Chased Dreams (13 page)

“Stay a little while,” Britt responded,
almost like a whine. “I want to spend some more time with you.”

Staring at her, I couldn’t refuse. I owed it
to her. She needed a break too, and she’d been amazing to me.
“Okay, for a little while. You wanna go for a walk down by the
water?”

“I love to,” she replied, a happy glow
appearing on her face. Standing, she took my hand and dragged me
from my chair.

“You two wanna come with us,” I asked Brett
and Tana, not wanting to be rude.

“No, thanks,” Brett said, scooting his chair
closer to Tana and slipping his arm around her. “I think we’re
gonna stay and cuddle by the fire for a bit.”

“All right. Have fun,” I replied with a
wink.

“Enjoy your walk,” Tana said as I draped my
arm around Britt and we headed toward the quickly darkening trees
around us.

“Do we need a flashlight for later?” Britt
asked.

“Nah, I’ve got that LED light on my keychain
in my pocket. We’re good.” Squeezing her shoulders tighter, I
placed a light kiss on the top of her head.

“I love you,” she said, wrapping one of her
arms around me.

“Love you, too,” I replied, absently
noticing the sound of the water growing louder as we drew closer.
We were nearing the spot I’d run to earlier.

“Being out in the forest like this is
comforting, isn’t it? It makes you stop and really think about
things. So tell me, Chase, what are you thinking about?”

Sighing, I shook my head, knowing there was
no way I could tell her what was running around in my head. “I’m
thinking I spend too much time thinking. Let’s not analyze
anything, okay Britt? Let’s just enjoy camping for the sake of
camping, shall we?”

“Yeah, that’s okay. I’ve been looking
forward to spending time relaxing with you,” she said softly,
slipping her hand in mine.

Continuing on without speaking, I tuned my
ears into the sounds of nature, listening to the rushing water
mixed with the whisper of the trees and the sound of pine needles
crunching under our feet, until I noticed Brittney was
shivering.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting
cold?” I asked, silently cursing myself for not noticing sooner.
“Let’s get you back to the fire so you can warm up, and I’ll get
everything ready for bed.”

“Thanks for bringing us all out here,” she
replied. “I’ve really been enjoying myself.”

“Me, too,” I replied, hugging her to me as
we headed back toward camp.

“
Chase.”
I heard Nikki’s voice
whisper lightly on the breeze and I resolutely shoved it from my
mind. Tonight, I was with my wife, Brittney.

Chapter Fourteen

Torturous dreams of Nikki kept me tossing
and turning throughout the night, finally forcing me to wake myself
up just to escape them. Glancing at my phone, I saw it was five
o’clock in the morning. Quietly crawling from the bed, I stealthily
made my way out the door into the cool morning air.

The trail to the creek was inviting me, so I
decided an early morning walk might do me some good. I limped
along, trying to stretch out the kinks in my knee. The reality was,
mornings were not my friend. I hated how stiff I always felt.

Remembering back to the fears of my youth, I
remembered always being afraid of becoming disabled. Personally, I
had more respect for the physically disabled than some of the
ignorant professional football players I’d met in my time. Anyone
with a disability knew a lot about overcoming odds in my book. They
should be the heroes who were lauded, not some whiney guy hoping to
increase his paycheck by multi-millions.

Not that I was against professional athletes
in any way—I was one, almost. I simply believed in giving credit
where credit was due.

“Morning!” a deep voice spoke, causing me to
jump as I glanced around and spotted an old man leaning against the
trunk of a giant tree. He chuckled as he continued to stare at me.
“Sorry, son. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No worries,” I replied. “You just caught me
off guard. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be out here.”

“If you were here often, you’d know I don’t
stray very far from here.” Lowering his head, he studied his hands.
I had no idea what to say, but I wondered if this guy was truly
with it mentally, or not.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” I
asked, tossing a look over my shoulder back toward our camp. “I
need to be getting back to help my wife with breakfast soon.”

Lifting his eyes back to mine, he was silent
for several moments as he studied me, replying. “Just make sure the
people you love know that you really love them.”

“Um, okay. Thanks.” I faltered as I searched
for more words. “Have a great day.”

