Chapter Five #2
“You still look fine to me.” Before Norah had a chance to rethink her remark, the words had escaped, and she knew she’d almost crossed a line that she could never get back over.
Fine. It wasn’t exactly the most complimentary of words.
And she knew full well that Chase looked more than just fine, sitting there in her loose linen shirt that was unbuttoned just low enough to show off the line of her collarbone, the creases at the edges of her eyes wrinkling every time she smiled.
Fine wasn’t the half of it. And unfortunately, Norah could tell Chase picked up on that sentiment immediately.
Chase’s smile evolved into a full-on grin, and the pale color her cheeks had been holding all day suddenly flushed with a sensational pink.
“Are you flirting with me?” Chase ran a hand through her messy hair, her smile taking on just a hint of smugness that Norah found undeniably magnetic.
“I…” If she were anybody else, literally anybody else on the planet, Norah would have lied. She would have lied her fucking pants off. But Chase knew her. Even all these lifetimes later, she knew her. And no way could she entirely dismiss the chemistry that was still so evident between them.
“Hey.” Before Norah had a chance to offer any kind of explanation she would never be able to articulate properly, Chase reached across the splintering wood table and squeezed Norah’s hand just once, a gesture so casual and playful Norah found herself wishing Chase would give her more. “I’m just teasing you.”
Norah visualized the impenetrable metal gate she’d built around herself coming back up, complete with a moat and men with cannons and archers ready to shoot.
She’d pictured this scenario every time she thought about Chase over the years, and for some reason, it always helped.
She knew where this story was headed. She’d read it before, the ending already written in clear, perfect print on a pristine white page.
All at once the wall came down, and every minute of their wonderful, torrid past came hurtling at Norah’s brain like a meteor shower.
Chase’s eyes stayed locked on hers, and Norah realized Chase had yet to really look at her until that moment, like she was afraid to.
They were gentle and safe, free from the slightly arrogant flirtation Norah had become familiar with over the last few days.
This was the Chase she wanted to remember—kind, open.
The Chase who gave her heart to Norah unapologetically and loved her so hard Norah couldn’t help but love her back.
This was the Chase she’d fallen in love with.
And, as frightening as it was, maybe the Chase Durgin a part of her still loved.
Chase had hardly touched her pulled pork by the time the check came.
From a culinary standpoint it was actually quite good—certainly better than the general vibe Tito’s suggested.
But the moment with Norah, which felt like an hour, had sent Chase’s head spinning off into space and, with it, her appetite.
She knew she’d go back to her tent that night and repeatedly replay the way Norah’s hand felt in hers for that one perfect second, the way Norah ever-so-slightly returned her gentle squeeze.
The air had buzzed between them as their eyes met, really met, for just long enough.
They sat in a heated silence, the kind of silence that could only come from two people who knew each other’s souls.
Chase had spent the last decade missing Norah.
And it didn’t take long after their demise for her to begin wishing every day she’d never taken that fellowship at Georgetown.
Or that she’d dropped everything to be there for Norah when Davey died.
It didn’t take long until Chase began wishing she could have done everything differently.
As far as she still knew, time travel didn’t exist. But maybe second chances did.
“I can’t believe it’s already ten p.m.,” Norah said as they walked back to their lone jeep in the now-deserted Tito’s parking lot.
“Time flies when there’s half decent BBQ in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esque murder town involved.”
Norah’s laugh flittered through the air, and Chase’s heart did some familiar gymnastics.
Chase was waiting for the inevitable force field to come up.
Even in the rare moments since their reunion when Norah had seemed to let her guard down, she had just as quickly reinstated it, and Chase knew she was on borrowed time.
But Norah still felt light to Chase, that same airy quality she’d exuded as their hands touched still noticeably present.
Eventually, Norah would shut down again.
She would decide Chase, and the past, were too dangerous, and her heart was safer tucked far away from both of those things.
But for now, Chase had access to that heart.
They drove down the winding dirt road in that same comfortable silence, the still-present heat cut with the breeze from the now-topless Wrangler.
Chase kept looking out the window, enjoying the feeling of wind tousling her short hair.
They didn’t talk about pandemics or mortality rates or R0.
And Chase couldn’t remember being more at peace in the last ten-plus years.
“Where is this GPS taking us?” Norah finally asked. They’d been traveling for what seemed like a hundred miles down various dark, deserted roads, following the Google Maps on Norah’s phone, which sat in a holder on the windshield.
“This definitely isn’t the way we came in, for sure.” Chase wasn’t concerned. In fact, she was secretly grateful for what could prove to be extra time with Norah.