Page 11 of Can't Walk Away

We eat in a comfortable silence. I’m thinking about all the work I can get caught up on from taking a couple of days off of work. My mother had me running around town picking this and that up for the party and then with yesterday her throwing the party. It was a total wash to even work, not to mention the shit show that happened afterwards.

Once we’re finished with breakfast Jase helps me clean up the kitchen and then I walk him towards the door. After he puts his boots on and opens the door leading to the front porch, he turns around and grasps the nape of my neck and kisses me thoroughly.

When we break apart, he smirks at me as I watch him jog down to his truck. It’s only then that I notice most of the neighbors are out and about and have stopped to watch our show. If I ever thought Jase was trying to keep us a secret, I know now that he isn’t.

I watch him pull out of the driveway and then go back into the house, making sure I lock the door once I’m inside. I hop in the shower, take care of myself, grab some comfortable clothes to wear while I’m working today, and then clean up the bedroom.

I wander in to Jase’s home office and settle into his comfortable chair and ottoman he has placed in here and turn my laptop on.

There are a few emails I have to respond to right away, but for the most part I pull up what I’ve been working on. A client that’s in need of a whole new website for their vintage clothing shop. I’m so excited to see this site come together, with thrift store shopping being a passion of mine. I get lost in my work while waiting for Jase to come home. Home, I like the sound of that.

10

Jase

I’m at the shop helping Derrick mix the right formula for the 1969 Camaro we’ve been restoring for weeks. This is the final part and making sure the exact gun metal grey the customer wants is definitely a priority. What was supposed to take only a couple of hours is taking all fucking day. I shot a text to Chey letting her know it would be closer to six before I was able to leave the shop. She sent back a text saying no problem with a heart emoji. It brought a smile to my face and then I got back to work. Since I’m here I decided to catch up on the paperwork that’s piling up and be here in case Derrick has any other problems. We took him on as an apprentice, he’s showing a lot of potential. Even if he did call me away from Cheyenne on a Sunday morning.

I’m lost in my paperwork when there’s a knock on my office door and a clearing of a throat. I look up and see Phil. He looks the worst he ever has. I’m still surprised he was okay with the development of Chey and me. I figured he’d be pissed as hell, but he’s basically given me all of his support. The surprise comes from Debra. I knew she was a pain in the ass, but I never knew just how bad.

“Hey Phil,”

“Hey, Jase, just stopping by to see how Cheyenne’s doing today. Debra, the way she acted last night. I had no idea she’d say the things she did. I knew she’d be reluctant, but I never thought she’d be so cruel to her,” he says as he’s running his hands through his hair. Phil’s only a few years older than me. Debra and he had Cheyenne when they were in their early twenties. His age is starting to show. He has the normal greying around the edges of his hair, but what worries me the most is the stress I see clearly written on his face.

“She’s okay for what she went through last night. She’s tough, tougher than I ever thought she’d have to be. I left her at my place today. Not sure when she’ll want to grab the rest of her things from your place though,” I tell him with sincerity. Not to mention I don’t want Chey anywhere near her mother for the time being.

“Cheyenne doesn’t have to come back and get her things. I’ll get them packed up for her. I don’t trust Debra right now. She ended up destroying the master bedroom last night and blaming me for never taking her side. As if that would have made any difference. I’ll be filing for divorce as soon as Cheyenne is settled. I don’t want her to feel like she has no place to live. I know I’ve fucked up in the past and it’s something I know I have to fix, but right now keeping her away from Debra is probably the best thing to do,” he says as he finally comes to take a seat inside my office.

---