by Dorie Graham
Shit. She was right. He bid the assistant curator goodbye and then headed for his office. His heart thudded as he called Alex and the ringing sounded across the line. It rang four times and he was readying a voice mail reply in his head when she picked up.
“Chase?”
“Hey,” he said and then his mind went blank. She sounded breathless. Why was she breathless?
“Hey, what’s up? Are you bringing Kara by tonight, or should I see if I can come over there?” she asked.
“Yes, either way would work. What’s better for you? Should we just come over there?”
“Why don’t you two come by here? Robert is feeling so much better. I’d bet he’d be willing to let you come up to say hello, let the two of you have some bonding time while I work with Kara. Dad is at the store and I’m not sure, but I think he’ll be back early tonight. Business has picked up and he hired another full-time person, so he can start letting Becky take off more.”
“She’s getting close, isn’t she?” he asked.
“She is, but she’s got another month and a half still to go. I imagine it will pass fairly quickly, though. I’d better hurry and plan her baby shower.”
He stared at the phone. She wanted to throw her sister a baby shower? That could be a very good thing.
“What have you been doing just now, when you answered the phone? You sounded out of breath.”
“I was just running.”
“Running? Do you mean running running or like running to catch the phone running?”
“Running running. I think I might find a group to join. You know, like a running group. There are a couple online that look good. One is the Atlanta Running Meetup and there’s also Dunwoody Running. I may check them out. I think running makes me a nicer person.”
“Really?” he asked. She wanted to join a running group? Here in Atlanta? Not that that meant she wanted to stay or anything. “I think you’re already pretty nice.”
She chuckled softly and the sound made his pulse quicken. “So, about the gala, I know we haven’t talked any more about it, but it’s this Saturday and I know it isn’t a lot of notice, but do you think you would still be interested in going?”
Silence hummed along the connection. He checked the display to see if the call had dropped. “Alex?”
“I’m here. Sorry, I was just thinking about whether or not I needed to stick close to home Saturday night.”
“And?” He gripped his phone, surprised at how badly he wanted her to say yes.
“And, yes, I can still make it.”
Happiness filled him. “That’s great, Alex. I’m glad. I’ll pick you up at eight. Does that work?”
“Works for me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“YOU’RE COMING BACK there with me, right?” Robert stared at Alex as soft music played on an overhead speaker.
She glanced around the empty waiting room and then back at him. “Seriously? You want me to come back with you while you have a massage?”
“And energy work. Who knows what mumbo-jumbo she’s going to try on me after she gets me all relaxed and vulnerable.”
“You realize you’re going to be naked for this massage?”
“I’ll have a sheet covering me. I’ve had massages before. I’m cool with you being there.”
She cocked her head. “What about HIPAA regulations?”
“I don’t think this qualifies. Besides, I don’t give a damn about that.” He glanced around. “I looked at the website, but I’m not sure exactly what this Reiki thing is going to be like. I’m slightly freaked out about it. Are you going to have my back or not?”
“You’re so weird, but, yes, if you want me to go with you, I will. But just for the Reiki, not the massage.”
Ten minutes later a side door opened and a tiny woman in yoga pants strolled over to them. “Robert Peterson? I’m Diana Erickson. I’ll be working with you today.”
Robert stood and shook her offered hand. “Yes, I’m Robert, and this is my sister Alexandra. I want her to come back with me for the Reiki, if that’s cool.”
Diana Erickson’s eyebrows arched in surprise, but she shrugged. “That’s fine. I understand you’ve been undergoing chemotherapy, as well as radiation therapy.”
“Yes, I have, but it’s been a while since I’ve had the chemo, though it was that high-dose crap with the stem cell transplant.”
She nodded. “Why don’t you come with me and we’ll do the massage first. Then when you’re ready for the energy work I’ll come back for your sister.”
