Chasing Day Series: Chasing Day & Catching Day (19 page)

They were told to come back in a couple of days to pick up Stephanie McCoy’s ashes. Day drove back to her house as Chase stared quietly out the window. She reached for his hand and he looked over at her with a sad smile.

~~~

They stood at the bank of Fox River, next to one of the pretty arched bridges. Chase clutched the container with his mother’s ashes in his arms. His mom had told him on a few occasions when she was in the mood to talk, that this spot was her favorite place to go as a kid, to think and dream. Chase knew that spreading ashes was illegal. But he couldn’t think of a better place to spread her ashes, than the last place where she had felt it was still acceptable to dream of a better life.

Since Stephanie had no close living relatives and no friends due to her controlling husband, who was too drunk to function. The need to have a formal funeral was null and void. It was just Chase and his two-person network of support. Daylen and her mother.

Chase cleared his throat, in an attempt to dislodge the lump that wouldn’t seem to go away. Day rubbed his back in soothing circles.

“Mom, you told me before that this was your favorite place to dream as a young girl. I’m so sorry that they didn’t come true.” Chase choked back tears. “Maybe they will now…wherever you are. I just wanted you to know that I love you and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to save you.”

Chase quickly wiped away a few tears that slipped down his cheeks with his shoulders. He lifted the lid off of the plain urn he could afford and tipped it over. The three of them watched solemnly as the ashes caught the wind and blew down the river. When the urn was empty, Chase’s shoulders hung heavily and Day wrapped him up in a tight hug. Pat rubbed his back consolingly.

“I didn’t get to talk to Stephanie much, but Chase…she did realize one of her dreams. She got to see her son grow up and make something of himself. That’s all she wanted for you. You were her dream.” Pat confessed.

Chase blinked rapidly. His chest ached so badly, it felt like it would never stop. The lump in his throat swelled to the point of choking him. Even though he knew he could show emotion in front of these two women, Chase refused to cry again.

“Thanks, Mrs. D.” Chase successfully got out, without breaking down. “Let’s get outta here.”

They all walked back to Pat’s car and got inside. Pat started the car and cranked up the heat. The silence in the car was deafening as she pulled onto the road. Of course, Pat didn’t miss much and she let them know as a way to quiet the silence.

“So…it looks like you two are back together,” she said it as a statement of fact, not a question.

“Yeah, I think so. Day?” Chase replied and then looked to Daylen in the front passenger seat for confirmation.

“Yes.” Day grinned and looked over at her mother.

“Good. I liked Drew. He was a sweet boy, but this is how it should be.” Pat admitted.

Chase and Day both looked at Pat with mouths hanging open in astonishment.

“What?” She looked over at Daylen and then in the rearview mirror at Chase. “I’ve always rooted for you two.”

“Even after all of the stink-eyes you’ve given us?” Day asked incredulously.

“Just because I want you both to go about it the right way and not ruin your futures, doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see you both together.” Pat ended with a nod of self-righteousness.

“We stand corrected.” Day looked back at Chase and grinned.

Chase sat back and smiled softly. The ache of the loss of his mother burned in the pit of his stomach. But the love he felt from the two women in the front of the car, helped to soothe his hurt. He hoped that he’d be able to do right by them, when everything he touched seemed to turn to shit.

Tough Love

Chapter 21

January 2004

Day’s alarm went off Monday morning. Her hand shot out from underneath the covers and gave the snooze button a hard smack. It was the first day of her last semester in college. She should’ve been jumping out of bed and dancing a jig. That was not the case.

She and Chase had officially been together over a year now. Their first full year together as a couple should’ve been heaven. The honeymoon stage at best, though with his mom’s suicide hanging over his head, it was anything but.

