Chapter Four
After one of the longest days of his life, Chase was startled awake, his alarm dragging him from his dreams. He’d fallen asleep thinking about Maisy Gallagher.
To his dismay, he’d thought of little else during his flight home.
She’d insisted that his mother’s death had meant more to him than he realized, but she was way off base.
Michelle had been out of his life for so long, he barely had any memories of her other than the ones of her being drunk. She meant nothing to him.
Chase didn’t understand someone like Maisy and wasn’t sure he wanted to, either.
With a mug of coffee in his hand, he stood at the window of his penthouse overlooking the Chicago River, which flowed through the very heart of the city.
The view alone was worth the four-million-dollar price tag for this exclusive piece of real estate.
The thirty-floor Furst Bank building was walking distance from his condo.
His day was full, but despite the pressure put on him, he couldn’t get Maisy Gallagher out of his head.
He could only imagine what someone like her would think of his opulent lifestyle.
If she was ever to view his collection of artwork, or if she knew each one was worth literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, it would blow her mind.
That she would linger in his thoughts was nothing short of an irritation.
He kept thinking about her request that he do a kindness for another.
It would have been much easier to have simply paid her and been done with it.
That would have been far too simple. Instead, she’d insisted on complicating his already complicated life.
What troubled him most, he suspected, was the fact that he couldn’t remember anyone else ever going out of their way for his benefit without looking for some sort of compensation.
A favor. An introduction. A monetary reward.
That was what Chase had expected from Maisy.
But she’d basically challenged him to do something for someone else, claiming it would leave him with a good feeling.
Yeah. Right.
The woman had no clue who he was or anything about his life.
She might have associated his name with Furst Bank, but no way could she have known he was the heir apparent.
One day he would rule the future of the bank as chairman of the board.
His decisions would affect the lives of thousands of people in Illinois and beyond.
His meeting with one of the bank’s largest investors was scheduled earlier than he would have liked.
Sleeping for another hour or two held far more appeal.
If it wasn’t for this meeting, he would’ve taken a day off to unwind.
He needed it. Unfortunately, there was no way he could reschedule.
Consequently, he planned to show up as expected and do his best to keep his mind on the business at hand.
Chase left the building and walked to the office, the same way he did every morning. A homeless man had set up his tent in the alleyway beside the bank building. Chase shook his head in disgust. He’d ask that security get him to move along.
Clearing his mind, he headed into the building.
—
The meeting with the client went well, and afterward Chase sat at his massive desk. The wall-to-wall windows offered a stunning view of the river and the city. He’d barely gotten started reviewing his notes when his phone buzzed.
His father.
Chase had an interesting relationship with Simon Furst. His father was a powerful man with connections in every aspect of business life: He was friends with the mayor and the governor, and he was counted as one of the social elites.
His expectations when it came to his son were well known.
Chase was expected to marry well and fulfill his role in the succession plan for Furst Bank. All in due time, of course.
“I heard about your mother,” Simon said, before Chase had a chance to offer a greeting. “Were you able to make the arrangements?”
“I did. I flew to Seattle.”
“I had the plane this weekend. You flew commercially?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“How’d it go?”
“The flight or the arrangements?”
“The arrangements for your mother.”
“About what you’d expect with anything having to do with Michelle,” Chase said. “The flight was delayed, the car service canceled, and if it wasn’t for a ride from this annoying woman I met at the airport, I wouldn’t have made the return flight back in time.”
“What? You lost me somewhere between the irritating woman and the flight back.”
Chase would rather forgo talking about this any further, but since his father asked, he explained.
“When the car service canceled, this woman offered me a ride in her…get this…Ford Fiesta. Her vomit-green Ford Fiesta with a bad muffler and a passenger door I had to use my shoulder to ram open.” Chase knew Simon would find this humorous, and he was right. His father burst out laughing.
“I hope you paid her well.”
“Not a dime. She wouldn’t accept it. She claimed it was what people did to help someone in need. She talked about being kind.” He was coming to resent the word, as it beamed a light on something completely lacking in his own life.
“You didn’t compensate her for her trouble?” Simon didn’t bother to contain his surprise.
“She wouldn’t take it. Instead, she asked me to pay it forward.”
His father’s silence showed he found this as unusual as Chase had himself. After a brief pause, he asked, “Are you going to do it?”
“Pay it forward?” The fact was, at first, Chase had blown off the idea.
