“She works with Judy Henson,” Sierra whispers to me once Mrs. McKay walks down an aisle. Sierra rolls her eyes and puts her hand on mine, letting me know she doesn’t give a shit what people think.
I stay with Sierra a while longer and then leave to work at the bar. I’m opening and closing tonight and already dreading it. I’m not a nine-to-five guy. Hell, even working evenings and nights at the bar is already getting to me. Maybe Jax was right to think living a life like this is bullshit.
Chapter 23
Sierra
“This looks amazing!” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face. “I can’t believe it’s done already.”
“I had a decent designer.” Chase puts his arm around me and kisses the side of my head. “And once I got Jax off his lazy ass, the sanding and painting went fast.”
“I love it. White cabinets are trendy right now, and it really brightens up this space.”
“Exactly what I was going for,” Chase teases, taking another look at his renovated kitchen. Jax snores loudly from the couch, half covered with the rainbow unicorn blanket I brought for Chase as a joke.
“How long is he going to be here?” I ask. “Not that I mind or anything.”
“I mind,” Chase grumbles, eyeballing the empty containers of takeout on the floor. Overall, Chase is a neat person. He doesn’t make his bed or vacuum every day, but I’ve noticed that he doesn’t like clutter or things being out of place. “It’s been nearly a week and shouldn’t be too long. He’s waiting for his mistress’s husband to go on a business trip before going to her summer house in Florida.”
“That sounds like a joke, but you look serious.”
“I am serious. She’s old enough to be his mother.”
“Good for her,” I say and take Chase’s hand. It’s Sunday afternoon and we came back to Chase’s from church so he could change into jeans and a T-shirt. He asked me three times on the way if he should stay in his dress clothes for dinner tonight. He says he’s not nervous, but seeing him want to make a good impression means more to me than I expected it to. He wouldn’t want my family to like him if he wasn’t serious about us, right? Chase is a person who gives no fucks. So when he does, it means something.
We go into Chase’s room, and watching him unbutton his shirt is an instant turn-on. I bite my lip and reach up, pulling on the silver chain hanging around my neck. Chase catches me watching and grins. Slowly, he undoes the rest of the button and peels his shirt back Magic Mike style. As soon as the shirt hits the floor, I’m a goner.
“Chase?” I ask, reaching for him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he mumbles, pressing his hand to his stomach. “Got a random cramp. I’m fine now.” I’m lying in his bed, sheets covering my naked body. He’s in the middle of the room, searching for my clothes that were ripped off and strewn about. He keeps his hand on his abdomen and straightens up, tossing me my underwear and dress.
I get dressed and then go to the bathroom, coming back in the room to find Chase balling up the dirty sheets. He has one hand pressed to his stomach again but brings it away as soon as I set foot in the room. I internally roll my eyes. Not feeling well isn’t anything to hide.
“Have a stomachache?” I ask, grabbing new sheets from the closet.
“Yeah. I have all day,” he confesses and grabs the opposite end of the fitted sheet. We have to turn it twice before getting it on the right way. “I’m fine though.”
“You’re nervous for tonight,” I joke.
“I’ve never felt sick from nerves,” he tells me. “I don’t feel nervous often, either.”
“Lucky. Nerves go right to my stomach. It’s not always pretty.”
We head to my house and spend the rest of the afternoon lounging around in the hammock. Tinkerbell and Dolly are with us most of the time, and Dolly’s approval of Chase makes me like him that much more.
“You feel kind of feverish,” I tell him, pressing my hand to the back of his forehead. “Are you still not feeling well?”
Chase shrugs. “I’m tired.”
“I’m going to take your temperature.” I get out of the hammock and return with the thermometer. I put it to Chase’s forehead. “Ninety-nine-point-two. You do have a fever.”
“I’ll take a Tylenol and be okay.”
“We don’t have to go to dinner. Not if you’re sick.”
