Page 71 of Things Good Girls Don't Do (Rock Canyon, Idaho 1)

“But . . .”

Katie saw Becca reach out and pinch Steph. “Have a good night, Katie. We’ll text you later to check on you.”

“Thanks, guys.” Katie mouthed thank you to Becca when Steph was distracted. She just wanted to be alone to think.

Katie, men are like horses. You can lead them to water, but you can’t make them drink. Her mother had told her that when she was fifteen and the boy she’d had a crush on didn’t even notice her. Katie had cried and cried, much to her mother’s disapproval.

Ladies don’t caterwaul. We suffer in dignified silence.

She had already decided her mother was right. She wasn’t going to cry or obsess or wait by the phone. She was going to head over to Hall’s Market, grab a carton of Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream and pop in Sixteen Candles. You could never go wrong with a John Hughes movie.

Or with a hot guy waiting for you with a red sports car and cake.

Although these days Katie preferred a man on a motorcycle with white cheddar popcorn, but you can’t always get what you want.

GINGERLY WALKING UP the steps to his house, Chase couldn’t wait to curl up in his nice, soft bed. After popping at least three Advil first. He opened the door and groaned when he moved too fast shutting it. Passing by his answering machine, he noticed the message box was flashing a bright red three.

Pressing the play button, his mother’s husband, Buzz, said over the crackle of the line, “Hey Chase, it’s Buzz. Look, your mother would kill me if she knew I was calling, but she’s in a bad way. She’s in liver failure. She’d be on the donor list, but they said family is best. She’s stubborn, though, and won’t call you.”

Chase couldn’t breathe. Liver failure. He’d talked to her a week ago. She hadn’t said anything about being sick. Everything was fine, she had said. Liver failure was not fine. Suddenly furious with her for leaving him out in the cold yet again, Chase dialed the number Buzz had left, and he picked up on the second ring. “Chase, is that you?”

“What the hell, Buzz?”

“I know, buddy, I tried to get her to tell you, but she didn’t want to be a burden. I wanted to respect her decision, but she’s gotten worse, and they don’t think they’re going to get a donor in time.”

“Where are you?” Chase’s hand was shaking so bad as he grabbed a pen and paper, he wasn’t sure he could write clearly. The adrenaline pumping through him made him feel on edge and he wished that Katie’s stupid ex was there right now so he could use him as a punching bag. Something to make the nightmare of this day disappear.

Buzz told him the name and the address of the hospital in Reno, and Chase hung up in a panic. His mother was dying.

He walked down the hallway to the bathroom and pulled down the Advil, tossing a couple back. Next he hit the bedroom, packed a small bag of essentials, and went into the kitchen to find paper. The first piece he grabbed, he wrote CLOSED INDEFINITELY DUE TO FAMILY EMERGENCY. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. He would stop by the shop and tape it on the door on his way out of town.

On the next piece of paper, he wrote:

Hey Firecracker,

I need to take off for a little while, and I want you to know it has nothing to do with you. It’s family stuff, but I’ll call you when I get back.

Chase

Folding the note, he shoved it into his pocket. Grabbing his bag and the sign for the shop, he locked up the house and tried to run down the porch to the Blazer, but his painful ribs and hands were aching so bad, he slowed down to a limping hop. It was nearly ten, but if he drove all night he might make it in seven hours. He threw his pack in the backseat as he climbed in, grabbing his middle as a sharp stabbing pain shot from his abdomen out. Attempting to ignore the niggling voice in his head telling him to knock on Katie’s door and explain what was happening, he told himself he didn’t have time to get into it with Katie right now. His mom couldn’t wait.

He pulled in front of Katie’s house and left the engine running as he got out. Opening her little floral mailbox, he dropped his note inside and shut the lid quietly. The neighbor’s yappy dog started barking, and Chase headed back to the Blazer before anyone came out to check what the noise was. As soon as his mom was stable, he’d come back and work things out with Katie. They had time, but his mom didn’t. And despite how complicated their relationship was, he needed to be there for her.

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

SEVEN DAYS AND nothing.

Katie left the shop, her hair no longer sporting the purple streaks she had loved. She’d had them dyed back four days after Chase disappeared, but she was still rocking Becca’s clothes and had even gone back for a hot, short halter dress, shoes, and a new bra/panty set. She walked around with a smile and acted like nothing had changed.

And then she went home and cried herself to sleep.

She was an emotional mess. She missed him, hated him, and loved him all at once. It was like one big, confused mixing bowl in her heart, and she wished she could just scoop out all the good things about him and just hate him, but she couldn’t. She’d seen his CLOSED INDEFINITELY sign and wondered if the note he’d left was just a way to make him feel better for rushing out on her.

At first she’d told herself not to worry, he would be back. Then the third day had passed and she’d found herself constantly checking her phone for a missed call from him. Day five, all her optimism had pretty much dissolved into sadness, and she finally had to be honest with herself. If he was going to call her, if she had meant anything to him, he would have called by now.

Maybe he was getting ready to move on and wasn’t sure how to break the news. It fit what he’d told her. He never stayed in one place for too long.

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