“I’m not going to make you choose between me or your job.”
“Oh, so now you’re running away formybenefit?”
“You know I am!”
Chase snorted and leaned down until his face was inches from mine. I could see anger and hurt warring in his eyes. “How about you let me decide who gets to be the martyr in this relationship?”
I swallowed hard. “Too late.”
Chapter 18
“Are you sure you’re up to this, honey?” Mom asked as she handed me homemade yogurt and a banana. “You don’t seem like yourself.”
Yesterday, after walking out on Chase, I stepped outside the courthouse and saw Mom, Dad, Mimi, and Kat. They drove me to Chase’s house and helped me gather my clothes and say goodbye to Rocky. Kat interviewed me for her online magazine while Mom, Dad, and Mimi went upstairs to make sure everything was out up there.
When all traces of me were gone, I hugged Mimi and Kat, promised to see them at the protest in the morning, and got in my Bug to follow Mom and Dad back to where they were staying out at the old mill. They didn’t mention my red, swollen eyes, and I didn’t volunteer anything.
“I’m fine. I just want to get today over with.” I shoved the yogurt in my mouth without really tasting it. Usually I loved mom’s homemade yogurt—it was way better than store bought—but I wasn’t feeling it today. “I’m going to do some yoga after breakfast, and then I’m going to wash my hair and get ready.”
“Still plenty of juice in the generator for you to dry your hair,” Mom said.
I tossed my reusable carton in the recyclable container and took out the yoga mat from the trunk of my car. I’d slept in the back seat of the Bug, which usually didn’t bother me, but seeing as how I’d slept on the hard bench seat in the holding cell the night before…my body wasn’t happy.
Thirty minutes later, I was feeling more in tune with myself as I transitioned into my favorite yoga poses and focused on my breathing.
“I just got a text from Mimi,” Mom hollered. “They’re heading out to Schuler’s place in about thirty minutes. Are we almost ready?”
I opened my eyes, breathed in the crisp morning air, and smiled. The birds were singing, the lake was sparkling, and I was ready to kick a little mean-guy butt. Amazing what yoga could do for you!
I hopped up. “I’ll be ready.”
I took a quick shower in our outdoor portable then quickly dressed in my gray “I’m Only Here for the Protest and Free Beer” t-shirt, gray and black yoga pants, and black Birkenstocks. I took a few minutes to dry my hair, swipe on some of Mom’s homemade lip balm, grab a cup of hot tea, and twenty minutes later I was ready to take on Bernie Schuler.
“No matter what happens today at the protest,” Mom said, “we are proud of you for standing up for the vernal pool fairy shrimp. It’s important to the environment they be looked after.”
I gave her a hug. “Thanks.”
“And no matter what happens with you and the fuzz guy,” Dad added, “we will be proud of you there too. Especially if you decide you don’t want to see him anymore. Although I will miss his grandfather’s weapons.”
Mom frowned at Dad. “What Larry is trying to say is that we talked about it last night, and your dad and I feel maybe you have this wrong. Maybe you aren’t giving Chaseandhis job enough credit. I saw the way that young man looks at you. He’s smitten. Just as I can see from the looks you give him that you are too.”
Blinking back tears, I shook my head. “It’s useless, Mom. Chase and I are too different. Even if he was willing to stay with me and try to work it out—and he is, he said so—I’m not. I care about him too much.”
“Let’s go,” Dad said. “Maybe you can think about it more on the ride over.”
The turnout was huge. There had to be at least two hundred people lined up on the side of the road carrying signs demanding Bernie Schuler stop construction and save the fairy shrimp. I sent Mimi a text to see where they were in the mass of people, and ten minutes later Mom, Dad, and I found Mimi, Kat, Ingrid, Gilda, Marla, Sheriff, Judge, Frank Carson and his wife, and Lance.
I was disappointed but not surprised that Chase wasn’t anywhere around.
“Can you believe this turnout?” Mimi shouted over the roar of the crowd.
“No!” I laughed and looked around, feeling a sense of community pride I hadn’t felt in a long time. All of these people were here for the same reason…to save the environment.
“Got room for one more?”
I gasped and turned around. Chase was standing in front of me…not in his uniform, but in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that read, “My Girlfriend Gets Arrested for Fun!”
I laughed even harder. “Where did you get that?”
