“Shelby.” Just her name and the way he said it with such sorrow touched her.
“My grandparents are gone now. I’ve never met Kyle’s parents. My grandparents never spoke about them. I’ve tried to move on from the pain my presence causedthem. I’ve forgiven my mother for not wanting me and trying to kill what drove her mad day in and day out. I remind myself that just because my grandparents made me feel unwanted and unloved doesn’t mean that I am.”
“That is not true at all, Shelby.” His earnest words touched her deeply.
“It took a long time for me to believe that, though some days those old feelings seem all too real. But Eliza reminds me every day that I’m enough. It’s just hard sometimes because every time I think people have forgotten, it comes up again. I can’t escape it. I can’t escape him.”
“None of what happened was your fault. Not your mother’s inability to see you for who you are and not how you came to her. Not for your grandparents’ grief and anger and tolerance of you instead of accepting you.Whoyou come from doesn’t make you who you are. You are not your parents’ violent tendencies, mistakes, and mental issues. You aren’t what they were. You’re you, and that’s damn good, honey. If others don’t see you as someone who is kind and amazing, that’s their loss.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to have people look at you your whole life and only see how you came to be.”
“There is nothing wrong with you. Except maybe that you’re always trying to hide. You shouldn’t.”
“Hide?” She didn’t think she was doing anything of the sort. She lived her life. She stayed in her lane and tried to keep out of everyone else’s way.
That’s what she’d done with her grandparents. She spent a lot of time in her room, studying or reading, trying not to put that sadness in their eyes every time they looked at her.
“Yes. You hide. You keep your head down, so youcan hide in all that gorgeous hair. You don’t wear anything that would attract attention. You don’t engage with anyone unless you have to, and even then you hold back. You don’t believe anyone could be interested in you. Me included.” Chase squeezed her hand. “Youare worth knowing, honey. And I’m happy that I’m one of the lucky few you let in, even if it is only a little bit so far. You keep trying to push me out, but I won’t let you. And now that you know that, we can finally move forward.” Chase picked up his sandwich and took a huge bite, chewing and watching her with a cocky grin on his too handsome face.
He was right. She had held back really letting herself believe they could be more to each other because she’d been waiting for him to look at her and see what her grandparents saw, but that was their problem not Chase’s. Which meant all she had to do was take a chance with a man she really wanted to be with and put her heart on the line, knowing Chase wasn’t out to hurt her.
She’d been alone and lonely for so long, she didn’t know what it would be like to have someone in her life who really wanted her.
“It sucks what happened to you. I hate that your grandparents used their heartbreak and grief and anger to make you feel like something was wrong with you. It made them unable to love you the way they should have and you deserved. But that wasn’t because of you. It was because of them and their inability to separate what your father did, what your mother suffered, from you, an innocent caught up in it all. As for you and me, sweetheart, let’s just do us and ignore what everyone else thinks. Fuck them. I only care about what you think.”
“Are you sure? Because Hunt is the one who sent medown here. The bartender called him and said you were here. Hunt made it sound like you were sinking fast and I needed to rescue you.”
Chase chewed another bite of his sandwich and looked thoughtful. “Hundred bucks says Hunt hasn’t given up on the DNA test thing and he’s getting a sample from Eliza right now.”
She tried to scoot out of the booth to drive home and give Hunt a piece of her mind, but Chase tugged on her hand.
“I’ll deal with Hunt. I know you’re pissed and hurt by what he’s doing. I am, too. But at this point, let him run his fucking test. You and I both know what it will say. Tonight, we have a babysitter for Eliza. You and I can sit here and enjoy our food, I’ll get you a drink, and we’ll spend some time together and let Hunt stew about what’s going on while we have fun.”
She slid back in her seat and faced him with a smile. “Is it diabolical of me to hope that Eliza wakes up and gives him a really hard time about going back to sleep?”
Chase picked up his phone. “I could log in to the webcam and wake her up.”
She gave that a thought for a second, letting her wicked smile show, then shook her head. “Then I’d have to deal with a cranky toddler tomorrow.”
Chase waved Deb the waitress back over. Then he asked Shelby, “What do you want? A peach vodka cocktail thing? I think that’s the one you liked best the last time we were here.”
She couldn’t believe he remembered. “That one was my favorite that night, but I’m driving.”
“One drink. You’ll be fine. Especially if you keep eating all my fries.”
She popped the one in her hand in her mouth.
He leaned in. “You don’t have to skip the drink for my sake.”
She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but she would whether she ordered a drink or didn’t, so she went with something simple. “I’d love an iced tea, no lemon.”
“Sure thing,” Deb said.
Chase frowned, so she assured him, “It’s really what I want. I’m not that big of a drinker, despite the display you saw the last time I was here with you.”
Chase settled back and relaxed.
The waitress hovered. “Can I get you something to eat, too?” The bar had a decent small menu.