1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Belinda

“ D o you have to leave?”

God, the ache in his voice was killing me. I could feel his pain. I didn’t want to go, but I needed to. So, the horrible answer to his question was, yes, I had to leave.

“It’s not by choice, Chase,” I told him, wanting to hold onto him. But I couldn’t explain how my grandmother’s debt was increasing and staying in this small town just wasn’t cutting it for me to bring that debt down.

Betty Carmichael was the cook on the Montgomery ranch, and I knew, without a doubt, that if she told her boss that her bills were through the roof, they would help. But my grandmother, bless her heart, was one stubborn ass mule. And instead of asking for help, well, it fell on the shoulders of me and my mom.

My mom couldn’t leave, but I could.

And in doing so, I was going to lose my greatest friend, and greatest love.

At twenty-one, everyone thought we would stop dating out of high school, but that wasn’t the case. We were going strong.

Until I had the sit down with my mom and grandmother.

“I don’t understand, B,” he told me, cupping my cheek.

God, I wanted to tell him, but my grandmother would have my hide, that I know.

“I know Chase, but I can’t explain it. Just know you’ll always have my heart. And I’ll never stop loving you.”

I stood on my toes, pressing my lips against his, praying I could keep his love with me.

I finally broke away, gave him a watery smile, and turned to walk on the bus, leaving everything behind in Westover, Wyoming and heading south and west, to Nevada.

That scene played out in my mind as I glanced at the fields dancing in the wind. Ten years later and things hadn’t changed in this small town.

Not that I expected it to. Honestly, they never did in a small town.

Granted, I changed. I left a young woman in love, who thought her life would always be here and dreaded changing it. What I found in Tahoe was a different kind of cold, along with cruel and heartless types of people. But I also found wealth, the kind I needed to have for my grandma and her bills. What I also found was heartache.

My grandmother had told me Chase got married three years after I left to my arch enemy in high school. So, what did I do?

Got married.

Lasted a whole whopping thirteen months. And I have not just the emotional, or mental scars, but physical ones as well to prove it happened.

Guess that’s what happens when someone runs into something blindly because they’re in nothing but pain.

But that was also ages ago. I’m over it. It happened, nothing more I can do about it.

Now I’m making my way back home. Ten long years later. Why? Because my grandma, the other woman I love and adore, is better and her bills are caught up. And honestly, I was done with Tahoe.

Besides, coming back for Christmas was just the wish everyone kept telling me they were praying for.

Also, I wanted my gorgeous and picturesque mountains. I wanted my quiet.

I wanted my life back.

Well, what life I could find.

I was also sure, as word always happens in a small town, that news of my marriage, divorce, and return, was spreading like wildfire.

“Suck it up, buttercup,” I muttered to myself, turning down the dirt road to my mom’s house. Her small piece of heaven lay right next to the Montgomery Ranch; all within easy walking distance for her job.

Not only was my grandmother the cook for the Ranch, but my mom was the housekeeper. I’m sure now, though, she was also a helping hand to my grandmother.

I rolled to a stop right in front of the porch, taking in the chairs that overlooked the mountains. It was a view I always stared at when I was working on homework. Or it was a place I constantly talked to Chase at. It’s where we shared our first kiss too.

“Snap out of it, B,” I mumbled, climbing out of the car. “The wish of teenagers doesn’t apply to real life. You know that. Besides, he’s married. There was no divorce.”

I nodded to myself after my little speech. That was all a road I wasn’t about to go down. Wouldn’t even think about it. Couldn’t dare entertain it.

“B, is that you?” my mom called out, opening the front door.

“It’s me, Mom.” I turned and ran over to her, wrapping my arms tightly around her. “I missed you, Mom.”

“Oh, I missed you too pumpkin. Goodness, you sure grew up on me. I thought you were done when you left.” She squeezed me just as tightly.

“Nope, not at all.”

I know what she was referring to. I had gained a few inches in height, but I had also gained quite a few inches around my waist. I wasn’t the same stick thin woman that I left as. I was going to blame all this extra weight on my ex though.

Once I left him, I could breathe and in doing so, I fell in love with food all over again. It was my comfort on dark nights and there were lots of dark nights in Tahoe.

“I was just about to go check in on your grandma and see…” she trailed off as she pulled away and I knew exactly what caught her eye. The big scar over my eyebrow that I got because my ex thought it was a good idea to slam my head against the dresser. No matter how much makeup I put on to cover it, it never worked. “Um, see if she needed help.”

“Hey, it’s over. It’s years ago, Mom. It’s not my only scar. Let’s not make a big deal of it, okay?” I told her, squeezing her hands.

“I just don’t like seeing it, pumpkin. You’re my baby, and I couldn’t protect you.”

“Mom, no one could have. I didn’t see the flags.”

I also wasn’t going to confess that if I had, I still would have blown past them in a frenzy with all the hurt I was carrying around.

“Right.” She patted my cheek then took my hands again. “Let’s go see your grandma. She’s going to love to see you. She missed you something fierce.”

“I’ve missed her, too.” With that, she took my arm, and we walked out the back door, heading right to the big house in the distance. “Grandma still walking over?”

“Not really. We got her a little golf cart, so we didn’t raise too much suspicion with her driving over. Sure, age plays a factor, but if they knew that her hip, legs, and spine were problems, they’d tell her to stay home.”

And there were some of the problems. Between surgeries, hospital visits, and specialists, the medical bills were atrocious. That’s why I had to leave. That’s what I couldn’t share.

“Grandma will be smacked silly if that family ever finds out.”

“Well, she’s kept to her story.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing too well how things were always found out. Mom opened the back door to the house and walked into the kitchen.

“Mom, B is here if you need a hand?”

Sure, put me right to work. I shook my head, a smile on my face, ready to hug my grandmother. But stopped right in my tracks as Chase stood next to the woman I adored, looking just as good now as he did ten years ago.