A MATTER OF TRUST (12 page)

Chase stroked her hair, waiting until she’d quieted to try coaxing her into telling him what was wrong. Gently prying her arms from around his neck, he maneuvered her into a position where he could see her face then wiped away her tears. Maddy’s big blue eyes met his, searching for what he didn’t know, but there was such a depth of sadness in them it nearly broke his heart in two just to look at her.

“What is it? Talk to me, baby, it’s killing me to see you like this.”

His concern was genuine, she consoled herself, but that didn’t necessarily mean he still loved her. No, Chase did love her; it was there in his eyes and in the tenderness of touch, but was it strong enough to keep him from being lured away by another women? If he really had planned on meeting with Angela this afternoon, then obviously not. Maddy didn’t relish the idea of confronting him with it, but neither could she live with the uncertainty. If it had to end, it was better they do it now before she…before she what? Lost her heart to him? It was already too late for that. Before she was so in love with him she’d never be able to recover? It was too late for that too, but at least if she left now the agony of knowing it was coming to an end wouldn’t be prolonged.

“Are you happy with me?” She finally asked.

His brows drew together. “Of course I am, why would you even ask that?”

Maddy chose her words carefully. “Because I…I think you haven’t been entirely honest with me about where you’re going after your doctor’s appointment.”

Her words took him by surprise and the look of guilt flashed across his face before he could recover. “I admit there was some personal business I also planned on attending to while I was in town, but I don’t understand what that has to do with whether I’m happy with you or not.”

Was that how he viewed his affair with Angela, just some personal business that he was going to attend to? Had she really misjudged his character so badly? Maddy lifted her chin, gathering what dignity she could. There was no use dancing around the question when asking him outright would give her the answers she needed. And if it was true he was meeting with Angela today, he’d know exactly who the phone call had come from.

“There was a phone call while you were in the shower. She told me to let you know she couldn’t meet with you today, but that she’d make it up to you later.”

“Damn, I specifically told her not to call here,” he said irritably. “It was supposed to be a secret, but honestly sweetheart, I don’t see why knowing about it has upset you so much.”

Maddy gaped at him, a cold chill settling in her bones. “How can you be so…so insensitive about something like this? Of course I’m upset. I had to hear it from someone else…” Not just someone else, she thought miserably, she had to hear it from Angela, and now Chase was acting like it wasn’t really that big of a deal.

Chase smiled indulgently. “Look, I’m sorry you found out this way and to tell you the truth I’m a little upset myself because it ruins some of my plans…”

“I’ll just bet it does,” Maddy snapped, anger overriding the pain. She struggled to get up, but Chase would have none of it.

“Damn it, Maddy, stop fighting me! I thought we had an understanding…”

“An understanding,” she squeaked, “when did we ever come to an understanding about this?” She shoved against his chest, again trying to extract herself from his grasp. “Let me go,” Maddy gritted, “I can’t do this, I won’t do this!”

The bottom dropped out of his stomach. “But you said…” Chase was having a hell of a time keeping his arms around her and finally did the only thing he could think of to keep her from running away. In one fluid movement, he pushed her back against the cushions and pinned her with his weight. “Would you just calm down for a minute so we can talk this out?”

“There’s nothing to talk about, not after what you did.”

“What did I do that was so wrong?”

“You sent flowers,” she blurted out, tears stinging her eyes.

Chase looked puzzled for a minute. How did she know about the flowers? They weren’t even scheduled to be delivered until after he’d left for his doctor’s appointment. Of course the florist could have called to confirm the delivery and she’d taken that call too, but even if they had, it didn’t explain why she was working herself up about it. He studied her tearful face, wondering how all his beautifully laid plans could have fallen apart so quickly and why Maddy was so emotionally distraught over it. I can’t do this, I won’t do this, she’d said. Chase felt as if he’d been punched in the gut when it finally sank in that she was calling off the wedding.

“Listen to me,” he said evenly, “we can slow this down if that’s what you want. I’ll give you as much time as you need to adjust to the idea and we’ll work it out together.”

Maddy just stared at him. Did he honestly think that she’d get used to the idea of sharing him with Angela? She was crushed, utterly crushed by how calloused he was being in spite of his magnanimous offer to work it out together. Was he insane? No self-respecting woman would agree to such an arrangement, not even one who was madly in love with him.

“No, I won’t ever adjust to it,” she said adamantly. “Now please get off of me.”

Chase didn’t budge an inch. “No, not until you can give me an explanation that makes sense. Okay, so you found out about the flowers and my appointment with the jeweler. It’s not as if we haven’t talked about getting married…”

“What?”

“Maddy, please don’t call it off. We don’t have to get married right away if you don’t want to, but I couldn’t take it if you called it off altogether.”

Her mind flew off in a hundred different directions. Why was he still talking about getting married in the same breath that he admitted to sending Angela the flowers? Her brows furrowed. “I didn’t know anything about the jeweler,” she said flatly. “So what were going to do, meet her there so you could appease her with a diamond bracelet or maybe a pricy pair of earrings so she’ll take you back again?”

Chase drew his head back. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Angela and how you think you need to buy her an expense piece of jewelry so she’ll take you back.”

He shook his head, completely lost. “What the hell does Angela have to do with anything? This is about you and me and why you’ve suddenly changed your mind about marrying me.”

