Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Once aboard, the captain greeted them, and a server appeared with two flutes of champagne and a nonalcoholic beverage for her brother. Fairly soon after, they were under way.
Patrick was invited to join the captain and help steer the boat.
He disappeared, leaving Maisy and Chase alone on the deck.
They stood together, holding their drinks.
Chase’s arm was around her waist. The evening was lovely; dusk settled around them, and the night sky was beginning to make an appearance.
Maisy rested her head against Chase’s shoulder, taking in the peace of the moment.
This boat, if she could even call it that, was a huge reminder of the differences between their two lives.
Chase was accustomed to luxury. He had no clue what it meant to struggle financially.
If ever she needed a reminder, it was now.
She felt the need to point this out, but couldn’t make herself do anything to spoil this perfectly wonderful evening.
“How was your visit with Laura?” he asked.
“Oh Chase, you can’t imagine how much you’ve helped my friend. The difference is night and day. Bella still has a bit of an attitude, but as Laura reminded me her daughter is a teenager and to expect anything less would be unrealistic.”
“Good.”
“You’ve completely turned her life around. I’ve never seen Laura so relaxed and happy. The stress is gone and she’s doing so well in all her classes. I can’t thank you enough for all you did.”
As with everything, when it came to Chase, their dinner was far and above anything she could have anticipated.
They were treated to a Dungeness crab cocktail, followed by a Caesar salad, prime rib, and Baked Alaska.
Maisy thought Patrick would fall off his chair when the server brought out the flaming cake.
“You did that for Patrick, didn’t you?” Maisy asked Chase.
“Guilty.”
He reached for her hand. “I love having you with me.”
“I love being here.” This wasn’t reality, though.
By Tuesday she’d be back at the jewelry store.
The thought depressed her. Chase and her online classes were what helped her get through the day.
At this point, her classes were prerequisite ones, which meant when the time came, her work schedule would need to be adjusted so she could be in the classroom.
That was, if the family could afford for her to attend when the budget was already tight.
Any extra income from her mother’s substitute teaching would dry up.
The question hung over Maisy’s head like an unstable layer of bricks.
Once she was back in Seattle, she would be sure to find Sean fussing over their monthly household bills and the mortgage payment, which was due the following week. Maisy felt almost guilty to be living the life of luxury while her family struggled back home.
“Why the frown?” Chase asked.
“Sorry.” She didn’t realize he could read her so easily. “It’s nothing.”
“Maisy?”
She shook her head.
“Tell me,” he insisted.
She gestured with her hand. “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with all this when my family is barely keeping their heads above water.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No,” she stated emphatically. “Please don’t even suggest it.”
Now it was Chase who frowned. “You mean to say you would rather struggle than let me help?”
She hesitated and then said, in a way she hoped sounded confident, “We’ll make it work; we always seem to find a way.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“That you would even offer blesses me, Chase. But you need to know my family would never be comfortable accepting anything monetary from you. Please understand. I appreciate the offer, more than you know, but please don’t.”
It took a long time before he responded. “I’ll do my best.”
“Promise? It would ruin everything, and I couldn’t bear that.”
“Promise,” he said after a long pause, and followed up his word with a lengthy kiss.
—
The baseball game the following day was magical. How he managed it, Maisy would never know. Patrick got to be the batboy for the Cubs. Her brother was stunned. He couldn’t stop talking about meeting the players. He received an autographed ball from the team.
Maisy had to hold back tears seeing the joy on her brother’s face.
“Don’t you know I would do anything for you, Maisy?” Chase said, as he escorted her from the field to the suite.
The Cubs won the game, and afterward Chase, Maisy, and Patrick went out for authentic Chicago pizza. Chase arranged for the restaurant to deliver the same pizza they enjoyed to Maisy’s mom, along with Sean and Katie.
When Maisy called home, Patrick went on and on about his experience as a batboy, the rookie Ernie Banks baseball card, and the river cruise.
Maisy noticed something was off with her mother and wanted to question her, but with Patrick hogging the phone, she didn’t get a chance.
Monday morning, Chase drove to the airport with them. Before Maisy and Patrick entered the line for security, Chase hugged her close.
“I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you again,” he said, reminding her that within a few days Simon would be leaving for his European business trip. That meant Chase would be doing double duty.
“We’ll still be able to connect each night, right?”
“Right. I’ll need that.”
“So will I,” she told him, holding on to him for all she was worth. Chase’s nightly calls had become an important part of her day, of her life. She hated the thought of going a single night without hearing his voice.
Patrick grew restless at her side. Maisy knew he was eager to get home to share his experiences with his friends on his Little League team.
Reluctantly, Chase and Maisy pulled apart. Chase held her face and kissed her one last time. “Text me once you’re home.”
“Will do,” she promised.
The flight home seemed to take less time than it had when they flew out from Seattle.
Patrick continued to chatter away, recalling every detail of their weekend, highlighting again and again everything he’d experienced.
It didn’t seem to matter that Maisy had been with him for nearly every minute.
Maisy would always be grateful to Chase for giving her little brother the trip of a lifetime.
Patrick would never forget meeting his baseball heroes.
Once they landed in Seattle, it wasn’t Sean who came to collect them. Instead, it was their mother. Maisy took one look at her mom and instantly knew something was awry. She’d noted a hesitation in Sophie on their call the night before. She wished now she’d pressed her mother for answers.
“What’s wrong?” Maisy asked, as soon as they pulled away from Sea-Tac Airport.
“It’s your grandmother,” Sophie said. “She insisted I not tell you while you were away.”
“Tell me what?”
“Your grandmother is in the hospital. It’s her heart.”