Since Chase hadn’t spoken to him since they’d kissed, Mason wondered if he’d made a mistake and created a greater rift between them by caving to his selfish desires. But he didn’t feel like it was something he chose to do as much as he was compelled to do—as though there was some force greater than him drawing him into the experience, forcing his arms around Chase’s tight body and his lips to Chase’s.
He wanted to believe there was some divine force conspiring on his behalf, but after all that had happened in his life, he knew better.
Mason let Chase ignore him. He didn’t try to get his attention because it was clear that Chase’s willpower had returned—the strength he used to resist Mason with. And he’d learned that it was useless when Chase got like that, because stubborn as Mason could be, Chase was even more so.
“Chase, we need to go to the mall sometime in a few days,” Emery said. “I want to go clothes shopping, and we can head around town to get some ideas for my wedding. Pinterest is great and all, but I need to head to some stores to get ideas about what I can actually accomplish. And you had such great taste with you and Mason’s—”
She stopped herself short, her gaze sinking. Fortunately, Timmy and Dwayne were still talking, which kept the silence from being awkward as fuck, but it was still uncomfortable for Mason as he watched Chase stare at his food.
“Anyway,” Emery continued. “I just think you have great taste, so I’d like to get your thoughts. Tessa’s great and all, but if it were up to her, she’d wear white at the wedding, if you know what I mean. What do you think about Thursday?”
Chase remained silent, like he didn’t even know Emery was still talking.
“Chase,” Mason said.
“What? Oh.”
The way he looked around the kitchen, it was like he hadn’t even realized where he was.
“Yeah. No, we’ll definitely have to head to the mall. I can help you with whatever.”
“Thursday it is, then,” she announced, repeating the date surely because she recognized that he hadn’t heard that last part.
Mason could tell she was uneasy, which is why she’d rambled after realizing what she’d said. As uncomfortable as they were about their split, Emery had her own level of discomfort because of their past.
He could only imagine what would happen if Emery found out about their excursion to the pond.
She’d be livid since she had suffered through the tears and the pain with him. He remembered the day when she’d crept into the stable. His face was wet from crying as he knelt on the ground, his body pressed up against the wall outside Mercy’s stall. Emery had thrown her arms around his shoulders. She’d asked if she should hate Chase forever—that if she needed to do that for him, she would. But he never could have asked that of her, and instead, he told her the truth—that he could never hate Chase and wouldn’t expect her to be able to either.
“You’ll need to get out of here by Thursday,” Timmy said with a grin. “Gonna need a break from this place.”
“For sure,” Chase agreed, though it wasn’t like he was believing the words as much as going along with it for Timmy’s sake.
Even if that was the reason, Mason was hurt by his agreement, and as Chase’s gaze met his, he couldn’t hide that. It was one thing for Timmy to joke about it. He didn’t have a history with them or the dairy. But for Chase to say it, that felt like a cruel betrayal, even if he didn’t mean it that way.
“I sure need a vacay,” Timmy added. “Not everyone’s going to be sipping mimosas in the Bahamas in June.”
“My only complaint is that we’re only in March,” Emery groaned.
Fortunately, their wedding timed perfectly with when they’d have the facilities set up and new employees to help them run everything.
“You both deserve a vacation is all I know,” Timmy said. “You guys haven’t had much of a chance to get away this year. Spend some quality time together.”
“None of us have really gotten to spend any quality time together,” Emery pointed out, sounding particularly sad. “Summers here didn’t use to be all work and no play. Chase, remember how much fun we used to have around here? We’d play baseball games, make bonfires, light sparklers and run ’round the yard barefoot.”
“When it was illegal for me to smuggle in the fireworks?” Pa asked, chuckling.
“Yeah,” Chase added. “You’d get them where? Up in Tennessee when you were going to that Bass Pro Shop you liked?”
“That was the best,” Emery said. “And Ma would make the mix for homemade ice cream, and we had to roll that coffee canister around to make it.”
Mason couldn’t stifle the smile that tugged at his lips.
They had some good summers together. Although, with his joy also came that harsh reality that the one they enjoyed sharing it with most wasn’t with them.
“And we would toast marshmallows and make s’mores,” Emery added. “And Chase always liked his burnt.”
“They’re not burnt,” he defended. “They’re just right.”
