He dialed his phone and put it on speakerphone so I could hear him.
“Dad? It’s Chase.”
“Hey, son. What’s going on?”
“I’d like to come over to the house and have you meet my girlfriend this afternoon, if that would be all right with you?”
“Girlfriend? You don’t normally want us to meet your lady friends.”
“This one is different, Dad. I think you and Mom will really like her.”
“Sure, let’s have an early lunch, though. I have lots to get done today,” his father said as he hung up the phone.
“Well, that seemed promising,” I said softly.
“I hope he keeps up this positive attitude. I really need him on my side with this whole business thing.”
“What’s going to happen if he decides he’s not ready to hand the company over to you yet?” I asked.
Chase just sat in silence as his brain worked through all the possibilities. None of them ended with a happy ending, I was sure of it.
“I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said. “Let’s get married, then over to lunch with my parents and lay this bomb on them. It should be interesting.”
***
Chase decided to drive, and I could tell he was feeling much better. He wasn’t wincing with every breath, so that was really good. I just hoped he would keep getting better, and we could figure out this mess before things went horribly wrong for us.
I closed my eyes as he drove. It was incredibly exhausting to drive in America. I was happy to have a break from that chaos. I really didn’t know how people could drive in all that traffic every day. I assumed they just got used to it, but I wasn’t yet, that was for sure. I drifted off to sleep while Chase drove us over to his family’s home.
You know that feeling when you think you’re in a dream, but not quite sure? That’s exactly how I felt when I opened my eyes as we pulled up to Chase’s family home. His house wasn’t just a regular house – it was an estate. The kind of large complex that required you to drive through some gates and then down a long driveway.
After driving down the quarter of a mile long driveway, we reached the circular drive that could easily hold thirty cars it was so large. I got nervous. Not because his family was obviously rich, but because I didn’t think his father would approve of Chase marrying a woman such as myself. A woman who he had met online. A woman who had traveled from Liechtenstein with the sole purpose of marrying Chase.
The idea of how we met, and that we had just gotten married, seemed preposterous even to me. Not to mention Chase still had some visible bruising and appeared to be in pain. My gut said that this meeting wasn’t going to go as well as we had hoped it would.
“We need a plan, Chase,” I said urgently as we pulled up.
“I have a plan. Don’t worry, just follow my lead.”
The confidence in his voice reassured me instantly. I wasn’t sure what his plan was, but he sure seemed confident. The idea that he had things under control was a welcoming thought, and I was happy to let him take control of the situation. I had enough to worry about with trying to hide my foreign accent as much as possible and understand what they were saying to me.
“I’m nervous,” I whispered, as we stood at the front door and took a breath before going in.
“Don’t be nervous. Just remember, he puts his three thousand dollar pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else.”
Chase laughed and grabbed my hand as he opened the door and pulled me into the house. The elegant entryway caught my breath as we stood there and took our shoes off before going farther into the house.
I couldn’t help but think back to all the fun American television shows I had seen and what it would be like to meet Chase’s family. I hoped it would be more like a comedy than a drama. I desperately hoped his parents would like me.
Finding a bride on the internet wasn’t something Chase had planned. It certainly wasn’t something I had planned, but I was really excited that we had found each other. I hoped his family would like me just as much as I liked Chase.
“Oh, gosh,” I said quietly as I looked up at the forty-foot ceiling.
Chase just smiled at me and pulled me toward the back sitting room. We walked through a study and down a couple steps where I caught my first glimpse of his mother. She was stunning, the kind of beauty that came from a life of luxury. She looked like she had done some plastic surgery and had enough chemical peels that she looked at least ten years younger than she probably was. But still, she was beautiful.
“Jordan, this is my mother, Susanne.”
“Oh, Chase, she’s beautiful,” his mother exclaimed as she came over to hug me.