Page 58 of Once Upon a Summer Night

Hannah laughed. No matter how things turned out, she prayed Noah would always remember this summer and spending time with a family so full of love. A family she had gone too long without. She wouldn’t make that same mistake twice. Though, if things continued to backslide with her old man, she’d soon be looking for a new place to stay.

Preferably somewhere with a garage, to hide her Jeep from view.

On the drive over to Chase’s house, her thoughts gradually shifted from watching out for sneaky PIs to the slim pickings for job postings she’d found before bed last night.

“What do you know about the Goshen fire department?” she asked as they pulled into his driveway.

“Only that it’s a long way from here. Also? We’re not talking work tonight.” With a grin, he walked her to his back porch, pulled her gently into his arms, and led her in a slow dance to the song of crickets singing in his backyard. It was warm out tonight, but not overly humid, and a nice breeze was drifting in from the northwest. She rested her head upon his chest and breathed in his familiar scent, letting it wash the job hunt and family worries from her mind. His heartbeat was steady, soothing, just like him. Just like he’d always been.

Could she really go back to living in Kankakee and leave him a second time? Even if she and her father would never learn to see eye to eye, she hated to put Chase through another departure. Not when he was the one person who always seemed to make the world around her feel right.

Hannah tried to thank him for being her solid rock, but he silenced her with a leisurely kiss. Tonight wasn’t for talking, it seemed. Maybe that was for the best. She kissed him back as they swayed to the soundtrack of an Indiana summer night. Slowly, the kids riding their bikes in the distance, the random car driving down his street, and even the occasional cry of a cicada faded from her awareness. It was her and Chase tuning out the world, just like old times. And when he led her to his bed to make love that night, she remained quiet, focusing on the man intent on tending to her every need rather than conjuring up empty words that didn’t need to be said.

He knew her heart, knew her soul, better than anyone. And as she lay curled up against Chase in the wee hours of the morning, him snoring softly as the warmth radiating off him kept away the A/C chill, Hannah knew no one could ever make her feel as special as he did; he was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of guy.

But how was she supposed to keep him, stay gainfully employed, and keep Noah, all at the same time?

Unable to sleep, she slipped from the bed and made her way out to the hammock hanging between two of the trees in Chase’s backyard. The evening breeze persisted, keeping the mosquitoes away as she lay back and watched the trees sway gently above her. Somewhere nearby, a treefrog called softly to its mate. It was the perfect summer night, and still her mind refused to quiet.

“Was I snoring too loudly?”

Hannah turned to find Chase approaching, barefoot and shirtless. In the moonlight, she could see the faintest hint of a silver scar running down his left side, thanks to a drunken belt mishap many moons ago on a night not unlike this one. She had helped tend to his wounds, crying for the boy who’d never deserved them. “Nah, you’re a soft snorer.”

He offered her a sleepy grin as he eased onto the hammock, sliding in beside her. “Oh, good. One less way to scare you off.”

“Like you could ever do that.”

“Like I’d ever try.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “What’s bothering you, angel?”

She did love the sound of that nickname rolling off his tongue, though she really didn’t understand it. Hannah was no angel; their evening activities could attest to that. “Oh, you know, the usual. Trying to figure out how to keep thirty plates spinning and ensure everyone around me stays happy in the process.”

“Screw everyone else,” he mumbled in her ear. “You do what makes you happy.”

She chuckled softly. “Sorry, honey, but I kinda lost the ability to choose that option when Beth passed.”

He rested his head atop hers. “I supposed that’s true. But you should get a say in your future, too, you know. You deserve to be happy as much as anyone.”

Happiness. It was something she’d been chasing for a long time now. And each time she thought she nearly had it in her grasp, something would come along and snatch it away. Though, lying here with her best friend, she couldn’t imagine being in a happier place.

Maybe that was part of the reason her mind wouldn’t quiet tonight. It didn’t only have to do with her worries about Noah, she conceded. She was afraid for her.

Afraid her tiny slice of happiness wouldn’t last.

“Can I ask you something?” she said quietly.

“Of course.”

“Why didn’t you come?”

Chase’s arms tightened around her. Though she’d never been brave enough to ask the question before, it was clear he knew exactly where her thoughts had gone: to that night, eight years ago. To their long-awaited moment of freedom, for her, Beth, and Chase. To their planned escape from overbearing parents, from rules, from abuse. But he’d never showed.

“I couldn’t,” he said.

She’d always wondered what caused him to change his mind at the last minute, especially when he’d been the one to suggest Lafayette as their destination in the first place. Hannah had always secretly blamed her father, assuming he had done something to block Chase’s departure when he’d been unsuccessful in stopping hers. “Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

He looked away, his answer barely a whisper. “Both.”

For the first time since she’d returned, a fissure appeared in his calm facade. What was he so afraid to share with her? She raised a hand to his cheek and stroked it softly. “You can tell me.”

---