Page 67 of Things Good Girls Don't Do

Chase had never seen anyone so beautiful.

She handed the bat to Jared and ran to Chase. He noticed Mrs. Andrews standing in the crowd, a look of disapproval on her face. Other people were watching Katie like they’d never seen her before and muttering in between the boom of the fireworks.

Becca and Steph were standing at the edge of the crowd, but Katie ran past them to reach him and touched his face and body, everywhere she could. “Oh my God, Chase, your poor mouth. Do your ribs hurt? Are you in a lot of pain?”

He grimaced. “I’m okay, they just got the drop on me is all.”

“What the hell is this I hear about a domestic dispute?” a voice hollered over all the noise.

Chase watched the Rock Canyon chief of police, a short, stocky man, saunter toward them, bowlegged and scowling. “What the hell happened here? Katie, are you all right?”

“Katie took a bat to Jimmy’s truck!” someone shouted.

“But Jimmy and his friends were attacking Chase first!”

“And Jimmy called Katie some filthy names!”

It was chaos. A hundred people were talking at once and all of them were giving different accounts.

Mrs. Andrews pointed at Chase. “That man started a brawl, Chief, and Katie got in the middle of it. I really don’t know what’s come over her, but he’s the one you want.”

“This is why she’s losing all her customers, hanging out with riffraff like him,” another blue-haired battle-ax sniffed.

Chase looked at Katie, saw the red in her cheeks, and knew the woman was telling the truth. “How many of your appointments canceled this week?”

Her eyes shifted away. “I don’t know. Half dozen or so. It’s not a big deal, they’ll come around.”

Katie was standing in front of him, looking at him with concern, her hands all over him, searching for injuries, while her livelihood was going down the toilet because of him. She had run her ex-boyfriend off with a bat. Partly, he knew, because she had wanted to, but also to get Jimmy away from Chase. To protect him. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had protected him. He’d always just relied on himself. She was selfless and brave, and it made him feel about ten inches tall. If their roles were reversed, would he have done the same for her? And why wouldn’t she tell him about it? He was torn between feelings of gratitude that she thought he was worth taking on the whole town and guilt, because he wasn’t sure if he was worth the effort.

“Now all of you shut the hell up and let me talk to Chase and Katie,” the chief said, and once the crowd quieted, he asked, “All right, young man, what do you have to say?”

Another explosion lit up the sky with several colors, and Chase said, “Chief, here’s what happened. Jimmy showed up with a few of his friends and said some things I didn’t like to Katie. I got mad, threw a punch, and they jumped me. Justin, Jared, and Eric broke it up.”

“And after all this, Katie took a baseball bat to Jimmy’s truck? That how it happened, Katie?” the chief asked.

“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 ifhewas worth it.

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