Chapter 14
LEE
“Ithought you were going to the movies,” Mom said as I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Where’s Chase?”
I slumped in my chair. “At his place.”
Mom slammed the dishwasher closed, making everything inside rattle, and then took a look at my face. “What’s happened? Is everything okay with you two? You didn’t have a fight, did you?”
“No, it wasn’t a fight. He just… something came up with his brother, so he says he’ll call me later.”
“That doesn’t explain why you look like your dog died.” She sat down beside me. “What’s really going on?”
“I mean, I don’t know,” I said. I reached out and straightened a pile of junk mail that nobody had put in the recycling yet.
“Just, I have no idea about his life, you know? But a few things have happened that make me think there’s some really messed-up stuff in his background, and it’s not as though he owes me an explanation or anything, but… ” I shrugged.
“But what?” Mom asked.
“But it just seems really complicated.”
Mom smiled slightly. “Well, just because a relationship is complicated doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort.”
“I know,” I said.
“Honey, if I hadn’t decided to dive headfirst into complicated, you and Sam wouldn’t be here.” Mom’s smile was tinged with sadness, the way it always was when she thought about Dad.
“I know,” I said again. “And I don’t have a problem putting the effort into a relationship with Chase, because I do think he’s worth it.
” I let out a breath and, along with it, the gnawing worry that had been bothering me all the way from Goose Run.
“I just don’t know if he’s gonna want to meet me halfway, you know? I don’t know if he even can.”
Mom put her hand over mine. “It’s new, Lee. Sometimes you have to give things a little time to see how they’re gonna work, or not work.”
She was right, but this felt like more than just the growing pains of a new relationship.
I couldn’t explain without telling her exactly what was going on, though—and none of it was my story to tell.
I thought of Chase and the look on his face the day he thought I’d locked him in the walk-in.
And I thought of his brother, who didn’t talk but who’d punched me in the face the first time I met him because I’d mistaken him for Chase and touched him, and who today had been sitting on the floor of a closet refusing to come out.
He’d talked today, but not enough to paint a very clear picture.
Not for me or any of their roommates at least, but when Cash had said, “He put me under the shower and you weren’t here,” the color had drained from Chase’s face so fast that I’d been worried he’d pass out.
I’d wanted to stay, I’d wanted to help in any way I could—hell, even if I couldn’t help, I’d still wanted to be there for him—except Chase had told me to go away.
Twice. What was it that Chase always said?
He didn’t need help. That felt like some bullshit to me, but it was clear he didn’t want help.
Mom squeezed my hand. “Want to come shopping with me and Sam?”
“Nah,” I said. “I’ve got stuff to do. But thanks.”
I spent the rest of the day doing some jobs around the house.
I did the laundry, mowed the lawn, put the junk mail in the recycling, and I even remembered to change the bulb on the stairs to the basement, because everyone had been complaining about it for weeks but nobody had gotten around to doing it yet.
I sent a text to Chase as well.
Hey, I hope you’re both okay.
He didn’t answer. He also didn’t call like he’d said he would.
I wasn’t really surprised. When Mom came back from shopping with Sam, they put on a movie.
I went and joined them to stop myself checking my phone every two minutes, and Sam sat next to me on the couch while I tried not to think about how the empty space on the other side of me suddenly felt too big.
On Monday morning, Tyler was already waiting in the parking lot when I got to work and grinning like the cat that got the cream.
“You look like you had a good weekend,” I said.
“Found a new apartment,” he said, and then his grin broadened. “But that’s not all. Okay, so we’re not telling anyone, because it’s super new, so you can’t say a word and you gotta remember to act surprised in a few weeks, but Jess is pregnant.”
“Seriously? That’s awesome, man.” I hugged him, and he slapped my back. “Congratulations. Holy shit.”
Tyler was walking on clouds as we started work for the day, firing up the ovens for the morning’s first batch of bread and pastries. He didn’t even complain about frosting the cupcakes, and that was his least favorite job. Mine too, which was why I delegated it to him.
I liked working at Gobble de Goose in a way I’d never liked working at South Hill, and it wasn’t just because I was in charge.
I liked it because Bobby was weird as hell, but he didn’t treat his employees like shit.
