“Yeah,” Chase said, with a slight smile.
They pulled up a long gravel drive and Nick saw a lake come into view. Tucked away in the trees was a two-storey log home with a wraparound porch. It didn’t look huge, but it was exactly the kind of home Nick would have expected Chase to have.
“Nice place.”
“Thanks.” Chase cut the engine before turning to face Nick, his hand on the headrest of the passenger’s seat. “So, here’s the deal, kid. I make a lot of money. I know that’s no secret. And I earned every dime the old-fashioned way. Hard work. But do I give some of it away? Sure, I do.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, you wanna know why?” When Nick nodded, Chase said, “Because when I was growing up my parents would take me to church every Sunday. I saw my old man put his last five bucks in the collection plate and he didn’t have enough to buy milk and bread on the way home.”
“Why’d he do that?” Nick asked, frowning.
“I asked him that, and he said that while that five bucks might mean we’d have to sacrifice a few things, it would be worth it, ‘cause it would give someone who wouldn’t have a meal a chance to eat. I didn’t know it then, but they were trying to raise money for a single mom with a couple of kids who’d been living in the back of her car out by the railroad tracks.”
“Wow.” Nick suddenly wished he could have met his paternal grandfather. A man who’d give his last five bucks to a total stranger must have been a pretty cool guy.
“Yeah. So, you see, that was the kind of influence I had growing up. My parents taught me that you do what you can. Now, I can do a lot, so I do.” He gestured to the house. “This is all I really need to make me happy. A little land with a boat slip, a place to lay my head, a boat to get me out there doing what I love, a rod and reel, and a few good lures.” He smiled, slamming a palm down on his steering wheel. “Oh, and a good truck. Other than that, I’m good.”
Sounded like a pretty good life to Nick. He’d be happy to have half as much at Chase’s age.
“So, if somebody needs something, I’m inclined to give it. But there’s a big difference between needing something and wanting it. You need an education. For that I’d cut a check, no problem. You had a medical bill that need to be paid? Done. But I will not buy your girlfriend a dress so she can feel good about herself and gloat to all of her friends that she’s got the most expensive dress.”
Nick was still reeling over Chase’s claim that he would pay for his education. “I’d never ask you to do that. That’s what I told her, so she’s mad at me.”
Chase smirked. “Do you really care?”
“No, not really.”
“Good. Now let’s get inside and get you something to eat.”
Chapter Fifteen
Chase watched Nick scarf down a second piece of his mom’s homemade apple pie before he asked, “You feeling better?”
“Yeah.” He took a drink of milk before he said, “Sorry about what I said to Shay. I’ll apologize to her when I see her tomorrow.”
“That’d be nice,” Chase said, taking a forkful of the remaining pie from the pan. “But she understands that you’ve got a lot of questions. You can feel free to ask anything you want, you know. Of me or her.” He knew he may be opening a can of worms with an offer like that, but if he was in Nick’s position he’d want to know more and would probably be afraid to ask.
“What are they really like? Shay’s parents.”
Chase paused with his lips wrapped around the fork, wondering how to answer that question. “What are they like? Well, they’re different than my parents, that’s for sure.” He knew that wasn’t really an answer, but it was the nicest thing he could think to say about two people who had made it their mission to make his life miserable when he was just a little older than Nick.
“Is everything she said in her book true?”
Shay’s book was a memoir, so Chase couldn’t speak to what she’d been thinking then or what happened between her and her parents behind closed doors, but he had no doubt in his mind that every word in that book was the truth.
“Yeah.”
“So, they thought I’d ruin her life… and yours?”
“I can promise you they already thought I was going nowhere, so they didn’t care much about my life. But they were concerned about her.” Shay’s parents may have a lot of faults, but he’d never doubted they loved her and were only trying to do what they thought was best for her.
Nick forked crumbs up from his plate, his gaze locked on the table when he said, “I’m grateful to my parents for adopting me, but it’s tough to grow up thinking you were someone’s mistake.”
Chase felt those words like a compound bow through the heart, shattering the vital organ irreparably. He breathed in slowly, to see whether he still could before he straightened, his back resting against the bar-height chair at the breakfast bar.
His voice was gruff, bleeding with emotion, when he said, “You were never a mistake, Nick. Neither Shay nor myself looked at her pregnancy that way.”
“But you didn’t want me any more than she did. She said in her book that you left Landon right after you signed the papers.”
“That’s true, I did.” Chase cleared his throat, wondering how to convey what it felt like to have your heart broken. “But only because I was a wreck and I knew Shay was too. Her parents were sending her away to have you, so I knew she wasn’t going to be here. I had a chance to go to college and my father convinced me to take it.”
“Did you ever think about asking her not to go through with the adoption?”
“Every minute of every day until it was too late,” Chase whispered, looking at Nick, wondering what he’d looked like at one, learning to walk, at four learning to ride a bike, at six throwing a football for the first time. He’d missed those days. But he hoped there would be graduations, wedding days, and baby’s christenings in their future.
