by Natalie Dean
Chastity blinked at him, a bit shocked by his amazed tone. She still had no idea who he was and that was quickly growing embarrassing. “Uh… yes?”
“Dude, I haven’t seen you in years.” She must have still been staring at him in bewilderment because he laughed heartily and explained himself. “I don’t expect you to remember me. I was just some dumb underclassman and an understudy in our school’s play when you were a senior. But man, I had the biggest crush on you. When I heard that you’d left town for college, I was devastated.”
He laughed again and offered his hand. “Jeremy Comstock,” he said with a grin. “Nice to finally introduce myself. So, what brings you back home?”
“My father died.”
His jovial expression dimmed a bit. “Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry. I think I read about that in the paper. I just didn’t connect the dots that that Mr. Parker was your father. Are you all right?”
Well, if the cat was already out of the bag, why not be completely honest? “Actually, not really.” She took a deep breath. Normally, she was not this open. One of the complaints her few partners had was that she never opened up, so telling such intimate details to a stranger was wholly bizarre. “Turns out my parents’ finances weren’t exactly in order. My mom is in pretty bad shape now, so I was hoping to get a job while I figure things out.”
“Geez, yeah, that’s rough.” He shook his head, and to her dismay, his expression didn’t brighten to offer her a job or give her advice about how to get one. In fact, the next words out of his mouth were quite the opposite. “Man, if you’re looking here, I don’t think you’re gonna have a good time of it.”
Chastity’s stomach squeezed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, do you remember the owners? They’re super staunch about supporting the town and usually only hire people they’ve known for ages. No offense, but when you left for the Big Apple, everyone figured you thought the town wasn’t good enough for you. You can try, but I don’t think it’s likely that they’ll be interested in hiring you.”
“Oh.”
What could she say to that? That was years ago. Certainly, they wouldn’t hold a teenager’s enthusiasm for escaping her hometown against her, would they?
Jeremy must have seen her crestfallen expression because he scrambled to cheer her up. “But who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. I’ll talk to the owner and see if I can put in a good word for you. I think he was friends with your pops, so that certainly can’t hurt.”
“Thank you,” Chastity said softly, feeling like she was caught between gratitude and anger. Too much of her current situation wasn’t fair. “I would really appreciate it.”
“No problem. That’s what friends are for, right? Or in this case, underclassmen who you never knew existed in high school.”
“Yeah, you’re so funny,” she tried to joke. “Well, I’m going to head out. Here’s my resume if he bends at all.” She handed over the paper as calmly as she could before leaving, but once she was on the street, all of her emotions were threatening to well out of her.
It just wasn’t fair! She was a hard worker. And she would make sure that she did her best. Why would anyone hold the fact that she had escaped from the tiny town against her? Didn’t any of them ever want to spread their wings and live somewhere else? Where their destiny wasn’t already decided for them from the day they were born?
Ugh.
It wouldn’t help her employment chances to have a temper tantrum in the street, so she headed home. Maybe she could go on a run later at the high school. Students were rarely there after it got dark, and it was nice to jog around the track under the starlight.
Or at least that was what she had done back in high school. While she had never been very fast—thick thighs always protesting if too much friction happened—she had enjoyed the endorphins. It also helped that Ben had often driven there to meet her. She could still feel how her heart rate would speed up at the site of him. Occasionally there were kisses and cuddles, but mostly he just watched to make sure she was safe from coyotes and stray ranch hands.
No, she didn’t need to think about those nights right now. Ever since the last time she had seen Ben, she had done her best to keep him solidly out of her mind. It was clear that, in her emotional state, she was getting confused from being around him, which was ridiculous. They weren’t in love. Not anymore. In fact, they were probably in hate. So, the best thing to do would be to forget that he existed. He seemed to have forgotten her just fine since the appointment at the doctor’s office.
Chastity kicked a rock, muttering to herself as she headed home. It didn’t take her long, but as she cut through a yard and saw the porch looming into view, she realized someone was standing there.
Her pace picked up, and she could see her mother standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and face flushed. The person on the porch was a man in a suit, and he towered over her mom’s frail form.
Chastity could tell by both of their body language that it wasn’t a pleasant conversation, and she sped toward them. As she got closer, she could hear her mother’s raised voice insisting that he leave. That was enough for her, and she cleared her throat.
“Excuse me,” she said, moving past him on the porch to insert herself between him and her mother. “Do you have business here?”
The man was a strange one, she realized now that she was standing close to him. His features were pleasant enough, but there was a cold sort of deadness behind his eyes and a viper’s kiss to his smile. He looked both stiff and sleezy at the same time, something Chastity hadn’t thought was possible until that moment. His light, blond hair was slicked back like a helmet, and his blue eyes were downright frigid.
“Yes, with Mrs. Parker. I work with several financial institutions and need to speak with her directly.”
Financial institutions? Crap.
“Well, I’m Ms. Parker and her power of attorney. My mother is under a great deal of stress right now, so you can direct any questions you have to me.”
