Page 46 of Chasin’s Surrender

It was also private.

Back in Tennessee, I had a big house with a tall brick wall that surrounded my property, yet I could still see my neighbor’s house and they, too, had a good bit of property around their house. I glanced around the yard, then to a field beyond the lawn, and I couldn’t see another house.

Nice.

I’d give up my big house and my big wall for this any day of the week. This looked like heaven.

“I could totally see you living in a place like this,” she said, voicing my thoughts.

“Yeah, until some asshole reporter found me. Then I’d have to build a wall to keep them out and it’d ruin everything,” I replied.

“Jeez, Viv. Such a buzzkill.” She laughed. She was right, so when she nudged my shoulder, I couldn’t help but laugh with her.

“What’s with the cars?” she whispered.

“Chasin says it’s the welcome wagon.”

Bobby looked at me and her eyes bulged.

“Did he say, welcome wagon?”

“I think he called it the welcome committee. Why?”

“I was trying to picture big, muscly Chasin using the words, ‘welcome wagon.’”

This time, I bumped her shoulder as we made our way to Chasin, who was waiting for us.

“Thank you for forgiving me,” I told her.

“Thank you for being you again,” she returned.

God, God, God, it was great having my Bobby back.

“Missed you, Roberta.”

“Missed you, Genevieve.”

Without further delay, Chasin walked us to the door Jameson had left open. When we entered, I came to an abrupt stop just inside the doorway, causing Bobby to hit my back, which made me stumble forward. Chasin’s hand shot out and caught me as I tripped, bringing me to his side.

Ohmigod, someone kill me.

How embarrassing.

“You okay?” he muttered.

“Um, yeah. Sorry I tripped,” I semi-lied.

I hadn’t tripped, not really. I’d stopped dead in my tracks because the room was filled with people. Not just women, but men and kids, and all eyes were on me.

Chasin slowly turned me so we were facing each other. Then his hand went behind my neck, and with a gentle tug, he pulled me close. So close, our hips touched, and the only reason my chest wasn’t pressed against his was because he was leaning slightly back and staring down at me.

“You okay?”

Thankfully I’d already decided to forgive him, because if I hadn’t, the concern in his eyes would’ve made me melt.

“Yeah. I was just surprised. But I’m fine.”

Once again, he studied me. Something I was finding he did a lot when he wanted to gauge the sincerity of my answer. Yesterday, that pissed me off, this morning it unnerved me, and now it just felt good. He cared what I was feeling, didn’t try to hide that from me, and wanted to make sure I was okay.