Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chase was furious. The last thing he needed was Maisy going off the deep end with these ridiculous accusations. He was stunned that she’d hung up on him. He gave her an hour to cool down and tried calling her again, only to discover she’d blocked him.
No one had ever blocked him. It simply wasn’t done.
His anger simmered all night. Sleep was a lost cause as he tossed and turned all night.
Half of what she’d said made no sense, although the more he thought through their conversation, the more he accepted that his father likely had something to do with this.
Chase had gone to Simon seeking a solution, and this was the result.
He needed to settle this with Maisy. Chase had no intention of losing her. They were meant to be together. He’d recognized that shortly after their first lunch together, although he should have known it sooner.
First thing the next morning, Chase called his office and asked Tristen to reschedule his appointments for the day.
The last thing he needed was to blow off his schedule that was jam-packed with important meetings in order to fly off to Seattle and confront Maisy.
This wasn’t what he wanted, but he also knew he’d be worthless until he settled this.
By every means in his persuasive playbook, he had to make her believe him.
Early on in their relationship, Maisy had made it clear it was important for her to maintain her independence.
The fact that he was wealthy was a disadvantage in her eyes, and in her brother’s, too.
Sean didn’t trust him not to break Maisy’s heart.
Little did her brother realize Maisy was the one in the heartbreaking business.
She certainly hadn’t hesitated to break his.
Before he left on the company plane, word came from the Federal Reserve of a hike in the interest rate that had set the banking world on fire.
The news delayed his flight until midafternoon with the necessity to deal with the bank repercussions.
He did what he could before leaving the office.
The decision to take off when he did sent tongues wagging.
It couldn’t be helped. Chase needed to settle this with Maisy.
Chase spent the entire flight to Seattle on the phone. Everyone was upset with him, including the board of directors. By the time the plane touched down, Chase was more than irritated with Maisy and the necessity of this trip.
The rental car was waiting for him at the airport. It was early evening by this point. Maisy would be home by now, which was for the best. He would rather talk to her outside the family home than at the store, where there was sure to be an audience.
His mood hadn’t improved by the time he parked in front. She refused to believe he had no part in this. If nothing else, he needed to convince her of his innocence.
Patrick was the first one to notice his arrival. The minute he saw Chase, he raced across the front yard and hugged Chase’s middle. At least one member of this family was pleased to see him.
“Is Maisy home?” Chase asked her youngest brother.
Patrick nodded. “She’s inside,” he said, and then lowered his voice, as if afraid Maisy would hear. “But she’s not in the best mood.”
Truth be told, neither was he. “Tell her I’d like to talk to her, would you?”
“Sure thing.” Patrick took off racing into the house, slamming the screen door in his wake.
Chase heard him shout Maisy’s name and then nothing after that.
Instead of Maisy, Sean was the one who stepped outside, meeting him on the porch steps. Chase was disinclined to speak to Maisy’s brother. He fully intended to make that clear.
“I asked to speak to Maisy,” he said, letting it be known that he wasn’t going to be thwarted. He hadn’t disrupted his entire day, caused speculation among his colleagues, and flown all the way to Seattle to talk to Sean.
“I told her, you know.” Sean’s words echoed with righteousness. “This relationship was never meant to last.”
Chase wasn’t going to defend himself to Sean. “Let me talk to Maisy,” he insisted, his jaw tight with resolve.
Sean hesitated before he said, “All right, but you should know she isn’t going to change her mind.”
“Then let her tell me that herself.”
“I believe she already did,” he said, as a parting shot before he returned to the house.
Chase paced on the front porch while he waited for Maisy to make an appearance. With every minute she kept him waiting, his frustration grew. After a long, drawn-out five minutes, she finally made an appearance. By that time, Chase’s patience was shot.
“It took you long enough,” he snapped.
At the irritation in his voice, Maisy blinked and took a step in retreat. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
“Well, I’m here, even though it’s the last place I should be. I don’t appreciate having my entire day explode because you have this ridiculous notion that we’re finished.”
“I didn’t ask you to come, Chase, and I meant what I said. It’s over.”
She remained calm, which served to frustrate him more than he already was.
“You can’t be serious,” he flared. “No one has ever broken up with me before. If the relationship is over, then I’m the one to end it, understand?
” He wished he could take back those words the instant they left his mouth.
He was mentally and physically exhausted, and this was definitely the wrong approach if he was going to win over Maisy. He couldn’t stop himself, though.
She blinked at his words and then whispered, “I’m sure that’s true. I apologize for ruining your record.”
He rubbed his hand down his face. He was making a mess of this, but didn’t know how to change course.
“I shouldn’t have said that.” This wasn’t what he’d wanted to say, or the way he’d hoped to say it. “I’m sorry. I know how arrogant that sounded. I can’t accept losing you, sorry.”
She offered a weak smile, as if to say she accepted his apology.
“I don’t want our relationship to end, Maisy,” he whispered, his anger dissipating before he ruined everything. He was desperate to make her understand how much she meant to him, how deeply he loved and needed her.
“I wish it could be different,” she said, sounding sad and miserable.
“It doesn’t have to,” he insisted.
She shook her head as if to say their relationship was a lost cause.
“I should have listened to my brother…to my own heart,” she said, sounding dejected and deflated.
“We were never meant to be, Chase. As much as we want to be together, it would never work with you and me. I don’t fit into your world, and you don’t fit into mine.
You live in Chicago and my entire life is here with my family. ”
“We can make this work,” he insisted. “Everything you’ve said is an excuse. What happened to the positive, confident woman I met on the plane?”
Maisy ignored the question. Instead, she threw his own words back at him. “You said it yourself: We should be grateful you took care of our problems. For the record, we sincerely are. In the process, however, I woke up and faced the truth. We were never meant to be together.”
