“Your mom…” he stops as his voice shakes and swipes a tear from the corner of his eye. The tears surprise me coming from this massive motorcycle man that barely gave me the time of day the first time I met him. “She really loved you, ya know?”
I snort out a dry laugh, “Yeah she really had a good way of showing that too by leaving us and never looking back. She never once called to see how we were. It didn’t even matter if she called for me, she could have at least called to check on him.” I gesture towards Caleb whose still playing away totally oblivious to what’s going on around him which relieves me. He doesn’t need to be caught up in this. Chase reaches over and grabs my hand and I hold on tight like he’s anchoring me down.
“I know. She picked up that phone so many times to call, ripped up so many letters she had written to you but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She figured you were better off without her.” He pauses as he looks down at me. “I know you don’t want to hear this but she did love you. Having a new baby just really freaked her out. I thought I was making her a little bit happier, but obviously not enough.”
He pulls out a piece of paper from the pocket of his leather vest. “She left this for you, I hope it helps you a bit. I need to get going, I have a few things to settle before I head out.”
I take the letter from him and fold it up, stuffing it in my purse without a glance as Tank heads towards the front entrance. The detective comes out from his office, “Ms. Rossi?” I nod my head in acknowledgment and follow him into his office. Chase and I had already agreed that he would stay with Caleb in the waiting area. He didn’t need to be involved. For all he knew I was the only mom he had and needed. Maybe someday when he was older I would explain the situation.
“Well I wish we were meeting on different circumstances but unfortunately it’s apart of the job.” He shuffles around some papers and pushes a few towards me. “I just need you to sign a few things here Leah and then you can proceed with whatever funeral arrangements you choose.”
We finish signing all of the papers and the detective suggests a few funeral homes in the area. I decided before coming that I wasn’t going to have a service, we were her only family left and I didn’t know or care to meet any of her friends that she had made since leaving us. After a couple of hours we had arrangements made for a cremation and I had picked out a simple urn that would be shipped back to me in Indiana. After grabbing a late dinner at McDonalds per Calebs request, we head back out onto the road with Chase driving.
“So where are we headed now, you said something about reservations?”
“Well it’s a surprise, you’ll see when we get there, we probably have about two hours in the car before we get there. We’ll get there a little late but I figured it’ll give you two days of relaxation. I figured you would need it before the craziness of your schedule begins again on Monday.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, “I’m not really crazy about surprises Chase and for some reason you love them, can’t you just give me a little hint?”
“Nope,” he says with a pop. He grins back over at me, “You’ve had a long day, why don’t you take a little nap and by the time you get up we should be there.”
“Fine,” I grumble as I cross my arms over my chest and lean my seat back, turning my back to Chase.
Chase lets out a laugh as he flips through the radio stations, “You’re even sexy when you pout Leah.”
I roll my eyes and bite back a smile. I feel the day catching up with me as my eyes droop and I drift off to the sound of Chases low sexy voice as he sings softly along with the radio.
The sound of a car door slamming wakes me suddenly as I sit up quickly wiping away the drool that’s running down my chin. The driver’s seat is empty and I don’t see Chase anywhere in sight as I look around taking in my surroundings. Caleb of course is passed out in the backseat, it’s been a long day for him and the car always lulls him to sleep. We were in a parking lot of what looked to be a very small grocery store. The driver door opens and Chase pops his head in. “You’re awake? I was hoping you would still be asleep by the time I came back. You both looked like you were pretty out of it,” he says as he swipes at my chin. Oh gawd he saw that didn’t he? I self conscientiously rub at my whole face again with the sleeve of my sweatshirt to make sure I definitely got it all.
He opens the back door and loads the backseat down with grocery bags. “I needed to grab a few things before we get there,” he says as he slides back into his seat and starts the jeep back up. “We’re about 20 minutes away and according to the guy in there, this is the closest store so good thing I stopped.”