by Shaw, Rhonda
“Are you going to let others live your life for you? Who are they to say what’s right for you and what isn’t? If it makes you happy, if I make you happy, who cares what others say? I don’t.”
“What about your parents? Can you honestly tell me they’re going to be happy with you dating a woman more than a decade older than you?” He didn’t answer immediately and she jumped all over that. “See? I told you. It isn’t as easy as you try to make it sound.”
“No, I don’t think it’s going to be easy. I’ve never said that, but I’m not going to let ‘what ifs’ defeat us before we can even get started. My parents...” Chase shrugged as he mulled it over in his head. “Of course they’ll have some concerns, but once they see how happy I am and it’s what I want, they’ll be supportive. I have no doubt of that.”
Maddie turned back toward her yard in frustration. “It’s not only that. It’s you and where you are in your life. It’s me and where I’m at in my life. We’re at opposite ends of the spectrum. You have so much to live for, so much ahead of you and I’d be in your way.”
He finally stood up and walked over to her, irritation edging into his voice. “Jesus, Maddie. You make it sound like you’re eighty years old and nearing the end of your life. You’re thirty-four and you still have your whole life ahead of you, too. I’m just a little bit behind, that’s all.”
“I’m jaded, Chase. I’ve been married and gone through all of that. I have a family. You’re going to want all of that.”
Chase put his hands on his hips and frowned. “Okay, true, but I’m failing to understand what your previous marriage has to do with us.”
“I have emotional baggage from that. You know that.”
“And we’ll work through that together.”
He stared down at her expectantly and she started to lose her steam. “Okay...well, you’ll want kids...one day...and I’m...too old...”
He shook his head in frustration. “Maddie, you’re thirty-four! There are plenty of women out there who have kids, even their first one, around your age or older. Stop trying to age yourself exponentially. You’re worrying about shit we haven’t even gotten to yet, but you want to talk about it now, fine. I’m more than ready to.” He loomed over her. “Do you not want any more kids?”
“Well...,” she stammered. She took a deep breath and let herself believe. “Yes, I would like more kids.”
Chase threw his arms up. “Then what the hell are we arguing about?”
“I...well, I was saying...” She paused. “Damn it, how do you do that?”
“What? Think reasonably?”
Her lips twitched in amusement as she took a friendly swat at him. “You’re an ass!”
Chase chuckled as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. Standing back, he shook his head at her. “Stop trying to end us before we even have a chance. You’re too good for me to lose.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t stop my brain.” Maddie smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down to hers. Groaning, she pulled away reluctantly. “Do you really have to go away for two weeks?”
“I do and I hate it.” She settled against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to rest his chin on top of her head. “I’m really going to miss you.”
“I already miss you.” She stood back and grabbed his hand pulling him into the house. “Come on, let’s get Bree into bed.”
“And then?”
She gave him a flirty grin over her shoulder. “And then we can see if we can give you a proper goodbye.”
* * *
The next morning, Maddie got dressed and busied herself doing little stuff around the house as she waited for Chase. He was leaving in a couple of hours for his extended road trip and even though they’d said their big goodbyes the night before, he’d still wanted to stop by before heading to the airport. Since he was going to be gone for two weeks, she was more than happy that he would be coming by one last time.
As she fussed around in the kitchen, there was a knock at the front door and her heart skipped a beat in excitement. She wondered if she would ever stop smiling like a fool whenever he was around. She hoped she didn’t.
Walking into the front room, her stomach dropped to her feet when she recognized who was standing on her doorstep. It didn’t help that Bree had raced up the hallway, her face lit with joy, expecting her hero to be standing on the other side of the door.
She took a deep breath and held out her hand. “Stay there, Bree.”
Maddie took another deep breath before plastering her brightest smile on her face, even though she knew this was not going to be a friendly visit. It seemed the moment she’d been dreading ever since the media had taken an interest in her and Chase had finally arrived.
“Sandy, what a surprise. Please come in.”
Maddie didn’t miss the piercing glare her niece gave her as she held open the screen door. Leaving the storm door open, she waited for the onslaught she knew was about to come.
Sandy whirled on her and shook a newspaper in the air over her head. “How could you do this?”
“It isn’t what you think, Sandy.”
“It isn’t what I think?” she scoffed. “My aunt stole my boyfriend! How can that not be what I think? The proof is right here.” She shook the newspaper clutched in her hand for emphasis.
She started to reach out and touch her niece’s hand, but quickly stopped, knowing Sandy wouldn’t recognize it as a gesture of peace or reassurance. “I assure you, Sandy. I didn’t steal your boyfriend. Everything that happened between Chase and I started after Chase had already explained to you that he didn’t want any more than a friendship.”
“You’re a liar!” she yelled as she stomped away from Maddie. “I can’t believe this. You’ve actually stolen my boyfriend. You’re such a whore!” Sandy wheeled back, her eyes cold. “What’s the matter, Aunt Maddie? You couldn’t find anyone your own age so you had to seduce a younger man?”