“That’s not only untrue, but it’s also unfair.”
“I have nothing to say to that,” she said. “We both know what you did, and while it was all meant for good, it made me realize how useless it is to hold on to any hope that we can be together.”
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he tried again. “How many times do I have to tell you I had nothing to do with this windfall of good fortune? If I were to wager a guess, I’d say my father might have had a hand in this.”
She shook her head. “He isn’t here to say otherwise, is he?”
“Why won’t you believe me?”
“Maybe it’s because this has shown me what I’d been unwilling to admit earlier. Please, Chase, leave it as it is. I wish it could be different, I sincerely do, but it’s over.”
Chase looked up, fighting off his frustration. “You can’t mean that.”
“I do, I’m sorry. This isn’t easy for me.”
“It doesn’t need to be this way.” His hands became clenched fists at his sides. There didn’t appear to be any hope of reasoning with her.
“Your coming here makes it even more difficult. Please just go and don’t make this any harder than it already is.
Nothing you have to say is going to change my mind.
I’d rather do this quickly and have it done.
Otherwise, it will drag out and the pain will linger for us both.
I don’t want that for you or for me. Please accept that I don’t want to see you again. ”
From the set of her mouth, Chase recognized she meant every word. She was determined to end their relationship. Her resolve stunned him. Maisy fully intended to cast him out of her life, as if everything they shared meant nothing. She stepped back into the house and closed the door.
This was it.
The end.
“This is nuts. I can’t believe you’re doing this.
” He stared at her door as if he needed time to accept that she wasn’t going to change her mind.
“I don’t understand you,” he called after her.
“Every woman I’ve ever met considered my wealth a bonus…
but not you. Perhaps someday you’ll recognize that you’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life by refusing to accept that I was telling you the truth. ”
—
The next couple of weeks were a nightmare for Chase. Pride carried him for the first week, but that quickly dissipated as time dragged on. He’d been convinced Maisy would come to her senses and realize how wrong she was. That hadn’t happened. She sincerely wanted nothing more to do with him.
As a result, he was completely useless at work. Somehow he managed to get through each day. The nights were the worst. He missed Maisy. Missed their nightly chats. The thought of never seeing her again plunged him into a deep, dark well he found impossible to escape.
Instead of heading home to a silent, empty condo, Chase stopped off at the country club. He sat at the bar nursing a drink, when he heard Astrid’s laughter behind him. She was with friends, but broke away when she noticed him.
“Chase,” she said, as she slipped onto the chair next to him. “I haven’t seen you since our lunch.”
He lifted his drink and gestured to the bartender for another. “Can I get you anything?” he asked.
“No, thanks.” She paused and then frowned. “Why the glum face?”
He’d rather not talk about Maisy, and he sipped his drink as soon as the bartender delivered it.
“I’ve never known you to drink more than one Manhattan. I sense there’s trouble in paradise.”
Chase shrugged as if what he was about to say was of little consequence. “If you must know, Maisy dumped me.”
In sympathy, Astrid placed her hand on his forearm. “What happened?”
“She doesn’t see it working for us.” That was the crux of the problem.
“Why not?” she asked, seeming unwilling to let it go at that.
“Her family was in a financial jam. I stayed out of it, although I wanted to help more than anything. I didn’t, but she refuses to believe it.
I realize now that that was all a convenient excuse to be done with me.
” Drowning his sorrows in alcohol wasn’t the best solution, either.
The thought of heading back to his condo to another empty night was more than he could bear.
The club felt like a doable alternative.
“How’s it going with that guy from New Zealand?” he asked, eager to turn the subject away from the situation with Maisy.
Astrid’s face glowed with happiness. “Phillip and I talk every day now, and it’s been wonderful. He flew in last week to meet my parents. I know it’s too soon to say we’re in love, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone. He’s crazy about me, and I feel the same way about him.”
Chase understood better than she knew. This was the way he’d felt after he met Maisy. It was as if she’d brought light into his world. The strength of their attraction was beyond anything he’d experienced.
“I’m sorry you and Maisy are struggling. When we were last together you were happy. Don’t let your differences stand in the way. Don’t give up on Maisy or let her go.”
Chase wished it were that easy. Maisy was determined to put him entirely out of her life.
She seemed to read the doubt in him. “Chase, I know you. I’ve never seen you walk away from something important you care about. Do what is necessary to make it right with her.”
“She blocked me,” he admitted, wishing he knew what he could say or do to change Maisy’s mind, and came up blank. “She wants nothing more to do with me.”
Astrid seemed to find that humous. “A closed door has never stood in your way before, Chase Furst.”
—
The following morning, Chase’s head pounded from a hangover. He didn’t usually have more than one stiff drink, and he deeply regretted that second Manhattan. Astrid’s words lingered in his mind. He needed to find a way back to Maisy.
When he stopped for coffee, the barista automatically doubled his order. He added egg bites for Guy and then headed toward the office.
Guy was waiting for Chase just inside the alley, as he did every morning.
He silently accepted the coffee and nodded his appreciation.
Chase hadn’t stayed long enough to chat for the last couple of weeks.
No time. As it was, he was usually the one who initiated their conversations.
It was a rare occasion for Guy to speak first.
Chase was about to turn away when Guy stopped him. “You gonna settle matters with your girl?” he demanded.
Surprise caused Chase to turn back around. He hadn’t said one word to Guy about him and Maisy.
“Who told you Maisy and I are on the outs?” he asked.
“No one.” Guy returned with a huff. “Anyone looking at you could tell you aren’t yourself. I don’t give advice, but I’ll make an exception in your case. Fix it.” Having had his say, Guy returned to the alley and his tent.