“I’m not a rebellious teenager anymore,” she said to her mom. “I didn’t get engaged to spite you. I wanted the fairy tale. I wanted what you and Daddy have.”
“Um-hmm, that man of mine is a stud-muffin, isn’t he? Whoo, he’s hot.”
“Mom!” Ashley blushed and stopped crying.
Her mom laughed heartily. “Life’s not a fairy tale, honey. No matter that you create fairy tale weddings every day, that’s not long-term reality. You can’t replicate true love with a man who’s not worthy of you. A man who doesn’t know how to keep his lips locked with the right woman.”
“I think I’ve figured that out.” At least, she’d figured out how to get out of a bad relationship, but why was she running from Chase? She wanted to trust him and run to him.
Her mom tilted her head to the side. “But you’re in love again. This time I think it’s real.”
Ashley bit at her lip and thought of Chase. His blue eyes. His kindness. His kisses. “He’s incredible, Mom.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because it’s Christmas and I love you.”
“Ah, baloney. You’re running. You didn’t want to fall in love and get engaged at Christmas again, so you ran.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I raised a wimp.”
Ashley raised her eyebrows. “I am not a wimp.”
“Hmm,” was all she said, but then her eyes lit up. “Come on. I’m letting your Aunt Suzy take over Christmas dinner. She thinks because Robert’s a chef, she knows more about cooking than me. Bah! I need details, juicy ones, and I need them quick.”
Ashley laughed and told her mom everything, starting with the first moment in Chase’s office, which her mom thought was hilarious.
It felt good to share. If only she knew that she wasn’t falling into her same pattern. If only she knew she could fully commit to Chase, that she wouldn’t run when she should be walking down the aisle.
Chapter Eleven
Chase made it to the beautiful cabin Kris was renting on the southwest side of the lake and was greeted first by her black Great Dane, Pepper. Kris welcomed him inside wearing only her stupid bathrobe again.
She was a crying, sobbing mess because Aaron had left her on Christmas.
Chase made an executive decision to protect himself and hopefully calm her down. He told her he’d make breakfast while she showered and put on warm winter clothes that covered her completely. He was not here to be seduced by her; he was here to be her friend.
For a few seconds, she looked like he’d slapped her. Then, despite the fact she was still crying, she tried to flirt with him. He explained she could either put on clothes without any skin hanging out or he was leaving.
Surprisingly, she listened.
He cooked omelets and French toast and she came back into the room looking much better. Thankfully, though her clothes were still skin-tight, there wasn’t any flesh hanging out.
As he ate breakfast and she picked at hers, she started talking. She talked and cried and talked and cried some more. For hours. It was awful. Chase had learned to exhibit compassion throughout his training, residency, and days as a doctor, but he was being pushed to his limit. He kept hoping his phone would beep and Ashley would be on the other end, but he only got a couple of messages from Grams asking him to come as soon as he could.
Kris told him everything from childhood on up. She’d been neglected and “bought off” by her parents. She went on about every boyfriend she’d ever had, starting in the seventh grade. Then she got into the story of Quill and how kind and respectful he was. He was the only man she hadn’t been able to seduce, and she’d never loved anyone like she loved him. He’d made her feel like she had value and a brain. When he broke up with her, she thought she was going to die. She admitted she’d been so into Chase and worked so hard to snare him because he looked like Quill and she missed Quill so much.
Chase didn’t have to do much more than nod and mumble “hmm” occasionally, but her sordid affairs and her sad life started wearing on him. Crazy how she portrayed happiness, exuberance, and near-perfection on social media, but it was all fake.
If only he could be with Ashley. There was nothing fake about Ashley.
Kris explained how when she found the writer “Pepper” and it was the same name as her dog, she knew that was fate. She and Todd schemed how to get back at Quill for daring to dump her. They planned to take Quill down using Pepper, clearing Todd’s name of accusations about gambling and throwing the game. Chase was furious that she’d hurt his half-brother and destroyed the career of whoever this Pepper person was. He forced himself to hold his tongue and let her finish her story.
When she finally seemed to run out of tears and words, he cleaned up the spoiled food he’d left out and she sat there watching him. It was after two p.m. What a wasted Christmas day. He should be happy he could help someone on Christmas, but he doubted anyone could truly help this woman. She portrayed a positive, happy, kind vibe online, but she was a shriveled, selfish mess inside. Nothing he could say would change her or help her. The best thing he could do was tell Quill the truth and let his brother decide if he wanted to take action against her or not.
He finished cleaning up and walked back over to the table. “I, um, need to go. My family’s expecting me for Christmas.”
The tears started again. She sniffled. “I’m all alone for Christmas because I finally got my moxie up and dumped Aaron for the final time.”
Chase was certain she’d said earlier that Aaron had dumped her, but he wasn’t about to bring that up and get more tears.
Her dark eyes suddenly got a self-serving glint in them. “Can I come with you? I’ll get all pretty and shiny and they’ll love me. Everybody loves me and it’ll be so much fun for your family to have a celebrity for Christmas.”
Chase’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t think that’s a great idea. You really want to spend Christmas with Quill Chadwick’s family?”
“That’s who you’re going to be with?” Her eyes widened. He wondered how she hadn’t connected the dots. She’d brought Chase here to meet Quill. She jutted out her chin. “I think they’ll love me still.”
He shook his head. “Not after I tell Quill that it wasn’t all on Todd Plowman. That you ruined Pepper’s career and tried to ruin Quill’s entire life.”
She started crying again.
His phone rang. He yanked it out, praying for Ashley. It was Grams. Was he saved? “Hello?” His nerves and hopes ramped up. He walked away toward the open living area, Kris crying behind him.
“Chase! Where on earth are you, my boy? I’ve been waiting all of Christmas for you.”
“Grams.” He felt like home was on the other end of this line. “I’m wishing I was with you too. I’m dealing with a problem here.”
“Oh, shoot. How long will you be?”
“I don’t know. She’s kind of an …” he lowered his voice, “unstable mess.” He looked over his shoulder.
Kris was wiping her eyes and glaring at him. How many tears could one body hold?
“It’s Kris Bellissima,” he admitted.