Tempting Chase_Burlap and Barbed Wire

by Shirley Penick

Gwen whispered, “I lied to you too.”

  Katie’s shoulders sagged, and her heart broke for the girl. “Oh sweetie, you were just trying to protect yourself. It’s not the same.”

  “No. But Chase was trying to protect you.”

  Katie sighed, out of the mouth of babes. “Let’s go in and see if Emma needs help with the candy. Then we can talk.”

  Gwen invited Katie to see her room. Not that she hadn’t seen the guest room a million times before, and even slept in it on more than one occasion, but she was pleased that Gwen wanted her in her private space. Apparently, Rachel had moved in with Adam, since Katie had spent the night here on the ranch, was it only eleven days ago?

  She spent a pleasant hour and a half, with Gwen talking a mile a minute. Katie was relieved to see that Gwen was a normal eleven-year-old and had been reticent, only so she didn’t have to lie. She told Katie all about her former life before her parents had been killed in a car accident. Then about their trek across the states, stopping whenever they got a whim and staying for a few nights. She apparently hadn’t known her brothers were stealing to keep them going, and she’d seen it all as a grand adventure. Although she didn’t like it when her brothers drank too much, because it made them cranky.

  When Gwen finally ran out of words, Katie realized it was nearly eight thirty and she’d been stalling in hopes of seeing Chase. That was just the opposite of how she wanted to feel, so she gave Gwen a hug and told her she would see her soon. And if she wanted to, Gwen was welcome at the store any time, to work or just to hang out.

  Gwen said she would ask about that, and gave Katie her cell number. Katie saved it in her phone and sent Gwen a text, so she would have her number too. When she walked out to her car she had the feeling of being watched, but when she looked around she couldn’t see anything or anyone.

  Chase watched Katie get in her car and knew she’d felt him watching, but he just couldn’t help himself. He had to see her. When he’d arrived home, and had seen Katie’s car in the driveway he’d been tempted to go to her. But he’d promised Drew, to let her have time with Gwen without him being around, so he’d parked his truck behind the barn and had climbed up on the roof to wait for her to leave. It gave him an excellent view of the driveway, but no one ever looked up, even if they felt someone watching them.

  God, he hoped he could work this out with her because it was flat out going to kill him, if he couldn’t get her to forgive him and give him a second chance. He didn’t realize quite how much she meant to him until he was persona non grata.

  He watched her car drive off getting smaller and smaller until it was gone and then continued staring at the spot where it had disappeared. When he finally climbed down off the roof he found Drew waiting.

  “I figured you were lurking out here somewhere,” Drew said.

  “Yeah, I wanted to come in, but I’d promised you, so I stayed out here. I couldn’t resist getting a glimpse of her.”

  “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” his brother asked.

  Chase pushed on the center of his chest where his heart ached. “Yep, and I’ve got to get it fixed.”

  “She was impressed with what you’ve done so far, and I clearly told her you would only be gone until eight. It’s after eight thirty, so it’s possible you can take that as a sign that she wouldn’t have minded bumping into you.”

  “Do you think so?” His heart throbbed as that tiny bit of light pierced the darkness and fear he’d been living with.

  “Yes, I do, so don’t give up hope, big brother, you haven’t lost yet, and she’s been your friend for twenty years. That’s got to count for something.”

  “Thanks, Drew. I needed to hear that. Now I’m going to go see if I can get Emma and Tony to implement the plan for tomorrow. I thought I would ask them to take my next peace offering into town.”

  “Tony is cute, but you might think about having Gwen do it. She told me Katie invited her to come into the store, just to hang out or go back to working for her. Gwen doesn’t want to just sit around worrying, so she asked me if she could go into town with me in the morning. As long as mom and dad think it’s fine, which I can’t imagine they wouldn’t, she might be your best bet.”

