âHow about a dance? You look too good to be hiding behind this table.â
A dance.
With Chase Mackey.
That took Hadley by surprise.
âReally?â she said before she knew she was going to, the question coming from days long gone by when sheâd been alone in her room at home, knowing a school dance was going on without her, only imagining herself there with Chase, dancing â¦
âSure, why not?â he answered as if it were nothingâwhich, to him, she knew was the case.
Then he stood and pulled her chair out for her.
In her fantasies he would take her by the hand and lead her onto the dance floor.
In reality he just barely touched the back of her arm to urge her in that direction.
But it was enough to give her goose bumps that she hoped he didnât notice.
And then they reached the dance floor.
And there she was, dancing with Chase Mackey â¦
Dear Reader,
Young fantasies and crushesâI had them and so did Hadley McKendrick. Hadley had it rough growing up overweight. But sheâd found solace in the crush sheâd had on her older brotherâs best friend, Chase Mackey.
Of course, that was long ago and is now behind her. Sheâs turned her life around, lived in Europe and has come back home to Northbridge to begin a new phase.
Part of that new phase just happens to include working with and living very near Chase Mackey. But Hadley isnât worried about it. The crush is over. Chase is still her brotherâs best friend and now also his business partner, and there is no way Hadley will let anything develop between her and Chase to put so much for her brother in jeopardy.
Except that what inspired that old crush in the first place has only improved with time. Chase himself has only improved with time. And if Hadley had thought he was irresistible years ago, itâs nothing compared to the current Chase.
Welcome home to Northbridge!
Victoria Pade
âHeâll be right here. He was on his way into town when the moving truck he was driving broke down. My brother went to get him,â Hadley McKendrick explained.
Hadley didnât have a clue as to why Neily Pratt-Grayson had dropped in on this September Saturday morning looking for Chase Mackey, her brother Loganâs best friend and business partner. And the social worker wasnât giving anything away.
Instead she said, âIâm sorry to show up now, with the wedding tomorrow and all.â
Definitely and all, Hadley thought as her stomach churned in anticipation of Chaseâs return to Northbridge, Montana.
Neily was talking about Loganâs wedding tomorrow. But to Hadley and all meant more than the wedding. Because on top of that, not only would Chase Mackeyâs arrival be the first time heâd set eyes on her since they were teenagers and Hadley had been a hundred pounds heavier, to Hadley there was also a little matter of an old crush sheâd secretly had on Chase.
âChase isnât only coming for the wedding now, right?â Neily said then. âHeâs coming for good, isnât he?â
Hadleyâs stomach took another turn. âThis is it,â she confirmed. âHeâll be here to stay from today on. His place is a huge loft in the top half of the old barn, above what weâre using as the workroom and the showroom.â
For Mackey and McKendrick Furniture Designsâthe business that Logan and Chase owned together, the business that Hadley was now working for. With her brother and Chase â¦
She just could not stay still another minute!
âAre you sure I canât get you a cup of coffee or a soda or even a glass of water?â Hadley asked hospitably, hoping desperately for the chance to get up from where she was sitting in the living room with Neily and do something to work off a little of the nervous energy that was making her edgy.
âNo, thanks, Iâm fine,â Neily said. âIâm actually here on business or I really wouldnât be bothering you today.â
It had been obvious that this wasnât a social call, but Hadley had no idea what business the Northbridge social worker could have with Chase Mackey. He hadnât lived here in over seventeen years. And even when he and Logan had decided to move back, to relocate Mackey and McKendrick Furniture Designs this past spring, Chase had stayed in New York to deal with that end of the move while Logan had handled this end. According to Logan, Chase had been in town only a few times before Hadley had come back to Northbridge in June, and he hadnât been there even once since then.
But he was on his way now and Hadley really couldnât keep herself contained for a minute longer.