“Your daddy will be home soon,” he told the girls, “but that accident made it difficult to walk, let alone do this.” He attempted a jog, with Morgan bouncing over his shoulder.
She patted him on the back. “Faster. Go horsey, go.”
“Neigh,” he snorted like a stallion and tossed his head. Both girls giggled. “Heading for the barn,” he told them. “We can have hay and whiskey.”
“We don’t eat hay and can’t drink whiskey,” Hayley informed him. “But we like cookies and milk.”
“Then cookies and milk it is.” He dumped Morgan down beside him, and issued a challenge. “Race you both to the house.”
This time he allowed himself to win.
While the girls ate their cookies and watched Scooby-Do on TV, he called Brittany on her cell. He’d been keeping in touch with her every day, but never had any good news to impart.
She answered right away. “Hey. How’s it going?”
“I just spent the past hour playing “hide and seek,” and making angels in the grass.”
“That’s a new one. Sounds like you’re good with kids.”
“Not sure about that. I’m ready for a beer and bed.” He slugged on a water bottle instead. “They’re exhausting.”
“Uh-huh. So I hear.” She waited for a sec, then asked, “Any good news with David?”
“Nope. Not yet. Just waiting for Melanie to get home. She’ll be here in the next hour, bring some dinner with her, put the kids to bed then head back to David. It’s wearing on her too. Poor kid.” He finished the water and tossed the empty bottle in the recycle bin. “The doctors still say the paralysis could be temporary, but they can’t offer any guarantees, just hope.”
“It sucks, that’s for sure.” Then she told him about the party they were planning for ’Meri and her family. “Do you think you could join us? Perhaps Melanie would allow the girls to take a few days off from school to swim with the dolphins? I’m sure your nieces could use a break from all this. They must be scared about their daddy.”
“So far they’ve been kept in the dark—about the worst case scenario anyway. The oldest girl, Hayley, might have some idea, but she hasn’t voiced it yet.”
“I guess that’s good. Time to face it, if and when.”
He thought about the invitation, wondering if Melanie would agree. He sure wanted to see Brittany again, and the girls would love it. “I’ll mention it to Melanie when she gets home, and let you know.” He lowered his voice. “I want to see you again. More than anything.”
“Me too.”
“Any more thoughts about returning to dancing?”
“Not right now. It’s on hold.”
“Are you happy, Brit?” He hoped she’d say she was miserable without him.
“Mostly,” she said. “But I’m not satisfied, if you know what I mean. I still have that craving inside of me that only a stage can fill. I’m a little like my mother that way. She’s always the drama queen. Probably a part of her regretted that she’d given up her acting career to be a housewife and mother. And then a teacher. She did that for fifteen years.”
“I don’t think your mother regrets anything. You girls are her world and she’s so proud of each of you.”
“True. But sometimes I wonder. How would I feel living my life through my children, when I once had dreams of my own?”
“You need to do something about that now, while you’re still young and unattached.” Would she ever want to get married and settle down? Or was that his dream, too?
“Taylor thinks I should go back to Miami and start living my own life again.”
Not at the resort. He forced himself to be supportive. “So, why don’t you?”
“I don’t think I’m ready.”
“Don’t wait too long, Brit. You’re very talented, but there is a lot of competition out there.” He hated what he was telling her, but she couldn’t sit around waiting for him. He wasn’t sure if and when he’d return. “Don’t have regrets. Live your life on your own terms.”
“I’m not ready to leave Paradise Cove quite yet. I do love it.” She sighed. “I wish you were back here with me, dancing on the beach. It was one of the nicest nights of my life.”
“I feel the same.” He swallowed, wishing like anything that he could be holding her in his arms. “It was wonderful and romantic, but we both knew it couldn’t last.”
Saying the words aloud stung. Probably hurt her as much as they did him, but what was he to do? She had an exciting life ahead of her, and he was stuck here, with no end in sight. It wasn’t the first time he’d given up his dreams for his family, and he would do it willingly again.
“I guess you’re right.” The disappointment in her voice was like a dagger in his gut. “Well, let me know about the party, Chase. It would be a fun break for the kids.”
“I’ll do that.” He pressed a thumb to the ache building between his brows.
“Gotta go now,” she said. “It’s time for happy hour. Don’t want to miss that.”
“Brit…”
“Yes?”
“Uh—nothing.” What could he say? That he missed her every minute of every day? That he ached for her at night. That he wished things were different—that he could offer her a life? Impossible, because until things settled down here he didn’t have one to share.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
After talking to Chase, Brittany slipped her phone in her pocket. She waved goodbye to Taylor and headed toward the cabin for a short break before she joined her mother in the office and assisted with the birthday plans.
The conversation with Chase had left her more confused than she’d been before. Did he really want her to head off to Miami and forget all about him, so that he could stay in Charleston with his sister? That didn’t make sense. He’d told her that she was special many times over, and had shown her in dozens of ways.
But he was a kind man, and perhaps he thought returning to the dance world was what she wanted, and he was willing to step aside and do what was best for her. He was being selfless. Letting her go.
