A MATTER OF TRUST

by Kimberley Reeves

  Chase tore his mouth from hers, encouraged by her kisses but needing to hear the words. “Is that a yes?” He gripped her face between his hands, stark fear in his eyes when she didn’t immediately answer him. “For God’s sake, Maddy, put me out of my misery!”

  She tried to nod, then laughed because his hands kept her head from moving. “Yes,” she said breathlessly, then laughed again when he let out a loud whoop and all but crushed her with a tight bear hug.

  After a quiet celebration with a bottle of champagne and a short walk in the moonlight, she’d told him why she couldn’t possibly be pregnant. A few years before, her cycles had become irregular and the doctor had put her on birth control pills to help regulate it. She’d considered going off of them after the first year but decided at the ripe age of twenty-five there was at least some chance she’d meet a man she cared enough to have a sexual relationship with. So she’d remained on them even though she wasn’t involved with anyone or had any aspirations to entangle herself in a serious relationship until after she’d taken the time off to discover if she had the talent to make it as an artist.

  To her surprise, Chase had been genuinely disheartened to learn there was no possibility she could be carrying his child which only made her own disappointment more tangible. It seemed incredible that both of them would feel this way, given that they’d known each other for less than a week and that neither of them had even the vaguest desire to fall in love with anyone before they’d met. Things were already moving so fast she couldn’t seem to catch her breath and though she longed to have his baby, Maddy selfishly wanted Chase all to herself for awhile.

  There was, of course, still the little matter of confessing the truth about who she really was, or rather whose daughter she was, but as one day melted into another she found it more and more difficult to tell him. For one thing, she didn’t want to be swept back into high society, which was the very life she’d fled from, and that would most certainly happen if he knew she wasn’t the shy wallflower he thought she was. Maddy loved their quiet existence together and didn’t want anything to spoil it. Besides, it was just a white lie really and white lies never hurt anybody, did they?

  Chapter 7

  “I want to speak to Chase,” Angela drawled into the phone, “and don’t dawdle, I haven’t got all day.”

  Maddy cheeks instantly flamed with a possessive anger. Chase was hers now and she resented the woman’s call as well as her condescending tone. “He’s in the shower right now, but I’ll be sure to tell him you called,” she said icily.

  “You do that, and you can also tell him I won’t be able to make our date this afternoon.”

  Maddy’s fingers tightened around the phone. “You’re lying,” she choked out. "He…he doesn’t have a date with you.”

  “Of course he doesn’t, you half wit. I just told you I was cancelling, didn’t I?” Angela sighed impatiently. “Just give him the message and tell him I’ll make it up to him later. Oh, and tell him the flowers are simply beautiful.”

  Maddy’s mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Angela was lying, she had to be. Chase wouldn’t do that to her. Tonight he was taking her out to dinner to celebrate their one month anniversary and he’d even suggested they go dancing afterwards. There was no way he could be as loving as he was and still be having an affair with that awful woman.

  She bit down on her bottom lip as a thread of doubt found its way into her head. After breakfast he’d reminded her that he had a doctor’s appointment and then told her he was going to take care of some business while he was in town. He’d told her not to worry, that it wouldn’t take more than a few hours and he’d be back in time to make their dinner date. He couldn’t have been planning to meet with Angela, he just couldn’t.

  “Hello? Did you get all that or do I need to repeat it?”

  Maddy blinked, a raw pain tearing at her chest. “No, I…I got it.”

  “Wonderful. Oh, there is one more little thing.” Angela’s voice became venomous. “In case you have any ideas about climbing into Chase’s bed, I think there’s something you should know. He always comes back to me, always.”

  Maddy swayed unsteadily, fighting back the bile that churned in her stomach. “You’re a horrible woman,” she said shakily, “and I don’t believe a word you’re saying.”

  Angela’s laugh was breathy. “My, it sounds like you already have a thing for my lover. That’s okay, Chase and I understand each other and I forgive his wandering because I know he can’t help himself. But he gets bored easily so if he has made a move on you, I suggest you guard your innocent little heart because it won’t take long to burn out, it never does.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Maddy waited for an answer, but it never came. Angela had already hung up.

  A cold fear wound its way around her heart and suddenly she couldn’t seem to find enough air in her lungs to breath. She stumbled across the room and dropped down onto the sofa, fighting back the wave of nausea and the stinging tears and the burning question of Chase’s fidelity. He hadn’t been evasive about what he was doing after the doctor’s appointment, he’d simply told her he had business to attend to and she hadn’t asked any questions.

  But there had been something odd about his behavior, something in the way his eyes had shifted away from hers when he’d told her. And now that she thought about it, he did seem to be relieved when she’d changed the subject. An anguished sob tore from Maddy’s throat as she buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.

