by Lea Hart
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Sitting at the kitchen table, she waited for Chase to come down and explain himself. She drank her coffee and noticed the perfect weather and wondered why they were mad at one another. His big footsteps echoed in the hall, and she knew they were moments away from a confrontation. Entering the kitchen, he filled a mug with coffee, and stared at her without an ounce of warmth. She noticed that his hair was still wet from the shower and he had a dab of shaving cream on his neck. Standing up, she walked over to him and wiped away the shaving cream and smiled up at him. “Why are you so mad?”
“Do you think that we have a chance at a relationship or are you toying with me?” Setting down his cup, he wrapped her in his arms and laid his head on top of hers. “This is real to me, and I want to know if it is to you.” He felt her arms tighten around his waist as she let out a sigh. Whatever came next was going to determine where he lived for the next year.
“Chase, I’m having some big feelings for you, and I’m not sure what to do with them. We’ve only just begun spending time with one another, so I don’t know what to think. You live five hours away. How’s that going to work out if we begin dating seriously? The last time you left, you said you were going to call and you didn’t. So as far as I’m concerned, this is a wait and see situation.”
“What would happen if I didn’t live far away…say in the same house? Would that make you take me seriously?”
Releasing him, she stepped back and looked up at him. “What are you talking about?” He took her hand and led her over to the table and sat down. Pulling her into his lap, he took her hand and kissed her cheek. “Chase, are you going to move down here?”
“My agent has two offers for me to consider, and one of them is here in Miami. The other one is in San Francisco.” Tracing her fingers, he smiled down at her hand and wondered what kind of ring she might like. “I’m leaning toward the offer in Miami, for obvious reasons. But I need to know if you think we have a chance before I make a decision.”
“Which one is a better opportunity?” Shaking her head, she slipped her hand out of his and started playing with her hands. “What if we don’t work out? What if you get tired of me and then you have a job that you don’t like? It’s a lot of pressure, Chase.”
Placing his hand over hers, he waited until her fingers quieted. “I just want to know if you’re interested in a relationship with me. I don’t need a guarantee, but I would like to know if you’re going to give us a shot.”
“Oh.”
Dipping his head, he stared into her eyes and saw how worried she was. He thought it was an easy question and one she would answer quickly. Apparently, that wasn’t going to be the case. Maybe it was too much, too soon. After all, he hadn’t given her a whole lot of reasons to trust him and believe what he was saying. “Think about it and let me know what you think when you get back from visiting your family. No pressure, honey.” He felt her relax as her shoulders lowered, and she leaned against him. “Take all the time you need.”
“I’ll think about what you’ve said and let you know what I decide.” Patting his chest, she felt his heartbeat and knew this needed careful consideration. “I think this could be the real thing, so I don’t want to make a rash decision.” Lifting her head, she studied him for a moment then ran her hand over his face. She knew that his face was already in her heart, and she just needed to get the courage up to deal with what was happening. She could face a den of lions, but facing her feelings was hard. “You’d really move down here so that we could have a chance?”
Tipping his head forward, he kissed her gently. “Ronnie, I’m serious about this, and I would move anywhere to be with you.” He watched a single tear slip down her face, and he quickly kissed it away. “That was supposed to make you happy.”
“I am happy. Can’t you tell?”
“The tears kind of confused me.”
Taking his face in her hands, she pressed her mouth against his and showed him exactly how she was feeling.
“Those are the feelings that I need you to have more of, and if I do anything that gives them to you, then I would like a heads up.” Gently moving his hand over her face, he asked, “Do you want me to fly you home?”
“No, I have a reservation for this afternoon, and my sister TT is picking me up from the airport.”
“How did she get the nickname TT?”
My sister Vivi couldn’t say Valentina, so she called her TT. Somehow it stuck, and that’s all she’s ever been called. Before meeting her, people assume she’s a man. With a name like TT DuMond, they’re surprised when my short firecracker of a sister shows up.”
“I think firecracker runs in your family. What is Vivi like?”
“Vivi is the sweetest out of all us girls. Her strength is quiet, and when people underestimate her, they realize their mistake. She’s just come back from a year with Doctors without Borders and is setting up a clinic back home. Mama is helping her getting it up and running.”
“They must put something powerful in the water in Louisiana to turn out the five of you. What do your brothers do for a living?”
“They have a capital investment firm in New Orleans. They’re both married, and between them, they have seven kids. It makes Mama happy and relieves the pressure for me and my sisters.”
“Too bad you all are such underachievers. Your parents must be devastated.”
Slipping out of his lap, she stood and kissed his head. “Funny is not your forte, Mr. Bedford. I think we should leave the jokes up to me.” She walked to the fridge and started pulling out things to make breakfast.
“I’m funny. You just don’t appreciate my humor.” He watched a smile form on her face and wondered what he’d done to win one of those.
“There are enough things that I appreciate about you that we don’t have to worry whether I find you funny or not.” Blowing him a kiss, she returned her attention to making him breakfast. “You better call me this time, Chase.”
