19. Chase
There’s a reason Elliot’s cottage is right next door to Levi’s ranch. No one goes near it. His bulls are out of control. Something he claims he’s working on—but Noah and I both know he’s not since it’s a natural chick repellent.
Being the oldest—and yeah, I’ll admit, the tallest Reeves brother with what he calls “natural charm,” a spunky kid, and the biggest property in Hideaway Springs, automatically makes him the town’s most eligible bachelor.
So yeah, the crazy cattle help my sworn-off-women big brother stay single.
But it also keeps the surrounding homes safe from anyone. Especially out-of-towners.
So Pepper is safe at the cottage. Even if I do plan on being gone for a total of thirty minutes—or at least until I have confirmation that Charlie is there.
Levi and Noah are sitting at the bar, but I approach the new waitress first. “Hey, Tessa, are you being blackmailed or something?”
The town rogue cocks her head at me. “No one twisted my arm. And I’m not fulfilling court ordered community service—I’m honestly just doing the town a good deed and stepping in while Pops finds a replacement,” she says, wiping glass condensation from the bar.
I smirk. “Get fired from the station?”
“Yep.”
“Tell ‘em what ya did, Tess,” Noah pokes.
Tessa inhales sharply, and I glance at Levi, whose jaw is tight and eyes are rolling. “I might have lost a few parking violations on record.”
“What?”
“Aaand called every ticket holder in town letting them know it was dismissed.”
I laugh.
“Don’t laugh at me. Those parking tickets were unlawful. Officers around here are too bored to do anything else—doesn’t mean you should take it out on hard working citizens.”
“You’re lucky they didn’t fine you,” Noah says.
“You’re lucky they didn’t arrest you,” Levi snips, before taking a healthy swig of his beer.
“Bet you’d love that, Indie,” Tess mutters.
For years, Tessa has called Levi Indiana Jones—the silly hat might have something to do with it.
“It’s long overdue,” Levi admits, finishing his beer.“It’s been real.” He stands and claps a hand over my shoulder. “Talked to Dad. It’s been quiet…for the most part.”
“What does that mean?”
Levi glances at Tess as she heads over with a large shopping bag of take out. “I’ll let him tell you—I need to get back.”
“Might wanna ease up on the pie, pretty boy…” She motions to Levi’s solid abdomen before handing over the shopping bag.
“I ordered food without the entertainment, Tessa.”
It’s the first time in a while I’ve heard Levi call Tess by her actual name. Usually he refers to her as Rogue or Trouble…because if there is trouble in town—such as parking violations suddenly erased from the system—it’s usually the clever doings of Tessa Hart.
I like her. Anyone who can rile up my oldest brother is a winner in my book.
I place an order for a couple of sandwiches and a pumpkin pie with Tessa.
“Wanna drink while you wait?”
“Thanks, no. I’ve got to head out soon. Is Dad around?”
She winks before heading to the kitchen, calling back. “I’ll grab him.”
“Should I be planning your bachelor party?” Noah teases.
“I just need to find out if Dad’s heard anything.”
“We asked. No concerns. Where’s Pepper?”
“At the house.”
“Everything alright?”
“It will be once I get this guy off her trail.”
Noah narrows his eyes, assessing me, like I’m one of his clients he doesn’t trust. “What are you so worried about?”
“Something’s off with Pepper.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s been…spacing out.”
“Like completely—is this a medical issue?”
“No. No—forget it.” Perhaps mentioning this to my overthinking brother is not the best idea.
“You leave her alone?”
The question comes from my dad behind the bar. His tone is not casual. It’s more judgmental.
“She’s been alone before. It’s not like she needs a babysitter,” I insist, highly doubting myself at the moment.
Dad glances back, eyeing one couple sitting at the back table and lowers his voice. “Chase—I wouldn’t take Troy’s interview at face value. He may have just acted clueless to throw her off.”
“And anyone who’s hiding her,” Noah adds pointedly.
I pick up my phone and dial Pepper. She doesn’t answer. It’s only been thirty minutes since I left her.
“She’s probably in the shower or something. We were going through…”
“Elliot’s things?” Dad finishes.
“Yeah.”
He gives me a look that I take as: yeah, I know you have her doing your dirty work. “She brought some stuff by for me.”
“She did?”
Dad pulls something from a drawer behind the bar. “Kinda understood that when she brought these by. Said she was just snooping and thought I might want these.”
“She wasn’t snooping,” I snap, feeling the need to defend her.
“I figured as much. Let me guess. She stays there free of charge as long as she does what you’ve been avoiding all year?”
My jaw tightens, and I’m careful before I snap out of defense. “She wanted to.”
“Grow up, Chase. No one wants to. She remembers Elliot. She knows what he meant to us. How painful it was. She understands. What I don’t understand is how you had the balls to let her do this again.”
Like a teenage kid, I abandon my father’s lecture and swipe my phone, finding a number and dialing. “Charlie, it’s Chase.”
“Yeah, I got that. What’s up?”
“You talk to Pepper today?”
“Yeah. Just a few minutes ago.”
