Chapter Nineteen
Chase glanced over at Jessie, glad she’d finally allowed herself to sleep. He knew the last few weeks had been hard on her. The travel was bad enough, but the pretense of being America’s sweetheart rodeo couple was draining. Especially when he was convinced he was the only one in the relationship fighting against an insane attraction.
After Chase took the championship at the Molalla Buckaroo Rodeo, they drove to Boise, Idaho, then flew to Calgary where he competed and came in second. From there, they flew back to Boise so he could compete in the Snake River Stampede in Nampa before they hit the road, driving to rodeos in Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota.
They awoke in Deadwood but hit the road before dawn, driving toward California, for Chase’s next rodeo. They’d taken turns driving, but she’d fallen asleep after they stopped for an early dinner in Salt Lake City. She had yet to awaken as they drove along the freeway in Nevada.
Admittedly, Jessie had been a trooper. She’d never once complained about anything. When he’d been bucked off and received no score on a few rides, she offered words of encouragement. When he’d done well and placed or won events, she’d cheered and shared in his elation. The times he’d grown grumpy or frustrated, she’d plied him with Skittles and Snickers, his two favorite candies. She’d done more than her share of the driving, giving him time to rest as they criss-crossed their way across several states.
Through it all, she’d been a pillar of strength and support he’d quickly grown accustomed to leaning on. Her quiet, calm presence brought him a level of peace and contentment he’d never known.
No matter how she felt about him, he viewed her as his personal good luck charm. Since she’d started traveling with him, he’d won or placed in more events than he had the rest of the year combined. Next week, when he took her home and went back out on the road, alone, he contemplated if leaving her behind just might kill him.
It was for the best, though. Reporters claimed Chase was on fire with his rodeo career as he racked up wins and cemented his spot as one of the participants at the finals rodeo. What no one knew was the fire that burned the brightest inside him was for his wife.
He couldn’t even begin to describe or decipher his feelings for Jessie. She suited him more perfectly than any woman he’d ever met did. However, the last few weeks had confirmed what he’d known all along. A full-time rodeo career and family didn’t mix. Any thoughts he had of wooing her, of convincing her to remain his wife because he loved her more than life itself had slowly ebbed under the pressure and stress of the past three weeks.
Multiple times, he’d found her awake in the wee hours of the morning, completing projects she’d promised to her clients because she had no time to work during the day.
She could have pouted and whined, but she hadn’t. Not a single word had been said about her lack of sleep, lack of privacy, lack of anything.
Chase admired Jessie more than he’d ever admired anyone. The girl had grown up rejected by her parents, built a thriving business, and took whatever life handed her square on the jaw.
Unlike many women he knew, Jessie didn’t seem to care about looking like a runway model that spent hours on hair, clothes and makeup. Chase liked her fresh face and unpretentious appearance. Jessie wasn’t outgoing. He sensed she struggled with self-esteem and self-worth, but didn’t everyone from time to time?
Her faults and quirks only endeared her more to Chase. In truth, what he saw when he looked at Jessie was a sweet, lovely girl with a broad streak of loyalty and determination a mile wide. Without a doubt, she was the nicest person he’d ever met.
There were times the last few weeks when people had been downright offensive or rude to her. He expected her to speak up, to put them in their place, to say something, but she didn’t. She merely ignored what they said or replied to the cutting words with a kind smile.
If Chase hadn’t already been in love with her before this marathon of rodeos they’d been on, he was in it deep now.
No matter what happened in the future when they parted ways, he’d never forget the enticing fragrance that surrounded her, the silky gleam of her hair, or the light that shimmered in her incredible blue eyes.
“Where are we?” Jessie asked as she sat up, slightly disoriented, and rubbed grit from those beautiful eyes he’d been thinking about.
“It’s about three hours until we hit Reno.” Chase had been fighting to keep his eyes open for the last hundred miles and knew he couldn’t keep driving much longer. He’d hoped Jessie would feel like driving when she awakened, but from the exhaustion riding her every move, he couldn’t ask it of her.
He turned a weary smile her way and pointed to the lights of a small town in the distance. “Although we planned to make it to Reno tonight, I’m about done in. Do you mind if we get a room at whatever town is coming up?”
“No. That sounds good to me.” Jessie rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms then slumped back against the seat. “Do you want me to drive?”
