Chasing Trust: A Small Town Steamy Romance (Harper Family series Book 3)

by Nancy Stopper

  Her mind blanked for a moment and she couldn’t quite process the words… and then the full impact slammed into her. Had what she dreamed about and imagined really come true? “You’re Edward?”

  Her heart raced and her head swam as she waited for his response. Not that it would be a surprise. “Yes.”

  She gasped. After all these years, Edward was right in front of her again. She searched his face and finally saw what she’d been ignoring since the day she met Chase. Glimpses of Edward hidden behind the hardened expression and lined features of the international journalist. She wanted to be thrilled to finally see him again after all these years, but so many questions swirled through her mind. “Why did you introduce yourself as Chase? Why didn’t you tell me who you were? You obviously knew it was me but didn’t tell me it was you. Why didn’t you?”

  He held up his hands. “I promise I’ll answer all your questions. First of all, I introduced myself as Chase because that’s who I am now. The only person who calls me Edward is my father, and I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. Even my sister calls me Chase now. It didn’t even dawn on me to introduce myself as Edward.”

  “Why Chase? Is it your middle name? Is this why I couldn’t find anything about you online when I looked?” She had been intrigued by the mysterious Chase Foster but now she knew it was just a cover.

  “Chase is a nickname. A couple of years after I met you, I was overseas, trying to prove myself as a photojournalist. A colleague called me a chaser—said I was chasing the perfect photo… and the name stuck. When I finally made it ‘big’ and could write my own ticket, I took the professional name Chase.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me until now? When did you realize who I was?”

  “My publisher booked me this assignment … it was a pet project of his. I was only told the name of the shelter and that it was in Cedar Hill, Pennsylvania. Hell, he could have mentioned your name, but I wasn’t listening. I had just come back from an especially difficult trip and this project was a welcome distraction.”

  She wanted to reach out to him, to soothe the anguish in his eyes, but she couldn’t stuff down the anger to muster the sympathy right now. He’d been deceiving her all this time, like every important man in her life had.

  “Knowing that it was in Pennsylvania… I thought of you. You hadn’t told me exactly where you were from. And then, when I walked into your shelter and I introduced myself, you looked up from the dog you were taking care of. I saw your face and when you introduced yourself… I knew. I couldn’t believe that after all these years I’d found you.”

  Had he been looking for her? Had he dreamed of her as much as she fantasized about meeting him again? Getting to know him as the adult that she had become, not the young naïve girl that he’d met all those years ago. “Why didn’t you tell me that day we met? As soon as you realized who I was?”

  “Because I wasn’t staying. I couldn’t afford to get to know you again and then leave you behind like I did last time.”

  Reason number one why something couldn’t develop between the two of them. What else hadn’t Chase, er Edward, been honest about? How could she ever trust a word that came out of his mouth again after he could be dishonest about something as simple as his name? But he hadn’t been dishonest. Not exactly. Chase was his name, too. “If you weren’t staying, why are you still here? Why are you telling me now?”

  “Because I am staying.”

  She snapped her head around, her eyes wide. “You’re staying?”

  “Well, for a while anyway. I did some research and there’s a charity—Jayden’s Hope—that builds homes for veterans. I contacted them and they’ve got a project not too far from Cedar Hill that I can help out with. At least for the next couple of weeks.”

  “You do construction?” It was like she was seeing a whole new side to Chase, er Edward. No, definitely Chase. Edward may be his name, but he was Chase. The name suited him.

  “You’d be surprised what you learn when you need to. A lot of times on my assignments, it wasn’t just taking photos, but helping the people. I’ve built huts and cabins when flooding has washed out half a village. I’ve also dug wells and cleared brush for a new road.”

  That explained why Chase’s photos were so full of emotion. He connected with the subjects he was photographing and emotionally invested in them.