“Is that so? How convenient for you to show up when you did then.” He set his briefcase down on the rail and pulled out a manila envelope, which he handed over to Chastity. “I work for First Stone Bank, and we have helped your parents manage their debt in the hopes to pay it off with less interest. However, after the passing of the account holder, I’m afraid that our previous arrangement is no longer in effect. We would like to work something out with Mrs. Parker and open an account in her name. However, her nearly non-existent credit history prevents us from giving her the same variables Mr. Parker had.”
Chastity felt her cheeks burn as her temper whipped up. Because, of course, this had to happen now. “Really? My father died less than a month ago and you’ve come to badger my mom about money?”
“I give my condolences and realize that this is, indeed, a difficult time. But it is imperative that we get ahead of this so that their debt doesn’t balloon with late fees and other penalties.”
Chastity sighed. At least this guy was polite. Sure, his timing was a bit cruel and he looked like he was dipped in sleaze and rolled around in a crumble of underhanded, but he was just doing his job.
“Look, my mother is ill—”
“What? No, I’m not! I’m just mad that this suit from some city came onto my porch, badgering me about your father’s affairs.”
His tone turned sharp as he addressed her mother over her shoulder. “For the last time, Mrs. Parker, I apologize for the poor timing, but it is just one of the things—”
“This isn’t necessary,” Chastity cut in. “Let’s step away, shall we? Like I said, my mother isn’t exactly herself—”
“Not myself? He’s a dirty scoundrel!” That made Chastity’s head whip in her direction. In all her years of life, she had never heard her mother talk to anyone that way. And sure, it was pretty low on the filthy-mouth totem pole, but it was still bizarre to hear. “And stop treating me like a child.”
“Please,” Chastity repeated at the man, f
eeling what little patience she had slip. “Let’s talk a bit away, okay?”
But he stood there like a rock, his bright eyes boring into Mrs. Parker. “I am here to help you. I would appreciate if you treated me with the same respect you would give any professional.”
“I’ll show you respect, you—”
“Sir!” For the second time in a few moments, Chastity found herself interrupting a string of expletives from her mother. When all of this was over, she needed to remember to put this in her mother’s health journal, because she was pretty sure that late afternoon or evening aggression was a sign of sundowning. “Please!”
She placed her hand on his arm, internally pleading with him to stop engaging with her mother and go deal with things far enough away to be productive. But instead of budging, his hand covered hers.
“Your mother is quite rude,” he sneered, his expression darkening. “Tell me, are you more polite than the woman who raised you?”
“I told you, she’s ill. She’s not normally like this.”
“What she is normally like doesn’t so much matter as what she is now.” His fingers curled around hers, and she suddenly found herself unable to pull away. “Honestly, I’m liable to go to the bank and tell them just how inhospitable she is. Unless… you were able to convince me otherwise.”
Chastity stared at him with wide eyes, wondering if she was hearing what she thought she was hearing. “Pardon me?”
His fingers tightened, pinching into her tanned skin. “I am a forgiving man. I can think of one, or perhaps two things that might motivate me to forget that my conversation with Mrs. Parker even happened.”
Oh.
Oh no.
He was saying exactly what Chastity feared he meant, and all she could do was stare at him in shock. He wanted her to sleep with him?
This couldn’t be real. People didn’t do this in small towns like this, did they?
He took a step toward her, closing the gap between them, and suddenly Chastity found herself faced with a decision that she never thought she would come across. Part of her wanted to haul off and punch him with all of her might, but another, very small and scared part of her was wondering what all the consequences were if she were to say no.
“Well, Ms. Parker?”
13
Ben
Ben watched as water poured over his hands, some of it splashing up over the side of the small bathroom sink as he wondered just how he had ended up back at the Parker house.
It was borderline pathetic really. It had been a week since he had last seen Chastity, and he couldn’t get her out of his head. She ran through his thoughts on a nearly hourly basis, anything and everything reminding him of her. From the faint scent of vanilla from his mother baking cookies, to her favorite morning glories blooming with the sunrise, even to the way his horse Gertie would wuffle for treats. Goodness knows how much Chastity had spoiled his last mount with carrots, sugar cubes, and apples.
So, after several nights of unsatisfied sleep and roaming thoughts, he had convinced himself to visit—if only to check on Mrs. Parker and deliver some fatty foods that he had asked Ma to make if she had the free time.
Of course, Ma was pleased as punch that he was heading over there. He had the feeling that her heart had never closed to the idea of him and Chastity being together, even though Ben had told himself for years that he would never be with her again. She had always referred to the young woman as her future daughter-in-law and had been quite upset when they had broken up. Ben wanted to tell her that nothing was happening between them now, but he hadn’t. Instead, he took the warm, packaged-up meals from her and hopped in his truck.
But when he arrived, straightening his plaid shirt before picking up the food and knocking on the door, he soon found out that Chastity was out for an hour or two.
For a moment, Ben had figured that it was a sign and he should let sleeping dogs lie, but then his mouth had been moving and he offered to make some tea for the smiling Mrs. Parker. Naturally, she happily accepted, and he crossed over to the fridge to put the food away.
