It Started with a Crush by Piper James

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chase

“Ihave a new property for you to check out.”

I took the paper Belle held out to me and input the address into the search engine on my phone. The property was on the edge of town, only a few miles from my family’s ranch. I tapped the screen to see the satellite view and flinched. I couldn’t tell what kind of shape the house was in, but the surrounding property was overgrown like no one had ventured there in years.

I looked from my phone to Belle, who was staring at her computer screen as her fingers tapped against the keyboard. We were in her office at The ARP Foundation, the company Belle created to build and restore housing for low income families in the surrounding area. She’d created the nonprofit when she left her father’s company and cut him out of her life, and according to the whispers around town, she’d never been happier—or more in her element. This was what she was meant to do.

And my brothers and I helped out whenever we could, volunteering our time and connections to make her dream a success.

“I’m not sure this place is salvageable,” I said, glancing back down at the image on my phone. “It’s hard to tell, but it looks like the roof might be caving in.”

“A roof, we can replace,” she said, looking up at me with a blank expression. “I need you to check the foundation and the bones of the place. We can get it for a steal, and that place could make a wonderful home for the right people.”

Her expression turned a little dreamy, but she quickly cleared her throat and refocused on her computer screen. I shook my head and chuckled. Her pregnancy had given her a terrible case of mood swings, and she shifted from one emotion to another in the blink of an eye these days.

“I’ll check it out and get back to you,” I said, waving the piece of paper in the air.

“Thanks, Chase,” she said without looking back up at me.

I walked out into the late summer heat and studied the dark clouds forming in the sky. A storm was rolling in, so I needed to make this quick. It was Saturday, and Daniel was at home with Ethan. I promised him we’d play a board game when I got home, and it was shaping up to be the perfect day for it.

As I pulled out onto the road, my mind inevitably turned to Sage as it did every time I was alone. I wondered what she was doing today. And who she was doing it with?

Was she dating someone already? It had only been a week since she broke things off with me, and the thought of her moving on so quickly caused pain to spear through my chest. Of course, she’d called our relationship a fling. To her, we were a blip on the radar. An insignificant moment in time.

But it was so much more than that to me. I’d fallen for her, hard, and I was floundering without her. And the way I saw it, I had three choices—let her go and try to move on with my life, go to her and convince her to give us a chance despite her concerns, or hold tight and wait until the end of the school year. When Daniel was out of her class, I could ask her for a fresh start.

The first two seemed impossible, which left me with option three. I knew I’d have no problem waiting for her. There was no one else for me, and I’d wait an eternity, if that’s what it took. But what if Sage did move on? What if she found someone new and fell in love while I waited on the sidelines for that magical moment in time when it was acceptable for her to be with me?

And why wouldn’t she? I made her believe our relationship meant nothing to me. That as far as I was concerned, we were just having a good time.

I cursed under my breath as I did every time I thought of those words coming out of my mouth. They were a lie, and I’d sold that lie perfectly. I should’ve been honest. I should’ve told her I wasn’t moving back to California and that our time together meant so much more to me than it apparently did to her.

At least then I’d know I’d done everything I possibly could to make things work between us. As it stood, everything just felt so…incomplete.

As I pulled off the main road onto the narrow lane that led to my destination, I reached a decision. I was going to tell Sage everything. That I didn’t mean it when I pretended like I was unaffected by her rejection of me. That I was staying in Red River.

That I was in love with her.

And I wouldn’t push her to take me back. I wouldn’t ask anything of her at all. I’d just put my truth out there and let her decide for herself what she wanted. And if what she wanted was me, I’d agree to any terms she requested. I’d see her in secret. I’d wait until the school year was over. I’d do whatever it took to make her happy and get her back into my life.

I pulled into the rutted dirt driveway and spiky branches reached out to scrape along the sides of the vehicle. I pushed my thoughts of Sage aside for the moment, making a mental checklist of things that would need to be done to make this place habitable.

It was worse than I thought.

The foliage was dense, encroaching on the driveway from either side as weeds brushed against the truck’s undercarriage. As I made the last turn and the house came into view, I cringed. The paint was peeling, two of the shutters were hanging on by a thread, and the porch was sagging worse than the one at the ranch had been when we arrived.

Weeds had long ago strangled any grass that existed in the surrounding yard, and there were rusted out propane tanks and old car rims scattered around. Fuck, there was even graffiti on the front door. I shuddered to think what the inside must look like as I spied a blue tarp on the roof that had to be covering a hole.

Shaking my head, I pulled the truck to a stop and killed the engine. The damage I’d taken stock of was superficial and fixable. Belle’s voice rang in my head, telling me to check the foundation and the bones. That’s what mattered. With a new sense of resolve, I hopped down from the truck…and froze.

“Sage?” I said, not sure if I was imagining her there, leaning against the trunk of her car.

I’d been so preoccupied with assessing the property, I hadn’t seen her as I drove up. She straightened, her shoulders lifting as she took a deep breath and started walking toward me.

“Hey, Chase,” she said, her voice shaky and unsure.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted, then shook my head. “Sorry. I meant, it’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too,” she said, a tentative smile curving her lips. “And I’m here because, well, this place is mine.”

“What?” I asked, confusion filling me.

“My grandfather left it to me in his will ten years ago,” she explained. “I’ve been paying the property taxes on it ever since, but I’ve never had the money to renovate it.”

“So, you’re selling it to Belle’s foundation?” I asked, trying to understand what was happening.

“No,” she said, her smile turning sad. “I wasn’t sure if you’d agree to see me after…everything I said, so I asked Belle for help. This was her plan.”

“You could’ve just called me,” I said. “Or texted. Hell, you could’ve sent smoke signals, and I would’ve come running. I’ve missed you.”

“So I’ve heard,” she said, her smile widening as she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it.

She handed it over to me, and my eyes widened as I read it twice. I looked up at her with wide eyes, then back down at the note.

Do you love me?

Check yes or no.

Love,

Chase Perry

“I didn’t write this,” I mumbled stupidly before looking back at Sage.

Tears were spilling down her cheeks as she pulled the note out of my hand. One corner of her mouth lifted as she swiped the moisture away with her free hand.

“I know you didn’t,” she said. “Daniel gave it to me.”

As she spoke, she pulled a red marker from the pocket of her jeans. Sticking the end of it into her mouth, she bit down and pulled the marker free, holding the cap between her teeth. She stared into my eyes as she held the marker above the page, then glancing down, she scribbled something before handing the note back to me.

I swallowed thickly as I took it from her and looked to see what she’d done. A fat, red checkmark graced the page, right over the box marked “yes.”

My eyes nearly bulged out of my head as I stared at it. My heart was pounding, and I could barely believe what I was seeing. When I looked back up at her, she’d recapped the marker and tucked it back into her pocket and was watching me with hopeful eyes.

“I wasn’t honest with you,” she said, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I pretended like it was easy, letting you go, when it was anything but. I thought I was doing the right thing. For Daniel. For my career. But it wasn’t what was right for me. You’re right for me, Chase. You’re perfect for me, and I’m sorry I let my fears come between us.”

“I didn’t mean what I said, either,” I admitted, and a fresh wave of tears poured over her cheeks.

“I’m glad,” she said, taking a small step closer to me, “because I’m in love with you, Chase Perry.”