  But she was still having trouble reconciling this man in front of her with the boy she met all those years ago. Not really a boy. He was a man, even then. But he’d had his entire life ahead of him and she had been captivated by the glimmer of adventure she’d seen in his eye. “You told me that day that you had left your family behind in California. Was that true?”

  He grimaced and a bit of the hope drained from his gaze. Had she caught him in another lie, at least a lie of omission, or was there something deeper? “Absolutely true. My father’s, should I say, expectations, didn’t match what I wanted to do with my life. I haven’t lived in California since the day I left. But I keep in touch with my sister. She still lives in San Francisco.”

  He seemed like such a loner, so it surprised her to hear about a family connection. To her, family was everything. Maybe it was because of what her father had done. Or despite that. She couldn’t imagine not being close to her family, not seeing them all the time. But Chase had gone years and years without seeing his own family. “Tell me about your sister.”

  He paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on the ocean. “She’s doing what my father always wanted me to do. She took my place in the law firm of Foster, Foster, and, well, Foster.”

  When she first met him, he’d mentioned the disagreement with his father. “The reason you left? Because your father didn’t want you to be a photographer?”

  “Oh, hell no. From when I was little, Father would take me to the firm. He’d show me this empty frame where one day, he said, my portrait would go. Lined on the wall beside generations of Fosters. I would stare up at that empty space and know that I didn’t want to be hanging up there with them. I’ve lived the life I’ve wanted to live for the past twelve years.”

  Her gaze dropped to his lips that were quirked like he was thinking. He’d almost kissed her yesterday. Probably would have if the dogs hadn’t interrupted. And she’d wanted him to, had been disappointed when he didn’t. And then she’d felt those lips brush across her cheek when Chase picked her up this morning.

  Would his lips be soft and gentle against hers or would his kisses be overwhelming? The kisses she shared with him all those years ago had overpowered the teenage her. Knowing Chase was Edward was so surreal, but she was slowly merging her memories of Edward with the Chase sitting in front of her.

  A man she was interested in getting to know… a lot better.

  Chase’s hand landed on her arm. “Serena?”

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. My mind wandered. I can’t believe you’re saying all this. That you’re actually here. With me.” While she talked, he slid his hand down her arm and linked his fingers with hers. A simple gesture, one that had stirred up butterflies in her belly when he’d done the same thing ten years earlier. And again yesterday.

  Just like now. She was right. None of her previous boyfriends could live up to the fantasy that she’d spun around meeting Edward. Nothing except having Chase sitting beside her right now.

  He released her hand to pull out his wallet and digging inside, extended something to her. The cross that she’d given him that day. “I never forgot you.”

  She fingered the simple necklace that her father had bought her on one of his good days. The family trip to Atlantic City had been a good day, though, by then, they were few and far between. “Dad was so mad when I told him I’d lost my necklace. I couldn’t tell him I’d given it to someone. Especially a boy.” She ran her thumb along the smooth edges of the cross. It had been the nicest piece of jewelry she’d had at the time and she’d wanted Edward to have something to remember her by. “I can’t believe you still have this.”

  “
I’ve carried it with me all this time. I’d take it out and rub my finger across it, like you’re doing now, and I’d remember.” He eyed the cross another moment and then tucked a paper back into his wallet.

  “What was that?”

  He hesitated, sighed, and then handed over the well-worn piece of paper. She unfolded it to find that it wasn’t a piece of paper at all, but a photograph. Of her. “I saw you taking our picture that day, but I didn’t realize you’d taken one of me. How’d you know that was me and not Alexis?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just did. Sure, you’re twins but it was like I could tell you apart right away. I saw something in you that was unique. I had to have that picture. I didn’t realize when I took it that I’d end up spending the day with you. I’d forgotten I’d taken the photo until I developed the roll. I was still shooting film back then. When I saw that picture, I made a print for myself and I’ve kept it. I’ve had it with me all this time. That and the necklace. You’ve traveled all over the world with me.”

