by Gary, Codi
Chase watched Katie glide onto the stage like she was floating, her hair pulled back from her face and twisted into a fat bun high on the back of her head, her tiara placed in front of it. The black dress she wore wrapped up over one shoulder and hugged every curve of her body until it hit mid-thigh, where the skirt split into strips of fabric, dancing along her legs like black flames. In her hands was a clear box that held another tiara, probably for tonight’s winner. She looked amazing and he wanted to jump up on stage and hide her away from the other men’s eyes. He had never been the jealous type, but as he scanned the crowd and saw several men sit forward with interest, he clenched his fists.
Becca leaned over and whispered, “Isn’t she gorgeous?”
He only nodded as Harold greeted Katie and asked, “So, Katie, how do you feel about giving up your crown tonight?”
“Actually, I feel really good about it, Harold. I enjoyed being Canyon Queen, but I’m ready to relinquish the honor to the next worthy candidate.” She smiled out at the crowd and when her gaze landed on Chase, it brightened.
He returned her smile as Harold said, “Well, let me just say, she is going to have some mighty big shoes to fill. You are quite a beauty. I hope your guy appreciates you.”
Chase could see Katie’s blush from his seat. “Thank you, Harold. I’ll be sure to tell your wife how lucky she is to have such a charmer.”
Harold turned to the crowd and said, “You hear that, Wilma? I’m a charmer!”
A woman’s voice shouted a reply that Chase couldn’t hear, but laughter ensued from her side of the room. Harold gave the crowd an uh-oh look and said, “Well, I guess I better get on with it before my wife decides I’m sleeping in the doghouse tonight! Katie, may I escort you to your throne, Your Majesty?”
The crowd chuckled as Katie gave him a shallow curtsy and said, “Why thank you, sir.”
Harold led her to her throne, a giant gold chair with red cushions, and deposited her smoothly, while Katie nodded her head at him regally and shooed him with a wave of her hand. Harold made a great show of continuing to bow as he backed away, and when he turned back to face the crowd, he said, “Why do I feel like I should be wearing a fool’s hat?”
There was more laughter from Harold’s wife’s side of the room, and he called out sternly, “Woman, you better be nice to me or . . .” he paused, “well, I’ve got nothing. Let’s welcome our first contestant to the stage, everyone!”
The crowd cheered as contestant number one walked out onto the stage, and Chase watched Katie smile as the girl came over to greet her and kiss her cheek. The girl seemed a little unsteady on the high heels she was wearing, and Chase kept waiting for her to biff it, right on her face.
Harold, as if anticipating her unsteadiness, rushed toward her and held out his hand. “Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce you to the lovely Jenny Andrews? All of seventeen, Miss Andrews has managed to score a scholarship for the Boise State music program and hopes to one day play professionally. Now Jenny, I believe you’re going to play us something mighty fancy on that fiddle of yours.”
“Yes I am, Mr. Martin,” Jenny said, smiling nervously.
“Well, let’s get it started then,” Harold said, stepping back to stand beside Katie as Jenny set up for her talent.
Chase leaned over and asked, “Is that the dragon lady’s daughter?”
Becca choked on her popcorn and a couple of people behind them shushed. Steph leaned over Becca and said, “Yeah, she’s the youngest.”
Steph’s tone sounded sharp and irritated, and he looked at her again. Her expression was fierce, and all that annoyance was directed at him. Sitting back in his seat, he grimaced. Chase wasn’t sure exactly what he’d done to piss Steph off, but he knew when someone had a bone to pick with him. He’d seen it enough times to know the signs. Now he just needed to wait until Steph made her move and fix it. Because if he wanted to continue to see Katie, he couldn’t have her best friend hating his guts.
Jenny started to play a classical piece on her violin that at least sounded in tune to Chase, although he was no expert. His gaze moved over to Harold and Katie, who were smiling and whispering. Once Jenny finished, the next contestant was called, and he caught Katie looking bored during her very bland rendition of a monologue from Romeo and Juliet. When she caught him watching her, he gave an exaggerated yawn and she covered her mouth to hide a smile.