He didn’t like the sight he had been greeted by. The fridge was practically empty, with only half of a casserole and some condiments in the door. Turning back to Mrs. Parker, he had asked if they were running short.
She seemed much more lucid than at her trip to the doctor’s office, and she happily explained that Chastity was out buying groceries. Apparently, they’d been so busy that they had completely forgotten about them until they had run out a few days ago. Ben wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but he didn’t want to argue the point and instead went about making tea.
“What am I even doing here?” Ben asked himself, squirting some of the soap into his hands and lathering up. He made sure to get under his nails where dirt and grime from working liked to stick. While he didn’t mind getting filthy for his work, his mother had drilled into him how important it was to have clean hands in front of company.
But his mind was already back to retracing his steps. They had been sitting down at the table, chitchatting about the old times. She seemed to remember all of them and who he was. It really seemed as if she was an entirely different woman from the one he had taken to the doctor.
Eventually, however, the tea grew cold in his third cup and he had excused himself to the bathroom. Now he found himself staring at the mirror with water still pouring over his hands.
Yelling sounded from down on the first floor, and Ben quickly turned off the faucet, wiping his hands on one of the neat towels hanging from a rack. The shouting only increased as he struggled with the bathroom door for a moment. It had a habit of sticking back when he and Chastity were in high school, and apparently, it was still just as stubborn.
When he was finally out and down the stairs, he could hear Mrs. Parker rattling off an obscene string of swear words and a man answering her. He strode for the entrance, completely baffled, and words started to reach him.
“Unless… you were able to convince me otherwise.” That was the unknown male voice. Ben knew instantly that he didn’t like the sounds of that. It was somewhere between oil and ice, with little pricks of calculation in it.
“Pardon me?” That was Chastity. He knew her voice in an instant. She sounded completely surprised, which made him wonder what exactly the man was asking her to convince him of.
Ben was almost to the door when he got the answer. “I am a forgiving man. I can think of one, or perhaps two things that might motivate me to forget that my conversation with Mrs. Parker even happened.” There was a beat of silence, and Ben realized exactly what he was asking. His cheeks burned red, and suddenly the entire world shrank down as his anger swelled up inside of him. “Well, Ms. Parker?”
He could hear Chastity stammering something, but that was all she managed to get out before he was out the door. He crossed the distance, spotting the man’s hand wrapped around Chastity, and he ripped it from her.
“Can I help you?” he said, iron to his voice.
He took in every feature that he could about the man, unwilling to forget what he looked like. While Ben was not a violent man, he could feel rage seething below his skin, urging him to throttle the guy right in the nose.
“I don’t know who you are, sir, but I am here on business with the Parkers. Unhand me, now, before I feel the need to get the authorities involved.”
“Authorities?” Ben spat. The gall of this man. He knew this type; he was a city slicker, so drunk on power and greed that he thought he could order people this way and that while he gloated from his lofty position. “I’m sure they would be interested in the fact that you were propositioning a customer. You know soliciting sexual services is illegal here, no matter how big your pocket books are.”
“I recognize that your hillbilly pride no doubt compels you to solve everything with your fist, but I assure you that is not the wisest course of action.”
Ben took a step closer, still gripping the man’s hand. “If I wanted to strike yo
u, I would. Now I suggest you get off this property before I lose my restraint.”
“How typical. It seems that you and Mrs. Parker are cut from the same cloth. So much for Western kindness. We’ll see how well your proclivity for vulgarity will do when calculating her new repayment—”
He never finished his sentence, but that was probably because a fist struck him right across the face, sending his head whipping to the side. Ben let go, staring in wonder as Chastity threw yet another punch that hit him in the chest.
“How dare you!” she cried, her eyes blazing with a righteous anger that Ben hadn’t seen since she was a freshman fending off a school bully. “You come to my home, you agitate my mother then insult her, you talk to me as if I’m some sort of prostitute, then you have the audacity to threaten my mother’s livelihood!”
The man righted himself and looked at Chastity with complete and utter surprise. While Ben was astounded too, he at least had seen her like this once before. A whirling tempest of a woman, a force of nature, staring him down like some sort of mighty, ancient deity from myth.
“You punched me!”
“You bet I did!” she snapped. “And I’ll do it again if you don’t go back to your bank in the city and work out a deal that will help my mother. I don’t want your charity, but you fight as hard as you can to get her a similar arrangement like you gave my father, and I won’t file a report that you tried to solicit sexual services from me. You got that?”
“You’re in no position to order me—”
Chastity lunged toward him, and Ben quickly strode forward and caught her, his strong arms wrapping around her middle. For a moment, he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of her form against his once more, but he quickly shoved it out of his head. Now was not the time.
“If you think First Stone Bank is—”
Now it was Ben’s turn to interrupt. He would almost feel bad that the man hadn’t been able to finish a sentence in minutes, but he was far too much of a sleaze ball. “Wait, did you say First Stone Bank?”
