More Than I Could (68)

Fuck.

“Kennedy might get heartbroken. But what if you push away a woman who might bring things into her life that you can’t give her? And, Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe this isn’t just about Kennedy. Maybe you’re afraid of getting your heart broken too.”

What the hell? “I think you just dove into the deep end, Kate.” Or not.

She might be right. Not getting into a relationship is much easier than dealing with the complications of having another person in my life. Am I using Kennedy as an excuse? Not really. She is my main point of concern. But is that also fortuitous? Yes.

She sighs. “I gotta go. Call me anytime but wait a couple of hours first.”

Laughing, I shake my head. “Fine. Thanks, Kate. Love you.”

“Love you, Chase. Bye.”

“Goodbye.”

I end the call and watch my house come into view.

It glows softly in the darkness, light radiating from the kitchen and living room windows. Just knowing Kennedy and Megan are inside makes my entire body warm.

This is what coming home should feel like.

I put the truck in park and cut the engine.

You have time. Just enjoy the next couple of weeks and see what happens.

Trust in yourself.

Megan looks out the kitchen window and grins. I smile back.

All the worry I have when I’m not here is gone as soon as I’m with her.

That has to mean something.





Chapter Twenty-Five





Megan




“I win. Again,” Kennedy says, yawning. “That’s seriously pathetic.”

“How is that pathetic?” Chase asks.

“Because you both are way older and have played rummy a lot more than I have. Yet I still kick your butts.”

I hold out a hand. “Hold up. I didn’t grow up playing rummy, so that’s not true.”

“Were you raised in a barn?” Chase shakes his head. “Didn’t grow up playing rummy. What did you do with your time?”

Come to think of it, I’m not sure.

I scramble around in my mental trunk full of memories and try to remember how I killed time in my childhood. “I rode bikes. I made sandcastles. Swam. Built forts, climbed trees … played with dolls. But I didn’t play card games.”

Kennedy yawns again, resting her chin in her hand. “Where did you learn how to play, then?”

“My best friend, Calista, was my next-door neighbor in LA. When I first got there, I had an apartment the size of your bathroom, Kennedy.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was tiny. And I paid out the nose for it, which is wild now that I think about it. Anyway, Calista lived next door, and because of the rent, we couldn’t afford to go out. So she showed me how to play rummy.”

Chase gets up from the table and grabs Kennedy’s snack plate.

“Do you know how to play euchre?” Kennedy asks.

“What?”

“Euchre. Do you know how to play that?”

“I have no idea what euchre is,” I say.

Kennedy looks at her dad and sighs. “We’re gonna have to teach her. She can’t possibly go to Sunday dinners at Gram’s and not know how to play euchre. Luke will never let her live it down.”

Chase puts the plate in the sink. His shoulders are tight as he turns on the faucet. “Yeah, we’ll have to teach her.”

His tone is hollow. Uncertain. And after he shuts the water off and turns back around, he’s watching me warily. I understand why.

I shift in my seat. “Well, thank you for thinking of me. But when Maggie gets home, I’m going home. So no euchre for me.”

My breath stalls in my chest as I wait for one of them to say something.

It’s the truth. I won’t be here for Sunday dinners. They know that.

So why are the three of us acting so weird?

“I got some ice cream today.” My chair screeches across the hardwood. “Anyone want a bowl?”

“Nah, I think I’ll go to bed early,” Kennedy says. “My head hurts a little. Is that okay, Dad?”

“Sure. Go on, and I’ll come up and say good night in a little bit.”

Kennedy smiles at him. Her gaze slides past mine. The only acknowledgment she makes that I’m in the room is a slight nod before she disappears down the hallway.

Chase dries his hands while I sit, holding my breath. Something just happened, and I’m not sure what it was. But the room reads differently now. It’s stale, stuck as if it’s holding its breath too.

He walks by me toward the mudroom. “Come on.”

Huh? I’m confused, but I do as he asks. “Where are we going?”

“Let’s go for a walk.”

We’re quiet as we put on our jackets. I smile at the memory of picking out the calf-high rubber muck boots as I slide them on. Chase opens the door for me, and I enter the chilly evening air.

Mud slops around our steps as we round the side of the house. The breeze bites at my face, and I pull the top of my jacket over my mouth.

“I have to be out of here early. Earlier than usual tomorrow,” he says.

“Well, don’t expect me up then.” I look up at him and grin. “Five o’clock is my limit, and I barely make that.”