What would he do if Bailey tried to get rid of him? Yeah, he’d end up down here in Autre every weekend. Maybe more if needed.
That thought struck out of the blue.
Would he quit medical school at Georgetown to move down here to convince Bailey he wanted her above all else?
Yes.
After only two weeks?
But still, the answer was yes.
He wanted a shot at this. He sensed that this, with her, was bigger than anything else he was going to ever do. This would affect everything else. This would be what he wanted no matter what job he had and where.
He knew that two weeks shouldn’t be enough time to know that, but he’d only spent two weeks in Autre last summer and that had changed him completely.
Two weeks to fall in love after he’d met The One? Yeah, that seemed about right.
“That doesn’t seem a little stalkerish?” Mitch asked.
“Why do you boys always make this all so difficult?”
Chase twisted and looked up at Ellie. Owen and Mitch’s grandmother and one of Chase’s favorite people on the planet.
He grinned. Mitch was about to get some grandma advice. And he already knew it was going to be good.
“Tell her what you’re thinkin’, Mitchell,” Ellie said, planting her hands on her thin hips and frowning at the phone as if Mitch could see her. “Don’t be weird about it. Just say, I think I’m crazy about you, and I want to find out if this can work out. For God’s sake.” She looked up at Owen and then at Chase. “You all make this seem like some huge mysterious, magical thing. You don’t have to wait for planets to line up or for some big sign like your favorite song to play just as the full moon comes up over the hill when the scent of lilacs drifts through your window.”
She rolled her eyes.
Owen laughed. “You and this family are the biggest fuckin’ romantics in the entire universe, Ellie.”
Yes, they all called their grandmother Ellie and their grandfather Leo. Because all of their grandparents on both sides of the family lived in town, so simply referring to them as “grandma” and “grandpa” had never been specific enough.
“Sure, we’re romantic,” Ellie said. “We know when it’s right and we’re willing to go big when that happens.”
It was true that the Landrys were known for their grand, romantic gestures. It was countywide legend, actually. But Chase supposed that didn’t mean they thought the falling-in-love part was all that complicated.
“Well, I won’t tell Cora that you think her love potion is bullshit,” Chase said.
Cora made all kinds of “potions” and balms and salves and other homemade “cures”. Chase fully intended to incorporate some of those things into his medical practice when he came back to Autre for good. And he was never going to tell his medical school classmates about it.
“Oh, she knows it’s bullshit,” Ellie said. “Who would believe a love potion? You can’t make love happen.”
“But… wait… what else of hers is bullshit?” Chase asked with a frown.
Mitch snorted and Owen laughed.
“Oh honey,” Ellie said. She put an affectionate hand on Chase’s cheek.
“The only stuff that’s bullshit is the stuff that doesn’t work,” Ellie said placatingly.
“But…” In his mind, Chase ran though all of the things he’d tried while in Autre. “All of it worked. Didn’t it?”
“Then I guess it’s all real,” Ellie said with a shrug.
“That’s not how science works,” Chase said.
Ellie laughed. “Oh well, we aren’t talking about science.”
“Then what are we talking about?”
“Love.”
“Love isn’t science?” Chase asked.
“Is it?” Ellie challenged in return. “You tellin’ me that what you’re feeling for that beautiful accident-waitin’-to-happen over there is all just synapses and endorphins?”
“Well…” Chase’s gaze went to Bailey again.
“Exactly,” Ellie said after a moment. “You’ve probably had your hormones get all stirred up before. Chemistry and whatever. But what you feel for Bailey is different. And I don’t think you can explain it with science.”
“But,” Chase tried again, “science is real.”
“Well, of course it’s real,” Ellie said with another eye roll. “Germs and stuff are real. You come out of the bathroom without washing your hands or cough on my bar without covering your mouth, and I’ll slap you upside the head and cut you off from gumbo for a week.”
“So…” Chase wasn’t sure what he wanted her to fill in there.
“So science and things beyond science can both be true at the same time,” Ellie said.
Chase thought about that. That sounded…reasonable. “Then Cora’s potions and creams do actually work?” He really wanted those to be actual remedies and not just plain old lotions and oils that happened to smell good and feel good on the skin. He wanted them to work. He didn’t want their healing powers to be all in his head.
Ellie blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m tellin’ you that you boys are bein’ nitpicky dumbasses.”
“Dumbasses?” Chase repeated. “To want to prove something is true?”
“Good lord,” Ellie muttered. “Do you need a research paper to tell you something is working if you can see it and feel it with your own eyes and heart?” she asked.
She took a breath. “If millions of people use condoms and there are fewer women gettin’ knocked up, then you know that the condoms are working, right? If people start wearin’ seat belts and more people walk away from car crashes, you know the seat belts are working. If you burn your hand and put a salve on it and it feels better the next day, then it worked to make your hand feel better. And if you find a woman who makes you think about turning your whole life upside down to be with her, then you’re falling in love with her.” Ellie’s voice softened. “Nothing changes a life more than love does.”
“I…” Chase wasn’t sure what he’d been about to say. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
Ellie scoffed. “Of course I’m right. I’m old. I know a lot of shit by now.”
Chase snorted. Then Ellie smiled at Chase and Owen, patted their cheeks, and turned and left.
“Well, there you go,” Chase finally said to Mitch.
“She’s gone?”
“Dropped her knowledge and then went to harass someone else,” Chase said. “You feel better?”
“I don’t know how we got from salves to me moving to Iowa, but, yeah, I guess I do.”
“So I need to pack your stuff and haul it up to Iowa?” Owen asked.
“Maybe,” Mitch said thoughtfully. “I need to talk to Paige.”
“Okay, good luck,” Owen told him. “But, in all seriousness, Ellie has a point. When you find the girl that makes you feel different. Different from the other girls but also like you’re a different person, better than you were before, then she’s worth a U-Haul and a change-of-address form at the post office.”