“Why did it take you so long to contact me?”
Chase had been expecting this question, was even surprised that it had taken him so long to ask it. “I was scared. Scared you’d hate me, reject me, then I’d have to live with that the rest of my life. I’m not proud to admit it, but I was a coward.”
“I know it wasn’t easy for you guys,” Nick said, pushing his empty plate aside. “My mom always said you guys were so selfless for doing what you did. She said she’ll always be grateful to you for letting me come into their lives.”
Chase was grateful for the picture Nick’s mom had tried to paint of them, but a boy who’d lost two fathers in his young life would probably see it differently. “Sometimes when you’re young you do really stupid things. Things that you regret when you’re older and have a little life experience under your belt. Not fighting harder for the chance to raise you is one of the things I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
Nick laced his hands, pressing the pad of his thumb into his palm. “You, uh, think you and Shay will get married and have more kids someday?”
“We haven’t talked about it yet, but I sure hope so.”
Nick nodded, looking as though he was struggling with Chase’s response.
“Would that bother you?”
“I loved my dad, don’t get me wrong.” His eyes filled with tears. “He was a great guy, and I really miss him. But…”
Chase placed his hand on Nick’s back. “But what, Nick? You can say anything. I won’t judge you. I promise.”
“But if I had a choice I would have chosen you.” He scraped a hand over his face, looking more world-weary than any teenager should. “I know that makes me sound like an ingrate, but it’s true. It’s not fair that some other kid is going to get you and Shay for parents when I didn’t.”
Wow. Chase wasn’t even sure how to respond to that. “Shay and I reached out to you because we want to be in your life, more than anything. If we have other children together, sometime in the future, that’s not going to change how we feel about you at all.”
He knew it didn’t make any sense, since they didn’t know each other all that well yet, but it didn’t have to make sense to be true. “I love you.” He curled his hand around Nick’s neck, squeezing. “And while I have no right to be, I’m proud of you. I can already see that you’re an amazing kid, and to think that I played even a small part in that makes me happy.”
Nick gave him a grudging smile. “When my mom saw your picture online she said I looked just like you.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Chase joked, messing up his short dark hair.
“It’s not such a bad thing,” Nick said, chuckling. “The girls don’t seem to mind.”
Chase threw his head back laughing, thinking how good this kid made him feel. “On that note, let me show you to your room. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
Shay wasn’t sure what to expect when Chase and Nick picked her up the next morning. She’d planned to meet them at the inn, but Chase said Nick wanted a few minutes alone with her, so she wasn’t too surprised when Nick came to the door to get her, leaving Chase sitting in the truck.
“Hey,” he said, not quite meeting her eyes when she opened the door.
“Did you sleep well?” She stopped just short of asking him whether he’d had a good breakfast, knowing that sounded way too maternal.
“Yeah, the mattress on that bed was sic.”
Shay smiled as she reached for her purse. “That’s good.”
“Um, could I talk to you for a minute before we head out?”
“Of course,” she said, stepping back for him to enter. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” He looked into the living room on the left and the small dining room on the right. “Nice place.”
“Thank you. Can I get you some lemonade or water, maybe?”
“No thanks, I told Chase we’d only be a minute.”
“Okay.” Shay gestured to the living room. “Do you want to sit down while we talk?”
“No, it’s okay.” He heaved a sigh. “I just kind of want to get this out there. I’m sorry for the way I talked to you last night, the things I said about your parents. I don’t even know them and I was out of line for asking—”
“No, you weren’t,” Shay said, touching his shoulder. “You weren’t out of line for asking questions, Nick. You have every right to do that. If I were you I’d want to know everything.”
“Thanks.” He gave her the same crooked grin that Chase sometimes sported. “For letting me off the hook, I mean. Chase said the same thing about it being cool if I wanted to ask you guys questions.”
“I’d love it if you do,” she said, hoping he could sense her sincerity. “How else are we going to get to know each other, right?”
“You’re right.”
Shay loved spending time with Chase’s mother. She was so kind and gentle, but strong-willed at the same time. She seemed to radiate positivity, something she knew Nick could sense, since he seemed to gravitate to her from that first hug they’d shared.
It made Shay wish that her parents were different, so they could be here to share this special moment with their grandson too.
“So, Chase tells me you’re a football player, Nick,” Sharon said, winking at her grandson. “Chase would never admit this, he’s much too modest, but he still holds all kinds of records at his old high school. Everyone says he was the best quarterback that school has ever had.”
“Ah, Mom,” Chase said, turning a ruddy shade as he swiped a hand over his face. “Do we really have to do this?”
Shay laughed as she gripped his knee under the table. “You’re mom’s not lying, honey. Let her tell Nick your story.” Shay could already tell that Nick was learning to worship Chase, but instead of making her jealous or uncomfortable, it made her happy. How could it not? The man she loved was getting a second chance with his son. Their son.
“If he doesn’t want you to hear about how great he was,” Brady said, grinning at Chase. “I’d be more than happy to tell you how great I was.”