Alex nodded and resumed her seat as Robert left with the tiny massage therapist. She passed the time reading a running magazine she’d brought. Eventually, the woman returned. “It’s very nice you’re accompanying your brother.”
Alex laughed. “I’m surprised he let me. He was feeling well enough to drive himself, but I think he’s a little uneasy about the Reiki.”
“I understand. I’ll go easy on him. From the questionnaire he filled out I see that he’s had a good bit of chemo and even though it’s been a while since his last treatment, the toxins stay in the body a long time. The massage will help to loosen those toxins, so we’ll have to do just a little at a time so it doesn’t overwhelm his system to process it all.
“Are you familiar with Reiki?” she asked.
“Only what I’ve read online. Our other sister actually suggested he come for this. I think she knows a little more about it.”
“Reiki is good for cancer patients. It’s good for everyone, but it’s good for cancer patients, as well. Reiki is a smart energy and it will move to where it is most needed.” She pressed her hands together and smiled. “I will know when he has had enough.”
She gestured toward the back. “Shall we?”
Alex followed her down a short hall to a dimly lit room. Robert lay on his back on a massage table with a sheet draped over him. Soft music floated through the air.
Diana Erickson showed her to a chair on one side of the room. Robert’s phone sat on a table beside the chair. As Alex took her seat, Robert rolled up on the table to see her. “Monitor my phone, please, Alex. Dr. Braden is supposed to be calling with the latest donor search results.”
She nodded and her mellow spirits plummeted with his request. “Wait, what am I supposed to do when he calls? I can’t interrupt.”
He rolled his eyes. “Step out and take the call.”
Take the call. Easy for him to say, but what if the good doctor had more bad news? Then Alex would have to break it to everyone. As the massage therapist/Reiki practitioner moved to the head of the massage table, Alex settled into her chair, praying that if Dr. Braden called it would be with good news.
* * *
CHASE EXHALED SOFTLY as Kara stood on tiptoe to straighten his bowtie. He pulled on his collar, which felt way too constricting. “What did they do, starch this shirt?”
“You know, you’d look way hotter if you didn’t look so nervous,” Kara said.
“I am nervous,” he said, surprised he could so readily admit it. “I feel like it’s prom all over again.”
“Did you take Alex to prom?”
“I asked her, but she turned me down. Twice. Once for my prom and then again for her prom.”
“Why did she turn you down?”
“She said they were too pretentious, with everyone putting on airs and that the music would suck.”
“So, if you didn’t go to prom, how is this the same?”
“She still wanted to get dressed up and go out to dinner and then we did our own dancing later, on our own.”
“Where?” she asked, her eyes taking on a dreamy glaze.
He shrugged. “In her basement, but she had it fixed up and she picked the music. She said she didn’t need a big party with tons of people. All she needed was me.”
“Wow, that is so romantic,” Kara said. “Did you just melt all over the place?”
He scrunched up his face. “I’m a dude. We don’t melt. We’re i
mpervious to that crap.”
Her lips curved into a delighted smile. “Okay, if you say so.”
“Hey, are you okay that I’m taking her and not you?”
“Sure, I don’t need all that hootie-tootie gala stuff. I’ve got Roy here to keep me company. We’re going to have an Aliens marathon. Can you believe he’s never watched that shit?”
“That stuff or those movies. We’ve got to clean up your language.”
“Right, right, I’m sorry. He has never seen those fine films.”
“Better,” he said as he looked at his watch. “Shit, I’d better get going.”
Kara giggled and waved to him as he rushed out the door. Twenty minutes later he stood on Alex’s front doorstep, tugging again at his collar, sweltering in the tuxedo. Why did these events call for such formal dress?
“Calm down, it’s just Alex,” he coached himself under his breath.
A moment later, Alex herself answered the door. She wore a long, gold evening gown that draped off one shoulder and then simultaneously hugged and draped over every curve of her body. She wore her hair pulled back on one side, and it had a shine and a more subtle wave than it normally did. She smiled and he stood for a moment, speechless.
“Hey,” she said. “You look beautiful.”
He laughed at that as he swept her into a quick hug. “I look beautiful? You are...stunning. I don’t even have words to describe what you are.”
She laughed and the sound tickled up his spine. “Okay,” she said. “Are you sure you didn’t start drinking?”
“I’m positive. You look amazing. I mean, you always look great, but this is over-the-top. I won’t be able to look at any of the other women now.”
“Well, I don’t want to cramp your style,” she said, “especially since this isn’t a date date.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped. So she really didn’t want it to be a date date.
“Robert emerged from his room for a change. He and Dad are watching some Aliens marathon on TV. Do you want to come say hello before we head out?” Her smile spread all the way to her eyes. “Robert has news to share.”
“Then, yes, absolutely I want to say hello and hear some good news, especially if it concerns my good buddy Robert.”
Admiring the view from the back as much as he’d admired the view from the front, Chase followed Alex into the family room with its wide-screen TV mounted on the wall. Jacob turned to them as they entered and clicked the remote to pause the movie as a huge spacecraft soared through the darkness of the universe.
He rose to shake Chase’s hand, greeting him with much gusto as Robert rose, moving a little more slowly than his father, but smiling just as wide. Chase shook his friend’s hand, then pulled Robert into a back-patting hug, happy to see Robert was beginning to fill out a little.
“Robert, buddy, how are you? You’re looking chipper.”
“Yeah, he should be,” Jacob said, smiling. “Tell him, son.”
Robert spread his arms. “We have a donor.”
“Oh, my God.” Chase pulled him into another back-slapping hug. “That’s incredible. That’s actually the best news ever. Is it anyone you know?”
Alex shook her head. “Just some random donor from the national donor bank.”
He grinned. “We should celebrate.”
“We are,” Robert said, gesturing toward the coffee table. “We’ve got a movie marathon, popcorn made from organic corn and popped right on the cob, and we have kelp smoothies.”
“Oh, yum, except what the hell is kelp?” Chase asked.
“It’s good for you,” Alex said, frowning.
Robert gave Chase a look of reprimand. “Alex made the smoothies.”
“Awesome.” Chase turned to her, smiling. “Is there more? I’d love to try one. Maybe we should stay here and celebrate. This looks like fun.”
Alex looked at him incredulously. Jacob and Robert retook their seats without further comment. Chase’s gaze swung from the two men back to Alex, who stared at him with her hands on her hips.
“Or not,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”
A slow smile curved her lips and she nodded. “Good night, guys. Don’t wait up for me.”
* * *
THE CLINKING OF WINEGLASSES and champagne flutes greeted Alex as Chase pulled her past a group of older women and men, laughing and toasting to some happiness that had them all smiling. Remembering the older woman on the plane who had traveled the world, Alex longed to stop and speak with this bunch. They looked as though they’d lived full and interesting lives.
But Chase seemed to have a destination in mind as he cut through the crowd, her hand firmly gripped in his. So she kept her smile in place, nodding to various revelers as she passed in Chase’s wake.
It was a shame, really, that this wasn’t a date date. Chase had taken her breath away when she’d opened the door to find him on her front doorstep, dressed in a tuxedo and looking good enough to devour. The man certainly cleaned up nice.
Several women stopped to take a second look at him as he passed by, and even though this wasn’t a date date, Alex tempered the surge of jealousy each time by casting the women a smug smile. Yes, regardless of whatever her relationship with Chase was, hers was the hand he was holding.
“Here,” he said, at last stopping by a set of French doors that opened, not to the outside, but to another exhibit area, from the looks of the displays evident through the glass.
“There’s a little more space here, so maybe we can breathe,” he said, his gaze sweeping over her in a way that warmed her skin.
“You are so very gorgeous, Alex,” he said. “So, tell me about this baby shower for your sister. What’s going on with that? I was a little surprised to hear you were planning something.”
