Under a Georgia Moon: Georgia Moon Romance Book 1 (10 page)

He grinned and tried to figure out her family dynamics. How could her sister be married and have children that weren’t that much younger than Addie? “Can I ask you something personal?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “You can ask. I might not answer, though.”

He chuckled at her honesty. “Well, your sister is obviously much older than you…” He didn’t really know how else to ask his question, but Addie understood what he was curious about.

“We’re fifteen years apart. My mom didn’t think she could have any more children.” She held up her hands. “At fifty-three she got a surprise. Me.”

“That’s awesome. Do you live near your parents?”

The smile faded from her face and, too late, Chase remembered her mother had passed away.
Smooth, Nichols
.

“No. My mom died when I was eleven. Since Chellie was married, it’s just been me and my dad.” He saw her lips quiver slightly before she forced them up into a smile. “We’re close and I feel blessed to be able to spend so much time with him. On top of that, I’ve been able to save money.”

“You’re lucky. I still live at home, but my parents make me pay rent. It’s kind of a hint I should be living on my own by now.”

Addie smiled. “My dad said he’d pay me to keep living with him. I feel bad about leaving him alone for so long, but he says he’s too old to travel.”

“That’s too bad. I’ll bet he misses having someone to cook for him.”

Her grin deepened, carving the dimple in her cheek. “Actually, he does all the cooking. He’s almost as good as Aunt Janie.”

“Nice,” Chase said with a laugh.

His phone beeped, alerting him to a new text message. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and nearly groaned out loud. “I better get home so I can be ready. Apparently my boss is sending a car over to get me and I can’t be late.”

“Wow, you get to ride in a limo. What a nice guy.”

“Right, it’s probably so I can’t escape and leave early.”

She laughed and Chase stood up and held out his hand to assist her. She hesitated for a second before placing her palm against his. The same feelings of awareness rushed through him and he guessed by the guarded look on her face, Addie must be feeling it too.

Slowly, he let go of her hand. “Will I see you at church tomorrow?”

“Yes. We should be there.”

“I’ll talk to you after the service and we can plan our first date.”

“Okay. Have fun tonight.”

Chase cast her an annoyed look.

She grinned. “Well, as your new girlfriend. Not too much fun.”

“That’s better.” He took a step backward. “Thanks again.”

“Don’t thank me yet. For all you know I could be a very demanding girlfriend.”

“And I just might be a very attentive boyfriend.” He winked. “We might be good together.”

She shook her head and laughed softly, her eyes never leaving his. Chase took another step backward, waved and then turned and walked away. He had a feeling the next two weeks were going to be fun, and he intended to play his part very well.

* * *

Addie stood at the kitchen counter, rolling out her pie crust. She kept messing up by making it too thin in spots. She blew out a breath of frustration. Getting the dough smooth and round was hard work. Hopefully it would look better after it baked.

Aunt Janie had come home just before seven. She’d brought home some extra pie filling, and wanted to know if Addie was interested in making a pie.

It was pie. Of course she was interested.

Besides, she would just do about anything to get Chase out of her head. She squeezed her eyes closed and remembered the feel of his fingertips sliding softly across the scar on her wrist, leaving a trail of heat along her skin. Even now, the memory made her breath hitch.

A tiny hole appeared in the center of the pie crust. Unhappy with how it looked, she put the rolling pin to the side and pinched the dough together. “So, Chase stopped by to see me today,” she said, smoothing the dough with her fingers.

“He did?” Janie sounded innocently surprised. “Did y’all have fun?”

Addie wanted to scold her aunt for forcing Chase on her, but decided she better proceed with the agreement she and Chase had come to earlier. “Actually, it was a lot of fun.”

“Really?” Aunt Janie practically squealed. “I’m so pleased.”

Her aunt’s enthusiasm was the perfect catalyst to go through with Operation Fake Boyfriend. “He’s really nice, and so cute.” This part of the plan was easy because it was all true. “He said something about talking to me after church tomorrow. I think he might ask me out.”

“Oh, how exciting!” Aunt Janie rounded the counter and clapped her hands. “What are you going to wear tomorrow?”

Addie failed to hide her smile which only made everything look completely legit in Aunt Janie’s eyes. “I don’t know but something pretty.” This was actually kind of fun.

