When he stepped back, The Colonel said, “Sorry to hear about your mama. How’s she doing?”
“Better, thanks. Colonel, this is Tully and Chip,” Chase said, making the introductions.
“Wait a minute.” The Colonel paused as he was shaking Chip’s hand, his face lit up with recognition. “Chip Jones.”
Chip tipped his head. “That’d be me.”
“I saw you play in Louisiana after I got back from overseas in”—The Colonel paused as he searched for the year—“it had to be 1945. I think the place was called Velma’s—”
“Jazz House,” Chip spoke in unison with The Colonel.
Chip was smiling from ear to ear. “That’s right. I was there for two years every Friday and Saturday night.”
“I remember. My buddies and I would go just to hear you. Man, when you played, it wasn’t just music, it was poetry.”
Alex and Chase both looked at each other, wearing identical expressions on their faces. Hearing The Colonel say that something was ‘poetry’ was not something Chase thought he’d ever hear, and from the look on Alex’s face, he was thinking the same thing.
“Hey, do you mind if I introduce you to some of the boys from the VFW? I know they’d love to meet you.”
Chip extended his hand. “Lead the way.”
The waitress appeared through the crowd. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Actually, Nina, can you show Tully the patio?” Alex asked sincerely. “I was just telling him about it.”
“Sure,” the young girl smiled as she started walking towards the door they had come through a few minutes before. Tully followed behind like a duckling after its mother.
“Like leading a lamb to slaughter,” Alex joked. “Come on. Jason and Katie are dying to see you.”
As Chase followed Alex winding through the crowded room of familiar faces, he felt a sense of happiness and belonging that he’d only ever felt when he was holding Krista in his arms. This place and these people were his home just as much as Krista was. It was where he belonged.
* * *
“Oh. My. God,” Amber said as she slid into the chair, champagne flute in hand. She sat beside Krista and lifted her hand, waving at Jessie, Becca, Chelle, and Jamie, who were all seated at the round table. “Chase Malone is even more gorgeous in person, and that voice.” Her eyes were wide as she took a sip of the golden liquid that filled her glass.
“You know that’s Krista’s ex-boyfriend, right?” Jessie stated bluntly.
Amber sputtered and choked. She almost did a spit-take, which would have covered the white tablecloth. Her long dark hair fanned out in the air as she spun her head around towards Krista. “What?!”
“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know,” Jamie said from across the table.
Krista shrugged at her cousins-in-law. “You both moved here after Chase moved away.”
Amber was shaking her head in disbelief as her golden eyes widened even more. “How long were you two together?”
“On and off for six years.” Krista took a drink from her own glass. Hers was not as fancy as Amber’s. It was plain old cran and vodka, but it would do the trick.
“I’ve lived here for almost ten years! How did I not know this?” Amber looked around the table.
“Well, someone”—Jessie pointed at Krista behind her hand and tilted her head in Krista’s direction—“doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“Oh!” Amber immediately turned back towards Krista. “I’m sorry. Of course. This is your life, not a tabloid story. I got a little caught up in the ‘Chase Malone’ of it all.”
“No, it’s fine,” Krista assured her. “Honestly. It’s no big deal. Chase and I are…are fine. I was actually the one who called and told him about his mom.”
Amber nodded, but Krista could tell that she wasn’t quite buying her story. She also looked like she had so many questions she wanted to ask, that she was going to erupt like a volcano filled with question lava.
Krista resigned herself to answering them as she said, “Go ahead. Ask away.”
Amber smiled as if she’d been caught and waved her hands in front of her. “No. It’s none of my business, honestly.”
Krista knew that if she found out that one of her friends or relatives—even if only through marriage—had dated Justin Timberlake for six years, she would want to know details. All of them. Sure, to her, he was Chase—her first crush, her first kiss, her first boyfriend, her first…everything. But to Amber, he was Justin Timberlake.