Maddie hissed a breath through her nose and fought for control. Her niece was angry so she was striking to hurt, she could understand that, but the words still stung. “I understand you’re upset, Sandy. Maybe we should talk about this when you’ve had a chance to cool down.”
“Talk about this! Talk about what? How you’re a whore?”
“Bree, go to your room, please,” a deep voice said from behind them.
Maddie and Sandy spun around as Chase opened the screen door with a dark look on his face. Bree looked anxiously between her mother and cousin, but didn’t move.
“Go on, Bree,” he said giving her a light shove, his tone leaving no room for argument.
She looked at her mom again, her eyes bright with apprehension, before running down the hall to her room and slamming the door. Once she was out of earshot, Chase walked over to stand next to Maddie, his stare cold and hard on Sandy. “You owe your aunt an apology.”
“An apology?” Sandy sneered. “For what? She’s the one who should be apologizing.”
“I’m not going to say it again. Apologize.”
She threw her head back and snorted. “Whatever. I’m not apologizing.”
“It’s okay, Chase,” Maddie said as she touched his arm, trying to calm the storm she could sense brewing inside him.
“No, it isn’t okay. First of all, she needs to get it through her head that she and I were never dating and secondly, she needs to apologize for calling you a whore, especially in front of Bree.”
“Chase, really, give her a moment...”
He aimed his hard glare at her. “No, Maddie, I will not give her a moment. She has no right to come in to your house and talk to you like that. Just because she’s a spoiled brat who didn’t get her way doesn’t mean she can talk to you that way.”
“Fuck you, Chase!” Sa
ndy spit at him.
He spun back to Sandy, rage apparent in the tight lines of his face. “Get it through your thick skull, Sandy, that this has nothing to do with you. I would have thought you’d be happy for your aunt, happy that she’s happy, but no, you can’t be supportive like that, can you? If it isn’t all about you, then fuck it, right?”
“This is lame. I can see you’re all happy here playing house together. Maybe I should thank you, Aunt Maddie, for being a slut and freeing me from this loser. I’m out of here.” She stormed out the door leaving them looking after her wake.
Hearing Sandy’s car start up and roar down the street, Maddie slumped down on the couch. It had gone worse than she could have expected. It was bad enough that Sandy had slung around ugly words, which she probably deserved, but to have had Chase and Bree witness it made it unbearable.
“You can’t let people talk to you like that, Maddie.”
She took a deep breath before she looked at him standing over her. “Chase, she was hurt. She’s a young girl. She’s going to say things like that.”
“Don’t make excuses for her.”
“Excuses? I’m not making excuses. I’m just trying to see things from her perspective.” She could feel her anger starting to build. “I didn’t need you to come in and stand up for me.”
“Yeah, it looked like you were handling things perfectly.”
She shot off the couch and poked his chest. “I was handling things fine before you walked in. And speaking of that, you didn’t need to talk to Bree that way.”
A glint in his eye told her he was reaching his boiling point, but he quickly brought it under control. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t think you’d want her to hear you being called a whore.”
His words had her anger quickly fizzing out, leaving her sagging. She slumped forward and leaned her head against his chest. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m angry, hurt and taking it out on you.” Maddie looked up as Chase put his arms around her. “You did the right thing. I didn’t know what to say. I was more shocked than anything.”
He pulled her in tightly. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. She was way out of line though.”
“I know, but she’s young. Add to that spoiled and always used to getting her way. She’s only going to see it from her perspective and how she’s been wronged.”
“How bad is it going to be with your sister?”
Maddie felt cold dread fall over her at the thought. She could only imagine how bad it was going to be and even at that, it was probably going to be ten times worse. “It’s going to be very bad.”
He pulled back and looked down at her. “I’m sorry I have to go out of town. I want to be here to help you with this.”
“I know you do, but who knows? She may show up tomorrow or it may take her a few weeks. You just never know. It depends on how personally she takes it—which, if Sandy’s display is any indication, is going to be pretty personally. It may take her a while to build up her arguments.”
Chase shook his head. “They shouldn’t do this to you. They should be happy that you’re happy. They should want you to be happy.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not how it works in my family, unfortunately. Everything is always for or against them. Either way, it’s always about them, always has been and always will be.” When he frowned, she pressed her lips to his. “You get used to it. We’ll be okay. We’ll get through this.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sitting in his hotel room in Kansas City, Chase picked up his cell phone to call Maddie. He was still concerned about the way they’d left things after the confrontation with Sandy. She’d refused to talk about it anymore, brushing it off as having happened and over with while he struggled to understand her state of mind.
