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

by Nancy Stopper

  Speaking of family.

  Alexis set her huge mug on the wrought-iron table and slid into one of the cushioned seats on the outside patio at Java. “That barista took forever to make a simple cafe au lait. I thought I would have to go back there myself and mix it.”

  “And you would, too, wouldn’t you?”

  “You know it.” Alexis laughed. It was probably the first time Serena had seen her sister happy about something in a long time.

  “How’s Bandit?” Serena sipped her hot cocoa, a distraction that allowed her to check out her sister. Alexis definitely looked better than the past couple of times Serena stopped by her house. Her eyes were clear and the bags under her eyes weren’t so pronounced.

  “He’s fine… but he’s very needy. Wherever I am, he has to be. I ended up putting a little dog bed on the top of my desk because he insisted on sitting in my lap when I was trying to write.”

  Serena smiled behind her cup. Goal accomplished. She knew that having Alexis foster Bandit would help her sister as much as it would the little mutt.

  “How much longer will I need to foster him?”

  Serena scrambled. “I don’t know. I’ve gotten a few inquiries but none of them have really panned out.” She withheld that she’d been able to redirect the couples in question to other dogs in the shelter. If she had her way, a little bit more time in Alexis’s house and Serena was sure that Bandit would be there to stay.

  Alexis blew over the top of her mug and took a sip. “So, what’s up? You didn’t call me here to talk about the mutt, did you?”

  And just like that, the guarded sister she’d come to expect was back. “I wanted to talk about Justin’s announcement. How are you feeling about meeting Rachel’s family?”

  Alexis brought her mug to her lips again and stared down the street over Serena’s shoulder. Serena didn’t mind. She had a lot of practice waiting while Alexis formulated the answer she thought everyone wanted to hear. Through this entire Rachel situation, Alexis had appeared agreeable to the rest of the family, but Serena knew better. Call it twin instinct or something.

  Color Serena surprised when Alexis finally responded, “I’m not sure.”

  At least Alexis was talking. Much better than shutting down, which had been her norm recently. “What are you thinking?”

  Alexis threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know, all right. That’s all I can say.”

  “What’s going on with you? Whenever I ask, you say you’re okay, but you don’t seem it. You’re sleeping half the day away after a night out with your friends. You never used to party that much. And other than that, you’re over at Mom’s.”

  Alexis stiffened her spine and darkened her expression. “And spending time with Mom means I’m not okay?”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Serena studied her sister for a minute, trying to gain some understanding. But Alexis was shut off. She wasn’t even sending messages mentally. There hadn’t been a time in their lives when they didn’t know almost everything the other was thinking with a simple look or a glance.

  If Alexis wasn’t sharing any details of her life, hopefully she wasn’t picking up on Serena’s secrets either.

  “How are things with the sexy photographer?”

  So much for that. It’s not like she could keep something as big as this from her sister. “Good.”

  Alexis brought her mug to her lips, a twinkle in her eyes. “Just good?”

  “Well…” Serena felt the color creep up her cheeks. Even if she and Alexis didn’t have their connection, Serena couldn’t keep a secret if she wanted to. Her face always gave her away. “It’s great, actually. I invited him to walk Rascal and Roscoe after the photo shoot—”

  “You actually took the mutts on a walk? I thought you let them roam in your back yard and around the shelter?”

  “I do, but I needed some excuse to keep Chase around a little longer.”

  Alexis rested her hand on her chest. “Aww, my little sister is growing up.”

  “Hardly little.” But Serena got the point.

  “Wow, that must have been some walk.”

  Serena slapped her hands over her cheeks. “It wasn’t just that. I saw him Saturday and Sunday. After he told me he was Edward, we spent the day at the Steel—”

  “Hold on a minute. Chase is Edward. The Edward. The one from Atlantic City when we were fifteen. The one you’ve been dreaming about ever since.”

  “Shh.” Serena checked behind her to see if anyone else was listening, but she couldn’t keep the huge grin from her face. “Uh-huh. Can you believe it?”

  “You’ve suspected something since the day you met this Chase. I guess you were right. But why did he introduce himself as Chase and not Edward?”

  “That’s a longer story for another day.” And one she wasn’t sure was her story to tell. She wanted to get to the good parts, to gauge her sister’s reaction. “But we spent the day at the Steel Pier and rode the wheel and played games and ate cotton candy and at the end of the day, he kissed me under the boardwalk.”

  “And did he give you his ID bracelet and say you were going steady?” Alexis winked at her.

  Alexis had been the only one that knew Serena had given her cross to Chase. The rest of her family believed that she had lost it. She reached under the neck of her T-shirt and pulled out the chain. “No, but he did give me this back.”

  “Oh, my God. He kept it. All this time.”

  “Right next to my picture in his wallet.” Serena had known from almost the day she met Chase that he felt things deeply. One look at his photographs told her there was no way to capture some of those shots without immersing in emotion. He may think he stayed detached, but she thought it was more a case of he kept his emotions to himself.

  But to keep her cross all these years, not knowing if he’d ever see her again…

  “What happens next? Where does he live? Will you go visit him?”

