She poked his chest. “You call me Savannah again, I’ll push you in this lake.”
“Chase. I . . .” He couldn’t think of the words. “I . . . can’t believe you’re here.”
“Why? This is my home.” She gestured at the single-story brick house next to the Riches’ home. “Papa and Mimi both passed on, and I’ve always loved it here. Unlike you, Mr. Famous Billboard Lawyer.” She hooked a thumb toward the shore. “Saw your ride. Porsche 911 convertible. Nice.”
“Thank you.”
For a moment, they studied each other. Then Chase pressed past him and spoke without looking at him. “About to make some coffee and breakfast if you’re hungry.”
Jason watched her. Chase Wittschen had been his only friend at Mill Creek. She went through the Guntersville public school system while Jason had been a Randolph private school lifer. But in the summers, especially during elementary and middle school, they’d been inseparable. When Jana and her friends would go jet skiing or wakeboarding or swimming, Jason would find Chase, and they’d take kayak rides or hike in and around the cove. Back then, Chase always wore overalls, and her curly hair was cut short like a boy’s. She’d taught him how to fish, chew tobacco, and steer a kayak and paddleboard, though none of it had taken very well. Chase had loved the water and all its mysteries, while Jason had simply craved the attention she gave him.
But their relationship had changed once they were in high school. They still hung out, but teenage hormones eventually got in the way.
He hadn’t thought of Chase in years. They’d lost touch after high school, and last Jason had heard, she’d moved out west and was working at one of the national parks.
He took in a long, low breath. As he followed her up the dock, he found that he was smiling, just as he’d done when he was driving Jackson Burns’s boat yesterday and felt the wind caressing his face.
The good vibes dissipated the minute Jason entered the kitchen. On the counter, he saw a rifle, three pistols, and two other long-barreled guns.
“Getting ready for war?” Jason asked, feeling uneasy as he took a seat at a wooden table.
Chase was making eggs in a skillet on the stove. “Shouldn’t you be?” she asked, peering at him over her shoulder. “If you’re going to be having late-night confrontations with Tyson Cade.”
Jason’s stomach tightened, and he raised his brow. “You saw that?”
She continued to toss the egg yolk in the pan with a fork, talking as she worked. “I had that bastard between the crosshairs of my AR-15. It was all I could do not to pull the trigger. Would’ve done this whole county a lot of good.”
“How do you know him?”
“I’ve been back a couple of years. I keep my eyes and ears open. Coffee?”
“Please,” Jason said, watching as his old friend poured him a cup from an old-school drip maker and placed the mug in front of him.
“Thank you,” he said, wincing as he took a sip of the scalding-hot liquid. “And thanks for having my back last night.”
She turned and put a paper plate of eggs and two pieces of wheat toast on his plate. “It’s not the Cracker Barrel, but it’ll do.”
“It looks wonderful,” Jason said. Chase placed some Smucker’s grape jelly and a couple of forks on the table, and they both dug in. The food hit the spot, and for a few minutes, Jason forgot about Tyson Cade’s threats, his sister’s murder case, and the decision he had to make soon.
“Thank you,” he said after devouring the breakfast.
“Welcome,” she said. She took a sip from her mug. “I’m sorry about your brother-in-law.”
“Heard about that?” Jason asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I’d have to be an ostrich not to have heard about it. I assume you’re in town to save your sister’s ass?”
He gazed out at the water. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I mean . . . I did see Jana at the jail yesterday, and she asked me to help her, but that’s not the only reason I came home.”
She crossed her arms. “Why then?”
He looked at her. “Honest? I just got out of ninety days in rehab. Alcohol addiction. I almost fell off the wagon within an hour of being discharged, and then Jana called me and told her sob story. I didn’t know what else to do. I was hoping coming here would help me figure it out.”
She whistled between her teeth. “That’s a lot.”
He chuckled. “Thanks.”