Page 78 of Things Good Girls Don't Do (Rock Canyon, Idaho 1)

Buzz gave him a look. “What’d you do?”

Chase smiled sheepishly. “I thought she was too good for me. That I didn’t deserve her. And I took off without giving her a good explanation.”

Buzz chuckled. “Guess you’re more like your mother than you thought.”

Chase looked at Buzz, taking a second to get his meaning. His mother had treated him shabbily because she thought she didn’t deserve him. And she’d been wrong.

“Think she’ll forgive me?” Chase asked.

“Can’t tell you that, son, but if you don’t try, you’re gonna miss out. ’Cause when you meet that one person that you’re meant for, it’s one hell of a ride.”

Chase hesitated before asking, “Was that my mother for you?”

Buzz smiled. “I married my best friend when we were eighteen and I had twenty-five great years with her before she died. When I met your mother, I was lonely and scared, and she made me feel alive again. Mary was my best friend, I loved her, but Lorie was . . . Lorie was my match. She was my passion. Yeah, your mother was meant for me and me for her. And if that’s what this girl is for you, then you gotta make it right.”

Buzz was really a great guy and his mother had been lucky to have him. When the lawyer had announced their dual ownership of the diner, Chase had felt guilty accepting it. It was Buzz’s livelihood and he didn’t feel right taking that away.

After a long pause, weighing his options, Chase blurted out, “If you want me to sign over my half of the diner to you, I will.”

Buzz shook his head as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Your mama wanted you to have it, and when I’m gone the whole thing will go to you. Mary and I never were blessed with children.”

Chase looked over at the older man and said sincerely, “Thanks for making her happy, Buzz.”

Buzz grinned. “It was my pleasure, son. I was a lucky man for a little while.”

Those words haunted him as he packed his bags to head back to Rock Canyon the next morning. He didn’t want to be lucky for just a little while. He didn’t want just a few weeks with Katie.

He wanted a lifetime.

At five in the morning, he got up and showered, leaving his scruff in case it helped him win Katie back. He walked out the door with a hug from Buzz and a warning not to be a stranger. He hugged him back, accepting a back slap. Then he pulled away and walked down the driveway to his Blazer. After loading up his bag, Chase climbed into the driver’s seat and settled in for the long drive. If he hurried, he could be back in Idaho before Katie got home from work.

“KATIE, YOU HAVE a phone call!” Kitty called from the front of the salon.

“I’ll get it in the back,” Katie said, trying to be heard over the blow-dryers and laughter. She headed to the office in back and picked up the phone. “This is Katie.”

“Katie, don’t hang up,” Jimmy’s voice pleaded on the line.

Katie wanted to bang her head against something. “Seriously, what could you possibly have to say to me besides ‘I’m suing you’?”

“I’m sorry. About the things I said and for coming at Chase like that. I just went a little crazy seeing you together and I realized that I was jealous,” he said.

Oh hell no . . . “Honestly, this is just getting weird. You dumped me eight months ago. You are getting married. This has to stop.”

“I’m not getting married. She called off the wedding,” he said.

Of course, no wonder he’s all apologetic. Nothing like having a safety net. “That’s too bad, Jimmy, but it has nothing to do with me anymore.”

“Katie, wait . . .”

She hung up. No, she’d been waiting too long for a lot of things. Waiting to start a life. Waiting to get married and have kids. Waiting to meet the right guy.

She was done waiting. She wasn’t going to mess around with jerks and commitment-phobes anymore. The next guy she dated was going to be solid and dependable. Someone who wouldn’t take off when things got heavy.

Katie’s mind was made up. Until she walked back up front and saw a familiar Blazer roar by the shop window.

Chase was back.

Part of her was happy he was back, glad he was okay, but the other part, the new, no-filter Katie who busted headlights and back talked her elders, wanted nothing more to do with him.

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