Contestant number three, Marissa Channing, did a cheerleading routine, and four, a weird “interpretive” dance that had Becca and him trying to cover their laughter with coughing fits. Steph scolded them, but even that didn’t stop the grimacing and groaning that took place when contestant number five sang “On My Own” from Les Misérables and hit the high notes at a pitch so off it could make ears bleed. Chase saw Katie was still smiling, although she kept touching her ears discreetly, and shook his head. When the girl finished, Katie clapped the loudest, and he loved her good heart.
Once all fifteen contestants had finished the talent portion, Harold called each one back up on stage to answer a series of questions. By the time the last girl had been interviewed, Chase was ready to bail. He kept waiting for Harold to call an end to it, but it seemed like a never-ending parade of tight curls, clown faces, and ruffle dresses.
“All right, folks, we are going to turn our final decision over to our wonderful judges, Gracie McAllister, Kirsten Winters, and Daphne O’Neal.” The crowd applauded the three women, and after ten minutes of deliberation, and some really bad jokes on Harold’s part, Gracie handed him an envelope.
“My queen,” Harold said, bowing to Katie, “would you like to help me announce the winners?”
Katie stood up gracefully and moved forward, accepting the white envelope Harold held out to her. “Thank you, Harold, I’d be delighted.” She pulled out the little card and after looking at it for a moment, spoke into the microphone with a smile. “The second runner-up is Ms. Lindsey Lawrence.”
Applause and whoops sounded to Chase’s right and he leaned over to ask Becca, “So what do the winners get?”
Becca shrugged. “Probably a gift card to get their nails done or something.”
“Lindsey, here is your gift certificate for a free pedicure at K.C.’s Salon. I’ve heard the place is fabulous,” Katie joked, hugging the younger girl. “Congratulations.”
Harold hugged the girl, who looked like she was going to start weeping at any moment, and helped usher her over to the winner’s side of the stage. “Wasn’t she outstanding, folks?”
Once the applause for the distraught girl quieted, Katie called out, “First runner-up for the crown, who will take over if our queen cannot fulfill her duties, and the winner of a dinner for two at Stampede Pete’s Steak House is . . .”
Chase asked, “Is that place any good?”
“I wouldn’t know; I don’t like red meat, but it’s always packed when I drive home,” Becca said.
“Maggie Palmer! Congratulations!” Katie said as a frowning girl allowed Katie to hug her. When Harold came over to walk her across the stage, the girl brushed past him and stomped her spiked heels as she disappeared behind the curtain.
Harold, collecting himself, said, “Well, folks, there’s all kinds of queens out there. Queen Bees. Evil queens. Drama queens. Katie, why don’t you announce our winner and we’ll see what kind of queen she is.”
Chase clapped along with everyone else, thinking that if he got the chance to take Katie out on a proper date, he would take her to that steakhouse. If she was interested, that is, and after the things she’d said to him on the way to the pageant, he had a suspicion she would be.
“And now for the winner and your next Canyon Queen . . .” Katie smiled as she announced, “. . . Jenny Andrews!”
Jenny screamed and jumped up and down in her heels excitedly until a loud snap echoed through the large auditorium. With her arms spinning like a windmill, she toppled over into the contestant next to her. That girl grabbed the next contestant, Marissa Channing�
�s dress, as she fell, ripping the fabric to reveal the poor girl’s corset-clad upper body. Struggling to her feet, she wrapped her arms around herself and hobbled off the stage wailing as the crowd roared with laughter and sympathetic cries. Jenny scrambled to her feet and, with her face in her hands, limped from the stage on her broken heel after Marissa.
Katie, shoving the microphone at Harold, followed the distraught girls off stage. Harold stood red-faced, trying to control his chuckles. Finally calm, he cleared his throat, and said with a straight face, “Did I mention how graceful they were?”
