Giving Chase

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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

2932 Ross Clark Circle, #384

Dothan, All 36301

Giving Chase

Copyright © 2006 by Lauren Dane

Cover by Scott Carpenter

ISBN: 1-59998-113-0

www.samhainpublishing.com

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: June 2006

Giving Chase

By Lauren Dane

As always—for Ray, who is my heart. I love you. And to my incredibly wonderful beta readers—Tracy, Julia and Di, who help make all my books better. And speaking of making my books better—a big old thank you to my editor, Angie, who earns what I am sure can’t be anywhere near what she’s worth.

Giving Chase

Friday night in Petal. Half the town—that is, those citizens sixty and under—were gathered inside The Pumphouse seeking refuge from the rain and enjoying three dollar pitchers of beer and burgers. The crowd noise was so loud, whatever song playing on the jukebox was indistinguishable. Still, Maggie, Dee and Liv sat at their usual table—the one by the window—so they could watch the goings on, They’d sat there, every Friday night, for the last four years. It should have seemed mundane, boring, but it was the time when each of the friends got to reconnect after a long week and it was a bright spot instead.

But the usually happy Maggie sighed into her beer before taking the last drink and setting her empty glass down on the table.

“So, I finally broke up with Sam. It’s definitely over.” With an inelegant snort, Liv tried to catch the server’s eye to order another pitcher. “Maggie, honey, it’s been over for at least a month now.

You just haven’t been willing to admit it to yourself. And heaven knows our manners were too good to break it to you.” It was Maggie’s turn to snort at that.

Stifling a grin, Liv continued. “Anyway, he’s an ass. He’s been an ass since the fifth grade. You’re too good for him.”

“Way too good for him. He needs a momma, not a girlfriend.” Dee’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

“Well, the problem is this town is just too damned small! Who’ve I got to choose from? And let’s keep it men between twenty-two and fifty who aren’t married, living with his mother or gay.” Maggie handed a five over to Patrick for the beer and began to pour out for everyone. “Keep the

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change, sugar.” She winked, getting a cheeky grin in return before he turned and headed back through the crowd to the bar.

“It really is a shame he’s gay. He looks as good going as he does coming.” Dee’s voice trailed off as she watched him disappear into the crowd.

“Yeah, a shame for our team.” Liv sighed. “But you know, you’re failing to mention the hottest real estate in town. How about one of the Chase brothers?”

Maggie snorted.
Yeah right.
Those boys were mouthwateringly handsome. Tall, broad, boy–next-door gorgeous. The women of Petal had been lusting after them since preschool.

“Sure, why not! But no. I’d rather have Brad Pitt, he’s about as available, although I suppose I’d have to fight Angelina for him.” Maggie rolled her eyes. “Liv,
everyone
wants those boys. Even if a girl like me could catch their attention—I have no desire to be a notch on someone’s bedpost. Maybe I just need to lower my standards. Roger Petrie has been asking me out for years. Maybe I should say yes. After all, he has a job, lives in his own home and has all of his teeth.” Liv and Dee burst out laughing. “Yeah but he’s creepy! I mean, he’s got like, what, fifty cats and a goat living
in
his house?”

“On the other hand,” Liv said, breathless from laughing, “an animal lover can’t be all that bad.”

“Question is, how much of a
lover
is he? I mean, he sleeps with the goat!” Maggie’s words dissolved into laughter.

“
Eww
! Time to change the subject. You don’t need to lower your standards, Margaret Elizabeth Wright! There are plenty of decent men in Petal. You just have to be patient.” Sweet as she was, Dee didn’t know she said it in that way women do when
they
have a boyfriend.

“And what do you mean,
a girl like you
? Are you suggesting that those Chase boys are too good for you? Because you are dead wrong. My

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Giving Chase

God, Maggie, you’re beautiful! It pisses me off that you can’t see it. I blame your mother.” Liv shook her head as she looked at her oldest friend.

Petite and blessed with fine, almost delicate features, Maggie had a head of gorgeous strawberry blonde hair. She usually wore it in a tight knot at the back of her head but when she let it free, it hung past her waist. Tortoise shell glasses often hid the big amber-brown eyes fringed with long lashes. Hell, Maggie was pretty when she looked like a buttoned up school teacher. But Liv knew Maggie had a knock-out figure lurking under those clothes and itched to cut and style the hair, get rid of the glasses and show a bit of skin.