Turning, I made my way back down the path
I’d come, slowly moving along as I pondered his statement. Had
Nikki known I was truly in love with her? I sure hoped so. Glancing
toward the sky, I softly spoke the words I wished I could tell
her.

“Nikki, I don’t exactly know where to start,
so I guess I’ll begin with I miss you. Not a day goes by that you
don’t cross my mind. It seems I spend half the day thinking about
you lately. I can’t forget you. I’ll never forget you; but I know
you’re aware of that already. Sometimes I feel like you’re so much
closer to me than you are. I even think I hear you on occasion, but
I never see you. I hope I can see you again, one day. I long to
look at your beautiful smile and your sparkling eyes.” A tear fell
to my cheek. “I love you, Nikki,” I whispered, my voice growing
hoarser. “I still love you. I wish you were here.”

Guilt flooded through me when I heard the
words come out of my mouth. I felt like I was betraying Brittney. I
knew she encouraged me to keep my feelings for Nikki alive inside
my heart, but sometimes I wondered if she truly understood the
depth of my emotion for Nikki. But I loved Brittney so much, too.
My feelings for her might be different, but they were just as
strong.

Wiping the tear away, I resolutely squared
my shoulders and hurried back toward camp—just in time to catch
Brett taking a pee in plain sight.

“Cold morning, huh, big guy?” I asked,
laughing.

“Oh, shut up!” he grumbled as he turned in
the other direction.

“Are you ready to go fishing? I have a
feeling that today is going to be a good one.” I went to where we’d
stacked the wood for the fire and began collecting logs. Before
long, flames were dancing about wildly and I warmed my hands in the
heat.

“Good morning, handsome.” Britt’s voice
filled the air and I turned to see her stepping out of the camp
trailer with a bright smile.

“Well, good morning to you, gorgeous,” I
replied with a grin, gesturing for her to join me, wrapping my arms
around her when she did so. Man, I loved it up here. It felt great
to be out of the city and standing in the fresh air. Everything
always seemed better here. I missed it.

“Why don’t I start breakfast while you guys
load up the Ranger?” Britt suggested. “Then we will be ready to go
after we eat.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” I replied, giving
her a kiss on the cheek. “How’d I end up with such a smart
girl?”

“You’re just lucky, I guess,” she responded,
hugging me before I released her.

***

One crazy ride in the Ranger and a few slaps
from Brittney later, we were at my favorite fishing hole. Pulling
into a sandy area between the rock walls of the canyon, I parked
and went to get our gear while the girls complained about my
driving.

“You know, there were a couple times I
wondered if we would actually survive to fish, right?” Brett said
with a nudge as we both listened to their chatter, the stories
growing ever wilder.

“Oh come on! It wasn’t that bad!” I replied.
“Man up a bit.” I shot him a grin as I grabbed the tackle box and
poles and headed toward the water. “You girls can bring the camping
chairs if you’d like.”

“Will you help me with my pole?” Britt
asked, coming up beside me and setting a chair down next to the log
I liked to sit on.

“Of course, silly girl,” I answered, giving
her a wink and settling in to bait the rods. She continued to busy
herself, digging a book out of her bag and shifting herself in the
chair to read. As soon as her pole was ready, I handed it back to
her and she cast her line into the water.

Smiling to myself, I watched her briefly for
a few moments, happy that she seemed to be enjoying herself out
here in the quiet of nature.

“Ouch!” The sudden cry from Brett echoed off
the canyon walls and I jumped, turning to see what was wrong.

“What is it?” I asked, noticing he was
grabbing his hand.

“He was baiting my hook and lost his
balance,” Tana explained. “When he went to catch himself he somehow
shoved the hook clear through his thumb.

Hopping up, I ran over to check him out,
hearing Britt right behind me. Sure enough, the hook had gone all
the way through the flesh and was poking through his thumbnail on
the other side. It looked painful.

“What do you want to do?” I asked him.

“Get it out, dude.”

“You sure?” I asked, and he nodded. Grabbing
my Leatherman, I cut the barbed side of the hook off as gently as
possible, before quickly extracting the rest of the hook.