Everything would’ve been perfect if it wasn’t for that weight pressing down on him. Last spring, Chase was first pick in the draft and it was Chicago that scooped him up. No fuss, no worries about needing to be separated. He graduated from U of I with a bachelor's in sports therapy. Before spring training began for the coming football season, Chase bought a beautiful condo for them downtown. Daylen moved in since it was a short walk to school and Amy had moved in with Jake. It should’ve been perfect.

Day hadn’t realized how badly Chase had internalized his grief since he was away at his last semester of school. It became evident very quickly, soon after they’d moved in together. He’d become angry and bitter, and drank entirely too much. Day tried to get him to talk about it, but he’d only get angrier and shut down. She prayed that his behavior wouldn’t get him kicked off the team at the end of the season. They knew he’d taken his mother’s death hard, but that didn’t mean they needed or wanted to put up with diva behavior from the second-string rookie quarterback.

Daylen never thought that Chase would be the kind of pro-ball player that would get dollar signs in his eyes either. But his lack of money and not having nice things growing up, caused him to spend foolishly. He filled the house with expensive toys and gadgets and bought the prerequisite fancy sports car that many of them seemed to drive. Day was at a complete loss as to what to do to wake him up to his issues.

Day pulled the covers back and groaned as she stared up at the ceiling. She looked over at Chase’s side of the bed, which was empty and still in perfect condition. He hadn’t come home. She’d chirped him on her Nextel phone last night, but he’d never responded. She swallowed down the tears that always threatened when she thought about how much he’d changed in the last year. She roughly scrubbed at her face as she got up to head to the bathroom. It was cold, granite and glass, which Chase had instantly fallen in love with. She hated it.

Day looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She’d gained a few pounds from the stress of the last year. Cookies were her best friend when she was feeling down, so she’d been eating them more than usual. She tried to hide it behind her hair that she’d grown out to her shoulders and bangs that laid below her eyebrows. As well as, cozy sweaters and sweatshirts over her boyfriend jeans.

Day knew that she was just as bad as Chase. She bottled up her feelings and then ate them. She knew she needed to talk to him, but she knew it would be a huge fight when she did. She shook her head, turned away from the mirror, and undressed to get in the shower. Her naked reflection, not a welcome sight.

By the time she was done getting ready, her cello slung over her shoulder and heading for the door. Chase walked in looking haggard. He had dark circles around his now desolate light brown eyes. The flecks of green murky, instead of sparkling. It didn’t help that he came in smelling like a distillery.

Daylen didn’t say a word. She just looked at him in quiet disappointment.

“Look Day, I was just out with Max and passed out over at his place,” Chase explained, mentioning his friend and neighborhood enabler. Max was a running back on the team, who enjoyed getting trashed while hanging out with trashy women.

“And that’s supposed to make it okay?” Daylen looked at him with zero expression on her face.

“I didn’t do anything. Just had some drinks.” Chase defended.

“Hang out with any ladies?” Day asked, cocking her head to the side.

“You know I would
never
do that to you again,” Chase said sincerely.

“Yeah, but how would you even know, when you’re in a drunken stupor?” Day argued.

“I’m just having a good time, Day. Jesus!” Chase grumbled as he ran a hand over his newly buzzed hair.

The super short cut made his chiseled jawline and defined chin stand out in sharp relief. He was still gorgeous. Sad and beautiful.

“I didn’t move in with you to be alone more often than not. You practice. You play. You party. You stay away. Doing all that isn’t going to make the pain go away.” Day said wisely.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chase avoided, like always.

“Of course you don’t. And you know what? I don’t have time to explain it to you. I have to go to class.” Daylen shoved past him and opened the door. She looked back at him with sad eyes. “Have a great day, Dear.” She parted, in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

