Under a Georgia Moon: Georgia Moon Romance Book 1 (8 page)

As she captured the image, Addie could envision the grounds swarming with women dressed in rich, colored silk gowns and matching parasols, their billowing hooped skirts swaying as they glided across the expanse, sipping sweet tea. While men, wearing new Confederate uniforms, clustered together, optimistically discussing the war as they prepared to go and fight against the North.

The Caldwell house had never been invaded by the North, but the family had still suffered along with everyone else in the South. Addie remembered her aunt telling her about her husband’s family. With their men off fighting, the fear of an invasion had made the Caldwell women bury all of their valuables for protection. Although they claimed to have unearthed all the buried riches, it was rumored that one of the wooden boxes had never been recovered. Every time she came to visit her aunt, Addie had dreamed of discovering the lost treasure. If only she knew where to look.

A light wind rustled the canopy of leaves above her. The sun created a lacy pattern of shadows on the grass as it penetrated the large trees. Shielding her eyes, Addie gazed up, admiring the way the new leaves shimmered in the light. Wanting to capture the amazing beauty, she found a shaded area on the grass and lay down, angling her lens up at the sky and lost herself in getting just the right shot.

* * *

Chase snapped his helmet on and guided his bicycle out of the garage just as his cell phone started vibrating in his pocket. One look at the caller ID made him wish he’d left his phone inside. It was his secretary which could only mean one thing: Mr. Barclay was looking for him.

“Hey, Shanna. What’s up?”

“The boss man is looking for you and naturally he called me.”

Chase could hear the irritation in his normally easy-going secretary’s voice. “Sorry, do you know what he wants?”

“No. I’m at the mall with my sister. All he said is have Chase call me immediately.”

“I really am sorry. I know he has my cell number.”

“It’s not your fault. For whatever reason I’m the one on his speed dial.”

Chase apologized again and ended the call. Wondering what his boss wanted, he scrolled through his contacts. Whit Barclay’s number was right below his daughters. Dating the boss’s daughter and then breaking up with her hadn’t been the smartest career move. At least Chase had allowed Hayden to make the claim that she’d broken up with him. He supposed—aside from being a talented graphic arts designer—that is why he still had a job.

He pressed Whit’s number and waited for the man to answer.

“Chase, thanks for calling me back so quickly.” Chase heard voices in the background. He had no doubt Mr. Barclay was on the golf course. “Listen, I’m having a few clients over to the house this evening and want you to be there. Five o’clock for cocktails. Dinner will be at six. Hang on, Son.”

Chase could hear him tell someone to hold the phone for him. Then he heard the distinct whack of a golf club hitting a ball. Whit cursed and angrily asked for his phone back. Whatever excuse Chase was going to use to try and get out of this party died on his lips. Mr. Barclay liked winning at everything—especially golf. He would be in no mood for Chase to decline the invitation.

“You still there?” Whit asked in an irritated voice.

“Yes, sir.”

“This is a formal event so wear a tux. By the way, you’ll be escorting Hayden.”

The phone went silent. Mr. Barclay had given his order and hung up.

Chase slipped the phone back in his pocket.
Hayden is back home?
He’d been relieved when she moved to California the year before to pursue an acting career. Hopefully this was just a visit. He wasn’t in the mood to play any of her games, and somehow he knew Hayden was behind the invitation.

Feeling aggravated, Chase straddled his bike. Why couldn’t Hayden just let go? It’s not like she really loved Chase. She just didn’t like to lose any more than her father.

He pulled out his phone again to access his music, but before he got a chance his phone chimed an incoming text. If it was work related, he better answer it so Shanna didn’t have to track him down again. At least one of them should enjoy their weekend.

There were actually two messages. One from Miss Janie and the other from Lexie. He opened the one from Lexie first.

Hey, my roomies and I are making homemade pizza tonight if you want to stop by for supper. Try to come because I miss you. Love Lexie.

Love?
Obviously Lexie hadn’t taken him seriously when he’d told her a couple of weeks ago they needed to see other people. Lexi was pretty and sweet and he’d sure liked kissing her, but he wasn’t in love with her.