She’d looked defeated and close to tears, nothing in her stance telling him she was going to stand up for herself. She’d started to placate Sandy, nearly telling her she understood her anger and hurt and that it was okay. It wasn’t okay that Maddie would let someone degrade her, call her names and not say anything about it. He was sure that if he hadn’t interrupted them, he would have found her consoling Sandy, but he couldn’t do anything further from the road. He had to put his faith in Maddie, believe that she was strong enough to fight for them.
He sighed as he rubbed his hand over his hair in resignation. He had a bad feeling he was going to go back to a huge mess. He needed to hear her voice.
But before he could dial, his cell phone vibrated and he read the display. It was his parents and he groaned. He’d put off calling them back but he wasn’t sure why—he’d always been open with them, even with difficult things. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was worried they weren’t going to be as accepting as he kept telling Maddie they would be and he wasn’t ready for the battle. With everything else going on, thinking about going through the motions with them just wore him out, but he couldn’t ignore them, so he answered it.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“Why don’t you come down and see for yourself? We’re downstairs in the lobby.”
“What? What are you doing here?” Chase said as he sat up, puzzled.
“We decided to take a road trip and follow you a bit. Come on, your mom’s dying to see you.”
“Okay, I’ll be down in a second.”
Stuffing his cell phone in his pocket, Chased headed out of his room and into the elevators. He tried to figure out why his parents had shown up without any prior mention, something definitely out of character for them. It wasn’t unusual for his parents to follow him on the road every once in a while, but usually it was done with some forethought and planning so he could secure tickets for them. He was excited to see them, but he couldn’t help feel there was some hidden agenda.
Stepping into the lobby, he looked around until he spotted his mom and dad in the back corner waiting for him. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
Rick patted him on the back as Anne pulled him in for a hug. “We missed you and wanted to see you.” Pulling back, his mother looked up at him. “Look at you. You look good.”
“Thanks. It’s good to see you guys.” Chase spotted the bar off the lobby near the front entrance. “Why don’t we get some drinks or something?”
They followed the hostess through the darkened bar to a booth in the back corner. “You know I don’t pitch until we’re in Chicago, right?” he asked as they settled in.
“Yeah, we’re going to go there too.” Rick said easily.
Chase paused for a moment. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” his mother asked with wide-eyed innocence.
“What I mean is that as far as I knew, you had no plans to come out on this road trip, so what’s brought this on now?” He slouched against the back of the cherrywood booth as the answer came to him. “I know what this is about. I get it now.”
His parents remained silent and he took a deep breath. “Okay, I guess it’s better I can talk to you in person about her.”
“Chase, honey, it just isn’t like you to not tell us about something like this,” his mom said as she patted his hand across the table.
“No, I know. It’s just...I honestly didn’t know what to say. I wanted to figure things out for myself before I started spreading the word, I guess.”
He paused as the waiter came over and took their drink orders. When he left, Chase took another deep breath and glanced at the multiple baseball games playing on the TVs hanging over the bar. “Like I told you the other day, her name is Maddie. She has a daughter, her name is Bree and she’s nine years old. They live in the same condo complex as me.”
He would let them believe that was how they’d met. He didn’t want to muddle the situation any more by telling them the complete story.
“I know you guys want to know how old Maddie is, esp
ecially since I just told you she has a nine-year-old daughter, but before I do that, I want to say something else. I really like her. I mean, really, really like her. This isn’t a situation where someone’s taking advantage of me or something,” he added with a pointed glance at his father, knowing that’s where his mind was going. “As a matter of fact, it’s the other way around. I practically forced her to go out with me. She didn’t want to because I was younger, but I wouldn’t back down.
“She was really concerned about the age difference between us and I was finally able to get her past that and so I’m asking that it not be a hang-up for you guys. We really care about each other and I’m crazy about her daughter.” Chase paused, feeling some slight stirrings of panic rising at their continued silence, but quickly pushed on, desperate to convince them. “Besides what is age anyway, but a stupid life stat? It’s just a number we wear on our backs. It doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t tell our story. It doesn’t explain who we are or how we got where we are. It’s just a stat and used by itself is nothing but a number—”
“How old is she, Chase?” his dad interrupted.
He eyed him for a second before blurting it out. “She’s thirty-four.”
A heavy silence fell over the table. Disbelief, shock and alarm passed over both of his parents’ faces and he could feel astonishment pulse from their side of the booth. His mother finally broke the silence. “Thirty-four?” she whispered.
“Chase...” his dad started, but Chase held up his hands, cutting him off since he knew exactly where his dad was going to go.
Never in a million years would Chase have guessed he would be in a relationship with an amazing woman who had an unbelievable daughter he was crazy about. If someone had told him that this would happen during his rookie year in the pros, he would have laughed at them and told them they were definitely insane. He would have said, heatedly, that his main concern was his career and that was it. Everything else could and would come later. After meeting Maddie and Bree, however, he didn’t want any of it to come later no matter what anybody else said...including his parents.