“That’s okay, Jess. You’re wiped out, too. Let’s just get some sleep and be ready to get back at it in the morning.”
“You’re the boss,” she said, offering him a sleepy smile that sent heat curling through his chest.
Silence settled over them as they drove into the town that was nothing more than a gas station and a roadside motel that looked like a transplant from a low budget slasher film.
“We can keep going,” Chase said, mindful of the wary look on Jessie’s face as he pulled in front of the motel. Only one other pickup sat in the parking area, indicating they wouldn’t have trouble securing rooms.
“We’re both too tired for that. How bad can it be?” Jessie asked as she unfastened her seatbelt and turned to grab her bags from the backseat. Chase snatched his bag in his hand then hurried around to open her door and take the carry-on bag from her while she hefted her shoulder bag with her laptop and her purse.
The hotel lobby looked shabby and the dim lights made it hard to judge if shadows or dust bunnies hovered in the corners.
A bald-headed man with a round pot belly that he scratched as he moved sauntered up to the desk when the bell above the door tinkled, announcing their arrival.
“Need a room?” he asked, leaning beefy arms against the counter.
“Two rooms, please,” Chase said, tamping down the urge to punch the man in the nose when he blatantly leered at Jessie. Even with wisps of hair falling out of the neat braid she’d woven that morning and not a speck of makeup on her face except for a bit of mascara, she still looked enchanting. She was lovely in a wholesome, unsullied sense that greatly appealed to Chase. Evidently, it appealed to other members of the male species, too.
“Ain’t got two rooms to give ya, but I do have one last room available.” The man reached beneath the desk and dangled a key on a chunky dented ring on his meaty finger.
“But there’s only one vehicle out there besides ours,” Chase said, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the parking lot.
The man shrugged and grinned, revealing discolored teeth that looked like a dentist’s worst nightmare. “Have a group coming in later. They called ahead and reserved the rooms.”
Chase looked to Jessie and she nodded her head, agreeing they would have to share a room. Obviously too tired to care, he couldn’t blame her. He was past the point of anything except wanting to sleep.
“We’ll take it.” Chase paid for the room in cash, avoiding the necessity of sharing his name or credit card number with the desk clerk.
“It’s down on the end,” the man said, dropping the cash in a drawer then sauntering back into the room behind the front desk.
Chase held the door for Jessie and together they made their way down the sidewalk to the last room.
At some point, the door had been painted bright red. Now, it looked more like faded orange, with several dents in the surface, as though someone had tried to kick it down.
Chase stuck the key in the lock and opened the door then stepped inside, flicking on the light.
The carpet bore greasy stains, the wallpaper peeled off in strips, and the room reeked of cigarettes. Chase left the door open and tossed their bags on the table where an older model television rested. He plunked down on the bed and flopped back.
“For gosh sakes, don’t sit on that thing!” Jessie flapped her hand at him, motioning for him to get to his feet.
Too tired to move, he couldn’t even muster an appropriate sense of disappointment that the mattress was hard and lumpy.
“It’s fine, Jessie. Let’s get ready for bed and go to sleep.”
She grabbed his hand and tugged on it while clutching her bag close to her with the other. “I’m not kidding, Chase. Get off that thing. Considering what this room looks like, you could catch something fatal from it.”
He sat up and stared at her. “What are you talking about? It’s just a bedspread.”
“One that, no doubt, hasn’t been laundered for a very long time, if ever.” She drew her shoulder bag closer so there was no chance of it touching anything and motioned at him to get off the bed again. “When I was in college, I worked at a sleazy motel like this one for a few months until I could find a better job. You would not believe the things people do on those bedspreads. If you could look at it under a microscope or a black light, it would give you a bad case of the willies. The only thing with more germs in here is probably the toilet.”
Chase gave her a look that said she was being dramatic until she moved to the head of the bed and lifted the corner of the mattress. She shrieked and he jumped up, glancing at little bugs skittering between the mattress and boxed springs.
“I’m not staying anywhere there are bedbugs! I’ll sleep in the truck, but I’m not staying here!” Jessie ran outside with Chase close behind her, bags in his hand.
He battled the urge to rip off his clothes to make sure none of the bugs had already hitched a ride. What if they’d climbed in his hair? He started to fork a hand through it then thought better of it.
Jessie must have felt the same sense of heebie-jeebies he experienced as she shivered. A repulsed look chased the fatigue from her face.