Oh, who was she kidding!
She stomped into the cottage, kicked her sandals off and flopped on her bed, glad to be alone to sort through all this. Did he care or didn’t he? Was it possible that he was a very good actor and he hadn’t been emotionally involved with her at all? She didn’t really believe that, and yet, why would he be so willing, or eager, to let her go?
She punched her pillow and felt a deep ache inside of her. All she knew for certain was that every minute spent in his arms had made her feel not only desired, but loved. How could a man fake that?
Still, women faked it all the time. Hadn’t she faked orgasms more often than not with Jose? She’d wanted him to believe she was enjoying herself, to think he was a lusty, powerful man, when in reality he had been a selfish lover, a man who took what he wanted, giving nothing in return.
Ashley Chase was not like that. She couldn’t compare him to a selfish prick like Jose. He was in a different class. A gentleman through and through. And she believed him to be honest. Matter-of-fact, that telephone conversation proved it. He wanted her to move on, to build a life separately from him. Not to wait, or to hang around in the hope that he might one day return.
She sat up, clutching the pillow to her chest. How dare he decide what was good for her! Didn’t she have some say in this matter?
Tears stung her eyes, and she angrily swiped them away. Obviously, Chase hadn’t been as wild about her as she’d thought. Like most men, ruled by his dick and not his heart. It was quite possible that he had a girl in Charleston. Why not? He visited there from time to time, and he was a wealthy, charming handsome man.
So what if he did? She was a big girl and had been tossed aside before. She knew rejection and heartache, and had learned at an early age that love was not for keeps. Not for her anyway.
The men who attracted her were ambitious and arrogant—they had a mission in life, far too important to put aside for t
he likes of a woman. Sweet guys that wanted a wife and a family above all else had never held much appeal. She would have scorned their advances, and looked elsewhere for a challenge.
Chase was a contradiction. Neither one nor the other. He was a family man first and foremost. He’d sacrifice anything for them, and had and did still. He was also a dreamer. A man who followed his passions, and hopefully one day he’d achieve them. Until that time, there’d be no room in his life—or his heart—for a woman. Not for her.
Brittany sucked in a sharp breath, holding her stomach as a searing pain seized her. She felt empty inside. Gutted.
The realization that she wanted Chase, but couldn’t have him, was an ache that might never go away. There were plenty of men who would welcome keeping her warm at night, but the one man she wanted, the one who made her heart sing, had more important things to do.
She should be used to it by now. She had never loved a man who didn’t leave her. They all did, one way or another. Both her fathers had died; the others hadn’t been so kind.
Chase was no different. A sob ripped out of her and she clung to the pillow and wept.
When her tears were spent, she used the bathroom to wash her face and calm herself down. She had to hand it to Chase. Honest to a fault. He knew, even better than her, what she needed to do. After all, beautiful dancers were a dime a dozen in the dancing world. They’d probably forgotten her already! Or would soon if she didn’t claim her place.
Dammit! She’d better try to make contact with her friends again and let them know she was ready to return. She still hadn’t spoken to them since she took off that night. Who knew what Jose had told them?
She slid her hand in her pocket for her phone and called Claire. It went straight to voice-mail.
“Hello—this is Claire. I’m not available right now, but if you please leave your name and a brief message, I might decide to call you back.”
“Claire. Hi. It’s Brittany. I’m still down in the Keys. What’s going on? I heard that Jose’s wife left him, and I never knew he had a wife. What a fool I was.” She took a steadying breath. “Call me back. I’m ready to get to work.” Doing what, she didn’t know.
She was about to end the call when Claire picked up.
“Brit! It’s me. Holy shit! It’s so good to hear from you, and I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. All hell broke loose here. The dance company was closed down.”
“What?” She put one hand to her wildly beating heart.
“Jose was arrested for pimping some of the girls out,” Claire said.
“Are you kidding me?” He’d turned his dancers into hookers? She leaned back against the bathroom counter. “That’s terrible. I can’t believe it. I knew he gave the girls some recreational drugs, but prostitution? No way!”
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s true.”
“What a lowlife. How could I have been so blinded by him?” Her stomach felt queasy and she was thoroughly humiliated to have been associated with such a scumbag. She was glad that Claire didn’t comment. “If the company closed down, what are you all doing? Are you still working?” She walked back to the privacy of her bedroom.
“A bunch of us are talking about pooling our resources and forming our own company,” Claire told her. “The idea is to purchase and run our own full-time repertory dance theater, which will hopefully attract other well-trained dancers. They can join us, and teach as well as perform.”
“Well, that is exciting news.” Brittany didn’t know what to think. The idea was preposterous, wasn’t it? How could dancers possibly afford such a thing? “Who’s all going in on this with you?”
“Janine for sure. A few of the other girls are considering it.”
“That’ll be an expensive undertaking. Can you guys swing it?” She straightened her bed cover and fluffed up the pillow. Claire sounded so sure of herself, and yet it seemed like an impossible dream. How could she and Janine afford it? Where could they have gotten the money from?