“Once the pies are in, let’s go and look through your things.” Janie reached out and snagged one of Addie’s hands. “Your nails are in serious need of a manicure. Since we don’t have time to go into Macon, I’ll give you a mani-pedi after your bath this evening.”

“I don’t want to try too hard. He’ll think I’m desperate.” She rolled up the pie crust and put it over the fruit. It looked more like a five year old had made the pie but hopefully it would still taste okay.

“Nonsense,” Janie said, pinching off some excess dough. “Men in the south like pretty, demure women.”

“Who said anything about me ever being demure?”

Janie laughed. “I just thought I’d throw that in there.” She winked at her. “Besides, if you want to woo Chase Nichols, food would be a good way to do it. That boy just
loves
my buns.”

“Aunt Janie!”

Her aunt put a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress a giggle. “I think that came out wrong. I meant cinnamon buns.”

Addie put her hands on her hips. “Demure, indeed.” She picked up her finished pie and placed it on the baking sheet next to her aunt’s perfect cherry pie. “Mine doesn’t look very good.”

Aunt Janie patted Addie on the back. “Well, sugar, it’s what’s inside that counts, anyway.”

With the pies in the oven, they went upstairs and looked through the few dresses Addie brought. They settled on a pretty, off-white, lacey dress that came just above Addie’s knees, along with a pair of four inch apricot colored pumps.

Aunt Janie was a regular customer of a charming store that sold jewelry in every color imaginable along with matching colored purses. She had quite a collection of necklaces to choose from, and Addie picked out a beautiful cluster necklace with multi-teal colored stones, accented with gold.

She felt pretty. Sexy, even, but not—thank goodness—demure.

Later that evening while they were watching a re-run of
Downton Abbey
, Aunt Janie painted a pale peach color to Addie’s freshly manicured nails. On the end table next to where Addie sat was an old photograph of her great-great-great grandparents. They were standing on the porch of the home her father and aunt had been raised in, which was no longer in the Heywood family. She looked around the room, wondering why there weren’t any old photographs of the Caldwell house. There was a more recent picture of the house in the entry way, but nothing in the eighteen hundreds.

“Aunt Janie, do you know if there are any old pictures of your house, like maybe around the Civil War?”

Her aunt stopped and gave her a curious look. “Hmm. I do believe there might be a few pictures in the attic. Why?”

“I’d like to see what the house looked like back then.” She shrugged. “And I love studying old photography.”

“You’re welcome to look, sugar.”

“Maybe sometime this week we can look in the attic together?” Addie made the suggestion mainly because she didn’t want to go up in the attic all by herself. She hated spiders.

“Sorry, honey. I haven’t been up there for a few years.” Aunt Janie started on another nail. “And if I did go up, you’d have to call the fire department to get me down.”

Darn
. She was going to have to go up there all by herself. “Okay, but I think I’ll wait until it’s light outside.”

“Maybe you could ask Chase to help you look around.”

Despite the plan to become his pseudo-girlfriend, every time her aunt mentioned his name, Addie’s heart seemed to take off. “I don’t want to bother him.”

“Oh hush. He’d love to help you, not to mention he’d get to spend more time getting to know you.”

Oh, boy. Aunt Janie was really getting excited about a relationship that was doomed to go nowhere. Addie probably needed to put a damper on her aunt’s excitement. “Aunt Janie, I’m not looking for a long-term boyfriend.”

 “I know.” Her aunt grinned. “Besides, Chase is more husband material than a boyfriend.”

Oh, well, that makes all the difference
.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve told him that.”

Her aunt clucked her tongue. “I declare, of course I wouldn’t. A lady would never throw herself at a man.”

“Then what would you call texting him to come over and see me?”

Janie bit her lip and looked up. “Who told you that?”

“Chase mentioned it.”

“I kept my promise and didn’t call.” Janie winked again. “You never said anything about not texting.”

Addie rolled her eyes. “Well, from here on out let Chase and me make our own plans. No more meddling.”

“If y’all are making plans then my work is done.”

Oh, they had plans all right. And after tonight’s conversation, and seeing how determined Aunt Janie was to make a match for Addie, she was more than ready to participate in the little scheme Chase had come up with.

