by Kay Correll
“What you mean is you’re falling for him.”
“I am not.” She almost stomped her foot.
“You already have.” Beth draped an arm around her shoulder.
“I can’t…” she whispered. “He’s leaving.”
She stared out at the rushing river below. “Or maybe he’s already gone.”
Chase grabbed the last of his clothes from the dresser and slammed the drawer. He threw the clothes next to his suitcase on the bed. He was done with Sweet River Falls. He couldn’t stay here any longer and chance running into his mother—that woman—again.
Though, if he left, he wouldn’t see Sophie again. He grabbed a handful of clothes and crammed them into the suitcase.
The crushing weight of wanting to leave and wanting to stay smashed all the breath out of him. He sank onto the bed and stared at the well-worn pine plank floor. As if that was going to provide him with any answers. He scowled at the floor.
His cell phone rang and he dug around in the clothes strewn on the bed until he found it. He looked at the screen. Sam. He was tempted to just not answer, but he knew Sam would just keep calling. He finally tapped the button. “Yes?”
“Chase, have you seen all the media coverage?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Who was that girl?”
“What girl?”
“The one you sang with last night.”
Chase scowled. “How do you know about that?”
“It’s all over the internet. Social media. The news stations. A video of you guys singing Road to Forgiveness. You guys rocked it.”
“I don’t get it. It wasn’t that large of a crowd. Just a small arena in an out-of-the-way town.”
“Chase, listen to me. It’s a new world, buddy. Someone took a video of you two singing. Posted it online. It was shared and liked and whatever else people do to things like this. You two are everywhere. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”
He frowned. He didn’t need Sam saying people were calling him. He needed to get away for a while.
Alone.
Far, far from Colorado.
“So, can you talk to the woman?”
“What woman?” His mind was still on his mother.
“The girl.”
“Sophie.”
“Yes, Sophie. Talk to her.” Sam’s voice came through half demanding and half pleading.
“Talk to her about what?”
“Singing with you again.”
“Oh, she’s not really a performer. She runs an art gallery.”
“She’s a singer all right. And a darn good one. Think she’d sing with you again?”
“She has a life here. One that doesn’t involve singing.”
“But could you talk to her? Ask if she wants to sing with you again?”
“No. I can’t.” He was too busy trying to get out of this town.
“I have the chairman of the Kids Cancer Group calling and asking if you and this mystery woman would do a benefit concert in Denver next week. Jackson Dillion was scheduled to do it, but he’s still in the hospital. They provide trips to the mountains for kids with cancer and their families. A chance for a brief getaway from the chaos and medical procedures and pain they’re going through. I know that’s one of your favorite charities.”
Sam was one of the few people who knew he contributed to that charity, and it was giving Sam an unfair advantage. Chase didn’t know how he could turn them down.
He laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He knew the group well. They did a great job. He’d actually donated to them annually after thoroughly checking them out. He would have loved to have a brief time away from the hospitals and doctors and endless stream of medical procedures when Garrett was being treated. A chance to just be a family for a few days without everything centering around the disease.
“So what do you say? You’ll talk to her? This Sophie woman?”
He let out a long sigh. “I’ll talk to her, but she has her own life. I don’t know if she’ll want to do this. But I could do it solo if she can’t or doesn’t want to.”
A long pause split the air. “Well… they specifically requested the two of you. A duo. Ride the viral media wave for a bit.”
So evidently they didn’t want just him solo…
“Ask her and call me back.”
Chase dropped the cell phone on the bed. The last thing he needed was something that kept him in Colorado.
Gloria Edmunds pushed her way into the Brooks Gallery later that morning. “Sophie, there you are. Did you see the video of you and Chase?”
“I saw it.” Sophie put on a welcoming smile even though she didn’t really want to welcome Gloria…
“I just can’t believe it. You and Chase Green.”
The unmistakable undertone of disbelief and the look that said Sophie didn’t deserve the notoriety were clearly echoed in her words.
Gloria was like the tenth person who had popped into the gallery in the last hour to mention the video. Sophie wasn’t sure she liked the disruption to her schedule. She had the last day of the show here at the gallery and needed to check on a few things for the wrap up of the Art Weekend. She hadn’t planned on singing with Chase or ever imagined a video of them singing would go viral.
Her. Viral. She could barely comprehend the number of people who had heard her sing with Chase.
“I’ve got to get back to work. Feel free to look around.” She turned away from Gloria and noticed that Gloria walked out the door without so much as a look at anything in the gallery.
The door opened again, and Chase came in. A serious look hovered in the corners of his eyes. He did not look happy. “Can we talk?” He walked right up to her.
“Sure, we can go back to my office.” She turned to Melissa. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. You got this?”
“Got it.” Melissa smiled and went to greet some new customers coming into the gallery.
She led Chase back to her office, and he shut the door behind them.
“What did you want to talk about?” She leaned against the corner of her desk.
“You saw the video?”