“Liv, those Chase boys are out of my league. Men that handsome and well—manly—don’t notice high school history teachers.” And she had to admit that they were all so powerfully vital and masculine that it intimidated her.

“Speak of the devils…” Liv nodded her head and the three turned to watch the Chase brothers stroll into the bar. In fact, every single woman—and even the not-so-single ones—noticed the four impossibly handsome brothers.

“My, my, my. Those boys sure are fine.” Maggie’s gut tightened at the sight.

“Yepper.” Liv fanned her face with a napkin.

“Mmm hmmm.” Dee nodded.

Once they’d disappeared into the back where the pool tables were, the women turned back to their conversation.

“Go on, Dee, tell us about Arthur. We know you want to.” Every Friday night Dee did a weekly “Arthur is so wonderful” update.

Arthur Jones was Dee’s boyfriend. One of the good guys. They were planning a wedding for Valentine’s Day.

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“He planted a magnolia tree in the backyard earlier this week and put in an arbor with yellow climbing roses. Three of them because you know, we’ve been together three years. He’s so sweet.” Smiling through the sudden lump in her throat, Maggie stood and patted Dee’s shoulder. “Yeah, he is.” She stood up. “I’ll be back. I have to make a pit stop.”

It didn’t use to bother her so much that she didn’t have someone.

Dating around was fine. Fun even. But lately, Maggie had begun to want the kind of love and connection that Dee had with Arthur. She wanted someone to make breakfast for. Someone to plant flowers with and take long walks hand-in-hand at the lake with. She now knew she was missing something and she wanted it.

On her way back from the ladies’ room, she heard Patrick call out that their order of chili cheese fries was done. With a wave to thank him, she moved to the kitchen order window to grab them and save him a trip.

Three steps from the kitchen window area someone slammed into her.

Knocked sideways, the platter of gooey fries flipped over, dropping with a
splat
on the side of her blouse and down the leg of her pants.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

Maggie spun around, astounded at the tone. “Me? Did you just bark at me? You’re the one who bumped into me! You made me drop this food all over my clothes and the floor. Last time I checked, it’s the person walking backwards’ job to watch out.” Looking up, and then up some more, she came to the insanely gorgeous face of none other than Shane Chase.

“You were in the middle of the aisle,” he growled at her, arms crossed over his chest.

“It’s the walkway, dumbass! It’s called that because it’s where people
walk
.” Unable to stop herself, she used a very slow voice and her heart sped a bit as his jaw clenched at her tone. And then her inner bitch wanted to snicker. Instead she couldn’t resist. “Facing
forward
, I might

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Giving Chase

add.” This guy took the cake! A little bit of good looks turned him into a self-righteous jerk.

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned into her personal space to intimidate her. But she refused to step back. She did work with teenagers every day after all. And the man was acting like a big baby. “Did you just call the sheriff a dumbass?”

“No, I called
you
a dumbass. The dumbass who wasn’t watching where he was going and slammed into me and then yelled at me, the dumbass who has NO manners—I’m calling
that
guy a dumbass. That you happen to be a cop is not relevant. Although one might expect a cop to actually act with civility and basic manners!” She huffed. But the impact was not as impressive as she’d hoped given that he was nearly a foot taller than she was. And all that distracting hard muscle and really nice smell. Why did a jerk like him have to smell so good she wanted to lean in and take a bite? It’d serve him right if she did. Shaking her head to dislodge the question about what he may taste like, the fog cleared a bit and she found her mad again.

“She’s got you there, Shane.” Kyle Chase approached, smiling at her apologetically. “Are you all right? That cheese stuff is pretty hot. Did you get burned?” He handed her some napkins but she just looked down at herself. If she tried to wipe it with the napkins the gooey mess would just get worse.

At least one of them had manners. He probably tasted good too.

Stifling a smile she unclenched her fists and stepped back. “Thanks. It just stung a bit but my pants took the brunt. But I’ve got to go and get out of these clothes.” Swinging her head to glare at Shane, she noted he was still glowering, only this time at his brother. “And you! I have sixteen year old boys in my class who have more manners. Take a civility training class or something.” She harrumphed and spun around to stalk back to their table.

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Lauren Dane

“Oh my god! What was that all about?” Liv handed Maggie her purse and raincoat.

“That moron Shane Chase slammed his gargantuan body into me and made me spill chili cheese fries all over myself! And
then
had the
nerve
to yell at me like it was my fault! Dumbass! I have to go. I’ll talk to you two later.” She tossed some money on the table.

