The Son He Never Knew. KRISTI GOLD
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“I guess we can make do,” she said, though she hated not having control over claiming her own belongings. “But we will need food.”
“I’ll send Sue over with some lunch as soon as I’m back at the department. She can bring you some groceries after work.”
Jess didn’t particularly care for that idea. “Again, I don’t have any cash and I really wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”
“Sue won’t mind as long as I promise to cover the cost, which I will.”
“I have my own money, Chase.”
“I’m sure you do, and you can pay me back by making me dinner sometime. I could go for some mac and cheese or tuna fish sandwiches.”
He still thought she was the girl who couldn’t cook to save her life. Little did he know, she’d learned a lot in his absence. “Fine. But I still don’t want Sue to have to come all the way out here.”
Chase inclined his head and studied her a few moments. “If you’re worried she’ll tell someone your whereabouts, don’t. You can trust her.”
Jess’s concerns had more to do with shame than privacy. But her growing boy needed to eat and until she had her own transportation, she’d have to rely on the kindness of others. “Okay. As long as you promise I’ll have my car back by tomorrow.”
“I promise,” he said.
Jess noticed her son had taken a seat in the yellow-striped chair near the door, still stoic and silent. “Do you want to pick out your room, Danny?” she asked, hoping to somehow engage him.
He shook his head no and studied the toe of his sneaker.
“Well, I’m going to take a look around and you can decide later,” she said. “Don’t go anywhere unless you tell me.” Like that would happen since he still refused to speak.
Jess crossed the room into an adjacent hallway and came to the first door to her right—a small bathroom with a claw-foot tub on the opposite wall. When she heard heavy footfalls, she glanced back to see Chase filling the doorway. “This is great,” she said as she examined the tub that appeared to be clean and in decent shape except for a few nicks here and there. “Unfortunately, no shower. Is there another bathroom?”
“Nope. But I can rig you a hand-held when I come back tomorrow.”
Funny, she’d gone from four fully-equipped baths to one. “I’d appreciate that.” She’d also appreciate it if he stepped back to give her some space.
When he failed to move, Jess brushed past him and continued her investigation of the premises. The first bedroom housed two sets of bunk beds, the second two double beds, all reminders that a large family had once lived there. At the end of the corridor, she came upon the largest room that held a dresser and another double bed with an iron headboard that looked to be as old as the house itself.
Again she turned to find Chase with a shoulder propped against the frame. “I assume this is the master bedroom.”
He sent her a half-smile. “Yep. The place where the Wooleys made all the little Wooleys.”
He could have gone all day without mentioning that. “Let’s hope the mattress has since been replaced. And speaking of that, I noticed all the beds have been stripped.”
“Gabe said there’s clean linens in the hall closet.”
At least she wouldn’t have to bring those from the house. “Good. What about the washer and dryer?”
“Washer but no dryer. Nita hung her clothes on the line.”
Jess felt as if she’d unwittingly stepped back in time. “I suppose that’s why they invented coin-operated laundries.” And the nearest one happened to be five miles away.
“The washer’s in a small room off the kitchen,” Chase said as he stepped into the bedroom, making the adequate space seemed too cramped for Jess’s comfort.
She clapped her hands together enthusiastically. “Let’s go see the kitchen, shall we?” When Chase laughed, taking her by surprise, Jess asked, “What’s so amusing?”
“For a minute there I saw the head cheerleader coming out in you.”
She hadn’t had anything to cheer about in years. “That girl went away a long time ago. If you don’t believe me, take a gander at my backside.”
Chase raked his gaze down her body and back up again. “You don’t look all that different, Jess.”
“Try telling that to Dalton.” She regretted the acid comment the moment it left her mouth.
Chase scowled as he always did whenever she mentioned his archenemy’s name. “You shouldn’t care what that bastard thinks.”
Old verbal wounds were hard to heal. “I don’t care about anything but seeing the kitchen.”
He stepped aside and made a sweeping gesture toward the hall. “After you.”
Jess once more passed through the living room where Danny was rooted in the same spot, still wearing his gray down jacket as if he had no intention of staying. As soon as she had some alone time with him, she’d explain this was only a temporary home. Yet she wasn’t certain he truly cared one way or the other. And if his demeanor didn’t change in the next day or two, she’d be forced to seek professional help for him. She prayed she could wait at least until the current legal storm blew over. If not, she’d have to trust that a counselor would be bound by patient confidentiality should Danny decide to reveal the events leading up to Dalton’s injuries. Right now she had to concentrate on getting her bearings so they could begin to move in.
With that in mind, she found her way into the kitchen with a small dining area housing a wooden table, benches on both sides and a chair on each end. She began opening cabinets and drawers to discover myriad pots, pans, dishes, glasses and utensils. When she heard Chase approaching, she turned and leaned back against the well-worn butcher-block counter. “There’s enough equipment here to feed an army.”
“That pretty much describes the Wooley family,” he said as he entered the room, dropped into one chair at the table and stretched his long legs out before him.
Jess was suddenly struck by his undeniable presence and authority, from the top of his cowboy hat to the tip of his boots. He portrayed old-West lawman to a T. Oddly, everything about him kept her off balance, as if she didn’t really know him at all. In many ways, that was accurate.
She moved to the massive farm sink that provided a nice view of the pasture from the window above it. “This is really a pretty place.”
Before Jess even realized he’d left the table, Chase reached around her and turned on the faucet, his body flush against her back. “The well’s supposed to be working, but Gabe says to check the water since we’ve had a fairly long dry spell. I can sure relate to that.”
Jess glanced back to see his half-smile and a hint of the consummate charmer he’d always been. “I have a hard time believing that.” Even if for some strange reason, she hoped it were true.
“You know how it is around here, Jess,” he said. “Not a whole lot of people our age in Placid.”
She returned his smile. “Poor Deputy Reed. No one to irrigate his crops.”
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Don’t worry your pretty head over me. I get by.”
Getting by seemed to be the recent story of her life. Getting away from Chase seemed to be the better part of valor. The innuendo had begun to take its toll on her composure, especially when he remained so close she could trace a line around his lips with a fingertip with little effort. The fact that his proximity, his words, could affect her at a time like this was beyond explanation.
Right when she started to move away, Chase