  Gwen take his things to Katie? Since all the problems focused around his actions concerning her that might work even better. If it looked like Gwen was on his side it might help Katie to soften toward him even more. He felt giddy at the idea. “That’s not a bad suggestion. I’ll ask her what she thinks. Can you go ask mom and dad in the meantime?”

  “Happy to.”

  Chase felt lighter as he went to the guest room to talk to Gwen. Maybe, just maybe, he could pull this off.

  Chapter 28

  Katie was thrilled to see Gwen walk into her store the next day. She had a backpack with her and she looked so hopeful and happy. It was so good to see the girl looking like a normal pre-teen, rather than a fearful one.

  “Travis and Meg said I could come spend a few hours with you. I’m happy to work if you have things for me to do. I’m hoping to save up a little money before I go with my aunt. Now that I don’t have to spend every cent on food and stuff it will be fun to work.”

  “You’re a very good worker and I’m happy to pay you. The store hasn’t been this clean and organized in a good long while. I may have to find someone to take your place when you leave. I didn’t realize how messy it had gotten until you started making everything so nice.”

  “So, you weren’t really hiring me for a job.”

  Katie startled at how much she’d let her guard down. “Um, well, I suppose it was in the back of my mind.”

  Gwen grinned at her. “No, it wasn’t, you made it all up to take care of me, didn’t you?”

  “Maybe at first, but then I did notice how good everything looked.”

  Gwen rushed over and hugged her tight. “Thanks so much. I was so scared that first day I came in. And so hungry,” she whispered.

  Katie’s heart cracked in two for this poor girl. “Oh, Gwen, sweetheart, I’m so sorry you had to go through all that.”

  “It was good for my brother’s though. They were getting worse and worse, so I prayed to God to help them. I didn’t much like the way he answered that. But it seems to be working, now.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  “Oh, and I hope everything works out for you and Chase, too. He sent you something with me this morning.” Gwen looked intently at her. “He really is a nice guy and I think you should give him another chance.”

  Katie frowned. “Did he tell you to say that?”

  “No, but he looks so sad.” She dug a prettily-wrapped package out of her backpack.

  Katie looked down at the box wrapped in her favorite colored paper and sighed. Gwen handed her the homemade card Chase had made, which was a picture of Dolly looking so sad and depressed. Inside it said, “Dolly misses you and so do I.” And it had a drawing of Chase and Dolly sitting side by side propping each other up. Both their faces had identical sorrowful expressions.

  She shook her head and opened the package. Inside was a bracelet from her favorite jewelry designer. It was one she’d had in her store for a while and she’d loved it, but hadn’t had the money to buy it.

  Gwen gasped. “It’s so beautiful.”

  “Yes. I loved it. I tried to sell it in here, but no one bought it, so I sent it back to the jewelry designer a few months ago so she could place it somewhere else. I didn’t know Chase even knew about it. He pays more attention than I thought.”

  “Are you going to put it on? Are you going to forgive him?”

  “Yes, and probably.” She lifted the bracelet out of the box and placed it over her wrist, it sparkled there.

  “Someone so caring needs a second chance. Here let me help you.” Gwen took the two ends and clasped them together. “His way of doing things is working out better than I could have imagined. I was angry at first, but then when I got to see Tommy and Kevin I was so glad to be with them. And they felt the sam
e way. We all cried together for a long time. I think we needed that.”

  Katie groaned. “I know it is all working out, but he can’t go pushing his way on everyone.”

  “I think he learned his lesson on that. You could talk to him about it and see what he says. If he acts like he’s going to be pushy you could continue to punish him.”

  Katie looked quickly at Gwen, was she really punishing him? She didn’t exactly want to punish him, just teach him not to lie to her.

  Gwen shrugged, “Are we still doing inventory? Want me to just do the next section over from the toys?”

  Katie nodded as she continued to think about Chase and her actions. She admired how pretty the bracelet looked on her wrist and knew she couldn’t hold him off forever, but she still wasn’t quite ready to see him. She did miss him, more than she wanted to admit, even to herself, especially to herself.

