took hers, their fingers laced together, and he squeezed.
"But you love them. Dog took you in as one of his own."
"I do and he did. But, sometimes families find themselves moving away from each other. Dog won't let me build this bike."
He pointed to his phone of the spectacular bike drawing he'd shown her. "As I recall, JT had to fight like a beast to let Dog allow him to build his bikes. Dog is great. He's a great businessman, but he's reluctant to stray too far from the path that has built his business. I understand that, I do. But, I'm ready to stray outside the lines a bit. Gil will allow me that freedom."
Her stomach twisted. This was so out of the blue from any conversation she thought they'd be having today.
"Wow. I don't even know what to say."
"I want you to come with me. Fresh start. For both of us. They aren't going to welcome you into their circle, Lu."
Turning her head to stare out the patio doors a sadness settled in her heart. "Chase, you can't make this big of a decision for me. The implications are long lasting."
"Fuck, Lu, I thought you'd be jumping for joy."
He stood slowly pain evident on his beautiful face.
"I'm doing this for myself as much as for you. It's not something I was thinking about before Gil called. And, actually, when he called me I told him no. But the seed was planted, and now things are pointing to the fact that maybe it is meant to be this way.”
She looked into his eyes, trying to discern his level of sincerity. He seemed completely serious.
"Lu, let's at least fly out there and look at the place. We can see if the area offers some of the other things we'd want in life. If nothing else, we'll get a vacation out of it, some time together, just the two of us."
"I'll have to see what I can work out at Forget Me Nots. They've been good to me."
She stood facing him, and when he held his arms open, she willingly walked into them. The warmth and security she felt wrapped in his arms, his steady heartbeat at her ear, the solidness of his body against hers it was where she always wanted to be.
"Let's do this. Let's eat, I'm famished. Then see what you can do about getting some time off at work. We’ll chat about it again once you know something."
"Sounds good." She mumbled into his chest.
Loosening her arms around him, she stepped back, "You need help sitting down?"
"No, I need to do this on my own."
Stepping back, she watched as he sat in the chair, without much of a problem, just one small grimace. Turning to the cupboard, she took out plates, silverware and napkins and lay them on the table. Busying herself with the pot roast and arranging the potatoes and carrots on the plate she allowed her mind to wonder about a change as big as this. Joseph had managed and he didn't have anyone with him; he just did it on his own.
Carrying the meal, which smelled fantastic if she did say so herself, to the table, she set it down, went to the refrigerator to get them each a bottle of water and sat to Chase’s left. Before they could begin eating, his phone chimed a text and he glanced down at it and smiled.
"Greg is on his way over. Do we have enough for one more?"
"Of course, we do." She began adding another place setting to the table and thought he was the perfect person for them to talk to about this big move and all the motives behind it.
The doorbell rang and she walked through the living room to the front door. Greg's smiling face greeted her when she opened the door, and it was impossible not to smile in return.
"Come in, it's so good to see you."
"Good to see you, too. Are you a nurse now?"
Laughing she shook her head. "Hardly. But I did cook a mean pot roast if you're so inclined."
"Sadly, I'm always hungry."
"Chase is at the table, please come on in."
Greg walked toward Chase and LuAnn closed the door behind him. Following his path to the dining area, she offered him a drink and he replied. "Water, please, the same as you two."
After handing him his water, she resumed her seat and began eating as Chase and Greg chatted about his accident and his injuries. The transformation in Chase's