Page 66 of The Meeting
“Thank you for saying that. That really means a lot to me.”
“Anytime. If you feel like you need help, please let me know. I can try to help as much as possible.” He paused. “Unless it has to do with fashion. I might not be your guy for that.”
She giggled.
Brian appeared at that moment, so Chase let go of her hand to pick up his menu.
“Are you ready to order?” Brian asked.
Chase looked at Kailynn, who quickly scanned her menu. “We actually got distracted. Would you mind giving us a few more minutes?”
“Not a problem.”
Kailynn looked at Chase and laughed. “All right. Let’s check out this food.”
After a few minutes, they both set down their menus. Brian appeared a minute later to take their orders and disappeared again almost instantly.
“So tell me about your family,” Chase said. He realized they knew little about each other’s personal lives, with the exception of his divorce and her relationship with Drew. Family had yet to be discussed.
Kailynn shrugged. “I’m an only child. My parents still live here in Modesto, which is where I was born and raised. We didn’t have much growing up, so I’ve never really traveled beyond neighboring states. So, that’s me in a nutshell.”
“Have you always known you wanted to go into fashion?”
“I think so. I mean, I used to dress up my Barbies with outfits I’d make from paper or whatever I could get my hands on. I even made a dress once out of Starburst wrappers.”
“Impressive.”
“Oh, let me tell you, it was incredible.” She laughed.
Brian appeared with their meals and set them down in front of them. As soon as he walked away, Kailynn spoke up.
“Your turn. Tell me about your family.”
“Well, I’m from Montana, born and raised. My parents own a small farm. My papa is Italian and my mama is American. They met when they were in their twenties and fell in love when my mama was on vacation with her family in Italy. My papa moved here to be with her, and they bought a house on a small piece of property near my grandparents’ place. When my grandparents passed away, my parents inherited that property and moved into their house.”
“Wow. Your dad left Italy to move to Montana?”
Chase nodded. “I know. It’s crazy to think about. We try to go back to Italy yearly to see my papa’s family. My grandparents are still alive. I always ask if he misses Italy, and he says yes, but that he would miss my mama more.”
Kailynn pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s so sweet.”
“It is. And my brother Derek owns a horse ranch right next to my parents’ place. He just started it up in the last year. He’s one of those people who comes up with an idea and just runs with it. Derek is classic for throwing caution to the wind. Actually, he’s the reason I moved here.”
“Really?”
Chase took a sip of his drink. “In a roundabout way. I took his approach and threw caution to the wind and moved to a place where I didn’t know anyone to start a business from scratch.”
“Remind me to thank him.” She smiled.
“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, to be honest. But it was exhilarating.”
He remembered the day he packed up his car and drove from Montana to California. The entire drive he asked himself if he was insane, and decided he likely was. Several times he almost turned around, but knew he needed to give it a go so he wouldn’t always wonder what could have happened. One of the main reasons he didn’t turn around was because he was already licensed to practice law in the state. He and ex-wife had lived in Salinas, California for most of their marriage. By moving back to California, he wouldn’t need to worry about taking the bar exam again.
And staring at Kailynn now, he was thankful he hadn’t turned his car around.
“Is your brother older or younger?” she asked.
“He’s younger, and my only sibling. I couldn’t imagine growing up as an only child. It sounds lonely.”