  The glass people were coming tomorrow, maybe after that.

  As Chase worked on the ranch he worried about Katie and if he was reaching her. He only had a couple more ideas left to convince her that he wasn’t the jerk he’d appeared to be. So, as he strung barbed wire, and checked on the hay and straw out drying in the hot sun, he wracked his brain for other possibilities. The town festival and rodeo was in a few weeks, he wanted Katie by his side at the dance and fireworks display.

  His brother Adam snapped his fingers in his face. “Earth to Chase. What the hell are you thinking about?”

  Chase debated telling him the truth. When he couldn’t think of any other excuse, he did just that. “Katie.”

  “Not too big of a surprise I suppose. I’ve just never seen you so worked up over a woman.”

  “She’s the one, Adam. She’s my Rachel.”

  Adam nodded. “Ah, no wonder, I guess I had a few moments like you’re having when I thought Rachel was leaving. At least Katie lives here and you can keep working on her.”

  “Not seeing her is driving me crazy.”

  “It’s only been a few days, you didn’t see her every day before.”

  Chase huffed out his frustration. “No but I could if I wanted to. I could walk into her store, or call her, or send her a text, any time I wanted.”

  “Her store is a place of business and open to the public, you still could go in there.”

  “Nope, not until I know she isn’t going to look at me the way she did. She was so angry and disgusted with me, with a heavy dose of hurt and betrayal under it. I never want to see that expression on her face again.” His gut twisted remembering her face and the words she’d said to him.

  “But things are working out in the best possible way for Gwen and her brothers. If you hadn’t interceded Gwen might still be on the streets and her brothers would not be getting the help they need. That’s got to count for something.”

  “I sure hope so. I sent some things with Gwen today, so I’m hoping for a good report from her when she gets back. But I’m running out of ideas.” His heart was so heavy in his chest, hopelessness weighed a ton.

  Adam shrugged. “Well, when you run out of ideas, if she hasn’t taken you back yet, we’ll have a Kipling family powwow, and come up with some new ones. You and Cade know her the best, but the rest of us might have an idea or two that you wouldn’t think of.”

  “Thanks, Adam.”

  Adam punched his shoulder. “Now let’s get this work done, so you can go back and see what Gwen has to say.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Chapter 29

  The glass for her front window was finally arriving today. Katie felt like doing a happy dance, she was tired of the gloom in the front of the store due to the plywood. How could under two weeks seem so long?

  A lot had happened in those not quite two weeks, she’d gone from friend to lover to ex with Chase. That particular path didn’t seem quite finished and she had to wonder if they would go back to friends or lovers. Deciding to ignore that issue for the moment, she continued to think about all that had happened.

  She’d practically adopted a pre-teen girl and realized she could use someone to help a few hours each day. She’d found she could afford it and if she got someone who she could train on the register, it would give her a bit more freedom during the day.

  Last but not least, she’d finally won at cards. The last one made her grin and wonder if Chase had been distracted by her, or if her luck had changed. She wouldn’t know until she played cards with them again. She did hope they could at least get back to friends, she missed going out to the ranch, or at least the freedom to know she could go out there any time.

  The glass company arrived in the morning which made life just grand. She asked them to put the plywood on the side of her building, so she could do something with it later.

  Gwen came in, just as they were pulling out the plywood. “It’s so much brighter in here without the wood over the window. I’m so sorry that I broke your window. It was a mean thing to do.”

  “I understand. Just remember next time you’re tempted to do something similar how it felt later.”

  Gwen nodded enthusiastically. “I will. I don’t like being mean and I don’t like feeling guilty afterwards.”

  “Then you’ve learned a lesson from it. I’ll be happy to have the glass back though, it is so much brighter.”

  “What are you going to do with the wood? It’s such a cute picture.”

  Katie smiled. “It is, and I want to put it up in my apartment. Even if Chase and I don’t get back together, I want to keep it.” She wasn’t sure if it would soothe her or make her ache if they didn’t work things out, but she had to keep the picture.