“I did.” She stood back up, wondering what was coming. He was sorry he’d asked her to sing? He was embarrassed by the video?
“Well, I guess it went viral.” He scowled.
Not a good sign. “So I’ve been told. I guess you’re upset.”
He looked at her then, his eyes widening. “No, I’m not upset. Surprised, but not upset.”
“But you’re used to singing with professionals.”
“Sophie, you were fabulous. You have a beautiful voice.”
She blushed in spite of herself, basking in his praise.
“I just need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“I… ah… so my manager called.” He paced away from her, then turned back. “He wanted to know…”
She waited for him to get to the point.
“He wanted to know if you’d sing with me again. At a benefit for the Kids Cancer Group of Denver. There’s a concert there this week. Jackson was supposed to sing at it, but, well, he’s still in the hospital.”
“Me?” She grabbed the back of a chair. “You want me to sing with you again? At a real concert?”
The beginning of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Last night was a real concert.”
“Well, it was just my hometown, it didn’t feel like… oh, I can’t even explain myself.” She spun the chair around and sank into it.
“Will you do it with me?”
“Why don’t you do it alone?”
“Evidently they want both of us. Not me as a solo act.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“You have nothing to apologize for. I froze. You saved me from another embarrassing failure. I literally could not get any words to come into my brain after I saw… that woman.”
Pain clearly etched his face, and Sophie’s heart sque
ezed in her chest. She could only imagine what he’d gone through as a young boy when his mother left. How it must still affect him.
Without giving herself time to analyze her decision, she sprang to her feet. “Yes, I’ll do the concert with you. It’s for a good cause. I can do this.” She’d do anything to help erase the pained look on his face.
“Thanks, Sophie. It means a lot to me. The charity means a lot to me. I really appreciate it.”
“So, are you going to stay in town until next weekend?” She tried to hide the hope from her voice.
He frowned. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I was packing when Sam called.”
She tried to keep the panic from overwhelming her at the thought of Chase leaving.
“I don’t really want to take the chance of running into my mother again.”
She walked over and placed her hand on his arm. “I get that. I do. I have no idea of what you went through. But… maybe you should go see her. Talk to her. Get some closure.”
“I don’t need closure. She finished everything when she left.”
“People change, Chase. I can’t imagine the pain she must have been going through to lose a child. Maybe leaving was the only way she could deal with it. It doesn’t make it right, but a parent should never have to live through the death of their child.”
“I don’t want to see her again, ever.”
“That’s your choice to make.” She didn’t totally understand the pain he must have gone through to lose both his brother and his mother, but she did know one thing. If she had the chance to talk to her own mother one more time, nothing in the world could stop her.
“That’s right. My choice. Not my mother’s choice.”
“Think about it, though. It might help you find some peace about the whole situation.”
“I will never make peace with the fact my mother deserted me.” He turned and walked out of her office.
She walked over and sank into her desk chair. She had no clue if he was leaving town or sticking around.
Too late, she realized they hadn’t even talked about rehearsals for the concert, and she really didn’t want to fly blindly into it like she had at the concert in Sweet River Falls.
Chapter 20
Beth walked arm in arm with Sophie as they headed to Antonio’s for dinner that evening. The boys skipped ahead of them, happy to be going to dinner with their mother. She’d promised them that nothing would stop this dinner out tonight, and she meant it.
Beth turned to Sophie. “So you don’t know if Chase stayed in town or not?”
“No, he just left this afternoon without telling me.”
“I still think it’s fabulous that you’re going to do that benefit concert with him this coming weekend.”
“Well, I’d love to practice with his band. Surely he’ll call me and set that up, right? I don’t want to just wing it in front of all those people.”
“You did a fabulous job winging it last night.”
“That was different. It was just singing for Sweet River Falls.”
“Whatever you say.” Beth glanced at the boys. “Hey, boys, slow down.”
“Hurry up, Mom.” Trevor skipped back towards them. “I’m starving.”
Connor stopped until they caught up with him. “He’s not really starving. Not for real starving.”
“Am too.”
“Are not.”
“Boys.” She used her best mom-warning voice.
Just then, Mr. Dobbs rounded the corner and hurried up to them. “There you are.”
“There I am.” She eyed Dobbs, wondering what he wanted this time.
“We called an emergency meeting of the town council.”
“When is it?”
“It’s tonight. Starting in twenty minutes. We tried to text you.”
She grabbed her phone, and sure enough, she had three missed texts.
The boys looked at her. She could see the disappointment clouding their eyes. She turned to Dobbs. “I’m afraid I can’t make it.”
“Why not?”
“I’m taking my sons to Antonio’s for dinner.”
“You go ahead and do what you have to do. I’ll take the boys to Antonio’s for you,” Sophie offered.
“Thanks, Soph, but I promised we’d have a night out. We’re going to. It’s been forever since the boys and I went to Antonio’s.”
“And Miss Sophie loves Antonio’s, too,” Trevor piped up.
