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I reached in the pocket of my jeans and grabbed... nothing. I didn't have my phone on me. Who knew where I'd misplaced it? Maybe it was for the best, because I still wasn't sure what to say to him. I was in shock.
I closed my eyes, enjoying the blissful silence until I heard a crackling sound and bolted from the porch. It was definitely fire, and it didn't seem far away.
My heart leaped in my throat. The last thing I needed was for something to be on fire.
I ran to the other side of the porch, looking sideways. There was light at the back of the building. "Crap. How did I managethat?" I sprinted there, already forming a plan in my mind. I didn't have an extinguisher outside, but I could put together a bucket of dirt and throw it at the flames.
When I rounded the corner, I let out a breath of relief. The building wasn’t aflame. The blaze was in the designated pit, and—
"Chase! Holy shit! You scared me."
He held up his hands. "Sorry, that wasn't my intention. I just wanted to surprise you."
I looked at the flames and then at him. "Wait, when did you get here? And why didn't I see you?"
He tilted his head to one side and then straightened up again. "It required a lot of stealth. I parked at your neighbor's. And she showed me a connecting path at the back of the property."
"How did you know I would be here?" I asked.
"Lucky guess. You told me once that this is the place you come to when you have a problem that doesn't seem to have a solution."
I nodded. "I do.”
“My brothers told me everything."
I rubbed my hands over my arms to give myself something to do. I was nervous. "So the SEC—"
He shook his head, stepping closer. "I don't want to talk about the company or the SEC. I want to talk about the inn. You're cold," he said, taking off his jacket and putting it over my shoulders.
"Yes. It's getting chilly around here," I said. Then I noticed he was holding a metal rod with... "Are those marshmallows?" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah."
"But I didn't have any. I checked earlier."
He lifted one corner of his mouth. "I bought some on the way. Didn't dare show my face without them. Thought it might increase the odds of you listening to me."
I sighed. "Of course I would listen to you," I said. "Chase, why didn't you tell me about... I don't know... anything? How did you even get the idea?" I couldn't even form coherent questions, mostly because they weren't clear in my mind either.
"I don't have much to say in my defense, except that I love you and, apparently, that makes me do extremely crazy things. I know how much this place means to you. I also knew you'd say no if I proposed it to you."
"Absolutely. But why not even discuss it?"
"Because then you'd be suspicious if an investor offered money so quickly after I talked to you about it."
He cupped my cheeks with both hands, and something magical happened. While I was completely wrapped up in him, with his jacket around my shoulders and his hands on my face, my heartbeat calmed down, and my entire body relaxed.
"I was going to tell you," he murmured, staring straight into my eyes.
I couldn't help but laugh. "When?"
"After we'd signed the papers. I was going to wait for an appropriate time, probably after you'd used the money so you couldn't give it all back."
My jaw dropped. "You actually thought about this a lot."
"Yes, and I'm not proud of it, but you have to know something about me, Hannah. I love you, and I can't see you go without something. Especially when it's in my power to take care of it—to take care ofyou. That's all I want."
"Chase, you can't just pave your way through life with a sledgehammer."