When they’d first started dating, Lexie told him upfront she wasn’t looking to get married for a long time. It had been exactly what Chase needed to hear because he wasn’t in the market for a wife either.

He wasn’t ready to make a commitment to her or any other girl right now. Before he decided to settle down for good, he wanted to see if he could really give his music career a chance. Once he married, he knew he might never have the opportunity again. Drew was increasingly adamant that they cut back on performances because of his growing family. Even Jackson seemed less enthusiastic since he’d married Sydney.

Despite what Lexi told him, after they’d been dating for a little over a month, she’d started dropping hints about them being completely exclusive. Chase flat out asked her what she’d meant by that and Lexie confessed she’d like to see if they could make their relationship more permanent. She’d even suggested moving in together.

Chase had been shocked. He and Lexie met at a church retreat and the extent of their intimacy had been a few hot make out sessions. Without feeling too guilty, he’d ended the relationship amicably. It looked like he’d been too nice.

Rather than make a less than friendly reply, Chase simply deleted the message. If Lexie persisted in trying to start things up again, he’d have to be more direct.

Next he opened the message from his neighbor and smiled.

Chase, thank you again for picking up Addie. You’ve always been such a polite, considerate boy, and I knew I could count on you to get my niece to me safely. She’s a real sweetheart and I’ve missed her. I hated leaving her home all alone today. If you get time, maybe you could stop by and say hello. Hugs.

Shaking his head at her not-so-subtle attempt at matchmaking, he keyed in a response, telling her he’d try to stop by. Not wanting to get interrupted again, he hastily accessed his playlist, placed the ear buds in each ear and pocketed the phone. Then he pedaled off before anyone else attempted to get a hold of him.

Although Janie was considered his neighbor, there was still a good half a mile in between their houses. As he approached her driveway, he decided he wasn’t in the mood to talk with Addie right now. Maybe after a good long ride he’d feel less stressed.

The first mile, Chase concentrated on the music, especially the guitar solos Brad Paisley was so famous for. The gifted musician had been Chase’s idol for as long as he could remember. While Chase could never claim to be as good as the popular country music artist, he knew he was pretty talented. He was banking on Reggie getting the talent scout to one of his performances so he could prove he had what it took to be successful.

Before he knew it, Chase had come to the mini mart on the outskirts of town. Crossing the road, he brought his bike to a stop and climbed off. He took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his damp hair. He felt better already.

After locking one of the wheels to a bike rack, Chase went inside the gas station and purchased an electrolyte fortified water along with a Georgia chili dog. The weather was too nice to be cooped up inside so he took his purchases and found a spot at an empty picnic table outside.

Chase took a big bite of his chili dog and pulled out his phone. He was hoping to hear back from Reggie today. Since Thursday, Chase had only gotten his voicemail. He’d left several messages with his agent, but hadn’t heard anything from the busy man. If he didn’t hear something soon, he’d take a trip into Macon to catch Reggie at his office.

There wasn’t any new texts but he had one missed call from Hayden. The hotdog lodged in his throat as he debated about listening to the message or just deleting it. Whatever she had to say, Chase was sure he’d hear about it at the party tonight. Unless maybe she was calling to say she wouldn’t be able to be there.

He took a long drink of water and finally decided to go ahead and listen to the message. Hayden’s sultry voice was familiar and sounded just as seductive as she had the last time they’d talked.

Hey, Chase. You need to call me right away. I promise you won’t regret it. Talk to ya later.

Not regret it? When it came to Hayden, Chase had too many regrets to count. He deleted the voicemail and took another bite of his hotdog.

Trying to ignore that part of him that wanted to find out what Hayden wanted, he opened his Facebook app and searched for Addie Heywood. There was only one result and it wasn’t the girl he’d met yesterday. He typed in her full name which still only came back with one result that definitely wasn’t her. He was surprised. Didn’t everyone have a Facebook account? Even his mother had joined the social media site.