“Now who’s the dumbass? We’re coming with you. I have plenty of take out menus at home. Let’s go.” Liv got up and Dee followed.

The three women headed out together into the evening, grousing about Shane Chase and his abominable manners.

“Well, that was really special, Shane. You were awful to that little woman. Happy now? Or do we need to go and search out some old ladies we can knock over or steal some candy from toddlers?” Kyle egged his brother on as they played pool in the back of the bar.

“She called me a dumbass!”

Kyle smirked when Shane missed the shot.

“That’s because you are one. You rammed into her, made her spill food all over herself and then instead of apologizing, you yelled at her.

You’re lucky all she did was call you a dumbass. She had quite the vicious gleam in her eye.” Kyle lined up his shot and missed.

“She’s cute for someone so small. I don’t think I ever noticed that spark behind those glasses and those stuffy shirts. I’ve seen her around town but who is she?”

“Maggie Wright. She was in my year in school.” Matt looked up mildly before leaning back down to take his shot. “She’s a teacher at the high school now. History I think. Clearly a real menace to society.” He rolled his eyes as he straightened and grabbed his glass.

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Giving Chase

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Matt. You’re too pretty. Anyway, she’s a rude little woman.” But Shane’s voice didn’t sound so sure anymore.

“
You’re
rude, Shane. Mom’s gonna kick your ass when she hears about this—and you know she will. Petal being Petal, I bet the story is weaving its way across town right this very moment,” Marc taunted. “I don’t envy you Momma’s wrath, but I can’t wait to see it.” Maggie was up to her elbows in dirt, planting primroses when Polly Chase rolled up and got out of her car.

“Maggie? Honey, is that you?” Polly click-clacked up the front walk.

The woman was a sight to see. She was not even five feet tall but that was the only thing small about her. A head of heavily lacquered hair stood several inches high, matched only by the spiked heels on her feet and a handbag bigger than a small country. All of this fit in the late 1970’s Caddy she drove around town like a menace.

And her presence was big too. Polly Chase was the town matriarch.

Her family was one of the oldest in Petal and her husband’s just as old.

Both the Chandlers and the Chases had a hand in the building and governance of Petal for five generations. When Polly married Edward Chase thirty-five years before, it had been the ultimate marriage.

Still, Maggie had always thought Polly—who sat with her on the historical society and Edward, an attorney in Petal—were very nice people. However, seeing how rude her oldest was, she began to wonder.

Standing up, Maggie took off her gardening gloves and tossed them on the walk. “Yes, Mrs. Chase, it is. What can I do for you?” As if she didn’t know. “Why don’t you come on in? I was just going to get myself some hot tea. Would you like a cup?”

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Lauren Dane

“Oh that would be perfect, shug. Thank you.” Polly followed Maggie into the large house that belonged to her parents at one time and now was hers.

“Please, sit down and I’ll get the water on.” Maggie swept into the large kitchen and lit the burner under the teakettle. While she waited, she prepared the teapot, measuring the loose tea, spooning it into the mesh ball. Hanging it into the pot she turned and put a few oatmeal cookies on a pretty plate.

Steeling herself, she took a deep breath before going back into the living room a few minutes later. She put the tray down on the coffee table and sat across from Polly.

“It’ll need steeping for another three minutes or so. Would you like a cookie? They’re fresh baked.”

When Polly had taken a few bites of the cookie, Maggie poured her a steaming cup of green tea. “What can I do for you today, Mrs. Chase?”

“Honey, I heard what my boy did to you last night at The Pumphouse.

I’m just mortified! So naturally I wanted to come by and apologize.

Because it also came to my attention that he failed to do that on top of everything else.”

Softening at the sight of Polly’s distress, Maggie leaned across the space separating them. Reaching out, she squeezed the other woman’s hand. “Mrs. Chase, please don’t be upset. Whatever Shane did, he did on his own. You have nothing to do with it. I’d never think that.”

“Honey, you’re too nice. Now I’m just embarrassed. They weren’t raised to talk to anyone that way, much less a woman! Don’t think I haven’t been on his tail all morning. He’s managed to avoid me so far, but mark my words I’ll find him before the day is through. And when I corner that rat, you can be assured I’m gonna tan his hide!” Maggie stifled a laugh at the picture of Polly spanking her nearly thirty-year-old giant of a son, badge and all. “Well if it’s any consolation