  With those few words, Alexis hit on the root of Serena’s problem. Chase may have said he was sticking around for the time being, but he didn’t live here. Frankly, she didn’t quite understand where he lived. Did he have an apartment that he never slept in somewhere in New York? She’d never met anyone from nowhere before. But that wasn’t exactly true. He was from California, whether he refused to acknowledge that part of his life or not. “I don’t know, Alexis. I’m so mixed up right now. I’m still trying to reconcile the boy I idealized in my head with the intense, sometimes troubled man in front of me today. Once in a while, I see a glimpse of the Edward that I met, but mostly he’s Chase and I haven’t begun to peel back the layers on what makes him tick.”

  “Serena, he’s not like one of your strays that you take in and rehabilitate.”

  “I know he isn’t.” But did she want him to be? Did she want to help him find peace within himself and with his family? Of course she did. For her entire life, she’d always been the cheerful one, the one that wanted everyone around her to be happy. “He makes me feel like, I don’t know, like I’ve never felt before. Even for Edward. Because I was only a girl then.”

  “And you’re a grown woman now. If Chase makes you feel like that, then you need to explore what’s happening between you.”

  “But he doesn’t live here.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Especially since he’s here now.” Alexis gestured over Serena’s shoulder and she turned around.

  Chase was striding down the sidewalk toward her, a to-go coffee cup in his hand, dressed like he always was in a T-shirt, blue this time,his that stretched tight across his muscular chest and a pair of worn out jeans that hugged those powerful thighs. His regular hiking boots had been replaced with a dusty pair of work boots. She trailed her gaze back up his body and when her eyes met his, his face lit up.

  She gave a little wave and he stepped up to their table. “Hey, ladies.” He then directed his attention to her. “Hey.”

  Before Serena could respond, Alexis jumped in. “Won’t you join
us? We’re just hanging out and gossiping.”

  “I was planning to take my coffee on the run, but how can I refuse an invitation like that?” Chase rounded the table and lowered himself into the chair beside Serena. “You’re Alexis, right?”

  Alexis flashed him a smile. “How’d you guess?”

  “You mean besides the fact that you’re twins?” Chase shared an easy laugh with her sister. “What is it you do?”

  “I’m a writer.”

  “Oh yeah, what do you write?”

  Serena was happy that Chase wanted to get to know her family, but did Alexis have to flirt with him while he did? She hadn’t smiled like that around Serena in weeks and now she was turning it on for Serena’s… what was he? Was he her boyfriend? God, she hated that term. It sounded so middle school. But they were certainly something, especially after their time on the couch last night. If he hadn’t gotten that phone call…

  Chase’s hand slid over hers underneath the table. While he continued his conversation with her sister, he squeezed her hand and then linked their fingers together, whispering his thumb over her knuckles.

  “That’s enough about me. I want to talk about you, Mr. Edward ‘Chase’ Foster.”

  Serena could practically hear the air quotes in Alexis’s statement.

  “I want to know why you didn’t tell my sister who you were that first day.”

  “Alexis.” Serena growled under her breath. Couldn’t she at least give him five minutes before she laid into him? This was why Serena wanted to keep Chase to herself.

  He squeezed her hand again. “No, it’s all right. I can’t blame your sister for asking. I think I was so shocked that it was her that day that I needed time to figure out how to tell her. I mean, who meets someone on the boardwalk and then ten years later, runs into them again?”

  Who indeed? Yet that’s what Serena had been dreaming of since the day she met Edward, er, Chase. Edward may be his given name but he was definitely Chase. The moniker really fit him.

  “That day in Atlantic City… I was just getting my start as a photographer. I was constantly looking for photos to add to my portfolio. That’s why I was on the beach… when I saw this amazing pair of twins up on the boardwalk.” He turned a smile toward Serena and it was all she could do to keep from melting into her seat. “I could tell you two were twins but there was something different about Serena. A vulnerability that made me want to get to know her. I knew she was a lot younger than me, but I sensed a, I don’t know, kindred spirit. And I’ve never forgotten her or that day we spent in Atlantic City.”

  That was it. She was a goner.

  Alexis looked at her. He’s a keeper. Definitely.

  But he doesn’t live here.

  Details. Details. If it’s important, you’ll figure it out.

  It didn’t matter if they worked out the details if Serena couldn’t get past her inherent distrust.

  Time to change the subject. She turned to Chase. “Where were you headed when we stopped you?”

  “In about…” he glanced at his watch. “…thirty minutes, I’m on my way to a project outside of town for Jayden’s Hope."

  “What’s that?” Alexis asked.

  “Jayden’s Hope is a charity that builds homes for disabled veterans.”

  That’s right. He’d mentioned something about that the other day when he said he was staying in town for a little while.

  “Did you ladies want to join me today?”

  Alexis scoffed into her coffee mug and Serena laughed. “Alexis isn’t really big on getting her hands dirty.”

  “Am, too.”

  “Are not. But I still love you.”

  Chase turned his intense gaze toward Serena. She could get lost in the swirls of his eyes. They told the story of his life without him ever saying a word. “What about you? Will you join me? Can you get away from the shelter for a few hours?”

