Broken Hearts and Broken Homes - Ch 2

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Part 2:

    I could hear him running behind me, calling my name. I didn’t stop or turn around, because I knew he would catch up with me. He had always been faster than me.

    He caught my arm and spun me around to face him.

    “Rynea, you can’t just run off like that without giving me a chance to answer.”

    “Chase, I’ve always known what your answer would be. That’s why I never talked to you about it.” I knew I had tears running down my face. I tried turning away so that he wouldn’t see me like this, but he tightened his hand around my arm, and drew me to him. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.

    “Rynea, I have always loved you, but I just thought that the way your life is, that it would make it even more complicated. Don’t ever think that I don’t love you,” he whispered in my ear. His hand came up and wiped my tears away.

    “Chase, you loving me would do everything but make my life even more complicated. It would make it easier, smoother, and… just everything.” I knew this couldn’t be happening, that I would wake up in a few minutes and be in my bed.

Suddenly, I saw his face coming towards me. My head started to spin, and my heart skipped. This feeling has never showed up in my dreams. Well, if it really was a dream, what would a kiss do?

    His kiss was even better than I had ever imagined. He pulled back too soon for me.

    I sighed. “If only this was real, not a dream.” I whispered to myself.

    “Rynea, this is real. My words, my touch, and my kiss is all real. Look me in the eyes and say that this is a dream if you really believe that.” I couldn’t look him in the eyes. “That’s what I thought. You know this is real.”

    “I’ve just wanted this for so long that it doesn’t seem real.” I sighed. “Let’s finish our run, ‘cause I have to get back to the house and cook supper before Mom leaves for work.” I pulled away from him and started jogging again.

    He caught up to me and took hold of my hand, but kept running, so I knew he wasn’t planning on stopping. We ran the circle and headed back to our street.

    “Mom, I’m home!” I yelled. I could hear the shower running, so I knew she was getting ready for work. I went to check on May and Marty, then started cooking.

    “Hey, honey. What are you cooking?” Mom said as she was coming into the kitchen sliding her hair out of the towel.

    “Making jambalaya for supper. Don’t worry. I’ll put some into a container for you.” She came over and kissed me on my cheek.

    “My little middle-aged teenager.” She said, laughing.

    When the jambalaya was finished, I called the twins down to eat. I put a portion of the food into a container so Mom would have something to eat at work.

    “Have a good night at work, Mom. I’ll get them ready for school and everything.” I called as she headed out the door.

    While we were eating, I thought back to my day. Why had everything started going right, all of a sudden?

    I jumped when my phone buzzed. It was still sitting on the counter, so I got up to go answer it.

    “Hey, look outside.” Chase’s voice came through the speaker.

    I opened the door to see Chase standing there with a horse carriage with horses.

    “Hey, surprise! Come on, get the twins. We’ll have a good hour or so until they have to go to bed.” He said laughing.

    I laughed and got the twins into the carriage. I sat in front with Chase.

    “So what brought all this on?” I asked him.

    “Just thought you might want a good night before school starts tomorrow.” He said, shrugging.

    The driver moved the reigns, and the horses turned. Chase took hold of my hand, and I leaned my head against his shoulder.

    The next day, I was getting everyone ready for school when Chase came in.

    “Hey, thought ya’ll might like a ride to school,” He said, hugging May.

    “Sure, just let me get finished getting them ready.”

    After we dropped off the twins, we parked at the high school. Chase walked around and opened my door for me, being the gentleman he was.

    We walked hand in hand toward the school. People kept giving us looks. Finally, someone came up to us and blurted, “It’s about time ya’ll got together! Everyone’s been waiting for this!” and walked off.

    During the day, I could feel my depression sinking back, but when I looked at Chase, it would go away, staying a tingling at the back of my mind. Once, a tear rolled down my face. Chase saw it before I could wipe it away, and he reached over and wiped it for me.

    “What’s wrong, baby?”

    “I can’t try out for track with you this year. I have to stay home. Mom said that she would get Dad to watch the twins after school and on weekends, but he’s moving back to his home town that’s hours away. Aunt Cindy has a full-time job, and Gran can’t keep them. I’m so sorry.”

    “It’s okay, Rynea. I know it’s not your fault.” He tried reassuring me, but I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

    Chase gave me a ride to pick up the twins, then we all went to watch him practice. The twins were doing homework, and from the track, I could see them at all angles, so I went down and started running with Chase. I kept my eyes on the twins in the bleachers, but I could feel Chase beside me, and heard him talking.

    “-happened in gym? You’re always so good at sports. It’s like your mind is just somewhere else today.” He was saying.

    “What? Oh, yea, just had stuff on my mind today.” I checked my watch. “Hey, can you give us a ride home? I have to make them dinner and check they’re homework.”

    “Sure. When can we talk later?”

    “Come to my window around 8:30. They’ll be asleep by then. Tap my window then go let yourself in.”

    We packed up the gear and got in his truck. After dropping us off at the house, he said he had to run some errands.

    I got the twins’ homework checked, fed them, and put them in bed by 8. They’d be asleep in about 10 minutes. As I was getting ready for Chase, I heard footsteps in the house. Either Chase had let himself in without tapping the window, or one of the kids was up.

    I went out into the hall to check, but no one was there. I checked both of the twins’ rooms, but they were sound asleep. As I walked into the living room, I saw a movement in the shadows. As soon as I turned on the lights, someone lunged towards me, and I moved just in time. I turned around to face whoever it was, and got ready to fight. The guy—I guess it was—had a mask on, and had a gun on his waist. He came at me again, but I grabbed his hand and twisted his arm behind his back. As his other hand reached towards his gun, I grabbed the pistol, unloaded it, and threw it across the room. The intruder grabbed me, and flipped me over him, pinning me on the ground. I heard the door open and footsteps come down the hall.

    Chase! I wanted to yell his name, tell him grab the twins and run, but the guy had his hand over my mouth, suffocating me. I saw Chase pause in the living room doorway for a moment, then he grabbed the baseball bat that Marty had left by the door, and came up behind the guy, getting ready to swing. I was starting to see black spots, and could feel my body going limp. I saw Chase hit the guy in the back of the head, and the guy fell to the ground. This was the last thing I saw before the blackness took over.

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