The guffaws from the audience started all over again, especially from Becca, who was howling beside Chase. “What did I tell you? Drama and laughs!”
“Yeah, you did,” he said, standing with a smile. “I’m going to go backstage and see if I can catch Katie.”
“Oh, give her a kiss for me,” she said, pursing her lips and smacking them together.
“Thanks for coming out tonight, folks, and hope you enjoyed the excitement! See ya next year,” Harold said as people started to get up.
Chase laughed and started toward the stage, rounding along the edge and through the people moving about. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm just as he was about to make it backstage, and he turned to face Steph.
“Oh hey, Steph, I was just heading back to see Katie.”
Steph’s look wasn’t friendly. “I don’t know what your deal is, but you need to leave Katie alone. She’s too good for you.”
Chase was surprised by Steph’s outburst, and he suffered a severe case of déjà vu. How many times had he been told he wasn’t good enough for something? A girl? A scholarship? It hurt, but he’d never let someone’s low opinion keep him from what he wanted. “Look, Steph, Katie is a grown woman, and if she doesn’t want to see me, I’m sure she’ll put on her big-girl pants and tell me.”
“Katie likes you. I can tell. But after the last scumbag she cared about crushed her into a million pieces, I told myself I wasn’t going to let her get hurt again. So you’re going to leave her alone before she gets attached and you break her heart,” Steph said.
Chase was caught between anger, respect, and excitement. He was pissed that Steph had the nerve to tell him to stop seeing Katie, but he could understand it. She was just protecting her best friend. However, if she was worried that Katie had feelings for him, that meant Katie had said something, right? He liked the thought of Katie telling her best friend she was into him; a shock in itself, but there it was. He didn’t know what was going on with them yet, but he wasn’t going to put up his hands and step back from Katie just because Steph didn’t like him. Forget playing nice; he was all for being cool with her, but he wasn’t going to take shit from someone when he didn’t deserve it.
“Look, Steph, I get that you want to protect her, and I swear I will do my best not to hurt her. But you’re not going to dictate my life or Katie’s.”
He didn’t give her a chance to reply, and she didn’t stop him as he walked away. He wanted to see Katie and find out if there was something to Steph’s observation. Were Katie’s feelings stronger than she’d let on?
And why did that please him so damn much?
“OH, I RUINED everything. They’ll probably take my crown away.”
Katie squeezed Jenny’s shoulders reassuringly. She had followed the younger girl backstage and had been trying to calm her down, but she just kept crying. Even when she’d put the shiny new tiara on Jenny’s head, it still hadn’t lifted the poor girl’s spirits. “Hush, they will not. It’s not your fault your heel broke. No one blames you.”
Katie saw Mrs. Andrews, heading for them looking like a thundercloud, and braced herself for the storm.
“Jennifer Lynn Andrews, what have I told you about decorum and serenity? Now, because you acted like a three-year-old on Christmas, poor Marissa has locked herself in the bathroom.” Mrs. Andrews’s hands slammed down on her ample hips as she prodded, “Well, don’t just sit there; we need to go apologize to everyone.”
Katie held tight to Jenny and said, “Mrs. Andrews, she was just excited. It’s not her fault that . . .”
Mrs. Andrews’s eyes narrowed on Katie. “I’ll thank you to release my daughter and mind your own business. The last thing she needs is to be under the influence of a rude hussy with the moral fiber of a cat in heat.”
“Mother!” Jenny yelled.
“Do not scream, Jennifer, I am merely stating the facts. She told me earlier, and I’ve seen her all over that lowlife Chase with no regard for anyone except herself. How Quinn Connors could have raised such a loose girl, I will never know,” Mrs. Andrews said.
“You will apologize to Katie right now.”
Katie was partly relieved to hear Chase coming to her rescue but also humiliated that he had heard every vile word Mrs. Andrews had said. And that he was making it worse.