“You really think that I’d marry you after finding out you sent Angela flowers and planned on meeting with her so you could buy her jewelry today?” She turned her head away from him, though he could hardly miss the tears that slid down the side of her face. “I don’t even have to imagine how she was going to pay you back, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re through, Chase. I’ll pack my things and leave first thing in the morning.”

****

Chase finally found his voice after being stunned into silence by what she was saying. “Listen to me, honey, I don’t know where you got the crazy idea that I’d ever want anything to do with Angela when I have you, but I promise you it’s not true.”

“Chase please,” she sighed wearily, “you already admitted you sent the flowers…”

“To you. I arranged to have flowers delivered to the house this afternoon to you, not Angela.”

She turned her gaze back to him, not quite daring to hope that this was all some horrible misunderstanding. “What about the jeweler’s?”

“I was going there for you. I had an appointment with Olivia Branagan of Branagan’s Jewelry. She’s a friend of mine and she was going to help me pick out an engagement ring for you. I was going to surprise you with it at dinner tonight until one of her clerks called and ruined it all.”

“Oh Chase,” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck, “you were really doing all of that for me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I love you, Maddy, and I want to marry you.”

“So you weren’t meeting with Angela today?”

He grunted in disgust. “If I never saw that woman again I’d die a happy man. Now tell me how such a ludicrous notion got locked inside that pretty head of yours.”

Shame washed over her in waves. She never should have believed Angela’s lies instead of trusting Chase. “It wasn’t the jeweler who called,” she said in a subdued tone.

Chase groaned. “Oh Maddy, tell me it wasn’t Angela.”

“She said the most horrible things, but it’s my fault for believing her. I’m so sorry, can you ever forgive me?”

“No, it’s my fault for not warning you what she was like and what she’s capable of doing. She’s been a thorn in my side for over a year now but I thought I’d finally gotten through to her. I don’t know how she got the new number, but you can bet your life I’m going to find out.”

“She said that you always come back to her. She made it sound like this happened all the time, that you get involved with someone else for awhile then get bored and go back to being her lover. She was so convincing and it tore me up inside to think you were getting tired of me.”

“I’ll never grow tired of being with you, never. As for going back to Angela, there’s nothing to go back to because there was never anything there to begin with. This obsession of hers is going to end, but I’ll deal with that later.” He brushed her lips with a soft kiss then pushed himself off of her and stood up. “Come on,” he held out his hand, “walk me to the door and give me a proper good-bye kiss.” Once they reached the foyer, Chase drew her into his arms and gave her long, hard kiss then told her not to answer the phone while he was away. “Now that Angela knows she can get to you, she’ll keep calling to try and stir up more trouble. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised.

“All right. Chase, are you sure…about us?”

“I’d marry you this minute if I could, does that answer your question?”

Maddy’s smile rivaled the sun in brilliance and he held the memory of it in his heart as he drove away. He was going to wring Angela’s scrawny neck for hurting Maddy with her cruel lies but it would have to wait until tomorrow. Today he had more important business, like getting his ring on Maddy’s finger and setting a date for the wedding so they could start making plans. He wouldn’t rest easy until she was his wife, and God willing he wouldn’t have long to wait.

***

The flowers arrived shortly before three and Maddy was beside herself with happiness as the delivery man carried the magnificent arrangement into the dining room and set it on the table. She was glad Chase hadn’t gone with anything as conventional as roses and had chosen instead a variation of fragrant wild flowers. They were simply breathtaking and the card that accompanied them made the gift even more thoughtful and endearing because he’s signed it personally which meant he hadn’t just called in the order but had taken the time to pick them out himself. If only Angela’s rotten call had come after the flowers had been delivered she might not have been so quick to believe the vile woman’s lies.

Thank God Chase had been so forceful about talking it out and they were able to work through it. By all rights, he should have been angry with her for not trusting him but the only time he’d even come close to losing his temper was when she kept trying to get away from him. How had a man like Chase Malone escaped being snatched up long before now? If Angela was an example of the type of women he’d dated, it certainly wasn’t from lack of trying, so why had he remained single and why had he chosen Maddy when he could have had any woman he wanted?

Because she was his other half, just as he was hers. Together, they made sense. The world made sense.

Maddy leaned over the table and breathed in the soft scent of lilacs, one of her favorite flowers, which she was sure Chase knew when he’d picked them out. It was time, she decided. Time to call her parents and let them know what was happening, and time to call her brothers who would no doubt insist on running background checks and dredging up everything they could on Chase; good, bad, or indifferent. They’d been over protective ogres since the day she was born and she’d given up trying to change them long ago. They wouldn’t be pleased about Chase’s playboy past and it wouldn’t do any good to point out their own reputations on that score, but when they saw how happy she was it would overcome any misgivings and they’d rally around her as they always did.

Maddy smiled to herself, recalling the few men who’d dared to date Alex and Dane St. Claire’s little sister. Like her father, they both stood about six foot three and were built like linebackers so it didn’t take much to intimidate any male of a lesser stature. It didn’t help that they delighted in outlining in explicate detail just what would happen if Maddy was treated with anything but the utmost respect. It never really bothered her, though she was careful not to let them know that.

She’d been painfully shy as far as men were concerned in spite of all the charity balls and social functions she’d been required to attend when she was growing up. Maddy half suspected her brothers knew this and that was the real reason they chased off any potential suitors. Her father would have admonished her for not taking advantage of the social status he provided in order to find a husband, but he could hardly fault his sons for protecting their little sister because that’s what the Sawyer men did; they looked after their women.