CHASE PRESSED THE lid on the leftover cacio e pepe and set the small container in the refrigerator. The boys had eaten three servings of the simple cheese and pepper noodles. Then they’d devoured the Chicken Francese and even sampled the green beans. Everyone at the table had declared the meal a grand success. Chase had skipped over the praise and been more interested in postponing the cleanup and continuing their lively conversation.
A conversation that had wandered from favorite superheroes to favorite holidays to would you rather challenges. So much like the Jacobses’ kitchen table growing up and yet different, but equally inviting.
Chase couldn’t recall preparing a meal for friends and enjoying himself quite so much. Not that he planned a repeat. This was a onetime, spontaneous thing to make up for being late and causing Nichole to worry. Cooking dinner was something he could easily do for Nichole and her friends.
He intended to do something else for Nichole, but it wasn’t easy. He hadn’t found any information on Fund Infusion or its senior partners to suggest Vick and Glenn were anything more than interested investors. Still that kink in his gut expanded, refusing to let him give up. Chase tapped his phone screen as if it held the truth about Fund Infusion in some hidden code.
“Problem?” Dan tipped his chin toward Chase’s phone.
“Sort of.” Chase looked toward the family room. Brooke and Nichole talked and played with the kittens. Satisfied that Nichole wasn’t listening, Chase asked, “Do you know how to research a business? Not the name and public information, but the backside of a business.”
“No idea.” Dan poured soap into a large frying pan. “But we know someone who can.”
“We do?” Chase picked up the drying towel and one of the mixing bowls Dan already washed.
“You married into an eclectic family tree.” Dan chuckled and grinned at him. “Bet you had no idea.”
None. Chase had only ever met Nichole’s grandparents. Knew she was an only child and her parents traveled in a theater group. But from Dan’s expression, Nichole’s family was much larger and way more interesting than that. “I have my grandmother, mom and two sisters on my family tree.”
“Now you have a paramedic, physician’s assistant, pet shop owner, private investigator, animal rescuer, photographer, wedding dress designer, lifestyle expert, ER doctor and inventor.” Dan laughed and rinsed the frying pan. “Don’t even get me started on the retired in-laws and extended family of siblings. They are all yours too now.”
“Just like that?” Chase had an entire fifty-two-man team behind him. But he’d had to earn their respect and loyalty over several seasons. Chase stacked the mixing bowl inside the others. Now he’d gained Nichole’s supposed family tree by marrying Nichole. Could it be that easy? Perhaps if it’d been true and not one big scam. That ever-present guilt warred inside him.
“Pretty much. Nichole is our family. You are too,” Dan stretched out his words. “Until you aren’t.”
Chase straightened, searched Dan’s face, wondering if he’d misheard the warning. “What does that mean?”
“Exactly like it sounds.” Dan scrubbed a small sauté pan and never elaborated. “Now what is this about wanting to research a business? You looking for a good investment.”
“It’s not research per se.” Chase leaned against the counter in order to face the family room. He kept his gaze fixed on Nichole to ensure she wasn’t paying attention to them. The gray kitten climbed onto her shoulder and swatted at her hair, and she laughed. Her smile encouraged his own. “I want to find out the bad stuff.”
“Now, that’s way more interesting.” Dan looked over his shoulder.
“Not to Nichole, it isn’t.” Chase lowered his voice and lost his smile. “It’s about her potential buyers, Fund Infusion.”
Dan shut off the water and addressed Chase in the same low voice Chase had used. “She likes them. They’re the answer to her dreams.”
“Until they aren’t.” Chase held Dan’s gaze one extra beat.
Dan leaned his hip against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t trust them.” That sounded lame. Like he had indigestion and no antacids. Chase wadded up the towel and tossed it on the island. “But I’m not enough to sway Nichole. She never relies on her gut instinct.”
“You do know her.” Approval deepened Dan’s tone.
“Since high school,” Chase admitted.
“She never mentioned she knew you. Ever.” Dan frowned. “Not once during any Pioneers game or during any event at school. And she had plenty of opportunities to mention she knows you.”
“We’d known each other in high school and college.” A long time ago, yet the more time Chase spent with her, the more he felt like she’d always been right there. Right beside him. Right where she belonged. “People change and move on. I don’t think she ever thought she’d see me again.”
“Or marry you.” Dan tapped his fist against Chase’s shoulder.
She definitely never considered that. “I’m worried she’s making a mistake selling to the Fund Infusion guys.”
The same sort of mistake he made convincing her to continue their ruse. Then sharing a bedroom with her. Then letting himself get to know her. He was becoming used to being with Nichole again. Though it was only temporary. Her app wasn’t. That was her future, and he intended to make sure she didn’t make a mistake for her future.
“Have you talked to her?” Dan asked.
“I tried,” Chase admitted. “She defended their request for her full app code and the entire business plan that she put together herself. I’m probably overreacting.” Most likely due to learning about his new and very large extended family. A family he’d let down once the truth came out about the fake marriage.
“I’ve watched a lot of Pioneers games.” Dan’s fingers tapped against his forearms.