Okay, so I wasn’t a fan of the khaki pants and polo shirts—we looked more like we were selling Jesus instead of pastries—but everything else was so good that I could overlook the uniform.
Every small town like Goose Run used to have a bakery, once upon a time, as well as a general store, and a drug store with a soda fountain and a milkshake counter, and all kinds of businesses flourishing along Main Street—all of them killed by declining populations and the big box stores a few towns over.
When Bobby had opened Gobble de Goose, it wasn’t just about cupcakes and pastries.
It was about building a community, and it was cool to be a part of that.
Chase knocked on the front door just before seven, and I let him in.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” He flashed me a smile as he unzipped his jacket and bundled it onto the shelf in the little back hallway. He tied his apron on.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“Yeah.” His smile faltered, and then he darted forward and kissed me quickly, just a brush of his mouth against mine that was so soft I hardly felt it. It filled me with warmth, though, and settled the unease that had been twisting in my stomach since yesterday. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” Never thought I’d be saying that to the guy who’d worked behind the counter at Goose Run Gas.
He raised his eyebrows and jutted his chin out the way he always did when he was looking to be an argumentative asshole. “Are there peanut butter cookies today?”
I folded my arms across my chest. “You know I can make macarons and mille-feuille, right? Mille-feuille. And here you are asking for peanut butter cookies you can get from Walmart.”
He looked pleased that I’d given him the fight he wanted. “Fuck you. Peanut butter cookies are the best.”
“Peanut butter cookies are the basic bitch of the cookie world.”
“Fuck you,” he said again, but he was trying his hardest not to grin. He pushed me out of the way as he headed out behind the counter and then turned and gave me a suspicious look. “There are peanut butter cookies, right?”
“Of course,” I said, putting him out of his misery. “But I’m making you mille-feuille tomorrow.”
“Whatever.”
Yeah, he seemed back to his normal, abrasive self. Still, I leaned in the doorway for a moment longer, then said, “Is Cash okay?”
Chase’s gaze flickered. “Yeah.”
There was more that he wasn’t saying, which was Chase all over, but I nodded and said, “Good.”
I got back to work. It was a busy day, and it was made busier by the fact that over in South Hill, Henry had fucked up an order for two hundred cookies for an event, and the customer was frantically phoning around to see if anyone could fill it by closing.
Chase answered the call and brought the phone to me, and the customer was delighted to find out that not only could we get the order done, we were the same bakers she’d ordered from for the last event.
“Yeah, we’re over in Goose Run now,” I said. “At Gobble de Goose. And we use better ingredients here, trust me on that.”
Tyler flashed me a grin as he immediately pivoted to making more cookie dough.
I’d have to talk to Bobby about getting an online store set up for bigger orders and special requests.
Maybe we could even look at doing custom cakes.
We’d need more staff, but I figured most of the crew at South Hill Bakery would be willing to make the jump now Gobble de Goose was becoming established.
And I liked the idea of poaching all of Henry’s staff after he’d been such a prick to me.
We got the cookies done just in time, slotting them in around our usual batches. It made for a hectic day, but both Tyler and I were glad to be able to stick it to Henry. Still, I was tired as hell by the time we closed up, and did the prep for tomorrow, and cleaned up.
“No more rush orders, boss,” Tyler grumbled as he left for the afternoon. Then he grinned. “Worth it, though.”
“Worth it,” I agreed and locked the door behind him.
Chase was emptying the trash.
“Five minutes?” I asked him and headed to the back to hang up my apron.
I hadn’t even realized he’d followed me until I felt his arms around my waist, and he said, right in my ear, “Behind.”
“Did you finish emptying the trash?”
“It’s by the door. I’ll take it to the dumpster when we leave.” His hands slid to the waistband of my khaki pants, and he thumbed the button at the top of the fly. “Stop being the boss. It’s boring.”
“Chase, I have to—” But all thoughts of the last few jobs I had to do before we could get out of here flew right out of my head when he popped the button open and then tugged down the zipper.
My brain might have shut down, but my dick was definitely on board.
Chase rubbed his palm against my erection and then turned me around and shoved me back against the wall.