  Wow. She wasn’t sure how to respond to the fact that he had been thinking about her all these years while she’d been doing the same, dreaming about the far-off places he’d talked about visiting. And he’d done it. He’d been to the places he’d spoken of.

  He took the necklace from her fingers and held it out. “May I?

  Should she? When she fantasized about meeting Edward again, she always leaped into his arms and declared her undying love for him. A childhood fantasy, for sure, but the roots of that dream still held tight. He’d become everything she thought he would, and more. Chase didn’t just go along in life, he experienced it. Personally. He felt things deeply, more than anyone she’d ever known. She liked this emotional Chase.

  But he didn’t tell her right away who he was. That still stuck in her craw. Could she really trust him not to betray her? He’d already said that he doesn’t stay in any one place for very long. She could never trust someone who spent that much time away. Look at what David did. And her father.

  But she didn’t have to trust Chase beyond right now. She could take this day and relish in the memory of the boy she met in the man beside her.

  She nodded and he leaned in and fastened the necklace around her neck. His fingers brushed against her skin, a gentle stroke, and she sucked in a breath. Tingles traveled down her neck toward her belly.

  Chase seemed unaffected as he sat back. He ran his finger over the cross again. “That’s where it belongs.”

  She rested her hand over his. “Thank you. I meant it when I gave you my necklace that day, and to have you return it all these years later, I can’t say what that means to me.”

  He stared at her for a moment, their hands clasped between them.

  The bells and whistles of the pier, the sound of raised voices, invaded the cocoon that had wrapped around them. Chase shook his head like he was trying to shake away a memory. “I really didn’t mean to bring you down. To get all serious. I wanted to spend the day with you. To have a fun day at the pier. That was the single best day of my life, before and since. But I couldn’t without being honest about how we met.”

  She resisted the urge to rest her hand on her heart and swoon. She’d dreamed of a man saying these words to her. Could her fantasy really become a reality? If only she could trust him… and herself.

  He stood and extended his hand. “What do you say? Wanna go have some fun?”

  She stared at his hand. She hadn’t even begun to process everything that he’d said since the minute they arrived in Atlantic City. But was she prepared to throw away this chance to spend time with Chase? Nope. She didn’t need to worry about anything past right now. He came clean with her, told her about his past and his family. That should be enough for her now.

  Besides, her heart hadn’t stopped beating since the minute he’d said he was Edward. She’d liked Edward. Had fantasized about the man he had become. But that’s all Edward was—a girlish fantasy. Chase on the other hand. He was someone that she could see potential in.

  She slipped her hand into his. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Eight

  Chase heaved a huge sigh of relief as Serena practically dragged him down the beach. She didn’t slap him and demand he take her home. As a matter of fact, she was still holding his hand as she pulled him toward the great wheel. When they met, the first ride she’d suggested was a roller coaster. He didn’t know if she was trying to show him that she was tough, or not a typical girl caught up in the romance of the Ferris wheel, but he hadn’t cared. He’d only wanted to spend time with the fascinating girl that had captivated him from the moment he’d spotted her.

  That girl had nothing on the woman beside him now as they stepped onto one of the cars of the observation wheel that had replaced the old-timey Ferris Wheel. The gondolas were designed to hold larger parties, but the pier was blessedly quiet today and the doors closed behind them, shutting them into their own private space.

  “This is a change from the roller coaster that you insisted on riding the first day we met.”

  Her melodic laugh filled the car. “I was trying to prove to you, or my sister, that I wasn’t like every other girl. I had spent my entire life being part of AlexisandSerena and for once, I would be different from my sister. But I’ve changed since then.”

  “Yeah, you’ve grown more beautiful.” He wasn’t sure where the words came from, but he found himself opening up to her in ways he hadn’t to anyone else.

  The blue of her eyes deepened to the color of the dusk sky over the African savanna and her lips parted. He leaned in, his mouth a breath away from hers, when the car jerked to life. The moment lost, he snuggled her beneath his arm and pulled her to his side. While he missed the wind blowing through their hair and the crisp, sea air washing over them like it did ten years ago when they rode the Ferris wheel, the privacy that the current gondolas afforded him was worth the sacrifice.