Katie couldn’t speak as Chase descended on them like a dark, avenging angel and put his hand on her shoulder. His angry gaze was directed at Mrs. Andrews, whose nose had lifted four inches into the air. “I am not going to apologize for speaking the truth, you insufferable boar.”
Chase took a step toward the older woman and Katie dropped her arms from Jenny, moving forward to grab his hand, hoping to defuse the situation. “It’s not worth it, Chase. Let’s just go.” He ignored her, his focus still glued on Mrs. Andrews’s defiant expression, and she squeezed his hand. “Please, Chase. People are staring.”
He eased back a bit slowly, but his voice was cold as he said, “Katie is too nice to really give you what you deserve, but I’m not as nice or as good as she is. If I was a good man, I’d leave before I called you a bigoted, small-minded waste of space. But I’m not that good.”
Katie was relieved when Chase turned his back on Mrs. Andrews’s red-faced anger and led her toward the back exit. The rain hit her face, and she let the tears she’d been holding back flow. She shouldn’t have let Mrs. Andrews’s insults hit her so hard, but when she’d caught the various looks on the other faces around her, it had killed her to hold back her hurt. There had been looks of sympathy, people looking away to avoid eye contact, and then nods of agreement accompanied by disapproving scowls. It was terrible that so many people who had known her since she was a baby would stand by and let her be bullied.
She let Chase open the door and help her up into the Blazer. Slamming the door behind her, he ran around the front of the SUV to climb into the driver’s seat. Shaking his head like a dog spraying raindrops everywhere, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Trying to be discreet, Katie wiped at her tears. “Yeah, it was my fault anyway. I was inappropriate and antagonized her earlier, when I knew better.”
He cupped her cheek, turning her to face him and interrupting her excuses. “I don’t care what you think you did to deserve that, but you didn’t. You are the kindest, funniest, and most amazing girl I have ever met, and no matter what you might do, you would never deserve that.”
His words made her stomach flip-flop. When he kissed her softly, tenderly, her eyes teared up all over again. She’d known most of those people her whole life and the only person who had defended her was a man she barely knew.
“So, do you still feel like coming over?” he asked, pulling away to brush her cheek with his hand tenderly. “Waiting out the rain?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding to emphasize how very much she wanted to be with him right then. “There’s nothing I want more.”
With a grin, Chase started the Blazer. “Besides, I already told you I had this fantasy about the prom queen. And with that cute little tiara on your head, well, I have a feeling that my fantasies are about to become a reality.”
Katie reached up to touch her tiara and said, “And who are you in this little scenario?”
Taking her hand in his, he raised it to his lips. “The luckiest guy in the world.”
Eyes beginning to blur once more, she tried to tell herself he was just making her feel better. That it didn’t mean a
nything, even as he wormed his way just a little bit more into her heart.
CHASE HAD BEEN driving the car one-handed since they left the community center five minutes earlier, his other hand covering Katie’s. She couldn’t help feeling content, safe, and cared for, and she was done pretending this wasn’t serious. She was falling in love with Chase, and if he knew what she was thinking, he’d probably drop her on the side of the road and drive as far from her as he could get.
Or maybe he feels the same way you do. You could ask him.
Turning in the seat to study him, she cradled his hand in hers as she pondered that. They had taken the back roads out of town and hadn’t really said anything. Katie was a little worried he was regretting his earlier chivalry and was quietly panicking next to her.
As he turned off onto a short gravel road leading to a large, white ranch house with a wraparound porch and a barn, Katie sucked in her breath.
It was her dream house. The type of house she could imagine raising her kids in. The kind of porch on which she could set two rocking chairs, one for her and one for her husband. They’d spend their evenings rocking together, holding hands and talking about their lives, their kids, their love . . .
“So what do you think?” Chase’s voice broke into her fantasy and she blushed.
“It’s a great place,” she said.
He opened his door and jumped out, slamming it behind him. When she opened hers and started to step down, though, she noticed the huge puddle of muddy water under her door.
Great, on top of looking like a drowned, puffy-eyed princess, I’m going to ruin my new heels.