For one awful moment Brittany wondered if her two friends were high-priced call girls, and then felt ashamed of the thought. She knew them, as they knew her. There was no way they’d sell their bodies. They had too much respect and talent for that.
“We need commitments from those who want to be involved,” Claire told her. “Janine and I can’t possibly handle the financing ourselves.”
“So tell me more.”
“Well, it’ll start off small and hopefully grow from there. We need a fabulous choreographer, and I know someone who’s interested.”
“You’ve been busy since I’ve been gone. Big plans, girlfriend.”
“You want in? We could really use you.”
Brittany paced around the cabin, thinking up reasons why she should say yes. It was scary, but exciting too. “I’ll need time to think about it, but I’m definitely interested.” She shook off her fear, knowing that’s what kept most people back, never reaching the success or potential that was within them. “We’d be our own bosses and keep a clean house. No drugs, right? We’d be smart. A lot smarter than before.”
“Come back to Miami and meet with Janine and myself. Maybe we can wrangle up a few other girls and sit down together to figure out the details. But hurry. We’re not going to sit on this. Our troupe has gone bust, so we need to jump on this soon.”
“I’ll see what I can do. But I’ve got plans for this weekend, so I probably won’t come until the following week.”
“Really? Hmm.” There was a disappointed silence and Brittany nearly caved in. But she couldn’t desert her family for the party. “Look,” Claire said, “just drive up tomorrow afternoon. I’ve been scouting out some locations and would love your feedback.”
Tomorrow? That barely gave her time to think about this proposal and weigh the pros and cons. It sounded like a big undertaking, and a heavy investment that could go either way. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try. I’ll let you know one way or the other later tonight. But I’m definitely interested, okay?”
“Good. We’ll all have to come up with some cash. Might be as low as twenty-thirty thousand, might be higher than that. Depends on how many of us want in on this deal.”
Brittany had a little savings, but not nearly that much. And she was part owner of the resort, but she didn’t want to burden her family by asking them to buy her out. “It’s too soon to say, but I might be able to scrape that much together.” She wasn’t sure how, but if this panned out, there had to be a way.
“Great! Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Brittany put the phone down, her mind pulled in many directions. Everything she and her family had was sunk into the expansion of the place, upgrading it, or advertising. Paradise Cove was thriving and making a little profit—it was a growing business and they had to watch their bottom line.
Perhaps she could use her share as collateral against a loan, but if the repertory theater went belly-up, how would that leave her family? How could she live with herself if she single-handedly destroyed their business, and forced them to sell the resort they all loved so much?
No. Wouldn’t happen. She began pacing again, then went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it down.
She could drive up to Miami, talk with Claire. Before she signed anything she’d need a good attorney to advise her, and to keep Paradise Cove out of the equation. Whatever she decided to do, she had to proceed with caution. To keep her mouth shut until she had all the facts and figures in front of her and a solid business plan.
Her mother was still in the office, making arrangements for the party, and Brittany had been gone long enough. She went out the back door that led directly into the office and heard her mother talking to someone on the phone. Her mom’s furrowed brow and narrowed eyes warned Brit that her mother was at the end of her rope.
“I need a bus that can accommodate around thirty to forty people,” she told the person on the line, her tone crisp. “For next Monday. Yes, tha
t’s right. This coming Monday.”
Anna tapped her fingers on the desk. “Yes, I understand that is short notice, but it’s a birthday party, a surprise.”
She glanced over at Brittany and rolled her eyes. “So, you’re telling me it can’t be done? Well, I’m sorry, I’ll just have to find someone else to accommodate us then.”
“Having a hard time, Mom?”
Anna hung up and sighed, wiping her damp palms on a tissue. “Oh, Brit. I’ve been at this for hours with no luck at all. Even in the dead of summer it’s impossible to book a party bus on such short notice, especially for the short distance they’d be traveling.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. We’ll make other arrangements to get the kids to the center. It won’t be a problem. The balloon lady got back to me with a yes, so that’s taken care of.”
Anna nodded, her shoulders lifting. “Great. Taylor insists on making the cake herself. So if I don’t need to worry about transportation, the only thing left is to try and trim the list of people we want to invite.”
“Good luck with that.” Brittany straightened the brochures on the desk, regretting having invited Chase and his nieces, when they already had so many people.
Jamie and Raul had invited half their friends from school, and she didn’t want to turn any of the kids away. “Well, without the cost of the bus, we can afford to let everyone come. Why not? It’s a party, and I’m sure the parents won’t mind helping us car pool.” One problem solved.
Chase was problem two. She truly hoped he’d call back and say that Melanie refused to let the children miss school and travel to the Keys to swim with Flipper and friends. Seeing him would be awkward now, and he must know it too. After all, he’d practically pushed her away, and made it clear that their romance was over.
She read the notes her mom had taken. “Looking at the numbers we have now it’s more practical if everyone meets here Monday morning, and we all car pool down to the Dolphin Research Center. The parents don’t need to go. They can stay for the party, and help us transport the kids to and from.”
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