Page 22 of Forgiving Chase


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She nodded. “True enough. But, I have to admit, now that I’m back, I’m sorry it took so long.”

Chase parked in front of the house. As they got out of the car, the front door opened and a tiny Chihuahua came running toward them, barking her little head off, her tail wagging so hard she was shimmying all the way down the stairs.

“Killer,” Jacquie called, and ran forward to scoop up the little dog, hugging it tight and laughing as it bathed her face with kisses. “Are you okay? I’ve been so worried about you.”

“Killer?” Chase grinned at the irony, since the dog couldn’t weigh more than ten pounds. “You named your dog Killer?”

She threw him a frown. “Ignore him, sweetie. How’s my baby girl,” Jacquie cooed and nuzzled the dog.

Chase had to laugh. This was not at all the same woman he spent all morning with. He had to admit, he liked this version. Liked her a lot.

“She’s fine,” Jess said as she leaned against a tall column.“Is that Chase McKenzie?”

“In the flesh.” His eyes lit up as recognition hit him and he smiled and started toward her. “Hi, Jess. It’s good to see you.”

“Chase!” She ran down the stairs and flew into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

Elated, he laughed as he spun her around. He’d wondered about her a few times over the years, but he’d always pictured her as she was then, not the young woman before him. “I can’t believe you’re all grown up. You were a pimply teenager in braces the last time I saw you.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” she said, grinning.

“Now she’s going to Appalachian to be a big animal vet,” Jacquie said with obvious pride as she walked toward them.

“And the perfect person to take care of Killer while you were in the hospital. How are you?” Jess gave Jacquie a big hug.

“I’m fine.”

Jess gave her a skeptical look and gingerly touched her forehead. “You don’t look fine. You look like some a-hole ran you off the road.”

“Can you believe the nerve?” Jacquie grinned. “Obviously he didn’t know I was a Halloway.”

Jess linked their arms. “Come on, let’s go inside and get you some soup.”

Jacquie looked back at Chase. “The Halloway’s answer to all that ails you is soup.”

“You want some?” Jess called to him.

“Sure,” he said, though, he knew he shouldn’t. He should hightail it right off the ranch and out of Granite Falls as fast as he could. Instead, he followed the women up the stairs and into the house.

Like his mom’s house, this one looked the same as it had the last time he’d been there. Does anything ever change in Granite Falls? Big Stone Ranch had always seemed so grand to him, with its floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the pasture lands, and one entire wall comprised of a stone fireplace soaring up twenty feet.

This place always seemed like something beyond his reach. Not anymore, but now that he saw the ranch with adult eyes, he saw how much work it must be, and how its age was starting to show.

“How’s your dad been?” he asked Jacquie as she collapsed into a plush gray sofa.

“The same. Busy as ever, involved in everything from town politics and business, to running the ranch, along with trying to run all our lives. He’s the reason Josh is the sheriff.”

He sat next to her. “If I recall, your dad was pretty good at everything he did.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it or agree with everything he says or does.”

He smiled.“I guess some things haven’t changed. I take it we’re having a hard time adjusting to being back?”

“It’s kind of like a twisted time machine. I miss my independence in Raleigh and being in charge of my own decisions, but having family around all the time, as much of a pain as that can be, is worth it. I hadn’t realized how much I missed everyone until I came back.”

“Soup’s ready. Come in the kitchen,” Jess yelled.

Chase stood and held out a hand to help her up out of the sofa they both had sunk into. “Now I need to find a way to manage my own life without disappearing completely into his. I don’t want to blend into his world. I have ideas, he just doesn’t want to hear them.”

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