Casey had some money in savings but not enough to get this all done at once. Wanting it over with, he took out a loan. He would be able to pay it off once the house sold. She was confident about it selling well due to the historic home status she was trying to help him get.
Vera was the expert. He trusted her.
He felt undeniably idiotic for not being able to handle being back there but knowing she loved him had made him think of things best left alone too much lately. It left him on edge.
Casey just had to get through this. Once it was taken care of, he would never have to worry about it again.
===
Kane knew something was up when he found himself back at the farmhouse with someone wearing a hard hat. Was Casey finally selling this dump? Why could have possibly possessed him to come back here? He hated it here!
It was fine though. Kane could work with this. Getting it off their hands would ultimately be a good thing. The spot he buried Candy in might be found if the new owners ever did any major construction though…he would have to dig her up and find a better way to get rid of her.
He was still out after all the contractors left for the day so he took care of that while he had the chance. He figured his best bet was to dissolve the bones so no one could ever find them.
Before digging her up, he went out to get a pair of bolt cutters, a safe tub to dissolve her in, the acids he needed after doing meticulous internet research in a private browsing window, and a new lock to put on the barn while this was all happening. He used her credit card for all of this to avoid any potential suspicion.
Not that he thought there would be any. It was just a safety precaution. No one had ever gone looking for Candy. If they did, they would never find her.
Kane made sure all his tracks were covered before he left for the night, locking the barn behind him. He couldn't let anyone get in there while she was dissolving. He could return to finish the job the next time he was out.
That didn't happen for nearly a week. Casey had hurt himself again, helping Vera make dinner. Ugh. He really needed to be more careful. At least he had good timing for once since Kane needed to go back to the farmhouse as soon as he could leave without arousing her suspicion.
She wanted to watch a movie and, while that didn't sound half bad, he couldn't waste the time he had out. He had a job to do.
"Sorry, Vera. I need to get some chores done tonight. We can watch it tomorrow, okay?" he said to placate her.
Vera agreed but not without kissing Kane, thinking he was Casey, for a solid ten minutes. Kane's heart was racing against his will. He had never been kissed before! Not as himself at least. Casey probably got to enjoy this all the time.
Kane was undeniably annoyed when he had to pull away. His body was trying to beat out his rationality, which couldn't happen. Not right now!
"Night, Casey! Love you," she called when he was on his way out the door.
Kane cursed as soon as Vera was out of earshot. She did? Since when?! That must have contributed to why he had been making more appearances lately. Casey must be losing it if he heard that sort of thing from her regularly.
Was she making them bleed? Kane hadn't noticed any new injuries other than the one from slicing carrots earlier.
No. He didn't have time to think about this. He had to focus on the task at hand.
When he arrived, he unlocked the new lock and was pleased to realize there wasn't a single trace of bone left. Perfect. Now he just had to neutralize this acid using the information he found online and get rid of it.
Kane had to do a lot of research to pull this all off. Thankfully, he was able to do it without any issues and clean out the tub so not a trace remained.
It ended up being a very long night but he went to bed satisfied that no one could ever connect what happened to Candy to Casey. Once the barn was torn down, the last proof of what happened would disappear for good.