Things Good Girls Don't Do (25 page)

“Yes sir,” she said, without stopping her examination of Chase.

“Well, if that’s true, I should haul you in on destruction of private property, Katie.”

Katie took a deep breath and said, “I understand, sir.”

“Wait a minute! Jimmy took off. Shouldn’t you at least wait to see if he presses charges?” Steph stepped in angrily.

“Plus, Chief, Jimmy did have it coming, the way he treated Katie. It was pretty shameful,” Jared said, standing next to his wife.

The chief stroked his chin and said, “It can wait, I suppose, but if Jimmy wants to press charges, there’s nothing I can do. Try to stay out of trouble until this blows over, okay? You enjoy the rest of the fireworks.”

Chase watched the chief amble off and sucked in a breath as his ribs caught fire. Katie touched his arm gently and said, “You need to go to the hospital. What if you have internal bleeding or a broken rib? I can drive you . . .”

He interrupted Katie by grabbing her hand and squeezing it. “I’ll be fine. I just need to rest for a few days. I’ll be good as new by Tuesday.”

“Okay, I’ll follow you home and take care of you,” Katie said.

Chase was aware of everyone watching their exchange, especially Steph and Becca, who stood right behind Katie. Both women had looks of warning on their faces, like they could read his second thoughts and were letting him know they weren’t an option. He wasn’t breaking up with Katie, though; he just needed a few days. Crazy exes, a whole town in his business twenty-four/seven . . . it was enough to make any sane man take a step back.

Especially when being with him seemed to be hurting her. He could deal with the rest, but if her business took a dive because people didn’t like him, he didn’t know if it was worth it.

Correction: He didn’t know if
he
was worth it.

He kissed her forehead. “Really, Firecracker, I’m okay. I’ll call you in a couple days.” Chase pulled away from her and hobbled to his driver’s side door. Wincing as he opened it and climbed up into the cab, he kept his focus on putting his key in the ignition and starting it up. The crowd around him moved as he backed up and turned around. He gave Katie a smile and wave as he passed and pulled out onto the road, his ribs screaming with the movement.

What is the matter with you? You are acting like a scared little boy.

He wasn’t scared. He was petrified. Petrified that if he stayed with her, he’d start to rely on her, need to have her with him. Need her sweetness to brighten his day, his home, his life. And then have her figure out what the whole town had been telling her all along: She could do better.

And know deep down he thought she could too.

K
ATIE WAS SO
confused and hurt, she didn’t know what to do.

She felt an arm go around her shoulders and Steph saying cheerfully, “Well, that was exciting! Want to head over to Buck’s for some drinks? We can relive every awesome moment of what it felt like to bust in Jimmy’s baby.”

Katie shook her head. “I think I just want to go home. Get some sleep.”

“But . . .”

Katie saw Becca reach out and pinch Steph. “Have a good night, Katie. We’ll text you later to check on you.”

“Thanks, guys.” Katie mouthed
thank you
to Becca when Steph was distracted. She just wanted to be alone to think.

Katie, men are like horses. You can lead them to water, but you can’t make them drink.
Her mother had told her that when she was fifteen and the boy she’d had a crush on didn’t even notice her. Katie had cried and cried, much to her mother’s disapproval.

Ladies don’t caterwaul. We suffer in dignified silence.

She had already decided her mother was right. She wasn’t going to cry or obsess or wait by the phone. She was going to head over to Hall’s Market, grab a carton of Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream and pop in
Sixteen Candles
. You could never go wrong with a John Hughes movie.

Or with a hot guy waiting for you with a red sports car and cake.

Although these days Katie preferred a man on a motorcycle with white cheddar popcorn, but you can’t always get what you want.

G
INGERLY WALKING UP
the steps to his house, Chase couldn’t wait to curl up in his nice, soft bed. After popping at least three Advil first. He opened the door and groaned when he moved too fast shutting it. Passing by his answering machine, he noticed the message box was flashing a bright red three.

Pressing the play button, his mother’s husband, Buzz, said over the crackle of the line, “Hey Chase, it’s Buzz. Look, your mother would kill me if she knew I was calling, but she’s in a bad way. She’s in liver failure. She’d be on the donor list, but they said family is best. She’s stubborn, though, and won’t call you.”