He wasn’t in the business of doing favors.
He was a numbers man, and if there wasn’t a profit margin built into a transaction, then he wasn’t interested.
Furst Bank didn’t become one of the largest banking institutions in the Midwest by showing kindness and compassion.
“I wouldn’t know how,” Chase confessed. The truth struck him like a jab in the chest. He hadn’t realized how isolated and narrow-minded he’d become.
His life was the bank. He did his best to meet his father’s expectations, down to agreeing to date Astrid, although that was a lost cause.
They both knew it, though neither of them had been willing to say as much.
It was a shame, really. Astrid was beautiful, highly educated, and actively involved in any number of worthwhile charitable projects.
That she didn’t have career ambitions was a bonus.
To Simon’s way of thinking, Chase’s wife would need to be there to support his busy lifestyle.
Astrid would need to be at home to raise the children, and Simon was confident there would be grandchildren.
Chase had foolishly gone along with this crazy matchmaking idea for the simple reason that he liked Astrid, liked her more than any of the other women he’d dated in the last few years.
She’d made it clear she was open to a relationship, and he was willing as well.
On paper they seemed perfectly matched, only they hadn’t really clicked.
Not for lack of trying. It simply wasn’t meant to be, and the sooner they owned up to the fact, the better.
He supposed he would need to be the one to say it.
Chase wished it was otherwise. Astrid’s family was well connected, and her parents had been friends with his father for years.
Simon had been encouraging the relationship, and her father had been fully on board as well.
“Chase.” His father interrupted his musing.
He shook his head, clearing his mind. “Sorry, I got caught up in my thoughts there for a minute.”
“We were talking about this woman you met at the airport,” his father continued. “From what you said, this woman expects you to do something nice for someone else as payment for giving you a ride. Am I understanding you correctly?”
“Basically, that’s it.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. You could ask Astrid. She would be the best person to give you advice.”
His father was right. Astrid would know several charities that would welcome a donation.
“That won’t work,” Chase replied abruptly, his thoughts twisting around in his head.
Deep down, Chase knew writing a check to a worthy organization wasn’t what Maisy had intended.
She wanted him involved to give something of himself, he remembered her saying.
A monetary donation he’d never miss wouldn’t cut it. This had to be personal.
His father’s chuckle came over the line. “This woman got to you, didn’t she? What’s wrong with helping some worthy charity? They’re always looking for a handout. You know that as well as I do. An unexpected donation would be good enough and satisfy this impulse you seem to have.”
“Maybe,” Chase reluctantly agreed. But he doubted it.
“Don’t dwell on it, son. We’ve got to go over what you learned from the meeting this morning.”
“Right.” Chase’s schedule was ruled by the clock. After the call ended, Chase’s hand lingered on the receiver as he mulled over how best to satisfy Maisy’s request. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.
—
His father must have said something to Astrid, or more likely to Harry Newman, her father, because Astrid called the office early that afternoon.
“I hear you’re looking for a worthy charity that needs a donation,” she said.
Chase grinned. “And I suspect you have a list of several.”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I’d like to suggest the country club. We’re badly in need of a renovation to the dining room.”
“I can do that.” He was willing, although he had the feeling Maisy wouldn’t be pleased.
“Thank you, darling. A donation would be wonderful.”
Chase reminded himself once more that although Astrid would make him the perfect wife, they would need to own up to the fact that they really needed to part as good friends. By misleading their families, they were only delaying the inevitable.
“I thought I’d hear from you once you returned from your trip,” she said without censure.
“It was late.”
“Did everything go okay?”
Rather than rehash the hassles he’d experienced, he said, “It went as well as can be expected.”
“I’m happy you’re back.”
“Me, too.” More than happy to put to bed this nonexistent relationship with his mother.
“I am sorry,” she said sympathetically. “I know this wasn’t easy for you.”
“Dealing with her death was an unwelcome interruption. Frankly, I’m happy to put the unpleasantness behind me,” he said tiredly, unwilling to continue any discussion having to do with Michelle. He didn’t want to talk about his mother.
Changing the subject, he asked, “Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“As it happens, I am.”
“Great. I’ll have a check for you. Should I make it out to the country club?”
“Please, and add a note about the renovation.”
“You got it.”
“Thank you, love.”
Chase had looked forward to dinner alone, but it wasn’t to be. Relationships came with expectations, and Astrid deserved his attention.