Brett let out a groan. “Son of a . . .
,”

“We need to disinfect it,” I replied, moving
to the ice chest and retrieving a beer. Popping the lid, I poured a
generous amount on it while Brett gritted his teeth. “Here, drink
the rest. You’re gonna need it, I imagine. Do you want Band-aids or
some ice for it?”

“Just the Band-aids, for now. I’ll see how
it goes.” I retrieved the first aid kit and Tana took over helping
Brett from there.

“Thanks for doing that,” she said softly
when the two of them joined us. “It really made me gag to look at
it.”

“No problem,” I replied. “You doing okay,
buddy?” I glanced past her toward Brett.

“I’ll be fine. I just feel like an idiot.”
He grimaced as he moved to sit on the log beside me, while Tana set
her chair up next to him.

Silence drifted between the four of us once
more, and I found myself lost in my own thoughts, once again.
Staring at the water, memories of being at the creek with Nikki
began to surface in my mind. I’d brought her here with me before,
and I’d never forgotten her face as she tried to reel in a giant
catfish.

“
Oh my gosh, Chase! I’ve caught
something,” her voice rang through the air as her pole bent hard
toward the water.

“
Yank on your pole! Hook it good!” I
encouraged her, rushing to her side. She did as I instructed and
the big, fat catfish briefly surfaced, flipping about wildly. Nikki
stumbled forward and I wrapped an arm quickly around her small
waist to stabilize her. “Hang on to it. Start reeling it
in!”

Helping her only when absolutely necessary,
I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of her laughter filling the
air as she pulled the fish to shore. Reaching for the net, I
scooped it up for her.

“
Look how big this sucker is, Nikki!” I
exclaimed, holding it up proudly for her to examine. “You could
feed that tiny body of yours on this for week, I bet!”

Instead of smiling, she poked her lip out in
a pout. “Aw, poor little fishy,” she cooed as the creature still
flopped and trembled. “I didn’t mean to catch you. He made me do
it!” She pointed an accusatory finger at me.

Shaking my head, I just laughed at her.
“Sure, make me out to be the bad guy.”

“
If the shoe fits . . .” She let her
voice trail off.

“
Yeah. Just you wait. You’ll be singing a
different tune after my grandma batters and fries this up for
dinner with some of her hush puppies. My mouth is watering just
thinking about it.”

She laughed heartily, watching as I slipped
the fish onto a stringer and put it back into the water. “You’re
mouth is always watering over something.”

Glancing at her, I grinned, casting my gaze
over her perfect figure. “Yep. And it’s usually you.”

The blush I loved so much crept into her
cheeks, making me want to kiss her, thoroughly.

“What are you smiling about, cowboy?”
Britt’s voice broke into my head, bringing me out of my reverie and
back to the present.

Sighing heavily, I replied honestly. “Just
remembering the first time Nikki caught a fish here.”

Britt gave a short laugh. “I remember her
telling Tana and me about it. I think the fish got bigger with each
retelling.”

“It was a pretty big fish—tasted good, too,”
I added, remembering how Grandma had cooked all the fish we’d
caught. Our meal had been amazing.

“I’m glad you have those happy memories,
Chase.” Britt stared at me, love filling her eyes. “They are
important. Don’t ever let them go.”

Chapter Fifteen

“Chase.”

Moaning, I rolled over, burying my face into
the pillow. Camping, while always fun, had worn me out, as usual.
Plus, my leg had been aching from using it so much without my
crutches. By the time we made it home, I’d fallen into bed,
exhausted.

“Chase.” Britt’s voice came again. “I need
you to wake up. It’s important.”

The concern in her tone filtered through my
senses and immediately my eyes snapped open. “What’s wrong?” I
asked.

“You need to call your mom.” Her eyes were
red and I could tell she had been crying.

“Are you going to tell me what’s the
matter?” Fear laced through me, knowing the news wasn’t good.

“Please, call your mom.”

Sighing, I sat up, leaned back against my
pillows and reached for the phone charging on the nightstand. I
pressed the speed dial for Mom and waited, even the ring tones
sounded ominous in my ear.

“Hi, Chase,” she answered.

“Brittney said I needed to call you. What’s
going on, Mom?” I asked, getting straight to the point as my
heartbeat pounded loudly in my head.