Chase couldn’t breathe.
Liver failure.
He’d talked to her a week ago. She hadn’t said anything about being sick. Everything was fine, she had said. Liver failure was not fine. Suddenly furious with her for leaving him out in the cold yet again, Chase dialed the number Buzz had left, and he picked up on the second ring. “Chase, is that you?”

“What the hell, Buzz?”

“I know, buddy, I tried to get her to tell you, but she didn’t want to be a burden. I wanted to respect her decision, but she’s gotten worse, and they don’t think they’re going to get a donor in time.”

“Where are you?” Chase’s hand was shaking so bad as he grabbed a pen and paper, he wasn’t sure he could write clearly. The adrenaline pumping through him made him feel on edge and he wished that Katie’s stupid ex was there right now so he could use him as a punching bag. Something to make the nightmare of this day disappear.

Buzz told him the name and the address of the hospital in Reno, and Chase hung up in a panic. His mother was dying.

He walked down the hallway to the bathroom and pulled down the Advil, tossing a couple back. Next he hit the bedroom, packed a small bag of essentials, and went into the kitchen to find paper. The first piece he grabbed, he wrote
CLOSED INDEFINITELY DUE TO FAMILY EMERGENCY. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
He would stop by the shop and tape it on the door on his way out of town.

On the next piece of paper, he wrote:

Hey Firecracker,

I need to take off for a little while, and I want you to know it has nothing to do with you. It’s family stuff, but I’ll call you when I get back.

Chase

Folding the note, he shoved it into his pocket. Grabbing his bag and the sign for the shop, he locked up the house and tried to run down the porch to the Blazer, but his painful ribs and hands were aching so bad, he slowed down to a limping hop. It was nearly ten, but if he drove all night he might make it in seven hours. He threw his pack in the backseat as he climbed in, grabbing his middle as a sharp stabbing pain shot from his abdomen out. Attempting to ignore the niggling voice in his head telling him to knock on Katie’s door and explain what was happening, he told himself he didn’t have time to get into it with Katie right now. His mom couldn’t wait.

He pulled in front of Katie’s house and left the engine running as he got out. Opening her little floral mailbox, he dropped his note inside and shut the lid quietly. The neighbor’s yappy dog started barking, and Chase headed back to the Blazer before anyone came out to check what the noise was. As soon as his mom was stable, he’d come back and work things out with Katie. They had time, but his mom didn’t. And despite how complicated their relationship was, he needed to be there for her.

Chapter Fourteen

S
EVEN DAYS AND
nothing.

Katie left the shop, her hair no longer sporting the purple streaks she had loved. She’d had them dyed back four days after Chase disappeared, but she was still rocking Becca’s clothes and had even gone back for a hot, short halter dress, shoes, and a new bra/panty set. She walked around with a smile and acted like nothing had changed.

And then she went home and cried herself to sleep.

She was an emotional mess. She missed him, hated him, and loved him all at once. It was like one big, confused mixing bowl in her heart, and she wished she could just scoop out all the good things about him and just hate him, but she couldn’t. She’d seen his
CLOSED INDEFINITELY
sign and wondered if the note he’d left was just a way to make him feel better for rushing out on her.

At first she’d told herself not to worry, he would be back. Then the third day had passed and she’d found herself constantly checking her phone for a missed call from him. Day five, all her optimism had pretty much dissolved into sadness, and she finally had to be honest with herself. If he was going to call her, if she had meant anything to him, he would have called by now.

Maybe he was getting ready to move on and wasn’t sure how to break the news. It fit what he’d told her. He never stayed in one place for too long.

But this time, she had hoped he would stay.

She stopped at Rico’s for pizza and Hall’s Market for ice cream and a bag of Dove chocolate. By the time she made it home, she had eaten a quarter of the bag and a slice of pizza and was feeling pretty crappy.

A moment on the lips, forever on the hips, honey.

“Shut up, Mom,” Katie muttered out loud, so sick of hearing her mother rambling around in her head. She opened the car door and climbed out.

Hands covered her eyes and Steph said, “Guess who?”