She nodded. “I know, I’m not the best at planning that kind of thing, but Megan said she would help me. She’s such a research guru. She’s the one who had me take Robert to his first Reiki session.”
“Reiki? That’s some kind of energy work, right?”
“Exactly. I’m not sure what difference it made, but Robert liked it. He’s asked me to take him back again.”
“Is he not up to driving himself? He looks a little stronger, but if you need help taking him places I can maybe work an appointment or two into my schedule so you don’t have to do them all. I imagine things will start getting heated up once he gets started on the new transplant.”
She touched his arm, grateful for all he was always willing to do for her family. “Oh, that’s so good of you to offer, Chase. I’ll check with him, to see if he might like that, but honestly, and this will change, but for now he can drive. He just prefers for me to go with him. He’s made me promise to accompany him to all of his appointments.” She smiled as pride filled her. “He prefers me to Dad these days. He says I take better notes. And I always have a list of questions, which of course Megan helps me put together beforehand.”
“Really? That’s wonderful, Alex. It sounds like you guys are all really getting along.” His gaze warmed.
Did he have any idea how his every little move and glance seemed incredibly sexy to her tonight?
“We are.” She smiled again, warming as his gaze lingered on her lips. She inhaled a slow breath and faced him. “Chase—”
“There you are.” A pretty blonde swooped up to Chase in a stunning red strapless gown and hooked her arm through his. Her gaze swept over Alex. “And there you are.”
“Alexandra Peterson, this is Donna Berry. Donna is the assistant curator here. Alex is my...date.” Chase raised his eyebrows, looking like the kid who’d gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Hello, Donna, it’s good to meet you.” Alex shook Donna’s hand. Why was the woman arm in arm with Chase, and what was with that introduction? Why did he look so guilty?
“And this is my boyfriend, Max,” Donna said, letting go of Chase and grabbing a handsome guy with a cropped, military-style haircut.
> “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Max.” Alex shook the young man’s hand with much gusto.
Max smiled broadly at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He turned to Chase and shook his hand, as well. “So you’re Chase. I’ve been wanting to meet you. I understand you’re usually Donna’s date.”
“That’s right,” Chase said. “Donna has done me the honor for the past three years.”
Alex’s gaze slipped again to the young woman. Had Chase dated her? Donna leaned forward and touched her arm, saying, “It’s so nice to see Chase here with a real date.”
Surprise filled her. Had Chase thought of this as a date date? She cast him a questioning look, which he returned with another heated glance at her lips.
“We’re going to go get something to drink,” Max said. “Can we bring you anything?”
“Oh, no, thanks, I’m fine and Chase doesn’t drink,” Alex said, placing her hand on Chase’s arm.
He shifted, tucking her arm in his. “Donna knows.”
“Right,” Alex said. “She was your date for three years.”
“Oh, not a date date,” Donna said as they started to move away. “Watch out, Chase. Dragon Lady, ten o’clock.”
“Who’s Dragon Lady?”
“Just stay put, no matter what happens,” Chase said, but his hand clamped over hers, so she couldn’t have slipped her arm from his if she tried.
An older woman with bleached hair teased up into an intricate French twist pushed her way through the crowd toward them. She had an elegant look to her, one that came from money and good breeding, and by the look of her designer gown and strings of diamonds, she had plenty of the former.
Before she could say one word, Chase began the introductions. “Alex, may I introduce Mrs. Paula Dixon. Paula, this is Alexandra Peterson, my date.”
Alex swung her gaze to Chase. Had she imagined it, or had he emphasized the word date? Or was that merely her cue this was the docent he wanted to avoid?
“How do you do?” the woman asked and extended her hand to Alex.
For the briefest second, Alex thought the woman expected her to kiss her beringed hand, but she dismissed the notion and shook her hand instead. “Mrs. Dixon, what a pleasure to meet you.”
