Page 124 of The Convict Gets His Girl

"Do you take all kinds of things apart too?" Ava asked, leaning forward and turning back to Destini.

Destini's eyes widened, but it was Jewel who answered. "Oh yes, all the freaking time."

Destini giggled again as Ava laughed. "Your dad was always curious. Always taking things apart to see how they worked. We'd find him in the garage with mechanical parts spread everywhere, trying to build something new."

Bill laughed. "Remember when he rebuilt that old lawn mower engine when he was twelve? Took him three weekends, but he did it all by himself."

He shrugged. "Y'all said we had to mow with the push mower because we couldn't afford a new riding mower. So I fixed the riding one."

His mom's eyes softened, and she blinked quickly. "Is that why you're so interested in money?"

Chase ran a hand over the back of his head, pausing before nodding.

"Oh, Chase," his mom said softly.

Bill cleared his throat. "Hey, remember that time we won a lottery to pay off our ranch?"

Chase went still, but Destini frowned in confusion.

His dad met his gaze and arched a brow in challenge. Chase opened and closed his mouth, his neck overheating once more. He glanced from his mom to his dad and back again, certainty filling him.

"You know?" His voice was rough, but he couldn't reach for his tea right now. Theyknew.

They nodded in unison, and Destini asked, "Know what?"

Bill said gruffly, "Chase paid the ranch off. Your Uncle Landry is a damn fine songwriter who's been writing and selling songs for a decade. He worked with Chase in prison to find out what to do with the money, and Chase told him. Landry follows directions really well—it's why he's so good at building and fixing things."

Chase felt something tight in his chest, watching his parents talk about him like he was someone they were proud of. Like he wasn't the disappointment he'd always believed himself to be.

Destini and Jewel stared at him, and Jewel's hand on his knee grounded him.

"Thank you, Son," Ava said softly, her eyes glistening. "You didn't have to do that."

He shrugged and glanced away, picking at his plate of leftover pie crust with his fork. "I couldn't work up the courage to apologize or talk to you on the phone. I thought it might help take some of the stress off y'all if you didn't have to worry about the mortgage."

Ava reached over and laid her hand on top of his, stilling the fork. He glanced up, meeting her tearful eyes. "There's no reason to apologize."

He frowned, his inner file on what to do in social situations clearly saying otherwise. "No, I took the farm truck to Andre's that night without permission. If I hadn't?—"

"Were you tutoring him?" Ava asked.

He glanced at Jewel who nodded. "I might've mentioned something in passing."

Swallowing hard, he nodded. "I was trying to earn enough money to go to A&M to be with Jewel. I was going to graduate a year early, doubled up on classes, tutored everyone so I could join her."

The implications of his words hung in the air, but Jewel's eyes widened. He held his breath, afraid he'd said too much, and she'd run off.

Bill sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You always were a good kid, Chase. Just got caught up in something we couldn't save you from."

Ava added, "Even when you were young, you never did anything halfway. When you saw something you wanted, you did everything to make it happen."

Something inside him cracked. The years of believing he was a disappointment, a failure, a burden—they seemed to dissolve under his parents' understanding gaze.

Instead, it felt like they were seeing him, truly seeing him, and they loved him anyway.

"I wanted to be someone she could be proud of," Chase said softly, glancing at Jewel. "Someone who helped people and solved problems. I didn't want to be a problem myself."

Destini watched the exchange, her eyes darting between her parents and grandparents. She seemed to be absorbing every word, every subtle emotion.

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