  Chase was only halfway down the stairs when he heard the heart wrenching wail from the living room followed by the most sorrowful weeping he’d ever heard in his life. He barreled down the rest of the stairs and rushed to Maddy, but she obviously hadn’t heard him because she let out a startled cry when he scooped her up in his arms and cradled her to his chest. Aware that his cast was probably digging into her slender legs, Chase lowered himself onto the sofa and settled Maddy onto his lap before attempting to find out what could have caused such an emotional outburst.

  “Maddy, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head and buried her face in his neck, better now that he was here but still numb with fear that what Angela had told her might be true. After all, Chase’s marriage proposal had just sort of popped out without having thought it through and he’d barely mentioned it since. And the fact that he wanted to go out for dinner told her he was getting bored with spending his evenings alone with her and was probably dying to socialize with other people.

  Maddy couldn’t take it if she lost him now. She wasn’t that strong, not where Chase was concerned, but if he wasn’t happy with her and needed other women to fulfill him, what choice did she have but to leave? She loved Chase more than life itself but she wouldn’t share him. Maybe that was acceptable to women like Angela but Maddy wouldn’t take less that his whole heart and if he couldn’t give that to her then she’d just have to find a way to move on.

  ****

  Chase stroked her hair, waiting until she’d quieted to try coaxing her into telling him what was wrong. Gently prying her arms from around his neck, he maneuvered her into a position where he could see her face then wiped away her tears. Maddy’s big blue eyes met his, searching for what he didn’t know, but there was such a depth of sadness in them it nearly broke his heart in two just to look at her.

  “What is it? Talk to me, baby, it’s killing me to see you like this.”

  His concern was genuine, she consoled herself, but that didn’t necessarily mean he still loved her. No, Chase did love her; it was there in his eyes and in the tenderness of touch, but was it strong enough to keep him from being lured away by another women? If he really had planned on meeting with Angela this afternoon, then obviously not. Maddy didn’t relish the idea of confronting him with it, but neither could she live with the uncertainty. If it had to end, it was better they do it now before she…before she what? Lost her heart to him? It was already too late for that. Before she was
so in love with him she’d never be able to recover? It was too late for that too, but at least if she left now the agony of knowing it was coming to an end wouldn’t be prolonged.

  “Are you happy with me?” She finally asked.

  His brows drew together. “Of course I am, why would you even ask that?”

  Maddy chose her words carefully. “Because I…I think you haven’t been entirely honest with me about where you’re going after your doctor’s appointment.”

  Her words took him by surprise and the look of guilt flashed across his face before he could recover. “I admit there was some personal business I also planned on attending to while I was in town, but I don’t understand what that has to do with whether I’m happy with you or not.”

  Was that how he viewed his affair with Angela, just some personal business that he was going to attend to? Had she really misjudged his character so badly? Maddy lifted her chin, gathering what dignity she could. There was no use dancing around the question when asking him outright would give her the answers she needed. And if it was true he was meeting with Angela today, he’d know exactly who the phone call had come from.

  “There was a phone call while you were in the shower. She told me to let you know she couldn’t meet with you today, but that she’d make it up to you later.”

  “Damn, I specifically told her not to call here,” he said irritably. “It was supposed to be a secret, but honestly sweetheart, I don’t see why knowing about it has upset you so much.”

  Maddy gaped at him, a cold chill settling in her bones. “How can you be so…so insensitive about something like this? Of course I’m upset. I had to hear it from someone else…” Not just someone else, she thought miserably, she had to hear it from Angela, and now Chase was acting like it wasn’t really that big of a deal.

  Chase smiled indulgently. “Look, I’m sorry you found out this way and to tell you the truth I’m a little upset myself because it ruins some of my plans…”

  “I’ll just bet it does,” Maddy snapped, anger overriding the pain. She struggled to get up, but Chase would have none of it.

  “Damn it, Maddy, stop fighting me! I thought we had an understanding…”

  “An understanding,” she squeaked, “when did we ever come to an understanding about this?” She shoved against his chest, again trying to extract herself from his grasp. “Let me go,” Maddy gritted, “I can’t do this, I won’t do this!”

  The bottom dropped out of his stomach. “But you said…” Chase was having a hell of a time keeping his arms around her and finally did the only thing he could think of to keep her from running away. In one fluid movement, he pushed her back against the cushions and pinned her with his weight. “Would you just calm down for a minute so we can talk this out?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about, not after what you did.”

  “What did I do that was so wrong?”

  “You sent flowers,” she blurted out, tears stinging her eyes.

