Crazy Love(9)

He wasn’t big on taking advantage of the perks that being in his position gave him, but this time, he was definitely happy to be able to travel in the only place he really considered home and have some time to himself.

After shutting the door, he moved forward and turned before sinking down onto the large bed that took up ninety-five percent of the space in the small room. He heard the air release as Chip put the bus into gear and felt it sway as they pulled out of the back parking lot. Looking out his window, which had a limo tint so he could see out but no one could see in, he watched as all the people who had gathered behind the music hall waved, some jumping up and down. He heard their screams and saw flashes of lights as they snapped pictures of his bus leaving. He still felt nothing. It was almost as if he was having an out-of-body experience.

His phone vibrated in his hand and he looked down to see that he had fifteen missed calls. He typed in his code, and when the screen illuminated with the list of contacts who had tried to reach him, he couldn’t believe what name was among them. He wiped his eyes, thinking that it must be a mistake. That he was hallucinating.

But even after blinking and rubbing his eyes again, the name still appeared on his phone. Krista had called—three times. Since that cold December day he’d left Harper’s Crossing halfway through his senior year of high school, she had not returned one of his calls, letters, or emails.

Tapping on the voicemail icon, he brought the phone to his ear. His heart was beating faster than it had been a moment ago, but he still felt an odd sensation of numbness.

The first two messages were from Marcus. He deleted them without listening to the entire thing. The next was from Serena, a model he sometimes saw when he was in L.A. Delete.

Then he heard it. Krista’s voice saying his name. “Hi, Chase.”

The only time he’d heard her voice since he’d left town was on her outgoing message. The one he knew by heart. “Hey, this is Krista. You know what to do.”

Now, as he sat in the back of his tour bus, listening to her voicemail, he realized he hadn’t paid attention to anything she’d said after she’d said his name. He’d heard the melodic sound of her voice over the small speaker in his phone but had not processed the words she’d said. He tapped on the arrow to play it again.

Her sweet voice shook as she said, “Hi, Chase. This is Krista. I just wanted you to know that your mom is headed to the hospital. I am going to take care of Bear and then be right behind her. I’ll call when I know more.”

Bear? Oh right, he remembered his mom mentioning that she’d gotten a dog in one of her emails.

He played the next message. “It’s Krista again. Okay, they are running tests but are pretty sure they have it narrowed down to being a stroke. They may be taking her into surgery. I’ll let you know when I know something.”

His thumb stroked over the last message, and Chase’s chest tightened at the sound of her voice. She sounded exhausted and stressed. “Hey, it’s Krista again. The doctors were able to remove the blood clot that caused the stroke and Abby is in recovery. We’ll know more when she wakes up.”

The phone went silent, and he looked down to see if the message had ended. It hadn’t. As the blue line ran across the gray bar, he waited to see if she would say anything else.

After several seconds, she spoke again in a whisper. “I’m really sorry, Chase. I hope you’re doing okay.”

Then the message ended. Chase lay back in his bed and ran his fingers through his hair. The last conversation he’d had with Krista had been filled with screaming and tears. A lot of their relationship had been filled with screaming and tears. Chase didn’t know if the stereotype of redheads being hot-tempered was true or not, but in the case of Krista Sloan, it definitely fit.

She had a fiery temper, and he seemed to bring it out in her more than anyone. Hearing her sound so quiet, so subdued, was worse than hearing her scream at him, like she had the last night he’d seen her.

He didn’t know the extent of his mother’s condition. He didn’t know what he would be dealing with when he crossed into the city limits. Seeing his mom. Seeing Krista.

But he did know it was time. Time to face his past. Face his ghosts.

It was time to go home.





Chapter Three





Krista yawned for about the tenth time in so many minutes. She hit the button to head up to the fourth floor and noted that she really needed to schedule a trip to the nail salon. Her French manicure was so chipped that it just looked like white specks on the tip of her nails. As she waited for the elevator, she rolled her head from side to side, trying to stretch out the kink she’d gotten in it when she’d taken a power nap in the breakroom a couple of hours ago.