Sugarplums and Second Chances

Chapter Three

The last time he'd eaten dinner with a woman had been...with Missy. The night before she'd died. Chase pulled Chinese takeout containers from the delivery bag. He hadn't seen Courtney since dropping off her luggage to the room she'd picked out two hours prior. Hopefully, she was sleeping. She'd tried to hide her weariness, but anyone could see she'd been dead on her feet. In the meantime, his thoughts kept going back to Wyatt's mother.

He could think about Missy now without getting choked up. He attributed it to his faith. God had forgiven him for his many errors when it came to her. Chase hadn't been a believer when they'd met. The day he'd found out Missy was a drug addict was when he'd dropped down to his knees and admitted he needed a Savior. A clean soul in place of his filthy past. He'd fought for custody of his precious young son and won. That had been a decade ago.

He'd put his trust in God and never looked back. Tried to live a Christian life and be a light to those around him. And he'd succeeded...until he went after Len.

"Hey, what smells so good?" Courtney rounded the corner. Her hair was tousled and her cheeks pink. She took his breath away.

"You like Chinese?" He gestured to the food. His entertaining skills were rusty. Or maybe the fact a beautiful woman would be eating with him was making him nervous.

"Yep." She reached across him for a plate, her light perfume lingering.

He stilled. What was he doing? He couldn't think of her in a romantic way. This was JJ's widow, for crying out loud!

He busied himself finding a playlist of the Rat Pack. The lively music crooned from the speakers. Some twinkly lights would go a long way to making the dark house feel more festive. He'd have to decorate it soon.

"Where have you been living?" Chase filled a plate and sat across from Courtney at the table in the eat-in kitchen.

"After I sold Mom's house I moved back to Royal Oak, but it was impossible. Too big. Too empty without JJ. I sold that house, too."

He'd been to her and JJ's home before. It had a woman's touch. He'd always felt welcome there.

"Where will you live now?" he asked.

"Indianapolis." She took a bite of lo mein. "I got a job in public relations. I start in January. I'm nervous about it. I haven't had a job in seven years. You know how it was as an NFL wife."

He did. "It's a job in itself. Keeping track of everything—the schedule, travel, bills, the off season. I always admired you for that."

Her cheeks flushed. "At least the last job I had was in public relations as well. Shouldn't be too much of a stretch."

"But?" He liked watching her talk. She had a demure quality he found refreshing.

"I don't know. Nothing excites me lately."

"You'll get there and love it. Just takes a while to adjust. I know what you mean about nothing exciting you, though. Whenever I try to figure out what I'm supposed to do with myself, I get lost. Well, that's not entirely true. I have this idea—it won't stop bugging me—but the least of my problems is not knowing where to begin. I'll stick to owning my franchises and call it good."

"What's the idea?" She tilted her head, a spring roll dripping with sauce poised between her fingers.

"It's hard to explain." He shuffled the sweet and sour chicken around on his plate. "You know how Treyvon and I started writing to each other while I was in prison? Well, it was because of Drew's wife Lauren. Drew told me about the kid's situation, and I couldn't get him out of my mind. I wrote to him. He wrote back. And we both had this huge burden of guilt, but we also knew God had forgiven us. It was eerie how much we had in common. But Treyvon had none of the things I could rely on—no family or friends, no money. As time passed, I wanted to change that. He worked hard while he was in juvie. Got his high school diploma. Good grades, too. I told him he would always have a home with Wyatt and me. And now he goes to Western Michigan University. Studying to be a lawyer."