“My best friend pretending she’s twelve?” Katie said.

“Ouch. You’re in a mood.” Steph dropped her hands, and Katie turned to find Becca with her.

“I always know trouble’s brewing when you two are together,” Katie said.

“We’re kidnapping you! You need to get the heck out of that house and away from all junk food.” Becca went around the other side and, before Katie could react, grabbed her pizza and other sweet goodies.

“Hey, thief!” Becca waved the food around playfully.

Katie smiled slightly. “I appreciate the gesture, guys, but I really just want to stay in and watch a movie.”

“No. You are not watching any more movies so depressing they make you feel better. I know your MO, Katie. You’ve probably already watched
Beaches
,
Untamed Heart
, and your entire Lifetime Movie collection. It ends tonight!” Steph said.

Katie couldn’t really argue with what Steph said. She did watch depressing movies just so she could say, “Look, your life’s not so bad,” but Steph was wrong about one thing. “I haven’t watched
Beaches
yet. That’s what I’m doing tonight.”

“No and hell no! You are going inside, slipping into something hot, and we are taking you out!” Becca said firmly.

“Guys, really, I’m fine . . .”

“Move, woman!” Steph said, pointing to Katie’s door.

Katie sighed, too tired to fight. Maybe a night off the couch wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Alcohol and girl talk might be just what she needed to stop thinking about Chase for at least five minutes.

C
HASE HELD HIS
phone in his hands, staring at the picture of Katie hugging a wooden bear. He’d taken it when they were exploring the shops of Hailey. She’d run up to the bear and said, “Take a picture of me!” Throwing her arms around the tall, wooden carving, he had done what she commanded, and it had started a whole round of funny bear pictures, mostly on her phone, but he had snapped this one.

Texting was too impersonal, but he was afraid to call. Afraid that she wouldn’t pick up or, worse, she would. And she’d tell him she was done with him.

“Chase?” Buzz said from behind him.

Chase got up from the hospital bench he’d been occupying outside, trying to clear his head. “Are the results back yet?”

Buzz nodded. “Yeah they’re back, and the doctors are asking for you.”

Chase slipped his phone back into his pocket and followed Buzz back into the hospital.

“W
HAT THE HECK
are we doing here?” Katie asked as they pulled up in front of a dark building with a bright pink sign that said
PURE LOVE ENHANCEMENTS
. The girls had decided to drag her to Boise for more choices in food, clubs, and, oh yeah, sex shops.

“We’re getting party supplies!” Steph giggled. “You said this was one of the things on your list.”

Katie cursed her big mouth. After a couple shots of the vanilla vodka Becca had bought, she’d shown them the list. Becca had decided they were going to check off everything they could on her list, and Steph had jumped on the crazy train too.

But what kind of party favors they needed to buy in a sex shop, she had no idea. “What kind of party are we having?”

“An un-bachelorette party!” Steph said, before throwing her door open and climbing out.

Katie and Becca followed her, Katie hissing, “What the heck is a un-bachelorette party?”

Becca piped up. “We dress you up like a bride-to-be, tell everyone you are getting married, and voilà, free shots all night!”

“That’s dishonest,” Katie said.

“Katie, stop channeling your mother and get your butt over here!” Steph said, holding the door open.

Katie walked in after Becca, and the woman behind the desk didn’t look at them. Katie felt her face heat up with embarrassment at the movie posters on the walls and the large section of costumes. Steph walked over to a display of bins and pulled out a pink, sparkly shot glass on a chain. In big black letters it read
I’M TYING THE KNOT, BUY ME A SHOT!

“I don’t know about this . . .” Katie said.

Becca took her hand and started pulling her toward a black curtain at the edge of the room. “Trust us. This is going to be hilarious.”

K
ATIE’S STOMACH HURT,
she’d laughed so hard. Between the things she’d seen and the girls’ antics to make her laugh . . .

Well, she felt better than what any sad, sappy movie could have accomplished.

They each carried hot pink bags to the car and climbed inside.

“Okay, bride-to-be, you need your veil.” Steph pulled out a big white veil covered in neon condoms and adjusted it over Katie’s blond curls. “There. Oh, and your shot glass.”