A knot tightened in my stomach. I knew Chase had every right to move on, but with Trinity? My teeth clenched so hard my jaw hurt. He knew how she’d treated me in high school—or anyone she deemed beneath her. She was a bully.
His look was dismissive. “Can’t say I remember,” he said flatly.
The knot loosened.
Trinity’s smile faltered for a split second. Then she recovered. “Well, sure. We were both?—”
“Sorry. Don’t recall.” He turned his back to her and faced me. “Ready?” He extended his arm with a wink.
Wordlessly, I slipped my hand through his arm, brushing against the muscles that flexed beneath my fingers. Strong. Steady.
We turned and walked in the opposite direction,leaving Trinity and Sophie in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at us with their mouths hanging open.
“Thank you.” Once again, I owed Chase for a rescue.
“No problem. While the rest of us have grown up, Trinity is still the pouty, mean girl she’s always been.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Trinity and the other girl had disappeared. With a twinge of regret, I withdrew my hand from Chase’s arm and slowed to a stop. “I actually need to go the other way. I’m staying at The Dogtrot for one more night.”
His mouth tightened slightly. “And then where do you go?”
“That’s why I’m headed back. To make some phone calls and figure it out.”
He exhaled loudly, shaking his head. “Anna, you can’t just pretend nothing is wrong.”
I wanted to throw my arms in the air and shout,I don’t have a choice.But I smiled softly instead. “I’ll find my way, Chase. It’s not your problem to figure out.”
“Can’t you work here? In Sterling Mill?”
I shook my head. “No one is hiring. Not me, anyway.”
That made him go still. “You mean because of your ex?”
Ex.Nothusband. That’s how I needed to think of him. Not because I missed Mason, but to keep myself separate from what he’d turned me into. “I guess old feelings are still fresh. He wasn’t kind to people. He acted like he was better than them. They think I’m part of that. That I didn’t do enough to stand up to him, so I must be like him.”
“But you’re not.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. People tend to remember the worst of others. Mason and I…we were a package deal, I guess.”
“Tell me who wouldn’t hire you because of him,” he said, his voice tight.
I laid my hand on his arm. “It doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t.” His brows pulled together. “You’ve been dragged through enough. I can make sure not to do business with anyone who treats you like you did something wrong.”
“I’m afraid you wouldn’t have a lot of places to shop,” I quipped dryly.
He muttered a curse under his breath. After a beat, he looked at me. “Work for me.”
I blinked several times, certain I must have misheard him. “What?”
“It’s perfect. I need to replace Marta, and I can’t find anyone. Someone to help as we take on our summer temp employees. It comes with a cabin. It’s small, but you can make it your own.”
“Chase, I can’t accept that.”
“Why not? It’s not charity, Anna. It’s an opportunity for both of us. I need help, and you need a place to live. And you’re already familiar with the farm and how it runs. It’s perfect.”
I was weakening. “But I have Jack?—”