  Chase looked puzzled for a minute. How did she know about the flowers? They weren’t even scheduled to be delivered until after he’d left for his doctor’s appointment. Of course the florist could have called to confirm the delivery and she’d taken that call too, but even if they had, it didn’t explain why she was working herself up about it. He studied her tearful face, wondering how all his beautifully laid plans could have fallen apart so quickly and why Maddy was so emotionally distraught over it. I can’t do this, I won’t do this, she’d said. Chase felt as if he’d been punched in the gut when it finally sank in that she was calling off the wedding.

  “Listen to me,” he said evenly, “we can slow this down if that’s what you want. I’ll give you as much time as you need to adjust to the idea and we’ll work it out together.”

  Maddy just stared at him. Did he honestly think that she’d get used to the idea of sharing him with Angela? She was crushed, utterly crushed by how calloused he was being in spite of his magnanimous offer to work it out together. Was he insane? No self-respecting woman would agree to such an arrangement, not even one who was madly in love with him.

  “No, I won’t ever adjust to it,” she said adamantly. “Now please get off of me.”

  Chase didn’t budge an inch. “No, not until you can give me an explanation that makes sense. Okay, so you found out about the flowers and my appointment with the jeweler. It’s not as if we haven’t talked about getting married…”

  “What?”

  “Maddy, please don’t call it off. We don’t have to get married right away if you don’t want to, but I couldn’t take it if you called it off altogether.”

  Her mind flew off in a hundred different directions. Why was he still talking about getting married in the same breath that he admitted to sending Angela the flowers? Her brows furrowed. “I didn’t know anything about the jeweler,” she said flatly. “So what were going to do, meet her there so you could appease her with a diamond bracelet or maybe a pricy pair of earrings so she’ll take you back again?”

  Chase drew his head back. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about Angela and how you think you need to buy her an expense piece of jewelry so she’ll take you back.”

  He shook his head, completely lost. “What the hell does Angela have to do with anything? This is about you and me and why you’ve suddenly changed your mind about marrying me.”

  “You really think that I’d marry you after finding out you sent Angela flowers and planned on meeting with her so you could buy her jewelry today?” She turned her head away from him, though he could hardly miss the tears that slid down the side of her face. “I don’t even have to imagine how she was going to pay you back, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re through, Chase. I’ll pack my things and leave first thing in the morning.”

  ****

  Chase finally found his voice after being stunned into silence by what she was saying. “Listen to me, honey, I don’t know where you got the crazy idea that I’d ever want anything to do with Angela when I have you, but I promise you it’s not true.”

  “Chase please,” she sighed wearily, “you already admitted you sent the flowers…”

  “To you. I arranged to have flowers delivered to the house this afternoon to you, not Angela.”

  She turned her gaze back to him, not quite daring to hope that this was all some horrible misunderstanding. “What about the jeweler’s?”

  “I was going there for you. I had an appointment with Olivia Branagan of Branagan’s Jewelry. She’s a friend of mine and she was going to help me pick out an engagement ring for you. I was going to surprise you with it at dinner tonight until one of her clerks called and ruined it all.”

  “Oh Chase,” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck, “you were really doing all of that for me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I love you, Maddy, and I want to marry you.”

  “So you weren’t meeting with Angela today?”

  He grunted in disgust. “If I never saw that woman again I’d die a happy man. Now tell me how such a ludicrous notion got locked inside that pretty head of yours.”

  Shame washed over her in waves. She never should have believed Angela’s lies instead of trusting Chase. “It wasn’t the jeweler who called,” she said in a subdued tone.

  Chase groaned. “Oh Maddy, tell me it wasn’t Angela.”

  “She said the most horrible things, but it’s my fault for believing her. I’m so sorry, can you ever forgive me?”

  “No, it’s my fault for not warning you what she was like and what she’s capable of doing. She’s been a thorn in my side for over a year now but I thought I’d finally gotten through to her. I don’t know how she got the new number, but you can bet your life I’m going to find out.”

  “She said that you always come back to her. She made it sound like this happened all the time, that you get involved with someone else for awhile then get bored and go back to being her lover. She was so convincing and it tore me up inside
to think you were getting tired of me.”

  “I’ll never grow tired of being with you, never. As for going back to Angela, there’s nothing to go back to because there was never anything there to begin with. This obsession of hers is going to end, but I’ll deal with that later.” He brushed her lips with a soft kiss then pushed himself off of her and stood up. “Come on,” he held out his hand, “walk me to the door and give me a proper good-bye kiss.” Once they reached the foyer, Chase drew her into his arms and gave her long, hard kiss then told her not to answer the phone while he was away. “Now that Angela knows she can get to you, she’ll keep calling to try and stir up more trouble. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised.