Brave the Storm, Season 2, Episode 3 (Rising Storm) (6 page)

He had to know how much Anna Mae had loved him. And she’d known how important it had been for him to go to Nashville and reach for his dream of making it big in music. But even though she’d given Chase her blessing to go, a big part of her hadn’t thought he’d leave.

She’d found out she was pregnant after he’d left. But how could she tell him then? He would have come home out of duty, not for her. No, if Chase Johnson was going to return to Storm, Anna Mae wanted it to be because he’d loved her so much he couldn’t live without her.

But he’d never come home. And the love they’d had died along with their unborn baby. Anna Mae was too old to look back and have regrets on what might have been if she’d made different decisions. She had to move forward.

“I came to see you,” Chase said with a wide smile that melted her heart the way it had the first time she’d seen it when he was a young man and she was a naïve girl.

“How did you even know I’d be here?”

“I stopped by your place.”

She blinked. “The bed and breakfast?”

“Yeah. Your sister wasn’t there but the kid who mows your lawn told me you’d left for the market. By the way, where is Rita Mae?”

“Ah, she went to a craft fair in Fredericksburg. It’s not like we don’t have enough crafts to choose from right here in Storm, but she wants to fill up the house and the cafe with more trinkets. Sometimes the guests and diners like to buy souvenirs even if they’re not made in Storm.”

“Sort of like fine English teacups made in Japan?”

Anna Mae chuckled, but then waved him off. “Something like that. Look, I really have to finish this. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again before you leave.”

She only managed to push the shopping cart a few feet before she heard his deep voice at her back.

“Don’t you even want to know why I was looking for you?”

She did. “No.”

“Liar.”

A fingernail of irritation scraped up her spine. She turned around slowly. “What did you say to me?”

“You heard me.”

“I was hoping I didn’t.” Anna Mae could hardly contain her anger.
Chase
had the audacity to call
her
a liar?

“You’re dying to know why I came to see you, Annie.”

“Don’t call me that. No one calls me that.”

“I’ve always called you that.”

“I know. And I don’t want you to.”

“You’re too stubborn, Annie. You see, I think you secretly like it, but you don’t want to admit it. Just like you don’t want to admit you really want to know why I came to see you. But you won’t ask. You’ll wait until I tell you. But I’m not going to.”

“How does that make me stubborn?”

“You didn’t come with me to Nashville.”

“You’re the one who left.” She was only vaguely aware that her voice has risen and she was still standing in the middle of a crowded grocery store. She looked around and didn’t see anyone looking at her.

She tried to pull herself together, acknowledging how much seeing Chase again had thrown her off center. From the first moment she’d seen him in Storm, she’d known she’d have trouble dealing with her residual anger. But she hadn’t thought it would shatter her as it had all those years ago. And yet here she was, an absolute wreck.

She sighed. When the hell was he leaving Storm?

“You could have followed me, Annie. I would have liked it if you had.”

“Why does any of this matter now after all these years? Look, we’ve been through this. If you stopped by the B&B to talk, there’s nothing for us to say, Chase. I thought I made that clear at the barbeque, and then again last night. Our lives moved on in different directions. We’ve…spent a lifetime without each other. We don’t even know each other anymore. There’s nothing left to say.”

“Are you done shopping?”

She blinked hard. Hadn’t he just heard her? “Chase…”

“I’ll help you finish and then I’ll help you bring the groceries home.”

“What?”

“You heard me. There’s nothing wrong with your hearing.”

“True, but there’s clearly something wrong with yours. I have been shopping for my bed and breakfast for years. I don’t need your help and I don’t want your help. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”

Turning on her heels, Anna Mae pushed the cart to the middle of the frozen food aisle and then looked around to see if Chase had followed her. She’d run away like a beaten dog with her tail between her legs. Taking in each breath to steady her rampant heartbeat, she realized Rita Mae was right. She hadn’t resolved anything after all these years. Decades had been wasted. And still, the only man who could make her blood boil or stir her heart was Chase Johnson.

Damn him.

* * * *

Well, that went well.
Chase watched Anna Mae from a distance. It had been a mistake to follow her here thinking she’d actually be happy to see him. What the hell had he turned himself into?

In Nashville he was a much sought after studio musician. Every club manager he talked to booked him for a night at their club because they knew he’d bring a crowd. People loved him.

In Nashville. He hadn’t found so much love here in Storm despite all his kin living here.

It was his own fault. You couldn’t burn bridges the way he had without needing to later find a way to rebuild them. He had a long way to go if there was any hope of making things right, or as right as they could be with his kin and with Annie.

He didn’t blame her for wanting to keep her distance. He’d hurt her when he’d chosen his music over life here in Storm. There was a time during the days before he left that Chase had been convinced she was going to pack her bags and leave with him. But she hadn’t. Kin was important to her, and her sister had been dealing with her own pain at the time. Annie hadn’t wanted to leave her.

Chase could deal with Zeke’s anger toward him a whole lot easier than dealing with Annie’s. But she was right. He hadn’t called her. He’d walked away and never looked back until now.

Nashville was so different than Storm. Things happened for him quickly once he’d arrived and met a few of the local musicians playing in the clubs. He’d been busy. He’d had his reasons for not calling her. But most of all, Chase knew that the sweet sound of Annie’s voice and the longing he felt in missing her would be his undoing. He’d have gotten right back in his truck and driven back to Storm just to be with her again.

He’d been a shit. No doubt. But he was an even bigger shit for coming back here and thinking Annie would forgive him.

If she gave him nothing but ice daggers for the rest of his days, he surely deserved it. She hadn’t stopped him from going to Nashville. She told him to go. But he’d known she didn’t want him to. And he couldn’t stay. Storm was a wonderful place. But not for someone like him. And for each moment that passed since he’d been home, Chase had wondered why he’d even bothered to come back.

He walked through the grocery store and tried his best not to search the aisles like a lovesick teenager. He’d made an ass of himself coming here. What the hell had he expected? He was an old man. He’d had everything to offer Anna Mae all those years ago and now…now he couldn’t even button his shirt without his hands shaking so badly he needed to take a pill to calm them. And even then, sometimes that wasn’t enough.

He’d lived a long and full life that was full of booze, music, and women. He’d made a decision and he hadn’t looked back. He deserved to die alone if that’s what it came to.

The trembling in his hand started again, and Chase hurried to his truck, feeling the heat more than he normally did. He stumbled a few yards from his destination, but he didn’t fall. Still, being unsteady on his feet was something he was never going to get used to and something he hoped he could ward off as long as possible.

He needed his music now more than ever.

Yanking on the truck door, he paused before climbing into the driver’s seat. He paused with the door open just for a few seconds before putting the key in the ignition and gunning the engine. Before long, driving would be off the table and he’d be at the mercy of having someone else get him around.

A ball of fire burned high in his stomach and made his chest hurt. It seemed he got that a lot these days whenever he contemplated the future that was laid out ahead of him.

After slamming the door shut, he turned on the radio and blasted the a/c to keep from sweating. Then he put the truck in reverse and pulled out of the parking space. If he had any smarts at all, he’d get on the freeway and just keep driving. Somewhere. Anywhere. He couldn’t go back to Nashville. But Storm didn’t want him here. So why stay?

Chapter Seven

The buzzer on the oven sounded, pulling Anna Mae away from the towels and sheets she’d been folding in the laundry room.

It had been a long time since she’d baked a homemade pie the way her grandmother had taught her to when she was a little girl. She’d wanted to bake a peach pie, but peaches were so overpriced at the market now that they were out of season. Still, she’d been feeling nostalgic and in need of comfort after running into Chase, so she pulled out her recipe book and made the apple pie that she used to make with her grandmother every fall.

The sound of the buzzer grew louder the closer she got to the kitchen. So did the smell of the pie. After grabbing the potholders, she opened the oven door and peered into the oven. The ribbons of the piecrust looked beautifully browned to perfection. She’d made two pies. One for Rita Mae, Mary Louise, and Anna Mae’s dinner. The other she’d set out on the table for the guests.

She pulled the pies out of the oven and set them down on a cooling rack on the counter by the opened window. As she set the second pie down, she noticed a truck outside by the curb. She didn’t recognize the truck, but she knew all too well the man sitting inside of it.

How long had that hardheaded Chase Johnson been sitting out there in the hot sun?

* * * *

It had been a long time since Travis had gone straight home after closing up the pharmacy. Kristin made a habit of dropping by, even for a few minutes. He found the one thing that brightened his day since losing Jacob was to see her smile. But today she’d had a late appointment out of town.

He draped his arm across the steering wheel as he pulled his car out of the small parking lot behind the pharmacy, stopping at the stop sign and looking at the corner where the flower shop was located. He gave Pushing Up Daisies a quick glance. The lights were still on, and he could see the orange and black decorations in the windows, signaling the coming of Halloween.  But he didn’t see Kristin’s car parked where it normally was, so he assumed she still hadn’t returned to Storm.

He sighed. One night of not seeing Kristin didn’t change how either of them felt about each other. He loved her like he’d never loved another human being, save his children. And she understood just how deep his love for them ran.

And Celeste? Well, he’d always have feelings for her in some form. But anything special they’d had was long gone. He’d married her and they’d had children together. He owed it to her to help her through her grief over Jacob. But it had never been as it was with Kristin and it would never be.

His cell phone rang through his car radio and flashed with Lacey’s number. Lacey wasn’t the strong one. Sara Jane would always land on her feet. She was practical and for the most part, predictable. But Lacey was different. She was Travis’s baby. Pressing the button on the dash, he answered the call quickly. “Lacey? What’s wrong?”

“Mom’s not home.”

He frowned. “Did she say where she was going?”

“No.”

Lacey didn’t elaborate and Travis had to fight the groan working its way up his throat.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“She was weird this afternoon again. Drinking and looking at pictures. She’s always looking at those pictures. And…”

“And what?”

Lacey didn’t answer.

“Lacey, tell me. What happened?”

“She’s drunk, Daddy. I saw her in the dining room crying as she looked through the photo album. Then when I was upstairs, I heard her leave the house and then start the car. When I looked out the window, I saw her driving away. I…was afraid she’d get into an accident, so I followed her.”

“But you were upstairs. How could you have caught up with her? You weren’t speeding, were you?” He’d already lost one child. He couldn’t bear to lose another.

“No! Where else would she go but to the cemetery? So I stopped at the cemetery and saw her car parked there. I went to Jacob’s grave and she was…” He heard Lacey’s heavy sigh and waited. “She was stretched out on the ground crying with her face against Jacob’s headstone.”

Travis pulled over to the side of the road to give Lacey his full attention. He silently let out a curse and hit the steering wheel to let out his growing frustration. Lacey didn’t need this. She had her own feelings to deal with. Hadn’t their family gone through enough with Ginny Moreno’s lies? Since learning that Ginny wasn’t actually carrying their grandchild, Celeste had fallen deeper into despair, sometimes forgetting that she had two other children who were still alive and dealing with their own grief.

He heard the worry in Lacey’s voice. She’d been trying to put on a brave face despite everything that had gone on in Storm and with their family. But if things didn’t get better, she’d break, just like Celeste.

“Sweetie, I will take care of it. Don’t let this worry you at all,” he said warmly as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and tried to figure out how to handle the situation without causing more anxiety.

“But how is she going to drive home?” Lacey’s voice broke. “You didn’t see how much she drank earlier.”

“I’ll worry about her car later. You or Sara Jane can drive over to the cemetery with me later once I get your mother settled. Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay, sweetie.”

“Okay. Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

His heart squeezed. Hearing those words made him feel like a superhero. Like he could do anything to fix the wrongs that had been put upon his family. But as much as Travis knew Lacey meant them, he also knew he couldn’t fix what couldn’t be fixed.