  As the wheel carried them up toward the sky, Serena didn’t talk. She appreciated the quiet… as he did. Many people felt the need to fill space with sound and activity, but he had learned a long time ago to exist and allow himself to experience the world around him.

  When they reached the pinnacle, the wheel eased to a stop and their car swayed before coming to rest. Up here with Serena it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

  She whipped out her phone and leaned into him. “I want to get a photo with this amazing view behind us.”

  He forced himself to smile for her picture. He’d always been uncomfortable having his photo taken. Maybe it was the years of being told where his picture would be hung, people staring at it each time they walked into the law firm. He was much happier behind the lens, bringing the images of the world to those who couldn’t experience it themselves.

  He’d discovered over time that the camera exposed emotions that a person was trying to hide. Many times, he looked at a photo later and saw hope in a woman’s eyes as she swept the dirt out of her cabin or the love of a father for his son as he taught him the trade that had been handed down in their family for generations. Maybe that’s why Chase hid from the camera. Afraid of what it would show. He’d been hiding himself behind the lens for so long that he almost didn’t know who he was anymore.

  That had been okay with him for a long time. To go where the wind blew him, or his assignments took him, and being who he needed to be in the moment. But Serena had him thinking about a future that he’d been afraid to even dream of before now.

  Their ride on the wheel ended far too soon and the din of the pier smacked him in the face when the doors swung open. Suck it up, Foster. You’ve got a beautiful woman beside you and you’re sulking. That was enough. The rest of the day would be about having a good time with Serena and not worrying about their past or his future or anything beyond right now.

  “Come on. Let’s go.” Serena’s face was awash with happiness as they ran side by side down the pier.

  “How about a game? Maybe I can win y
ou a teddy bear.”

  Her eyes brightened, and he caught a glimpse of the girl he’d met. For the next few hours, they played games together, laughing when she couldn’t manage to aim her water gun in the right direction and squealing when he shot all the targets and won her the bear.

  They strolled down the boardwalk, their hands swinging between them as they shared a huge stick of pink cotton candy. Strands of the spun sugar caught on the corner of her mouth and when she licked her lips, it was all he could do not to kiss her right there in the middle of everyone. But he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. He had to get her alone… and soon.

  Chase wracked his brain for a place to be alone and then decided the Adirondack chairs would be the perfect location. They had worked last time, it was worth exploring it now.

  He guided her down the wide, concrete stairs to the hard-pressed sand and before long, found the row of chairs. Yep, they were exactly where they had been then, too. Serena looked to him and in that minute, he knew that everything he’d done in the past ten years had led to this moment with Serena. He hadn’t been the man he needed to be back then, restless, arrogant with restless feet, ready to explore the world. And besides, she had been too young for him. But she had grown too and was now exactly who he needed in his life.

  He guided her into one of the huge Adirondack chairs and then slid in beside her, his arm snaking around her shoulders and pulling her close.

  She turned, her gaze landing on his, her eyes dancing with excitement. “This feels like that day we met all over again.”

  “I wanted to recreate that day because it meant so much to me. I thought maybe we could start over as the people we are now.”

  “That was one of the best days of my life, too. For a long time, I searched for your face in every crowd, thinking that maybe you’d found your way back to me. It just took a little longer than I expected.” She bit her lip, hesitant with what she was getting ready to say. That was okay. He could be patient. “You were my first kiss. And you ruined me for anyone else. I tried, but none of them were you.” With those words, she settled into his side, his other arm circling her and pulling her into his embrace. Underneath the boardwalk, the sounds of the pier faded away and it was as if the world outside of their bubble no longer existed. For a long time, he stared out at the ocean, its waves crashing against the beach in a soothing rhythm, and then pulling back out to sea. In and out, back and forth, give and take. Much like life.