Chase opened the door to the motel’s lobby and tossed the key at the surprised man behind the desk. “We’re leaving.”
He strode over to where he’d parked the pickup and accepted the wad of sanitizing wipes Jessie gave him, scrubbing his hands.
For good measure, he yanked off his shirt and gave it a thorough shake then stuffed it in the plastic bag Jessie handed to him. He brushed off the backs of his jeans while she stomped her feet, unconvinced she’d escaped the filthy room bug-free.
When she looked up and caught his eye, a slow grin spread across her face. Chase raised an eyebrow and smirked. Soon, the two of them were laughing so hard they could hardly stand up.
Finally, their laughter subsided and Chase put a hand to her back. “Come on, Jess. Let’s go on to Reno. I’m wide awake now.” While she climbed into the truck, he dug into his bag and found a clean T-shirt, pulling it on before he slid behind the wheel.
They were a mile down the road when she leaned back and smiled at him again. “I told you not to sit on the bed.”
“Next time, I’ll listen.”
“What if she doesn’t like me?” Jessie asked uncertainly as Chase parked the pickup in the driveway of a modest one-story home in a neighborhood of houses that appeared to belong to retirees. If the garden gnomes decorating the yards on the street ever came to life, there were enough of them to populate their own city.
He placed a hand on Jessie’s knee and gave it a squeeze. “Granny is going to love you.” Almost as much as I do. “Trust me.” Her leg trembled beneath his fingers and he wanted to do something to reassure her, but didn’t know what.
She’d grown increasingly nervous and quiet as they drove to Monterey to his grandmother’s home in a quiet suburb.
Chase had grown up less than a mile away and often made his way to his Granny’s house when his parents didn’t have time for him.
He jogged around the pickup and opened the door, giving Jessie a hand as she slid off the seat. Anxious, she brushed a hand down the skirt of her sundress, trying to smooth out a wrinkle.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear then took her hand in his and led her up the walk.
Before they reached the door, it opened and a woman with spiky gray hair, orange lipstick, and eyes the same color as Chase’s bustled outside with a broad smile.
“Oh, Bucky! It’s about time you got here!” Merlene Jarrett hugged her grandson and patted his cheeks affectionately before turning to Jessie. “And you must be the girl he married that I’ve heard so much about.”
Chase moved closer to Jessie, placing a hand to her back. “Granny, this is Jessica Rose. Jessie, this is my grandmother, Merlene.”
“Just call me Granny, sweetheart, like everyone else does. Oh, it is so good to finally meet you!” Granny wrapped her thin arms around Jessie and gave her a tight squeeze. She turned to look at Chase and winked. “She’s just a doll, Chase. I couldn’t have picked better if you’d let me. Look at those blue eyes, clear skin, and sweet face. Why she’s just wonderful! Not at all like those tacky, tasteless tramps that are forever and always chasing after you.”
He rolled his eyes and grinned at his wife. His grandmother’s profuse words of praise made Jessie blush. “Do you think we could go inside? It’s kinda hot out and I’d sure enjoy a glass of your lemonade.”
“Of course, come right in.” Granny wrapped her arm around Jessie’s waist and led her inside the house.
As he stepped inside and closed the door, he watched his grandmother whisper something to Jessie that made her blush deepen, but she smiled and nodded her head before looking back at Chase.
His heart thundered in his chest as he watched the two women he loved the most walk into Granny’s kitchen.
Jessie stood almost a foot above his grandmother. She wore wedge sandals with a soft floral cotton sundress that accented the blue of her eyes and the pink of her lips. His grandmother, ever given to a bit of flamboyant flair, wore a top covered in glittered sunflowers with a pair of turquoise crop pants. Merlene Jarrett had never experienced the problem of getting lost in the crowd.
As they enjoyed lemonade and slices of crème cake, Granny carried the conversation, stopping to ask Jessie an occasional question or comment about how well Chase had done in rodeos the last few weeks.
After Granny insisted Chase grill steaks while she and Jessie made the rest of the meal, they ate dinner on the patio and watched birds flit among the dozens of birdfeeders occupying the backyard.
Once the dinner dishes were out of the way, Granny sat down on the couch with stacks of photo albums and took Jessie on a stroll through Chase’s childhood. She started with embarrassing photos of him streaking through the house without a stitch of clothes on to photos of him in a surfing competition a month after he graduated from high school. In the image, his hair was long and bleached almost white from the sun. A shell necklace stood out against the dark tan of his neck and bare chest.
