Chapter 11

I heard the toot of a horn. I picked up my suitcases and walked down the hallway. Chase was standing in the lounge room, looking at the taxi.

Chase's eyes were on me as soon as I entered the room. He looked at the suitcases then back at me.

"So, you're leaving?" He crossed his arms, and something flashed across his face that I couldn't understand.

"You don't want me to come. You made that clear." I clenched the suitcase handle tighter. "I would hate to get in your way, and I was clearly doing that. You're right. I have Max."

Just because I was going to Max's didn't mean I was staying. I was just going to stay there until I figured out where to go next.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to Chase because a part of me, a very large part, told me we had a journey to go on together, but something had changed in him and his mind had changed also.

I waited for him to stop me. To tell me something - anything! But he just stood there quietly.

"Well, I better go." I walked past him and the couch, heading for the foyer. I had reached the door when I found him behind me.

"Let me carry your bags." He went to take it off me and I pulled back.

"It's okay Chase, you have already done enough. Thank your sisters and brothers for me. They all seem lovely." I opened the front door and walked down the porch steps. My heart was telling me to turn back, but my head was telling me to keep moving.

This man was dangerous. This man had pushed me away. Still, all I wanted was him.

The taxi driver took my suitcase and bags off me and put them in the trunk.

I turned to see Chase standing at the front door, a thoughtful look on his face. I waved and then got in the taxi. My heart was drumming loudly and I was positive everyone could hear it.

As the taxi pulled away, I glanced out the back window to see Chase down the porch steps, bare feet on the cold dirt. Was he going to stop me? I kept looking at him until we went around a bend. I guess it didn't matter now because he didn't, he let me go and something was telling me he was relieved about it.

***

Chase's Point of View

I did the right thing.

I kept telling myself during the day. I kept telling myself that when I couldn't sleep that night and I was telling myself that now as I waited for the kettle to boil.

Chloe deserved better than what I could give her. She deserved a home. I didn't have a home; I just went from club to club, sorting out shit from one place to the next. She was young, fresh and bright, and she deserved to have someone like herself. She didn't deserve to be left with me.

"Hey, Chase." The front door opened but I heard Sammie talking before she even entered. She was noisy like that. "God, it’s after 1pm, is Chloe still not up?"

My head whipped around. Right. I hadn't told anyone.

"Chloe's not here."

"Did she go into town? Because I could have taken her."

"No, she's gone." The kettle boiled and I poured myself a coffee.

"What do you mean gone?" Sammie had her arms crossed and was giving me a hardened look. "What did you do?"

So what if it was my fault she was gone? She was better off gone. "Told her the facts."

"You pushed her away."

"Sammie, not now." I sighed. I really wasn't in the mood to hear one of her lectures.

"Why did you do that?" She whacked my arm causing me to spill my coffee. "She was LOVELY! And she really liked you! God, you're a jerk. So come on, tell me how you are going to fix it."

"Not fixing anything. She is better off far, far away from me."

"So, you're playing that card." She gave me a pointed look while standing with authority. "The ‘I'm too bad, no one could love me’ card. Well guess what, buddy, this chick did love you or at least liked you and now you have fucked that up, so start thinking of ways to get her back."

"I'm not getting her back, Sammie. She deserves a bloke who can put her first or, at the very least, isn't as old as me."

"You aren't old."

"Old enough."

"Really? You are going to stand there and say you can't have the chick you like because she’s too young?"

"Just drop it, Sammie."

"No, I won't just drop it. Not until you get off your ass and go and fix this."

I put my coffee down on the bench. "I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Because you don't know where she's gone?"

I scoffed at that. "No, I gave her the idea to go there."

"So what's the reason?"

"She wouldn't want me to."

"So I guess she just hated spending all that time with you and when you slept with her, she hated that too. I guess when you think about it, you had her here by force. Wake up to yourself, Chase. You should have stopped her from leaving in the first place." Sammie whacked me again. "Now, go do something about it."

With those famous last words, she took my coffee, spun around, and walked off, closing the door behind her.

I sat down on the couch. Was Sammie right? Did Chloe expect me to stop her? I wanted to stop her, but I also wanted her to be free from me and this life. What would she think if I showed up now?