“The meeting is important.” Dobbs eyed her.
“I’m sure it is, but so is keeping my promise to the boys. I’m afraid I’ll have to miss this one. I’ll get the minutes of the meeting tomorrow.”
“This isn’t going to look good for you.” Dobbs cocked his head and looked at her with a disapproving look on his face.
“Maybe not, but that’s my decision. The council will just have to meet without me.”
A self-satisfied smirk crossed his face. “Well, I’ll be sure to tell them that you were unwilling to change your… dinner plans.”
“You do that.”
Connor looked at her. “Does this mean that we’re really going to go to Antonio’s? You’re not just gonna send us with Miss Sophie?”
“That’s what it means.”
Trevor did a fist pump and twirled around. “Yes!”
She linked her arm with Sophie’s again. “Evening, Mr. Dobbs.”
With that, they headed down the sidewalk, the boys scampering ahead and back, clearly thrilled that she hadn’t deserted them once again.
And so was she.
Beth gathered up the shamble of items that seemed to follow in the boys’ wake. They’d had a fabulous time at Antonio’s, and she’d actually gotten them in bed on time tonight. She placed their shoes by the front door so they’d be easy to find in the morning. Well, she put three shoes there. She still hadn’t located one of Trevor’s.
A short knock at the door surprised her, and she glanced at her watch. It was getting late. She opened the door to see Mac standing there, a lopsided grin on his face.
“I know it’s late, but I missed you.” He stepped inside and swept her up in a hug. “I’ve hardly seen you in days.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “So you drove all the way over here to hug me?”
“Heck, no, woman. I came for a kiss.” He grinned and leaned down. His lips brushed hers. He pulled away slightly, still keeping her in his arms. “So, you got a half hour or so for your best guy?”
“I do.” She led him over to the couch.
“Did you get your dinner with the boys?” Mac leaned against the back of the couch and draped an arm around her, pulling her close to his side.
“I did. Though we ran into Dobbs who wanted me to come to an emergency town council meeting.”
“And?” Mac cocked his head.
“And I said I had plans with the boys.”
“You missed the meeting?”
She could hear the surprise in his voice. “I did. And I’ve been thinking…”
“Thinking what?”
“That maybe… I mean I’m not sure yet. But, maybe I should pull out of the mayoral race.”
Mac didn’t say a word but cocked his head to stare at her.
“I’d feel guilty if I do withdraw. I mean, what might happen to Lone Elk Lake if James Weaver gets elected? He’ll do whatever Dobbs wants him to, and he’ll have a seat on the zoning committee.”
“It’s not your lone responsibility to save the lake.”
“But Mom is depending on me.”
Mac looked directly at her. “No, she isn’t, really. She’ll find a way to block the rezoning or she’ll deal with it if it does pass. She’d always want you to do what’s best for you.”
“I do feel like I haven’t had enough time for the boys, and it would probably only get worse if I get elected.”
“Probably.”
“And they have to be my first priority.”
“Adulting is hard, isn’t it?” He gave her a
little smile and squeezed her hand.
“What do you think I should do?” She looked at him.
“I think only you can make that decision, but you know I’m one hundred percent behind anything you decide.”
She reached out and touched his face, the slight roughness of a day’s whiskers coarse beneath her fingertips. “I can always count on you, can’t I?”
“Always.” He pulled her close to his side again, and they sat in silence while thoughts whirled through her mind as she tried to make her decision.
Chapter 21
The next evening Melissa poked her head into Sophie’s office. “You okay? You’ve been awfully quiet today.”
“I’m fine.” Sophie sighed. “Just trying to get caught up on gallery business. I spent so much time on the Art Weekend that I got behind on gallery stuff.”
“Why don’t you let me do some of it for you?” Melissa walked over to the desk. “There, I can log in the new items. And I’ll total up the weekend sales for you, too.”
Sophie looked gratefully at Melissa. “Really?”
“Of course. I used to do those things for your mother all the time. I know you’ve been trying to learn everything and do everything, but I really could help you more.”
Sophie looked at Melissa. The woman was right. Melissa knew so much about running the gallery. She should let her help out more. Before she could change her mind and insist she could do everything herself, she stood. “I accept your help. I’m exhausted. I think I’ll go on upstairs to the loft. Call me if you need me for anything.”
“I will. Now go relax.” Melissa shooed her out the door.
Sophie wandered upstairs and stood looking out over the river, consciously remembering that the last time she stood here Chase had kissed her. She hadn’t heard a word from him since he’d asked her to sing with him in Denver. No details. Nothing about practice sessions.
Maybe he’d changed his mind.
Maybe he wasn’t even in town anymore.
She took a sip of her wine and turned to go make something for dinner. She stared into the refrigerator thinking there wasn’t a single thing to make in there that appealed to her. With a sigh, she grabbed a wedge of cheese and an apple. Cheese and crackers and apple slices. That was meal enough.