Jessie studied the photo then shot him a grin that made him battle the urge to kiss her.
Since Granny was under the impression they were well and truly married, he didn’t want to shatter her delusion. Besides, the old girl couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. The last thing he needed was her blabbing to someone that Chase was only married to keep his sponsors and endorsement deals.
While he’d spent all those months in the winter and spring away from Jessie, he’d posed for more ads than he ever hoped to again. In spite of how much he disliked posturing for the advertisements, the companies who’d asked him to endorse their products had paid incredibly well. His healthy bank account reflected his good fortune at landing the deals, thanks in a big part to Jessie.
When shadows grew long and Granny decided it was time for bed, she sent Chase out to get the luggage and showed Jessie to the guest bedroom.
“I used to have two rooms, but I decided to use one as my yoga room. I have a mat and everything in there. It’s just perfect. I hope you find this room to your liking,” Granny said as she flicked on a light and stood to the side so Jessie could step inside the colorful room.
“It’s wonderful, Granny. Thank you for inviting us to stay with you.”
Granny squeezed her arm and smiled. “I’m just glad my grandson agreed to come for a visit. He’s always so busy, I hardly get to see him anymore. Bucky was never one to let the grass grow under his feet.”
Jessie tipped her head to the side and looked at the older woman. “Why do you call him Bucky?”
Granny laughed and turned down the eggplant-colored comforter on the bed. “That boy always had a mind of his own, constantly bucking against the rules. His grandfather started calling him Bucky and it stuck.”
Jessie grinned and helped Granny toss aside the assortment of throw pillows and turn down sheets that matched the comforter. The bedding was quite luxurious, but looked out of place in the room with sunflower yellow walls and hot pink curtains. Obviously, Merlene Jarrett liked a bright array of colors.
“What stories are you telling, Granny?” Chase asked as he entered the room with their bags, setting them down on the floor by the closet.
“Nothing that isn’t true, sweet pea.” Granny patted his cheek. “If you two need anything, holler, but do it loudly. Once I take out my hearing aids, a tank could drive through the house and I wouldn’t hear a thing.”
“We’ll be fine, Granny. Good night.” Chase gave his grandmother a hug and kiss, then stood aside as Jessie hugged her.
Granny patted Jessie’s cheek and smiled. “Sleep well, sweet girl.”
With a wink at Chase, she disappeared down the hall to her bedroom.
“I’ll let you get ready for bed while I make sure Granny locked the doors,” Chase said, backing out of the room. “No need to rush.”
Jessie nodded and gathered her things, taking them into the bathroom next door to the bedroom. After changing into a pair of rose-printed pajamas, brushing out the hair she’d worn pinned up, and readying for bed, she returned to the bedroom to find Chase lounging on the bed in his pajama bottoms with a book in his hand. With his glasses on, Jessie found him almost irresistible. He set aside the book, removed his glasses, and stood. He grabbed his shaving kit and headed into the bathroom.
Jessie turned off the overhead light and clicked on a bedside lamp, admiring a collection of framed photographs on the nightstand. Several were of Chase with a young girl Jessie was sure had to be Ashley. There were also several older photographs. One showed a soldier in a World War II uniform. She wondered if the man was Chase’s grandfather or great-grandfather.
“Ready for sleep?” he asked as he came back in the room and shut the door. He walked around the king-sized bed and climbed in on the opposite side. In the three weeks they’d traveled together, they’d stayed in the same room multiple times. Usually, Chase managed to get a room with two queen beds, but a few times they’d had to share a king bed. Jessie dealt with her attraction to the virile, bare-chested man beside her by turning away from him and forcing herself to cling to the edge of the bed.
“It was nice to meet your grandmother, Chase. She’s a real pistol.”
He smiled. “She is at that. Thank you for being so good with her. Granny isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.”
“Well, I think she’s great.” Jessie rolled onto her side and clicked off the lamp. “Night, Chase.”
“Night, Jess. Sleep as long as you want in the morning. For once, we aren’t in a rush.”
“That’s good,” she said on a soft whisper. Exhaustion weighed heavy on her eyes as she closed them and relaxed her tired limbs. Sleep had just settled over her when a jolt brought her awake. The mattress moved, lifting her head and feet almost a foot upward.
