Page 64 of Once Upon a Summer Night

“You’re close to losing her again,” he said. “And I don’t believe that’s what you want. The rest of us sure as hell don’t want her to go. So please, for all our sakes, find a way to show your daughter some grace. She’s going through a tough enough season as it is right now. You, of all people, should understand that.”

Chase strode over to his truck and returned to work, leaving the chief to digest his words. Hopefully, he’d gotten through to Hannah’s old man. Deep down, he knew the chief was the linchpin for a fully restored, close-knit Brooks family. The kind they once had, and one he’d always wanted.

Unfortunately, Hannah didn’t seem quite ready to forgive and forget. She picked Noah up after her shift at the bookstore and headed west, claiming that she missed sleeping in her own bed. Chase didn’t question her decision, glad that this way she wouldn’t have to make the five-hour round trip all in one day. Still, he worried about her mood and the quick peck good-bye she gave him.

Maybe she just needs some space.

That idea helped him get through Monday night and Tuesday. But when she returned Tuesday night and answered his texts with short one- and two-word answers, he knew the trip hadn’t brought her whatever peace she’d been searching for. Hoping to get her talking and ultimately lift her spirits, he invited them to T-ball practice Wednesday night with a promise of ice cream afterward.

She declined.

That’s when Chase became well and truly worried.

Chapter Nineteen

Hannah sat atBourbon Falls Fire Station One Thursday morning, teetering on the precipice of change. The interview Tuesday had gone amazingly well, the gathering of chiefs and directors all complimentary to both her research and her answers. From what she could tell, a job offer was only a few mandatory signatures away from happening. Which she should have been absolutely ecstatic about…but wasn’t.

Because to take that job, she’d have to give up everything she’d started falling in love with in Bourbon Falls: the charming small-town atmosphere, the supportive community, the parks, the streetlamps. Her family.

Chase.

And it wasn’t just her that this decision would affect, but Noah, too. She’d convinced him to stay here the past few weeks, and was now preparing to uproot him yet again to take him back home. He wouldn’t want to go—he’d said as much countless times this week alone. There would be no more Sunny, no Rex, or Louie. No farm, no family, no T-ball.

No Chase.

Her gaze shifted to the front windows on what was predicted to be an endlessly rainy day with possible strong storms developing in the afternoon.

I shouldn’t take the job.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, as if to counter that thought.

But Chase said that I deserved to be happy. Thisjobwould make me happy.

Wouldn’t it?

She wouldn’t know unless she gave it a try. Hannah didn’t want to look back ten, fifteen, or even twenty years from now and wish she’d chosen differently. To wish she’d chosen to chase her happiness instead of tucking it neatly aside like Aunt Faye had. Because if she did that, could she ever fully be the supportive, loving mother, friend, family member, maybe one day wife that everyone needed her to be?

Besides, this job would bring home more money.Andallow her a steady, eight-to-five work schedule—something she’d never had at the station. It would also be doing what she loved, so it wouldn’t feel like a job. Everywhere else that was hiring near Bourbon Falls either required a college degree, had crappy hours, or involved a retail setting.

Lord, she really didn’t want to go back to working retail.

Noah would eventually forgive her, she knew, and they could come back and visit on weekends anytime—she’d be happy to make the trip. But a long-distance relationship wasn’t what she wanted, nor would she ask Chase to suffer through that. He’d always wanted a family to love on, and that’d be hard to do with over two hours of driving between them.

This is the right thing to do.

I deserve to be happy, he said so himself.

She picked up her cell phone. It was time to talk to Chase. She owed him that much. Truly, she owed him so much more. But right now, this conversation was all she had left to give.

Need to talk, she texted.Can you meet me at the bookstore at 6?

His reply only took seconds.

I’m closing up at OBF today, he texted back,Won’t be done until six thirty.

Okay, I’ll swing by there on my way home, she replied.

He sent no other response, didn’t call to ask what was up. Which meant he probably knew where this conversation was going. If only that made the task ahead easier.

---