  Beneath the table, his hand gripped hers, like he was holding his breath in anticipation of her answer. She appreciated that he was sensitive to her responsibilities at the shelter. Responsibilities that she had been shirking recently to spend time with him. “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Serena. I really want you to come with me.” His eyes begged her to say yes.

  “I guess I could check in with the volunteer working today? See if she’s willing to hang out with the animals for a few hours.”

  His face brightened at the prospect.

  She whipped out her phone and then, regrettably released his hand so she could type a message to Sylvia. The dogs loved the older woman who had recently lost her husband and was looking for something to fill her days. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with animals, especially the weak or injured ones. Serena held her breath as she waited for Sylvia’s answer. Finally, a short response buzzed her phone. “Sure.”

  She held her phone up to Chase. “I guess I’m good to go.”

  He hopped to his feet. “That’s great. I think you’ll really have a good time. I’m gonna take the top off the jeep for the drive. It’s too nice a day to waste. We can stop by your house on the way and pick up anything you need. Nice to meet you, Alexis.”

  Chase practically coming undone at the fact she was going to spend the day with him made her laugh.

  He leaned down and brushed his lips over her cheek. “I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes, okay?”

  She nodded and then watched him walk away, his ass on full display in the well-worn jeans.

  “Be careful, sis.”

  Serena turned to her sister. “What? I’ll be fine. I’m sure they won’t let me do any of the big stuff anyway. I’ll probably be pounding nails most of the day.”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

  “What happened to you? That day that I met Chase, you were the first to encourage me to go. Shoot, you practically shoved me into his arms.”

  Alexis didn’t say anything, but a shadow descended over her gaze.

  “We were both shattered when we heard about Dad and his many affairs. I know that it took me back to high school and David cheating on me. It’s made me distrustful of everyone I’ve ever been with since. But I can’t live like that forever. Chase is the one I dreamed of since that day—the perfect guy I met on a perfect summer day. Don’t I deserve to explore what’s happening between us without the doubt sneaking in? I certainly don’t need doubt from you.”

  “Of course you deserve that. You deserve to be happy.” Alexis covered Serena’s hand with her own. “Just make sure you’re safe. You need to protect yourself.”

  Now Alexis was worried about Serena? “Alexis. I got the condom talk from Mom a long time ago.”

  Alexis rose to her feet and tossed her napkin in a nearby trashcan. “Yeah, funny. I wasn’t talking about sex. I was talking about your heart.”

  Serena rested her hand over her heart. “It’s protected.” More than she knew. “I love you, sis.”

  Alexis wrapped her arms around Serena. Love you, too.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chase tapped the console of his jeep while he waited for Serena to come out of her house. It was all he could do to keep from following her in and finishing what was interrupted the last time he was here. But something held him back.

  He wasn’t sure what possessed him to ask Serena to come along today. He had been wracking his brain to find another way for them to spend time together but had come up short. And then there she was, sitting at the table. He had rented the room above the coffee shop for next to nothing but he hadn’t expected to run into her there. She seemed content to stay out in her cottage with her animals.

  Maybe he didn’t know everything about her after all, because with her outgoing personality, he would think she’d want to be around people.

  One thing he knew for sure—Serena Harper was a mystery he was interested in solving.

  Serena rushed out of the house and climbed into the jeep, her hair pulled back from her face into a ponytail and wearing a midni
ght-blue T-shirt that deepened the color of her eyes. Her faded jeans hugged every curve. Curves that he’d had his hands on the other night… before he was interrupted.

  “Got everything you need?”

  Her face brightened. “Yep. I’m excited. This is gonna be fun.”

  He put the jeep in gear and headed back to the main road. “Well, I don’t know about fun. It’s a lot of hard work… but very satisfying.”

  “That’s what I said. Fun.” The sound of her laugh washed over him and sank warmly into his heart. He had thought that some time away from the despair and war-ridden countries he’d been photographing recently would heal his wounds. But he was wrong. It was Serena that was doing his soul some good.

  And some other parts of his body, too.

  He drew in a breath and willed his erection to calm. Now was not the time. Not when it would be hours before he could get her alone again.

  Serena rested her hand on his. “I’m sorry about Alexis.”

  He snuck a quick glance at her. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. She’s your sister.”

  “I don’t know why, but my family thinks I need protecting.”

  “I’d probably do the same thing if someone waltzed into my sister’s life claiming to have met her ten years ago. When she was fifteen.” Especially with a story as farfetched as theirs was.

  Serena was strong and her family should see that. She may be wary, but she had a good reason for it.

  If only her father were still around for Chase to have a few choice words with him about how his choices affected his family.

  Serena ran her fingers along the chain around her neck. The chain he’d carried around the world with him. When confronted by some of the devastation around the world, he’d liked having her necklace, and the photo he took, as reminders of a simpler time.

  But the chain was back where it belonged. He and Serena were connected now, and if he had his way, they always would be.

  Whoa. Where in the hell did that come from? He didn’t do commitment. He didn’t stay put. Yet Serena had him imagining a life he never thought he’d ever want.