Groggy and confused, she began to panic as the bed continued to move. She reached over to Chase’s side to discover the mattress was flat. Her fingers found the edge of the fitted sheet covering her side of the bed. Unaware the guest bed had a split adjustable mattress when she climbed in, she was fully aware of the fact now.
Struggling to think in her drowsy state, she felt around her, attempting to locate the remote. Suddenly, the bed returned to a flat position. Jessie’s head bounced on the pillow as the support beneath her rapidly shifted. Convinced she’d somehow rolled over on the control, she searched for it, but didn’t find anything beneath her.
Releasing a long breath, she rolled onto her side, too weary to stay awake. She’d almost returned to sleep when the head and feet of the mattress lifted again, inching closer until she felt trapped in the middle.
“Oh!” she said, annoyed and exasperated. Before she could feel around for the controls, the bed flattened again.
Too drained to give it more thought, she tried for a third time to go to sleep. With a deep breath, she forced herself to relax, but the mattress again shifted. She reached down along the side of the bed. Elated to find the remote, she began pushing buttons.
Finally, the mattress returned to a flat position. She kept the remote in her hand and the moment she felt her feet begin to rise she pushed every button her fingers could find in the dark.
“Ugh!” Chase grunted when his mattress folded so high his knees were perilously close to touching his nose.
“What’s going on?” Jessie asked in a testy whisper.
“The control on this stupid bed doesn’t work right. I keep pushing the button but nothing happens. When I stopped pushing the controls, it decided to turn me into a pretzel.”
Worn-out beyond the ability to think straight, Jessie giggled and pushed one of the buttons on the control in her hand.
“Hey, knock that off,” he warned as his mattress threatened to squeeze him.
More giggles spilled out of her.
“I’m bailing before this thing kills me,” Chase said, trying to scoot out of the bed with his feet in the air and drawing ever closer to his head. Scooting on his backside, he took one scoot too close to the edge of the bed and fell out.
A thump followed by dark mutters made her bury her face in the pillow to cover her laughter. Chase bumped into the dresser and almost knocked a lamp to the floor before he managed to turn it on.
“That’s enough out of you,” he chastised as light illuminated the room. The grin on his face softened his stern tone. The two mattresses, both at odd angles, looked like a deformed wave. “Granny has had this thing since the first one rolled onto the showroom floor. Ashley and I used to think it was great fun to play with it, but it’s a little different when you’re actually trying to sleep on the darn thing.”
“Agreed.” Jessie pushed her remote again and the mattress on Chase’s side slowly returned to a level position.
“So you were trying to bring about my demise. Is that it?” Chase pushed the remote on his side until Jessie was no longer squished. He then switched the remotes so they were on the appropriate sides.
“Do you suppose your grandmother did that on purpose or accident?” Jessie asked as she raised her head and set the remote on the nightstand.
“With Granny, most likely on purpose.” Chase waved a hand toward the door. “In fact, she’s probably in her room cackling to herself right now, wondering which one of us would figure this out first.”
“If you’d just left things alone, we both could be asleep by now,” Jessie said, rolling onto her side.
“Let sleeping dogs lie, huh?” Chase said. He climbed back in bed and adjusted the head and feet on his mattress with a slight incline before flicking off the light.
“I’ll choose to ignore the fact you just called me a dog and blame it on duress and weariness. Good night.” Jessie closed her eyes and went to sleep with a smile on her face.
The next morning, Chase awoke early and rolled onto his back. He opened his eyes and recognized the sunflower-yellow walls. Silently turning onto his side, he watched Jessie sleep, admiring the sweep of dark eyelashes resting on her smooth cheeks and the slight smile on her soft lips. He wondered what thoughts flew through her dreams, giving her such a serene, happy appearance.
He reached out and brushed a long strand of hair away from her face, letting the silky strands slide through his fingers.
Before he succumbed to the desires he found harder and harder to control, he slid out of bed and dressed in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, then laced up a pair of running shoes.
Keeping in top physical condition was vital to his success. He worked out every chance he got, but with his schedule what he did and where was as varied as the places he traveled.
This morning, he’d take advantage of the opportunity to go for a run on the beach. Granny only lived half a mile from a nice beach and it had been too long since he’d greeted the sun on the sand.
