Chapter 16
Ashley called around eight-thirty that night, and Chase stopped doing the dishes and dried off his hands to answer. The tightly wound ball of stress he’d been holding onto unraveled, just by seeing her name pop up on his phone.
“Hi, Ash, how’d the interview go?”
She sighed. “They offered me the job on the spot. But I wasn’t ready for that. I have another interview with a shipping company tomorrow, and I’m still waiting to hear back from the dental office. They looked offended when I told them I’d call with my answer in a few days. Maybe I should’ve accepted on the spot and told them I needed to give my work two weeks’ notice.”
“It’s hard to know what to say in those kind of situations. You did the right thing. It’ll all work out.”
“I wish I’d called you sooner. You know just what to say.” He could hear the smile in her voice, and he couldn’t help the big goofy grin he was sporting.
“I just got the younger two to bed, so this is good timing.” Chase walked down the hall to check on Beth. She had her headphones on with a book in her lap. How she could read while listening to rock music was beyond him.
“That’s what I figured. How did work go?”
“Everyone hates me. You should have seen the looks Yolanda gave me, as if I was personally responsible for the layoffs.”
“Sorry, Chase.”
“Don’t be. I shouldn’t be the one complaining.”
There was a pause, and he knew before they hung up he’d need to tell her about Reid, but he didn’t want to just yet.
“How’s the online dating thing going?” she asked.
Another subject he wasn’t so interested in talking about. “It’s going fine.”
“And by fine, how many women have contacted you?”
She was teasing him, but he answered honestly anyway. “Twenty-eight.”
“Wow. Have you called any of them?”
“Well, you don’t actually give out your number. You send them a message through the app. I have a date this Saturday night with Tiffany. We’re meeting at Applebee’s.”
“And why’d you pick her?”
Might as well be honest about that too. “She sounded the least crazy.”
Ashley laughed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be enjoying this.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” He wanted her to be jealous, but at some point, he had to accept they would forever and always only be friends. And friends didn’t hold back the truth because it made them uncomfortable. “Ashley, Reid was looking for you after work today.”
“He was?” She took a shuddering breath and didn’t say anything more.
“So, the two of you haven’t been … you’re not getting back together with him?”
“Of course not! Why would you think that was even a possibility, Chase?”
“I don’t know.” Because his own insecurities had made him doubt what was right in front of him. Ashley had spent over a year getting over what Reid had done to her. The last thing she wanted was to fall back into that trap. Why hadn’t he trusted that? He was a fool. “He said the two of you have been texting. He was hoping to surprise you.”
“Surprise me, stalk me. What’s the difference, really? He texted me saying he wanted to catch up. I blocked his number, but he just spoofed someone else’s and sent me another one. I don’t know what to do. They’re not threatening, just annoying.”
“I’m sorry, Ash. If I’d known that, I would have called security on him. I could have held him there until the cops came. I could’ve—”
“Chase, unless you gave him my address, you have nothing to apologize for.”
“So, he doesn’t know where you live?”