~~~

Day’s first class of the day wasn’t really a class at all. It was ensemble study for the symphony orchestra. And because of her debate with Chase…she was late.

Daylen ran into the music conservatory. She tried to grab the heavy door to the auditorium, to ease it shut. But her momentum plus her cumbersome instrument got in her way and she nearly fell as the door slammed shut. Day cringed as the sound echoed loudly throughout the cavernous room.
So much for a quiet entrance.

The room had been filled with the disjointed cacophony of several instruments being tuned when Day’s clumsy entrance was unfortunately heard over the loud din. All heads turned towards her, as she made her way down to the stage. She held her head down, wanting to die of mortification. She quickly walked up the steps to the right of the stage to head to the chairs designated for the cello section, as the tuning of instruments resumed.

Day avoided eye contact with everyone, especially the conductor. She quickly laid her cello case down and unzipped the top. She pulled out her cello, awkwardly rolled up the padded case and shoved it under her chair. She released the stand at the bottom of her instrument and placed the cello between her legs. She took a peek up at the conductor standing in front of the group of musicians. Her eyes collided with the dark eyes of a gorgeous and distinguished looking man.

He looked to be in his mid to late thirties. He was tall, about as tall as Chase. His frame wasn’t as muscular, but she could tell that he was still very fit and built. He wore charcoal slacks with a lighter gray sweater and black dress shoes. His dark wavy hair was slightly longer on top and brushed back, in a sophisticated style. His dark eyebrows were thick over his hooded eyes, his nose straight, and lips firm. The only thing to break up his clean-cut air was the dusting of facial hair on his jaw. The stubble was darker around his mouth like it was supposed to be just a goatee, but he’d forgotten to shave this angular jawline.

Somehow the look on his face as he stared at her appeared irritated, amused, and curious all at the same time. Day had no idea how he pulled that off, but she quickly looked away. He cleared his throat and everyone sat up in attention. Backs straight, heads up, shoulders back. Their posture…perfect.

Day watched as he looked at his watch on his wrist and slowly paced in front of the orchestra. He walked stage right and then moved stage left towards where Daylen sat.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Rhys Spencer-Hamilton.” He began in a cultured, panty-melting British accent. All of the girls and a couple of the guys choked on moans of delight. “But you can call me Rhys. There’s no need to be overly formal.” He paused before continuing his introduction.

Day took that moment to find Amy a couple of rows back. Amy was already looking at her and her eyes widened, she bit her lip, and she fanned herself in reaction to their hot new conductor.

“I’ll be your guest conductor for the semester.” He continued to walk back and forth in front of them. All eyes moved with him. “For this semester, we’ll be preparing for the spring musical, which will be Les Misérables,” he informed them as the students murmured happily. “I will be working closely with all of you. Whether as a whole, one-on-one, or in sections.” Rhys stopped and turned, and headed back towards the cello and bass section. “Now. I’m a relatively easy-going conductor, but I will work you hard to get the best out of you. And…I am bloody serious about time. Do
not
come late.” He emphasized and looked directly at Day as he walked over and stopped in front of her.

Day peeked out from under her lashes and dark bangs. Rhys looked directly at her with an irritated scowl across his brow. Day realized that his eyes weren’t dark at all. They were a deep cobalt blue. They were intense and made her shrink in her seat.

“Do not come late again or I
will
lock you out. Understood?” He said quietly to Daylen.

She nodded quickly and looked away from his penetrating stare. She felt him stare at her for a few seconds longer. Then he finally walked away and she expelled a huge relieved breath.

Rhys passed out the sheet music for the timeless and tragic Broadway hit. Once everyone was ready, they went to work.

~~~

“Can you believe how hot our new guest conductor is?” Amy practically squealed with delight once they walked out of the conservatory.

“Oh yes! Soooo hot!” Daylen rolled her eyes. “My name is Rhys Spencer-Hamilton, but you can call me Rhys.” Day affected a terrible British accent in an equally awful deep voice.

“Whatever, Day.” Amy shoved her shoulder as they walked. “I’ll take a bite outta his Reese’s Pieces any day.” Amy wiggled her brows and they both burst out into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, right. You have Jake and you love him to death.” Day grinned at her.

“True.” Amy sighed wistfully.

“And so what if he’s hot. I have Chase, and Rhys now officially hates me, because I was late for our first practice. It was an amazing way to impress the conductor on day one.” Day shook her head in frustration.

“And you’re never late. What happened? Overslept?” Amy asked as they head to the student center for lunch.

“No. I kinda got into it with Chase. He was just coming in from last night when I was leaving.” Daylen admitted sadly.

“What the hell?! What is he doing?” Amy asked, incredulous.

“I honestly don’t know. And he won’t talk about it.” Day shrugged.

“Do you think he’s…?” Amy left the question hanging though Day knew what she was getting at.

“No, I actually don’t. He was so torn up about the one time he did cheat, that I don’t think he would. And I probably foolishly believed him when he said he didn’t. But he is drowning himself in booze more often than he should. And I’m so afraid that he’s going to ruin his career and end up like his dad or something.” Day voiced her worst fear.

“He won’t, Day. He’ll get it together, I’m sure.” Amy soothed.

Daylen wasn’t so sure anymore.