“I’m fine,” he says again. “And it’s just dinner. I’ll be sitting there eating, not running a marathon.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” He pushes my hair back over my shoulder. “My only concern is making you sick.”
“I don’t get sick very often. I used to eat dirt when I was a kid. My mom jokes it gave me a hell of a good immune system.”
“I did not eat dirt as a child,” Chase laughs. “Maybe I should have.”
“I’m like never sick. I highly recommend it to children everywhere.”
Chase takes my hand and gets off the hammock, stretching his arms above his head. His T-shirt rises, giving me a glimpse of his abdomen. We bring the cats in, feed them, and get in Chase’s car to drive to my parents’ house. I notice him wincing when he gets out of the car, but does his best to hide it.
“Are you ready to meet your maker?” I ask, walking up to the front door.
Chase takes my hand. “I am. Are you?”
“No. I want to get a plate of food then go home.”
“We will. In an hour or two.”
I make a face and Chase squeezes my hand. He stops before we go up the steps and onto the porch and kisses me.
“Thanks. I needed that.”
“I know,” he says.
We enter the house and find everyone in the back parlor, no doubt waiting for us to arrive. Lisa and Rob aren’t here yet, and I wonder if she’s skipping altogether. We haven’t spoken since she confronted me about Chase’s criminal record. I introduce Chase to everyone, and then Gran pulls us out onto the porch for tea.
“It’s nice to finally meet the man who’s responsible for making my granddaughter happy again,” Gran says to Chase.
“It’s nice making her happy,” Chase replies.
Gran watches Chase and prepares her tea. “I knew your father,” she tells him. “He drove trucks for us for a while.”
“You probably knew him better than I did.”
Curious, Gran sets her tea down. “He didn’t reach out to you over the years?”
“Not very often.”
“It must have been hard growing up without your father when he had another son he was quite fond of.”
Chase shrugs. “That didn’t bother me.”
“And you get along with your brother now?”
“Yes. Very well, actually.”
Gran takes a sip of tea. “It would be easy to resent him, living the life you could have.”
“No, ma’am,” Chase starts. “I find resenting anything to be a waste of time. Stressing over what could have been gets you nowhere. What matters to me is what could happen next.”
Gran smiles and turns her attention to me. “I like this one, Sierra.”
“You won over Gran,” I whisper to Chase. “The rest will follow.”
The sound of a car engine turns all our attention to the street. A police car pulls in, and I hate the feeling of dread I feel knowing Lisa and Rob are here. She’s my best friend, and she’s family. I don’t want to fight.
I take a drink of tea, knowing I need to put my game face on. It’s obvious when Lisa and I aren’t getting along, though I do have Chase with me this time to provide a good buffer…expect that he’s the cause of the ill feelings.
“You’re late,” Gran says to Lisa and Rob as they walk up to the porch.
“Blame this one,” Rob says, sticking his thumb out at Lisa. “She can’t get anywhere on time to save her life.”
Lisa rolls her eyes. “I so could.”
“Join us,” Gran says, much to my chagrin.
Lisa looks at me, then at Ch
ase, pressing her lips together in a tight smile.
“Have y’all met before?” Gran asks, meaning Lisa, Rob, and Chase.
“Yes,” Chase answers. “Sierra and I were over at Rob’s for a bonfire not that long ago.”
“Lovely.” Gran settles her gaze on me, giving me a small nod of approval. “I was just telling Sierra what a fine young man she’s found. Not to put you on the spot or anything, dear,” she tells Chase.
Lisa gives Rob the side-eye, and then shakes her head. Gran hasn’t noticed, but Chase does. He’s smart enough to not bring it up, at least. Gran asks Chase about his newborn nephews and tells us a story about The Mill House before it was a bar. Lisa avoids eye contact with me the whole time and is on her phone, texting. I’m pretty sure she’s messaging Rob because he replies to texts right after she sends. I might not hear their words, but I know they’re talking about us.
Tension builds, and the awkwardness starts to hurt.
Dinner isn’t much better, but at least my sister likes to dominate the conversation and brag about how well my niece did at her last horse show. The rumors about Chase have circulated through town. I know what everyone is thinking, and are dying to ask. But we Belmonts were raised to have good manners, and asking someone about their shady past over dinner isn’t polite.
I’m more of a sit-back-and-listen kind of person at family meals, but make an exception this time whenever there is a lull in the conversation, which doesn’t happen often with my family.
“Is Scott coming home for the Fourth of July Fest?” I ask my mom.
“He said he’s in the middle of a big project,” Mom tells me. “Of course, he won’t disclose any details.”
Dad looks up from his plate. “You’ve never been to a Fourth Fest here, have you?”
“No, sir,” Chase answers. “This will be my first.”
“Why didn’t you come to Summer Hill before?” Dad asks.
“I knew I wasn’t welcome,” Chase answers honestly, surprising Dad. “I’m well aware of the situation my birth caused.”
“So why are you here now?”
“Well, I came for my father’s funeral,” Chase says slowly and I give my dad a what-the-fuck look. “And I stayed because my brother asked me to. We went our whole lives not really knowing each other and thought it was a good time to change that.”
“Where were you before you came to our little town?”
“Atlantic City.”
“You don’t have an accent,” Brent, my brother-in-law, says. “I thought everyone on the Jersey Shore had accents.”
“I’m not from there,” Chase explains. “I was born and raised near Chicago.”
“How did you end up in New Jersey?” Dad asks, furthering his interrogation.
“After studying psychology at the University of Chicago,” Chase starts, “I decided to throw a dart at a map and go wherever it landed. The world has so much to offer, I didn’t want to limit myself to one city. You can learn a lot from people who are different than you.”
“It sounds like you’ve moved around a lot,” Mom says, picking up her wine. She looks at my aunt Kelly and widens her eyes. It’s a good thing Mom doesn’t like to play poker. She’s so damn obvious.
“I did,” Chase answers. “A year ago today I was in Argentina.”
“That lifestyle sounds tiring,” Mom quips.
“It’s quite the opposite. Waking up not knowing what could happen makes you feel very much alive.”
“We must bore you here.” Mom smiles as she talks, but the implications of those five little words send a shiver down my spine.
“My tooth!” my niece cries, spitting something into her hand, and then holds up a bloody tooth. “If finally came out!”
I sigh and lean back in my chair, not realizing how tense I was until I relaxed. I’ve never been more thankful for a kid losing a tooth in my life. The conversation moves to the kids, with my niece unable to stop talking about her tooth and showing us how she can fit things in the new gap in her teeth now.
We have dessert and drinks on the patio near the pool. Chase eyeballs the pool house and nudges me with his elbow. I smile back, feeling blood rush through me at the thought of our first time.
We share a piece of cake, sitting together on the diving board, feet dangling above the pool. Chase makes me laugh so hard I almost fall in the water. He catches me at the last second, arms wrapping around my waist. We steal a kiss, not really caring if anyone sees.
“Sierra?” Lisa calls, standing a few yards back. Her arms are crossed tightly over her chest. “Can I talk to you?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah.” I get to my feet and walk up the diving board. It wobbles under my feet and I consider jumping in the pool to avoid this awkward conversation. Lisa turns when I’m a foot behind her and walks to the end of the patio, away from everyone.
“Chase was pretty charming at dinner,” she starts.
“I guess so.”
She starts down a cobblestone path and sits on the ground, pulling at the grass. “Still, I hope you reconsider.”
“Reconsider?” I ask, sitting next to her. “Reconsider what?”
“Being with Chase.” She breaks off several pieces of grass and twists them in her fingers. “He has a criminal record, Sierra.”
“That doesn’t make him a bad person.”
Lisa’s eyes widen. “Yes, it does. Criminals are bad people. Chase has a criminal record. I don’t see how you can’t follow this.”
“Because I know Chase.”
“Not as well as you think. Why was he arrested? What did he do? And why did the same judge from Indianapolis get all the charges dropped?”
My heart drops. Jax said something about Indianapolis. He came from there…I think. “I don’t know.”
“You should. If anything, Sierra, just ask him. Maybe there is a good reason—though I sure as shit can’t think of one. And don’t even get me started on that friend who’s staying with him.”
“You mean Jax? What about him?”
“Have you seen him?”
“A few times now,” I say, working hard to keep the snark out of my voice.
“He looks like a thug.”
“Oh my God, Lisa. Listen to yourself! He’s a nice guy and is actually a really big nerd. You’d like him if you gave him the time of day before slapping ridiculous labels on him.”
“It’s not a label. He really is a thug. And Jax isn’t his real name.”
I throw my hands up. “How in the world do you know that?”
“Rob ran his fingerprints through the system.”
I stand up, nostrils flaring. My mouth opens but no sound comes out. There have been few times in my life that have left me speechless, and this is one of them. “I…I can’t, Lisa. You don’t like me being with Chase. I know that. But I can’t—and I won’t—deal with you acting like this. It’s beyond ridiculous at this point.”
Lisa gets to her feet as well, following me when I take a step back.
“His name is Nelson Cole and he’s been arrested more times than Chase. And he has served jail time.”
I blink, slowly shaking my head. I don’t know what to say, and I’m battling off throwing up, crying, or screaming.
“I’d go by Jax if my name was Nelson too.”
Lisa lets out an exasperated sigh. “Sierra, I don’t want to make you mad.”
“That’s surprising. You’re doing an awfully good job at it.”
“I have a bad feeling about them.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is? It’s not too weird seeing me with Chase?”
“I already told you I was sorry for saying that. And yes, that’s what it is. Chase has a shady past, and now this guy shows up out of nowhere with a creepily similar past. It doesn’t make sense. You’ve been through so much, I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“Chase isn’t the one hurting me. Like you just said, I’ve been through so much and I’m
finally happy again. Chase is everything I could want. He’s funny and sensitive and likes to sit in bed with me and read. He’s patient and kind and has made sure I’m okay with moving on every step of the way. He understands what I’ve been through.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“No shit. Instead of talk to me, you go play Scooby Gang and run Jax’s fingerprints.” I shake my head. “I’m not even going to ask how you got them, but I’m pretty sure stealing his prints like that with no reason is illegal.” I put my hands to my head, rubbing my temples. “I have a headache now. I’m going home.”
“What’s going on?” Chase asks when I come back. “Neither of you looked happy.”
“It’s nothing. Lisa gets in moods like this from time to time. She’ll get over it.”
“Can I do anything to help? I know I’m the source of her mood.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m pretty good at reading people,” he tells me. “It was obvious the moment she got out of the car and saw me.”
I push my hair back. “Right. Don’t worry about it though. She’ll get over it.”
“If you say so.” Chase doesn’t sound convinced. We gather our plates and cups and say goodbye to my family. On the way out to the car, I go over Lisa’s words. She is right. Something is off, and all it will take to get to the bottom of it is asking Chase what’s going on.
Chase opens the car door for me. All I have to do is ask him. He’ll answer with no hesitation. I’m sure of it.
“Fuck,” he says under his breath when he sits down. His hand flies to his stomach and his eyes close tight.
“Chase? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he assures me, straightening up. “Another cramp. I must have eaten something that doesn’t agree with me. Good thing we have a mile drive to your place.”
I put the back of my hand to his forehead. “You still feel feverish.”
“I’m fine.”
“We’ll see about that when we get to my house.” I rest one hand on his thigh and adjust the air with the other. We park in front of my house just moments later, and I take Chase’s temperature as soon as we’re inside.
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