I breathe a sigh of relief and reach for the bag Tessa is handing me. “Great. I’ll bring you guys over an early dinner then head—”
“Oh, she said she was busy.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I asked if I could come by and she said she was on her way out. She sounded like she was in a hurry.”
“I’ll call you back.”
“Where would she go?” I vaguely hear my brother ask behind me as I drop the bag on the counter and start pacing. My mind racing for any clue where she might be.
I come up blank. “I need to go.”
“I’ll come with you.” Noah grabs his jacket and follows me out into the street. “We should split up. You want to take the west side?”
My mind is as hazy as the street as I mutter back in agreement.
Hopping in my car, I head back to the cottage to confirm she’s not there. I keep my search brief. When panic starts to rise, I pause and retrace her steps to before I left.
The boxes…the T.V….Troy.
No. The mention of him usually annoys her or even frightens. The look on her face when I shut off the T.V. was more distant… emotional…painful.
Her parents?
No. Their house foreclosed years ago. The bank sold it.
There’s nothing left to go back to.
Hopping back in my car, I head down that way anyway. What do I do? Knock on the door? See if the current owners have seen a redhead lurking through the property?
Then it hits me. Something she said to me back in my apartment when I woke from my nightmare.
“I get them too.”
“About…Troy finding you?
“About my parents…that…they didn’t really die.”
The car screeches as I steer in the other direction and head to that lake just outside of town.
My boots crack the leaves along the path down the hill. It’s colder here by the water. I’m not far from town. A twelve-minute drive. Probably just under thirty minutes by foot. I’ve never been here but recognize it from the photos all those years ago.
I find her kneeling in the dirt just a few feet from the water. People come here to look at the mountain view. But she’s not looking up. She’s face down. Her fingers smoothing the sand like she’s looking for rocks or lost jewelry.
She doesn’t turn when my footsteps near. But I don’t advance any farther. “Pepper.”
She frowns. “Did you follow me?”
“No.”
She looks up quickly, barely meeting my eyes, then back down.
Ripping off my jacket, I put it over her shoulders and bend my knees, lifting her face. “Baby, it’s cold. Let me take you home.”
There’s a brief tenderness in her eyes, but then she shakes her head, moving her fingers back into the sand. “I was so good. I had straight A’s. Didn’t stay out past my curfew. Never asked for more than I got.” She sucks in a breath and sniffles, turning from me. “They knew about my plans for New York—they knew I’d be alright.” She nods, as if reassuring herself. Then her face scrunches and she sobs, falling into herself. I catch her and hold her.
“Pepper,” I whisper. “What happened to them was tragic. A tragic accident.”
Another headshake.
“Pepper. Look at me. Stay with me.” Resigned, she looks up at me with red, tired eyes. “They wouldn’t have left you all by yourself. The car…it lost control, they wouldn’t have—”
“They did. They left me. They got in this car,” –she points to an empty space on the field– “and then disappeared.” She struggles free from my hold, and I release her, giving her space.
There’s a beat before she speaks again. “I wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough for them to take me with them.”
My heart rips to shreds. That’s enough. I catch her face in my hands. “Look at me, Princess. You are enough. You’ve always been enough for them. They gave you everything under the sun, and it must have destroyed them to have it all taken from you after the trial. But I promise you, they would have never left you. You saw them, Pepper, you saw their bodi—”
“No, I didn’t,” she shouts. And it’s shattering. Almost deafening.
Because I clearly remember reading that their daughter, Pepper Woods, identified the bodies that were burned in the car fire.
“What are you talking about?”
She sobs and falls into me. “It wasn’t them, Chase. It wasn’t them. It wasn’t them. I know. I know my parents. It was their car. Their belongings. But not them.”
After a moment of holding her, I pull back and look into her eyes, careful with my words. “Are you sure?”
A nod. “A girl knows her mother’s face. And that…wasn’t…hers.”
I hold her gaze briefly before pulling her against me. There’s no mistaking the agony. The abandonment she’s felt all these years. She’s crumbling in my arms, and there’s nothing I can do. There’s no mystery I can solve. No peace I can offer.
Suddenly, everything about Pepper makes sense. The pity she hated, the condolences she refused, the rejection she suffered. The need to run. No matter what anyone tells her, she’ll always think of herself as a burden.
We stay there until the sun sets behind the mountains. Pepper falls asleep on my shoulder, but it’s grown colder and I need to get her home.
I let her sleep in the car as I drive, mostly going around in circles. I shoot a text to Noah, letting him know that I found her and then shut off my phone.
My chest is tight with what Pepper confessed. What I’m positive she never shared with anyone. And it’s been eating her up for eight years.
My fists tighten around the steering wheel when I think about what could have happened to them. I’m not going to deny what she believes. Because, believe me, a guy will never forget his mother’s face either. I live with the memory of mine every day.
“I’m not letting you go, Princess.” The words slip out of me in a murmur before I realize what I’m saying.
But it doesn’t bother me one bit.
Because she’s officially mine to protect. And there’s a ring on her finger to prove it.