He gently steered me toward the living room and eased me onto the couch before slipping into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned and placed a warm mug in my hands.
“Chamomile,” he said, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You once swore it helps to calm nerves.”
I blinked as a forgotten memory stirred. Uncle James knew just about everything about growing trees, but he didn’t pay much attention to edible plants other than a basic vegetable garden. So, I brought a box containing small pots of various herbs and other useful plants with me on one of my visits to the farm. The three of us—James, Chase, and I—sat on the porch while I explained the many uses of each. Uncle James listened indulgently, but I remember Chase soaking in every word.
“You remember,” I whispered.
“I remember everything,” he answered.
I wasn’t sure if his words scared me…or made me feel safer.
“I had to leave Nashville,” I finally said. “I didn’t know where else to go. So, I came back to where I still think of as home.”
Chase nodded, but didn’t say anything, as if he sensed any interruption might cause me to shut down. But I wanted him to understand. Needed him to.
I exhaled slowly, clasping the warm mug between mypalms. “I’ve been locked in a legal battle since Mason’s death. I had a copy of a will that named me as his sole inheritor. But his parents produced another will, one that declared them the beneficiaries. It was made years before mine. Seems like an open and shut case, right? Mine was more recent and should be the final word.” I dared a glance at Chase.
His eyes had grown darker, wariness furrowing his brow, but he remained silent.
“To make a long story short, the will that named me beneficiary was ruled invalid.” I let out a bitter laugh. “According to the lawyers, it was never properly executed. Turns out the two witnesses who signed it? Fake names. I did everything I could to find them. But they don’t exist. Without legitimate witnesses, the whole thing fell apart.”
Chase had stiffened at my side. When he finally spoke, his words sounded carefully measured. “What do you mean?”
I shook my head, swallowing back the shame. “Mason was full of tricks. He never meant for me to inherit anything. But little naïve me trusted him. I should have been smarter, but at that point, he was still playing the doting husband. It never occurred to me he’d do anything so underhanded, at least not then.” I took a shaky breath as my chest tightened. “I was left with nothing. No house. Almost no savings. Practically nothing but the clothes on my back and the car that somehow was in my name. And Jack. Thank God no one else wanted him, or they would have taken him, too, just to be cruel.”
Chase’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking beneath his skin. “That son of a bitch.”
I swallowed hard and forced myself to continue. “Out of the ‘kindness of their hearts,’” I said, my voice drippingwith sarcasm, “Mason’s parents ‘gave’ me some money. Their words, not mine. It was just a PR move, an attempt to make them look like the loving and charitable in-laws instead of the vultures they really are.” Bile rose in my throat. “I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t wantanythingfrom them. But I need to pay my lawyer and some other bills. It left me with almost nothing. I hoped to stay with my parents until I figured out my next move. But they—or rather my father—wasn’t receptive to the idea.”
Chase’s gaze sharpened. “He turned you away?”
I hesitated before nodding, the sting of the rejection cutting as deep today as last night. “He thinks I betrayed him by leaving. He’s already distrustful, especially of anyone in the government. In his eyes, I became one of them.”
Chase muttered a curse and shook his head. “Unbelievable.” Then his eyes softened with something that looked like regret. Maybe pity. “Tell me you understand none of this is your fault.”
I bit my lip, shrugging. “Maybe not what Mason did, but I’m the one who allowed him to lure me away from here and to stay with him.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as his jaw worked, like he was trying to hold back what he really wanted to say. “Anna,” he finally said in a firm voice, “I don’t know what he said to you. But I know the man Mason was. He manipulated you. He twisted things until you couldn’t tell the difference between your own thoughts and his.”
I looked away, swallowing hard. “I wish…I wish I had made so many different choices.”
Especially about you.
Something flickered across Chase’s face. Maybe pain. Or regret. For a second, I allowed myself to wonder if hewished the same. But it disappeared so quickly, I thought maybe I imagined it. Enough time had passed. He had surely moved on from any feelings about me, good or—hopefully—bad.
I squared my shoulders, not wanting to feel sorry for myself. My father was right about one thing. I’d made my bed. Now it was time to change the sheets.
“I’ll figure something out. I just need to consider my options. I thought maybe I’d stay at The Dogtrot for a couple of days. Maybe reach out to a friend back in Nashville.”
Even as I said it, I inwardly shuddered at the idea. I loved Mallory, but no part of me wanted to go back to the place where people would know my face, where they whispered speculations about why I no longer ran in the same circles. Mason was the guilty one, but I was the one who had to withstand the rumors.
“You can stay here,” Chase said.
I shook my head. While a part of me wanted to, it wasn’t a good idea. “You’ve been very generous, but I think it’s better if I leave. If you help me pull my car out with one of your trucks, I can get out of your hair.”
“Already done. I had it towed into town early this morning to make sure there was no damage.”
Inwardly, I sighed. That would be another expense, but he was right. I just needed to press for one more thing, then I could leave him alone. “Thank you. Could I ask for one more favor?”