“I will call you every day, honey.” Observing her work in the kitchen, he realized how much he was going to miss her. Somehow in the last week, he become attached, and the thought of them being apart left him with a lonely feeling in his chest.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Monday
Chase stood at the front door of the DuMond home and wondered what kind of reception he was going to get. Ronnie hadn’t answered her phone in four days, so he did what any normal person would do and found out where her parents lived and flew himself down. There was no way that she was going to ignore him after the last week they’d spent together. Pushing the doorbell, he heard the loud sound echo through the house. Hearing footsteps, he braced himself for what was about to happen. The large door swung open, and he was greeted with a rounder, shorter version of Ronnie. It had to be one of her sisters, probably TT, based on the college sweatshirt she wore. “Hello, I’m Chase Bedford. I’m here to see Ronnie.”
“Oh, my, God…you do exist. Come on in.” Turning toward the stairs, she called out loudly, “Mama, that northerner who made Ronnie cry is here. Come on down and don’t forget your gun.” Placing her hands on her hips, she studied the man who had her sister tied up in knots. “I was on my way out, but I may stay so I can see the show. This promises to be a good one.”
Now Chase knew where Ronnie got it from. Crazy ran through this family like a river. It was comforting to know it had little to do with him and this was just their way. Glancing up, he watched an attractive woman walk down the stairs and knew immediately where Ronnie inherited her looks from. She was preceded by two large golden retrievers who came down quickly and skidded to a stop in front of him. He put his hand out and patted both of their heads and hoped these two were not going to be the only friendly faces he saw today. Straightening up, he waited until Ronnie’s mom stood in front of him. He extended his hand in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. DuMond. I’m Chase, and I’ve come looking for Ronnie.”
“You, sir, either have a death wish or
are in love with my daughter. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference. Come into the kitchen and let me figure out which one it is.” Tapping her leg for her dogs’ attention, she walked toward the back of the house. “I won’t need my gun, because Ronnie’s daddy is going to be home soon, so I can let him take care of you if I find something that I don’t like.”
They walked into a big kitchen, and there was a woman standing at the stove stirring a big pot. He gave her a smile and then glanced around and could immediately tell that this was the center of the house. The two goldens plopped on their pillows in front of the fireplace, and Mrs. DuMond opened the fridge and pulled out a big pitcher of tea. She motioned to the table and told him to have a seat. Not wanting to do anything to upset her, he did as he was told and held his tongue, though it was taking all of his self-restraint not to ask where Ronnie was. He figured he had to pass her test before she was going to tell him anything anyway. Sitting across from him, she poured him a glass of tea and studied him with a gimlet eye. He wondered if she had a part-time job interrogating people in her free time, because she would clearly be effective at it. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say my piece.”
TT bounced into the room and kissed the woman at the stove, then she sat next to her mother, put her face in her chin, and stared at them both. “I hope I didn’t miss anything good.”
“TT, you have class, and you better get back to school. I will make sure that I give you all of the gory details later on.”
“Mooooom, I can skip one class. I can’t miss out getting to know the man who made Ronnie cry. She’s never done it before, so it has to be good.”
“Behave and go back to school. If you come to supper tonight, then I will make sure that you get the whole story.”
“All right.” Giving Chase a sympathetic look, she got up from the table. “It was nice meeting you. If I don’t see you again, then have a nice life.” Giving him a good once over, she patted his shoulder. “My sister was right. You are good-looking for an old football player.”
“TT DuMond, go to class.”
Kissing her mama’s cheek, she turned to leave. “Love you.”
“I love you. Call me later.” She continued to study Chase and then finally released him from her gaze. “My youngest child is my most challenging. I suppose it’s because the other four taught her every trick in the book, and she’s learned to put them all to good use. Lord save us if she doesn’t graduate this spring, because I don’t think Tulane will have her back for another semester.”
“Ms. Val, should I pack some of this up so that young man can take it out to Ronnie?”
“Essie, I’m not sure how our conversation is going to go, so let’s wait and see. We may have to torture him, since he’s made our baby girl cry.” Taking a sip of her drink, she studied him again.
Not able to hold back anymore, Chase erupted. “I’ve been calling your daughter for the last four days straight, and she won’t answer her phone.” Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he showed her the display showing all of the calls that he’d made. “I know she wasn’t mad at me when she left, so something happened when she got here. Is there some old boyfriend who’s come around or has Brian shown up? Why won’t she speak with me?”
Throwing her head back in laughter, Val slapped the table. “I knew it had to be something like that, and I told Ronnie, but she insisted that you got what you wanted and you were never going to call her again.” Standing, she moved over to the bar that was set up in the corner. “I think we need to have a drink, because sweet tea is not going to do it.”
Putting his hand against his head, he felt a wave of relief and anger. Anger, because he didn’t know what game Ronnie was playing, and relief, because this could be fixed. “I would’ve been down sooner, but it took Ana and Ella a day to decide to give me your address.”
“I don’t know why they didn’t call me and warn me, because I’m like a second mama to those girls.” Shaking her head, she poured them both a drink.
“I asked them not to call and warn Ronnie, because I didn’t want her to run away. But it seems that we have a technical glitch and her feelings haven’t really changed.”
Setting a glass of bourbon in front of him, Val sat next to him. “Hold on there, young man. My daughter has worked herself into a pretty good mad, so I wouldn’t plan on this being an easy reunion. She’s convinced herself that all men are rat bastards, and she doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. The exception being her daddy and brothers. So you’re going to have to talk her down from the ledge, and if I were you, I would do it as gently as possible.”
Taking a sip of the amber liquid, Chase tried not to shudder. Why did people in the south drink bourbon anyway? “I would appreciate any advice that you can give me. I see Ronnie as a strong, confident, and successful woman, and I don’t understand why she is so suspicious when it comes to my feelings about her. It’s like she’s two different people.”
“Most people are,” Val stated. “Just because you are smart in one area of your life doesn’t mean that you’re smart in other areas. This may surprise you, but Ronnie doesn’t have a lot of experience with relationships. She could run a small country with complete confidence, but please don’t ask her to put her heart on the line.”
“How is that possible?” Chase questioned.
Sitting back in her chair, Val wondered how much she should share. This could be the love of her daughter’s life, and if that was the case, then he needed all the information that he could get. Ronnie had built walls that would make China jealous, and she should probably give him a clue about how to knock them down. “I sent my girls to an all-girl Catholic school for middle and high school. I felt like it was their best option to become fully who they were without wasting their time on worrying what the boy next to them thought. And I was right. They all came out of high school with a solid sense of themselves, and it stayed with them through college. The good news was that it worked. The bad news was that it did not give them a lot of opportunities to mix with boys in social settings. Sure, they had their brothers and their friends, but it wasn’t quite enough. I couldn’t get Ronnie out of boots and jeans until she was seventeen and getting ready to deb.”
“All of a sudden, she was getting attention from all sorts of boys her age, but she never had time to pursue it, because she was so busy in school. Then she went off to California for college, and Lord knows, there were not any good Southern men there, so she hung out with her friends and dated little. I know a lot of it was her aspiring to do well in school, and I’m proud of her for focusing on her studies. I did not send my girls to college to get their MRS degrees. I sent them to get educated and discover what they were interested in. Anyway, the point of my long story is that my daughter got a bunch of education and degrees, and that did not leave time for a lot of dating. Also, she has a forceful personality, and that is not always easy for young men to deal with. Most of them have no idea what to do with a girl who knows her own mind and is probably smarter than them. So all of her sophistication has nothing to do with her very sweet, romantic heart. She hopes for what her daddy and I have, and that is not easy to find. The thing is girls don’t have to settle anymore, and I remind them every day of that.”
“I guess it make sense now. To be honest, I didn’t help myself a whole lot when I didn’t call her after our first date. So she has every reason not to trust me, but I have to prove her wrong.” Taking a sip of his drink, he looked around the room and noticed that the woman named Essie was staring at him. It wasn’t a friendly stare, either.
“What do you think, Essie?” Val said over her shoulder. “Should we tell him where Ronnie is?”
Coming around the island, she stood next to him and lifted his chin with her hand and stared into his eyes. Holding his hand in hers, she studied him. “I think he has a good heart and his feelings are true for our sweet girl. And if they’re not, I’ll put a spell on him and make sure that he never fin
ds pleasure with another woman.” Releasing his hand, she patted his shoulder and then walked back to the stove. “I’ll pack up some food for him to take to Ronnie.”
Val patted Chase’s knee and smiled. “Essie has the sight, so if she says you’re okay, then we will tell you where Ronnie is. Let me get a piece of paper and draw you a map.”
Chase watched Mrs. DuMond rummage through a drawer and silently wondered what rabbit hole he’d fallen into. This was not a world he was used to, and he hoped like hell he survived it. “Where is Ronnie?”
Val looked up from the directions she was writing down. “She’s at the horse farm. It’s going to take you about two hours to get there. I hope you brought some presents with you, because I think you’re going to need them.”
“I’m going to stop and get her a new phone, that’s for sure. I also brought a charm for the bracelet that I got her.”
“Oh, how lovely. That shows that you thought about it and didn’t just throw your money around. My girls are not impressed by things money can buy, but they do love a sweet gesture. I’ll give you the name of our favorite bakery. I suggest you stop there before heading out of town. An apology always works best if it’s accompanied by chocolate.”
Essie nodded her head in agreement as she placed the Tupperware containers in a bag. “Truer words were never said. You pick up a nice loaf of bread to go with supper and a chocolate cake. If she doesn’t forgive you, then at least she has a chocolate cake to enjoy.”
Standing, Chase wondered what his chances were of success. He hoped like hell they were better than fifty-fifty.
Handing him the paper, Val patted his arm. “If all goes well, then we expect you to stay and attend Nana Boo’s birthday party. It’s on Sunday, and the whole family will be there. It will give everyone a chance to get to know you.”