He finished his chili dog while scrolling through the newsfeeds. A recent post by Hayden seemed innocuous enough so he clicked on it and read all about her supporting role in a new television drama that would start shooting the pilot in six weeks. Until that time, she was home for an extended visit and wanted to reconnect with old friends.

Yeah, Chase was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be one of the many guys who’d be lining up at her house to “reconnect.” If he knew Hayden—and he did—the invitation would mean much more than just a friendly little chat to catch up.

An alert sounded that he had a Facebook message.
Fantastic
. It was from Hayden. He wasn’t sure he liked that others could see he was currently logged in. Hopefully, Hayden didn’t know he’d actually been reading her latest post.

Her message was pretty much the same thing he’d just listened to only she added a little teaser. A teaser Chase couldn’t ignore.

Chapter Six

Tossing
his trash in the garbage can, Chase walked away from the picnic table and did something he’d vowed to never do again. He called Hayden Barclay.

The phone rang several times before she answered.

“I got your message,” he said abruptly.

“Well, hello to you too.” Her voice was husky and velvety smooth. At one time he’d found her voice sexy. Now he knew it was all just part of the act.

“Hayden, you’ve left me two messages to call you back so I’m callin’ you back.”

Light laughter filled his ear. “Oh my, somebody’s in a grumpy mood. Maybe I should tell Daddy to find me another escort tonight.”

Chase’s fingers gripped the phone tight as he closed his eyes and mentally counted to three. The temptation to tell her to go right ahead and then hang up was too strong. “Hello, Hayden,” he said flatly. “I’m returning your phone call.”

“That’s a little better.”

Biting back a reply, Chase ground his teeth together and waited to hear what she had to say. After several seconds, she let out a dramatic big breath. “I can see you’re still upset with me.”

Upset? Is that really how she remembered their last conversation? “Let’s not rehash the past, okay?”

“Good idea.”

“Great. Now, what did you need to tell me? Something to do with TJ Music?”

She laughed again. “You’re going to have to be a lot nicer than that if you want to hear what I have to say.”

Chase couldn’t do this. Nothing she had to say—not even if it meant helping him further his music career—was worth this kind of headache. Before he could tell her goodbye, she said, “And Chase, you do want to hear what I have to say.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, Chase checked his anger. If Hayden had connections to Tate Jepson, this could be his big break. “All right.” He dropped his hand and took a deep breath. “I’d like to hear more about your connection with Mr. Jepson and how I can meet him. Please.”

Hayden’s voice was animated as she told him all about the parties she’d attended since moving to California. The names she dropped were intended to wow him, and, grudgingly, he had to admit he was impressed. It looked like Hayden had finally landed in the Hollywood limelight.

Lucky for him, the weekend long yacht party Hayden had attended just before coming home also had Dana Jepson, Tate Jepson’s only daughter, aboard. The two became friends and when Dana mentioned her boyfriend was opening for the country music sensation Phillip Jacob’s, Hayden told Dana all about her boyfriend Chase and how he’d be just as good if he could ever get noticed.

The word boyfriend immediately sent an icy chill down Chase’s spine and doused his excitement like he’d just jumped into a cold river. “I’m not your boyfriend, Hayden.”

“Goodness, Chase. Is that all you heard?”

“No, but you told her I was your boyfriend, like we’re still together.”

“So, what’s the big deal? I would’ve sounded completely pathetic if I’d told her we’d broken up.”

“Fine.” Chase decided it wasn’t worth arguing the point. “It’s not like she’s going to ever know we aren’t together.”

Hayden laughed. “Actually, she’s going to be at Daddy’s party tonight. If things go well, I know I can get Tate himself to show up at your next gig.”

 “What do you mean by
go well
?”

“Let’s just say I’d like you to play the part of an adoring boyfriend. It shouldn’t be too hard since you were so attentive before I left.”

The muscles in Chase’s chest tightened until he felt like he could hardly breathe. Regardless of how incredible this opportunity might be, nothing could be worth getting involved with Hayden again. The power she held over him was like some kind of fatal attraction. No matter how many times she betrayed him, somehow she always could lure him back. Not this time.