  Gwen gaped at her. “Do you really think you won’t get back together? I would feel really bad if the two of you can’t work this all out.”

  “I just can’t say for sure. He’s being really sweet, but what if he does things in the future that he thinks is for the best and I don’t agree?”

  “This time he was right,” Gwen said decisively.

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean he will always be right.”

  The girl thought about that for a moment. “I suppose not. But isn’t that what a relationship is all about? Learning to, you know, compromise?”

  Katie sighed, why did this young girl have to be so wise. “Of course, it is.”

  “Haven’t you too been friends forever? Has he ever done something like this before?”

  “He’s made decisions in the past without asking me, but he’s never lied to me or pretended he agreed with me and did something completely different. That’s probably why it hurt so much when he did it this time. That, and I was really trying to help you, and he took that away. I had all these horrible ideas that they would haul you off, or send you back to abusive parents, or something dire. He didn’t know that wouldn’t have happened. He just got lucky.”

  Gwen nodded. “I see what you mean, but I still think it would be sad if this ruined everything between you two.”

  Katie had to admit, if only to herself, that she thought it would be sad too. “Time will tell, now let’s get busy in the back, away from the window, so that the glass people have the room they need.”

  At the end of the day when her night shift employee showed up Katie realized she was both surprised and a little disappointed she hadn’t heard from Chase all day. She hadn’t thought he would give up on her that easily. Then again maybe he’d been busy on the ranch, but he could have sent a note or something with Gwen if he’d really wanted too.

  She sighed as she turned the corner of the building to go up her stairs to her apartment. She was half way up the stairs before she realized she hadn’t seen the plywood from her window. But she figured they must have put it back behind the stairs, it would be more protected back there. Did she want to go back down and look? Not really, she would remember to check in the morning.

  Unlocking the door and kicking off her shoes, she dropped her things on the kitchen table and walked into her living room, where she stopped dead in her track
s. On her wall was the plywood picture mounted in a huge frame that was a perfect foil to the drawing. It was obvious Chase had done it. Years ago, she’d given the twins a key, so someone would have an extra set. He’d hung the other pictures exactly where she’d told him she was planning to put them, when they’d talked about it, the night he’d stayed over.

  So, he’d spent half the day, at least, fussing over her. There was another card in the corner of the picture. She smiled as she pulled it out of the envelope. On the front was Chase and Cade on their horses with her horse in the middle saddled, all of them slumped and sad in the pouring rain. Inside the sun was out and she was on her horse with them, all six of them smiling. The words said, “You are our sunshine, we miss you.”

  She smiled and realized he was very close to winning her back, but they still needed to talk.

  Chase leaped for his phone when he heard it chime with an incoming text. He’d been waiting impatiently to see if Katie would text him about the picture he’d hung in her apartment earlier today. Cade had helped him get it framed and carried up to her home. They’d been as quiet as possible, so it would be a surprise.

  She’d been off work about an hour and he’d not heard a peep. Maybe she’d gone out to dinner before going home. He sighed. Or it could be she still didn’t want to talk to him.

  So, when the phone finally chimed he hoped it was her. He’d knocked it on the floor in his haste to get to it and it had slid under the bed. He got down on his hands and knees and pulled it out from under the bed. But when he unlocked it he saw a text from Gwen.

  Gwen: My Aunt Mary is here! We are staying at the Singing River ranch tonight to get to know each other. She would like you to join us for dinner tomorrow night at that Mexican restaurant at 6:30. OK?

  Chase: Of course, I’ll be happy to meet her. Good luck!

  Gwen: Tks, see you tomorrow.

  Chase sighed, hoping everything would work out with Gwen and her aunt. They were family, so he had high hopes. Her aunt must have dropped everything to arrive within forty-eight hours. It was only about a six-hour drive, but still that was a pretty quick trip considering she probably had to get off work, make plans for her family and all that.