Free Love in the Afternoon by Yvette Hines Page A

finished yet, but I refused to leave without it. I wasn’t sure if the shop keeper had fleeced me out of twenty dollars for the ‘rush’ fee or not. I didn’t care. Chase deserved a cake for his thirty-fifth birthday celebration. I peeped through the cellophane window at the top of the sheet cake box. Chase's dark gray eyes stared back at me. Even printed on edible sugary paper, they still gave me chills.
    It wasn’t because I had a thing for Chase. No way. I’d put those feelings away years ago. Besides, he had Leeza Rockingham, a red head bombshell. Leeza was a life consultant to the Charlotte elite. Chase had been dating her for the last year and proposed to her six months ago. Something all Chase’s family and friends knew Leeza had been aiming for.
    “ Where’s Leeza?” Mary Ann, Chase’s mother, frowned as she looked around the people prepared to descend on Chase’s home with a celebration.
    Kalan rolled her eyes dramatically. My best friend was never one to bite her tongue about her feelings surrounding anything, especially the topic of Leeza. “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”
    I bit the inside of my cheek. I could just imagine the explicit words going through Kalan’s mind. I’d already gotten an earful on the phone from Kalan while we were headed to the rendezvous site. It was all about status and money to Chase’s fiancée. Family game night and barbeques were things Leeza rarely showed up for.
    “ Shouldn’t we wait for her? Chase hates when we don’t include her.” Mary Ann’s face now was contoured in worry.
    “ I’ve tried to call her multiple times since Chase called me. He had attempted to reach her before he called me. I left a message on her cell phone to let her know that Chase was coming in tonight. I’m sure when she’s finished with whatever party or design show she’s attending tonight she’ll arrive in a splash of excitement .”
    Taking several deep breaths, I had to keep myself from laughing at Kalan’s emphasis on the word excitement. Leeza’s excitement over anything that Chase wanted was always false to anyone that wanted to look beyond the expensive whitening job of the flashy woman’s smile.
    “ Well, as long as we tried.” Donald gave a brisk nod, ending the conversation.
    “ Can we go? I don’t want Chase to catch us sneaking to his house,” Kalan called out.
    “ Lead the way.” Natasha, Kalan’s mother, called out from the back beside me.
    With little discussion, we all made our way across the street then rounded the house on the corner and went to the path beside the thick grove of trees at the edge of the stream that ran at the back of all the houses on this side of the street. There was a paved running trail the housing association had installed. It was perfect for us to keep off the street.
    Ten minutes later, Kalan led us all into Chase’s backdoor with her emergency key. Before he moved Leeza into his house a few months ago, he used Kalan to get things from his home office or sign for deliveries when he was out of town.
    Entering the kitchen at the back of his two-story house, we all moved around by the light Chase kept on over his stove. We didn’t want to alert Chase that we were there when he came into the front door. The house was quiet and there was a lamp on in the living room, but from what I could see, the rest of Chase’s home was dark. However, my view was limited from the kitchen, where we all were gathered and attempting to keep hushed as we discussed food placement and things. I could barely see the side view of the living room.
    Even with the darkness, I knew his home. Last year it had been Chase’s turn to host the Henderson family Easter brunch. I had been invited, as I was for most of the events. His home was kept clean and fresh by his weekly housekeeper. It was designed with chic furniture, and custom-made artwork graced his walls and tabletops. Even with the house's striking beauty, I thought the four bedroom