After tucking his cell phone in his pocket, he scribbled a quick note on a pad by Granny’s phone in the kitchen and left the paper on the counter then jogged out the door.
An hour later, he returned to the house to find Granny in the backyard, sipping coffee and talking to her birds.
“Hi, Granny!” Chase said, bending down to kiss her cheek before taking a seat across from her.
“Did you enjoy your run, Bucky?”
He nodded, mopping sweat off his face with the hem of his shirt. “I did, Granny. It’s been a while since I’ve run on the beach. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it.”
“You always did like the water,” she said, tossing him an indulgent smile before throwing out a handful of breadcrumbs.
“Is Jessie up?” he asked as he tugged off his shirt and wiped it over his face.
“I heard the shower running just before I came out here.” Granny gave him a long look then turned back to her birds. “You can join her if you like.”
Chase felt heat sear up his neck and burn his ears. “Granny! I swear…”
She laughed and slapped his leg. “I hope you don’t. It’s a terrible habit, honey. One you should think about giving up now that you’re a respectable married man.”
He rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. “You are a pill, Merlene Jarrett!”
“And don’t you forget it!”
Her laughter followed him into the kitchen and down the hall. The bathroom was empty, so he stepped inside, ready to wash away the sweat from his run. The heaviness in the air suggested Jessie had just taken a hot shower. Thoughts of his wife standing beneath a spray of water caused his blood to surge through his veins. Then the heat morphed to ice as he turned around and discovered the white bath mat in front of the shower covered in blood. Bright red splotches were everywhere. There was even a set of bloody footprints in the middle of the mat.
Had Jessie sliced open her foot or leg? Was she hemorrhaging? About to bleed to death?
Frantic, he tore open the bathroom door and shoved open the bedroom door with such force it banged against the inside wall. Jessie squeaked in surprise as she spun around to look at him. She stood in front of her suitcase in a set of lacy pink undergarments that set his temperature spiraling upward at such a rapid rate it made him lightheaded.
Before she could protest, he picked her up and gently laid her on the bed, searching her feet and legs for a gaping, open wound.
“What happened? Where are you hurt?” he asked, running his hands over her exposed skin. He was ready to take her to the nearest hospital if he didn’t first succumb to the need to explore every inch of her delectable softness. Jessie was even more beautiful than he’d frequently imagined, with long legs and ripe curves.
She squirmed and pushed against him, trying to sit up. “What are you doing?” she asked, finally rolling away from him and coming to her feet. She grasped the edge of the comforter and pulled it in front of her.
Chase stood and attempted to take it away from her. “All the blood in the bathroom… did you cut yourself? Do you need stitches?”
“Blood in the bathroom? What are you talking about?” she asked, clutching the comforter to her chest and doing her best to wrap it around her body.
“Just look,” he said. In spite of the comforter trailing behind her, he took her arm in his hand and guided her into the bathroom. Drops of red slowly faded from the bath mat.
“Oh, that.” Jessie waved her hand at it and returned to the bedroom.
“That? I walked in to find bloody footprints and gory splashes. It looked like the makings of a crime scene.” Chase ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he moved behind her. He settled his hands on her bare shoulders. “Are you or are you not hurt?”
“Not.” Jessie pulled away from him and managed to tug a dress over her head while still hiding behind the comforter. She settled the dress around her then tossed the comforter on the bed. “Your grandmother has quite a sense of humor. It’s one of those bath mats that looks like it’s bloody when it gets wet. I freaked out for a minute until I realized what it was. I think they call it a psycho bath mat.”
“It’s not the only thing around here that’s psycho,” he growled, then took a change of clothes in his hand and returned to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him for good measure.
When he entered the kitchen twenty minutes later, Jessie wore an apron over her dress. She and Granny laughed as Jessie told the other woman about the look on Chase’s face as he plowed into their room, intent on taking her to the hospital.
“That mat has been the best thing I’ve ever purchased. I get the biggest kick out of sending people into a panic when they step on it.”
“You’ll give someone a stroke some day.” Chase shook a finger at his grandmother as he stepped into the room. “I lost at least ten years off my life, thinking Jessie was bleeding to death.”
“That’s just because you love her, sweet boy.” Granny patted his cheek then went back to scrambling eggs.
Jessie shook her head and Chase feigned ignorance as he poured a glass of juice. The last thing he needed was for his wife to know how desperately he wanted her, how deeply he loved her, how completely he needed her.