Chapter 2
“You’re going the wrong way!”
Harper’s voice was veering into a register only dogs could hear. Perhaps it hadn’t been worth ignoring her apparent compulsion to navigate simply to needle her, but he’d been annoyed when she’d started their journey by snapping at him, followed by terse responses and awkward silences.
He had actually looked forward to this trip. Although he’d been going to the Sinclair home for the better part of a decade, he and Harper never really spent time together. She was gone a lot, and when she was home, they were always in a group.
When he heard she was stuck in Jersey without a car and planned to take the bus for Thanksgiving, he thought it would be the perfect time to bridge the distance between them.
That it even would be fun to have her company for the drive.
Instead, they’d barely spoken, apart from her driving instructions, which he hadn’t needed.
“Fuck’s sake, Harper. I heard you the first seventeen times.”
“It was three times. And if you heard me, you should have listened instead of passing the turnoff for Route 9W.”
Chase took a deep breath as he prayed for patience. “We’re taking I-87.”
“There are tolls on I-87,” she argued.
“I’m aware. But it’s a faster drive, and I don’t mind the tolls.”
He could practically hear her fuming from the seat beside him. Good. It gave him a perverse satisfaction to know he was bothering her as much as she was him.
No reason for him to be the only one in this car who was pissed off.
Twenty minutes of silence brought them to an exit with a coffee shop. He pulled into the parking lot. “I need some caffeine. Can I get you anything?”
Her gaze shot to him as her eyebrows lifted. “Oh. Um… hot chocolate?”
Chase couldn’t help smiling at that. “Not coffee?”
Harper shook her head as her nose wrinkled. “Too bitter.”
“Alright, one hot chocolate coming up.” He exited his Range Rover and quickly closed the door, leaving the engine running.
He wasn’t sure why she was surprised when he’d offered to pick something up for her. Did she have such a low opinion of him?
Placing the order, he also bought two almond croissants and had them heated. Carrying everything out, he balanced it as he opened the driver’s side door and handed the hot chocolate to Harper.
He held out the bag to her. “Almond croissant? I got one for each of us.”
She smiled at him then, and his brain stopped working for a moment. He couldn’t remember Harper smiling at him for years. He’d missed her smile.
Chase picked up his own croissant, taking a huge bite out of it and suppressing a laugh when Harper’s eyes flared wide. He shrugged, downing the croissant in two more bites and brushing off his hands before continuing the drive.
After that, the atmosphere in the car warmed up, the two of them playing road games as they traveled. He was thankful, since snow had begun to fall faster, the road becoming slippery and traffic backing up.
He suppressed a frustrated growl at the detour signs taking them off the interstate and onto a much smaller, less traveled state route. From the emergency lights ahead, it appeared there had been a traffic accident and responders were still clearing it up.
It was getting dark now, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Harper’s fingers starting to drum a rhythm on her leg.
“Everything okay?” he asked as they came to a stop.
She looked at him absently. “What?” He couldn’t read every expression she had, but he’d seen this one before: anxiety.
“Hey, why don’t you tell me about your master’s program. What made you decide to be a teacher?”
Her shoulders dropped as the drumming of her fingers ceased as she told him about her favorite teachers throughout her school years and how they’d inspired her to make a similar impact.
Chase smiled at the thought of her taking charge of a class of her own. “You’ll be an amazing teacher, and your students will be lucky to have you.”
There was silence for a few moments, and he wondered if he’d said the wrong thing.
When Harper spoke, there was a barely noticeable tremor in her voice. “Thank you, Chase. That means a lot.”
He wished he could see her face, but he needed to keep his eyes on the road.
Darkness was descending, and the snow was falling at an increasingly rapid pace.
Fortunately, they only had another forty some miles to go, so he was optimistic they’d stay ahead of the advancing storm and reach the cabin at Lake George in time to unload their things and warm up by a roaring fire with hot toddies in their hands.
Harper cleared her throat. “How is life in Stamford? That must be a big change from New York City.”
He chuckled. “You could certainly say that. I miss being able to get anything I wanted 24 hours a day. I miss Luigi’s Pizza, too. But the cost of living is a lot cheaper there, and Stamford is surprisingly diverse, especially for Connecticut. It’s not so bad.”
“I’m glad.” After several seconds, she spoke again, her voice quieter. “How’s Glenda doing?”
His heart warmed at the thought of his warrior mom, who had battled an insidious disease and won with grace. “She’s great! Just passed her second anniversary being cancer-free, and feeling better than ever.”
“That’s amazing!” said Harper. “I’m so happy for her, and for you. She’s one tough lady.”
“She is,” he said. “The last few years have been so difficult, with the diagnosis and then my dad taking off.”
“I imagine they’ve been tough for you as well.”
Chase thought about all that had happened during those years, good and bad. He nodded. “Yeah, at times. “But the flip side is that Mom and I are much closer than we ever were when Dad was around.
“Your mom actually invited her to join us all this weekend, but she’d made plans with friends in Florida. I offered to fly down there, but she said I should go to the cabin so I didn’t spend so much of my weekend off in crowded airports when the flights might not even make it, anyway.
“Personally, I suspect she has a boyfriend and she’s not ready for us to meet quite yet.”
Harper laughed. “Go, Glenda!”
He chuckled in response before he sobered. He had an overwhelming urge to share more with her about the last few years and how much everything had weighed on him.
“After my mom got diagnosed, my playing got steadily worse until I was playing like shit. For NHL standards, anyway. Coach told me if I didn’t get my act together, I’d either be traded or sent down to the affiliate team until I could.”
He heard her gasp. “I never knew that.”
Chase nodded. “But I’ve worked really hard over the last season and a half to prove myself, and I think I’ve done enough to avoid either outcome. At least I hope I have.”
“I hope so, too.” Harper’s voice had taken on a soft tone he didn’t recall ever hearing from her. “You’ve always had such a great work ethic. I’ve seen a few Connecticut games this season, and you’ve dominated the ice.”
His chest puffed out with Harper’s praise. He had no idea she’d been watching his games—why would he? And why would she?
“You’ve watched my games?”
“Oh, well, you know… sometimes I’m studying and I need something on for background noise.”
If it was merely background noise, Harper wouldn’t have noticed his game play. But he let that slide. This was the first time they’d been in a meaningful conversation in… ever. He was still figuring her out and didn’t want to put her on her back foot again.
Before he could respond, there was a low popping sound and the car began to vibrate. A light came on in the dash.
“Fuck.” His hands gripped the steering wheel more firmly as he brought them to a gradual stop on the shoulder.
“What happened?”
“I think we ran over something sharp. I’m guessing there’s a puncture in the tire.”
“What are we going to do? Should we try to change the tire?” Harper sounded tense.
“I don’t think it’s safe to do that right here. These are run-flats, so we’ll be okay for a few miles. But we shouldn’t try to get all the way to Lake George on a punctured tire.”
He checked the GPS map, thankful to see they were in a familiar area. “There’s a place I’ve stayed at a couple of times, a fishing cabin, not too far from here. We can pull off there and see what we’re looking at.”