Page 44 of Lead Me On
Chase had already slowed and started the turn back toward Carbondale. It took only ten minutes to get to the hospital, and he followed Jane into the E.R. at a run.
It wasn’t a big building, and they both spotted Mac in his bandanna and black leather jacket at the far end of the E.R. at the same time.
“Dad,” she panted when they got close. “What happened?”
“Who’s that?” a reedy voice called from behind the curtain. “Dynasty? Is that you?”
Jane rushed forward and pushed the flimsy blue material aside.
“She just cut her finger,” Mac said. “She’s fine.” He shook his head at Chase. “Crazy old coot.”
Chase watched Jane approach the old woman, whose silver hair was wound up in a tight bun on top of her head. Her grandmother had called herDynasty.Weird. She was senile, maybe. Or half-blind and mistaking Jane for a sibling. Though even Jane’s coloring was the opposite of Dynasty’s. And the old woman’s eyes were clear and sharp as she spoke to Jane. She didn’t look confused. Or crazy. Or even the least bit vague.
A strange tightness crept over Chase’s skin as he looked at Jane. She was back to her expensive, conservative clothes and elegant heels. Her thick hair was tamed into a French braid and her glasses hid her big brown eyes.
“So,” he said to Mac, his eyes still on Jane, “she’s changed a lot.”It can’t be,his brain scoffed.She can’t be.
“Yeah,” Mac answered, neither confirming nor denying Chase’s insane suspicion. And the suspicion truly was unbelievable.
She can’t be.
He finally met Mac’s eyes and took the plunge. “She even changed her name.”
One corner of the man’s mouth rose. Chase waited for him to laugh and ask what the hell he was babbling about, but Mac just inclined his head.
Jesus. Chase shifted and glanced toward Jane again. She seemed to be engaged in a hushed argument with her grandmother. Well, hushed on Jane’s part. The grandmother offered a loud “Oh, mind your own beeswax, Susie Q!”
No one could change that much. Plus, the old lady had just called her Susie Q. Grandma was clearly not all there.
Still, he decided to try subtlety one last time. “Why’d she do it?”
A thoughtful grumbling sound rose from Mac’s chest.
Chase felt his shoulders bunch, waiting.
“She decided she didn’t want to be Dynasty Alexis anymore. Can’t say I blame her.”
Dynasty.
Dynasty Alexis MacKenzie. Holy shit.Dynasty.His hands went numb as his heart churned unevenly.
“The name was the least of the changes, thank God.”
He hoped the horrified shock didn’t show on his face. “Sure. Of course.”
“She’s amazing.” Mac nodded to himself. “We’re really proud of her. But…” He raised an eyebrow in warning. “I wouldn’t bring all that up if I were you. She doesn’t like to talk about her past.”
Chase nodded. Of course she wouldn’t want to talk about it. She’d been… Well, there wasn’t a polite word for what she’d been.
“Jesus,” he breathed. He could vaguely remember her—spiky hair bleached pale blond, eyes smoky with black eyeliner. And, now that he thought about it, almost the same body she had now, though she’d kept all of it way out in the open back then.
He remembered the first time he’d met her. It had been a wild party, and young Dynasty had been the wildest of all. She’d perched on his lap, her beer in one hand and his thigh in the other. He’d been seventeen years old, and the feeling of her hand stroking his leg while he snuck peeks at her unbelievable cleavage… Chase had been throbbing hard within seconds. Dynasty had laughed and asked if he liked her. He’d slid his hand softly over her bare knee in answer. Oh, hell yeah. He’d liked her a lot. Especially when she’d started pressing little kisses to his neck, her hip rocking sweetly against his erection.
He’d been in heaven for ten minutes, anticipating the kind of fun they would have when they moved to one of the back bedrooms. In fact, he’d been issuing just that invitation when Terrell James had leaned in and whispered the bad news. “That’s Big Mac’s daughter, man. She’s thirteen.”
Even now his stomach plummeted in remembered panic. Thirteen.Thirteen!He’d been headed for his own troubled youth at that point, but he hadn’t been that far gone.
In a panic, he’d meant to slide her gently off his knee, but it had veered toward a push.