“You played football too?” Nick asked.
“Must be something about those Wright genes, huh?” Brady obviously realized he’d made Nick uncomfortable because he said, “Sorry, kid. I was just—”
“It’s okay.” Nick looked around the table, his gaze finally setting on Chase. “I like being here with you guys. I know I’m not really a part of the family, but—”
“Nonsense,” Sharon said, putting her arm around Nick. “You’re blood. It doesn’t get any closer than that.”
Shay was grateful to Sharon for making Nick feel like he belonged. He needed to hear that from the matriarch of the family, a woman she could already tell he liked and respected.
“Thanks for saying that.” He smiled at her. “Does that mean you’ll bake me another one of those apple pies you gave Da- uh, Chase?”
They all pretended they didn’t notice the slip as Sharon promised Nick another pie, but Shay could tell how much it would mean to Chase to hear Nick eventually call him Dad.
“Why don’t we head outside?” Brady suggested. “You ladies can bring your coffee while we wet a line?”
“You boys go on ahead,” Sharon said, standing so she could take the chair Chase vacated. “I want a few minutes alone with Shay first.”
Shay knew she shouldn’t be nervous. She and Sharon had had plenty of heart-to-heart chats over the years, but now that she and Chase were officially a couple again it felt different. Shay didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but she knew this woman could be her future mother-in-law someday and she wanted to convince Sharon that she was as invested in this relationship as her son was.
“He is quite a young man, isn’t he?” Sharon said, watching the three of them head outside. Their laughter rang out while Brady shoved Nick into Chase.
“That he is,” Shay agreed.
“I can tell how happy it’s made Chase, getting to know him after all these years. And you too, honey. You must be so excited about the future.”
Shay had learned a long time ago to temper her enthusiasm. Years ago when she was excited about going off to college she found out she was pregnant. When she was excited about a future with Chase, their relationship fell apart. When she finally got a publishing deal and her first book was a success, her father had a stroke and she had to take over for him. So no matter how much she loved Chase and Nick, and wanted both of them to be a part of her life moving forward she was afraid to hope for too much.
“We’re just trying to take it one day at a time, Sharon. But I’m happy. Hopeful.”
Sharon frowned, reaching for Shay’s hand. “You do know it’s okay to be happy, right? That you deserve to be happy?”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you’ve been punishing yourself for a really long time, feeling guilty because you didn’t fight harder to keep Nick, maybe even because you let Chase go without a fight.”
“I suppose you’re right.” There was no point trying to deny it. Sharon had raised three kids. She knew how to sniff out the truth. “You know what they say, old habits die hard.”
“But die they must,” Sharon said. “At least this one. It’s holding you back, honey. Preventing you from having the life you want with a man who loves you more than anything.”
“He told you that?” Shay whispered, wondering what else Chase had told his mother about her.
“He didn’t have to. I know him. I know what’s in his heart. And it’s you. It’s always been you.”
Shay felt the tears sting her eyes, but she knew she didn’t have to hold back with Sharon. She’d often been more of a mother to her than her own had. “I love him too. So much. I hope you know I’d never do anything to hurt him again.”
“I don’t think you hurt him back then, Shay. I think you both had to make an incredibly difficult decision. Did it hurt both of you? Yes. But I never once blamed you… or him.”
“
You are so amazing,” Shay said, giving her an impulsive hug. “Most parents would go crazy if they found out their teenage son got his girlfriend pregnant, but you and John were so good to both of us throughout that whole thing. Even when we decided to go ahead with the adoption, you never tried to convince us otherwise. You said it was our decision and you let us make it. I don’t think I ever told you how grateful I was for that.”
“Maybe not, but you did write about it in your book, which John got to read before he passed. So thank you for that.”
“John read the book?”
“He certainly did. And let me just say there were a lot of tears shed. And we had a lot of good conversations between us about what you and Chase did.”
“Really?” Shay was almost afraid to ask. “How did John really feel about it? Did he resent me for pressuring Chase into giving his grandson up?”
“No.” She shook her head slowly. “He often said how brave he thought you both were, that you’d faced the challenge with more dignity and grace than he would have had in the same situation.”
Shay smiled, thinking how sad she was that she’d never have John as a father-in-law. He truly was a wonderful example of what a father should be. “I miss him, so I can’t imagine how much you all do.”
“The fact that I got so many wonderful years with him was a blessing that I’m thankful for every day. If you find someone like that, who’s your best friend, you never let anything tear you apart.” She brushed Shay’s hair over her shoulder. “You and Chase were too young to understand that back then. You let what happened tear you apart, understandably so. But your past doesn’t have to define you. It seems you two are getting a second chance. I so hope you’ll make the most of it.”
“We will,” Shay said, smiling. “If I have my way.”
Chapter Sixteen
Brunch with Chase’s family inspired Shay to visit her parents while Chase took Nick to meet his old football coach. She wanted them to know that Nick was in town before they heard it from one of their well-meaning friends.
Small Town Billionaire Page 16