Commence Operation Fake Boyfriend right now.

Chapter Eight

Chase
entered the living room as he finished knotting his tie. “Morning, Mama.”

“Good morning.” His mom’s eyes softened as she slipped on a white sweater. “You look handsome this morning.”

“Thanks.” He kissed her on the cheek. “You look beautiful, as usual.”

Her lips parted into a smile and tiny laugh lines crinkled around the same green eyes he'd inherited. “Thank you.” She picked up her purse and moved to the front door. “I wish your sisters would hurry up.” She glanced up the staircase. “I’m going out to the car. If they’re not down here in two minutes, they’re missing breakfast and can catch a ride with you to church.”

Chase grimaced. The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck with them. He opened the door for his mother. “I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“By the way, I spoke to Janie this morning and invited her and her niece over for supper. You’re gonna be home, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” A smile accompanied his reply. “I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”

“That’s what I thought.” She winked and stepped outside.

As the door closed, his two seventeen year old sisters rushed down the stairs. They weren’t identical twins, but so close it was sometimes hard to tell them apart. Taylin was about an inch taller than Ashlee. Both were blonde and beautiful. And did he mention vain?

“So,” Taylin said, striking a pose. “What do you think?”

She was way too cute for his comfort. Chase knew her boyfriend, Ryan, was home for the weekend from college and that the guy would like what he saw. “Nice,” Chase said reluctantly.

“Nice?” Taylin’s eyes narrowed. “I know I look better than nice.”

She did and it made him wish she were still ten-years-old.

“Like what you think matters,” Ashlee said with a dramatic eye roll. “Ryan will think she looks hot and that’s all that counts.”

Chase eyed Ashlee’s clothing. As usual, her skirt was just a little shorter and her shirt a little tighter. She had a few more curves than Taylin and she liked to show them off. “Both of you need a sweater. It’s chilly outside.”

Taylin laughed and quickly checked the weather on her phone. “Nice try, bro but it’s going to be in the seventies today.”

She started for the door, but Ashlee lagged behind. “You’re helping out with the worship music today?”

“Yeah, Jacks and I are doing a few numbers.”

Ashlee twirled a strand of her long hair. “Is Beau gonna be there?”

“Nope, he’s in Florida visiting his mom for the weekend.”

“Oh.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “If I promise to be good can I come to your gig next Saturday?”

His little sister was madly in love with Beau Jacobsen, one of Chase’s best friends and the drummer for their band. No matter how many times both he and Beau discouraged her, she wasn’t letting go.

“Sorry, Ash. The answer’s no.”

She stomped her foot. “Why?”

“First of all, you’re not old enough to get into
Gracie’s Haven
. Second, Beau is too old for you, and third, Beau has a girlfriend.”

“In a few years our age difference won’t matter. His girlfriend’s a flake, and you and I both know I could pass for twenty-one. I won’t be drinking so they’d never have to card me if I came in with Sydney.”

“Still not gonna happen.”

“Please? Pretty, pretty please?”

Before she could pester him further, the door swung open and their father, Charles, stuck his head in the door. “Come on, baby girl. Your mama is fixin’ to leave without ya.”

“I’m not done bugging you,” Ashlee whispered to Chase as she headed out the door.

“I’m not changing my mind.”

“We’ll see about that.” She flashed him an annoying smile and then proceeded to sweet talk their father into allowing her to see Chase’s upcoming performance as long as she was with Sydney.

“I’ll have to think about it,” Charles said opening the back door. “Now get in the car or we’re gonna miss seeing your brother today.”

Before climbing into the backseat, Ashlee turned triumphantly to look at Chase, put her fingers to her mouth and blew him a kiss.

“Brat,” he muttered, making Ashlee’s smile widen. Chase knew his parents and they’d never allow Ashlee to go. Still, it bothered him how manipulative Ashlee was. One day it was gonna land her in trouble. Worse, it reminded him of Hayden’s behavior.

A hot ball of anger lodged in his gut when he thought about last night’s party. Hayden hadn’t come through on any of her promises. Tate Jepson’s daughter had failed to show up at the party, and Hayden had clung to Chase tighter than the revealing dress she’d worn.