Chapter 9
They finally released Beth from the E.R. at ten, and the three of them drove back to the house, exhausted.
Ashley wouldn’t look at him, which was awkward, because Beth couldn’t stop looking between the two of them, trying to read their mood.
“Sorry, Chase,” Beth whispered as he was helping her up the walkway.
“It’s fine.” He wouldn’t scold her for revealing something he shouldn’t have kept a secret in the first place.
He wanted to talk to Ashley, about everything. But he had Beth to take care of, and Gabby and Tyler to pick up and put to bed.
Ashley gave him a quick hug, said she’d pick him up in the morning, and left. She never asked once what the job interview was for or why.
Even though he was exhausted when he finally got into bed, his thoughts pushed away any chance of easily drifting off to sleep. What was he going to tell Ashley? Everything? Or another partial truth, that yes, he had an interview, but it was just a job opportunity that had come up. If he didn’t tell her the truth now, she’d continue to plug away at a job that would disappear in a few weeks, and then she’d hate him when she found out what he’d been holding back.
Beth slept in, and Chase reluctantly got up and got the kids ready, taking them to the neighbors’ a few minutes before Ashley was supposed to arrive. Mike’s mom had offered to take Gabby and Tyler to school. Yet another person he was relying on today.
He ran out to Ashley’s car when she pulled up and got in, the scent of her hair making him want to lean over and breathe her in.
“How is Beth?” she asked.
“Still asleep. I told her last night to call me today if things get too bad. I hate that she’ll be home alone, but our neighbor, the one that took Gabby and Tyler last night, promised to check on her and make sure she’s taking her pain medicine okay and drinking lots of water.”
“I guess there’s nothing else to be done until the kidney stones pass through.”
“Yep.” Everything inside of him screamed to just get the confession over with, to tell her the truth about work. And not just because he absolutely did not want to talk about kidney stones anymore. “Ashley, there’s something I have to tell you.”
She raised an eyebrow, not really looking surprised as much as wary.
“You have to promise you won’t tell anyone, and especially, don’t tell anyone you heard it from me.”
“Okay, now you’ve lost me.” She gave a small smile, her hands restless on the steering wheel.
“Our department is being downsized.”
The traffic ahead was slowing to a crawl, and she slammed on her brakes with a little more force than necessary. “Are you sure?”
“Unfortunately.”
She probably had a million questions—most of which he couldn’t answer—but she didn’t say anything, though the tension rolling off of her was saying plenty. They just sat there in silence, stuck in the stupid carpool lane that wasn’t doing them any good because of an accident blocking the road ahead.
“I’m sorry, Ashley.”
“You’re sorry? How long have you known, Chase?” The look she pinned him with stabbed him through the heart.
“Just since Monday.”
“And on Monday, how long did Mr. Davidson tell you we had left? Don’t look all shocked. I know you’re his favorite. It’s not hard to figure out how you know about this.”
Chase put his head back against the headrest. “He said about three weeks.”
“And now we have two.” She shook her head back and forth, her jaw tight. “If Mr. Davidson told me and swore me to secrecy, I still would have told you.”
And she was right. She probably would have. No wonder she was mad. How could he make her understand? “Mr. Davidson was worried about my … family situation.”
***
His family situation. Of course, his family had to come first. But somehow, that didn’t make Ashley feel any better. She and Chase were work friends, but the loyalty stopped there. Even with the run-in at the department store and everything they’d been through last night, the lines between coworker and friend hadn’t quite blurred.
