Chapter Three (Angela's POV)

He just had to be engaged, didn't he? I couldn't believe it. And I had lost him to a hyperactive, bossy blonde like her? But that was my critical side. Maya was probably a really nice girl. I had only heard one story of her and Chase, after all, right? It couldn't hurt to spy a little later on to see how they were actually doing… But wouldn't that be wrong? Spying on people, I mean… Something I had always hated was for someone to spy on me… And doing that myself would make me a hypocrite. Something no one likes… I inspected the bathroom mirror I had been standing in front of while thinking of all these different things, mostly focusing on my reflection.

My chestnut hair practically did whatever it wanted to, no brand of hairspray would tame it. My frail structure made it look like I hadn't eaten a thing in weeks. I had no figure. Instead of the curvy 'hourglass' I was more like a 'pole', no curve dared compliment my figure. Frankly though, it was okay with me. Looks had never been something I had been obsessed over. It wasn't worth it.

I looked out the window which showed it was twilight now. I could go down to the bar and see Chase again, or I could just go to sleep and save myself the possible embarrassment. But if I didn't take the chance, I would be letting Chase slip through my fingers. Who was I kidding, though? How could I deliberately attempt to break a couple up? Worse than that… A couple that was engaged to be married… But, it wouldn't hurt to just talk to him, would it? And I could talk to other people there, so it wouldn't seem like I was there just to see him. It was a bit of a dirty thing to do, but it would silence the part of me that wanted them to break off the engagement.

So I freshened up a bit and headed down the upstairs hallway to the stairs that would lead me to the lobby. I sort of crept down, to not seem overanxious. And sure enough, Chase was still working, but it seemed a different blonde was also working alongside Maya. I didn't really know, but I decided to introduce myself, so I walked over to her.

But before I opened my mouth, she squealed, "Oh, you must be the new girl! Welcome! My name's Kathy. I help serve drinks and meals here sometimes."

"Nice to meet you, the name's Angela," I smiled, pleasantly enough.

"I was thinking of having dinner… What do you recommend?" I asked.

"The best thing on the menu is the fried chicken. Chase has a lot of experience cooking it… It's kind of a usual dinner for the people around these parts." she answered confidently.

"Give me that, then, please," I told her.

While she quickly went to the kitchen to deliver the order, I found a table near the bar that separated the small, but first rate, kitchen from the rest of the large room and sat down. Maya seemed to be underfoot to Chase all the time, never moving very far from him unless she had to wait on a customer. It was like she was afraid some girl would come and steal him away in five minutes. But if he truly loved her, why would she be so distrustful of him? It didn't make sense.

Kathy soon came back, "I'm so sorry, I forgot to ask you what you wanted to drink…"

"Oh, that's okay… I think I'll have water," I told her.

"Sure thing," she said as she quickly turned to go to the kitchen.

I looked around. Sitting by myself was a bit boring… So I headed to the bar to sit down. Maybe if Maya would leave Chase alone for five seconds, I could have a pleasant conversation with him. But unless he found some impossible task for her, she would never leave him for more than a few minutes. I decided sitting there listening to Maya squeal about one thing or another would be better than sitting at a table alone.

Kathy did a double take as she started back to the table I was at, but quickly noticed I had changed seats. She smiled and brought me the water I had asked for. She cleared her throat when she left the spot I was at, and Chase's eyes darted to spot me. He finished frying the chicken that was in the pan and set it on a plate with a baked potato as he said something to Maya. She immediately took off, not angrily, but as if she were in a bit of a rush. I had no idea what he had told her. He smiled as he brought the dish to me.

"Nice to see you again, Angela," he said as he effortlessly slid the dish in front of me.

"Nice to see you… Chase…" I was a bit shocked at how cordial he was to me, even though we had only talked once.

"I take it Kathy told you that's my best dish?" he asked.

"Yeah…" I took a bite of the chicken and swallowed, "This is really good! Did you go to culinary school?"

"Nah. My parents didn't have the money, and didn't support my wanting to become a cook anyway. So I left and came here. One of my friends told me they had a great aunt here who could cook really well… So he called his aunt and she agreed to teach me. Ms. Yolanda has been a very good teacher. That's her over there," he pointed to the short, pink headed lady that stood by the gentleman that was working the front desk for the inn.

"It's sad when someone's parents don't support them… But you seem to be doing pretty good," I said.

"So how about you? What's your story?" he asked.

Chase had just asked me the one question I had been awaiting but didn't want to answer. But he had just told me about himself. It would only be fair for me to share my past with him.

So I spoke up, "Back home, things got rough. My father died a couple of months ago, and then I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me… I was just depressed, so my mother attempted to help me by spending a ton of time with me. I ended up blowing my top at her for no real reason at all every time we would attempt to spend time together. So eventually, she told me about this town and its farming program. And to be honest, I didn't want to go… but I knew she would badger me 'til I came, so here I am."

Chase sighed, "Tough world, isn't it? Parents that don't support their kids, death of a loved one, and being engaged to someone you don't…" he stopped himself, "I'm sorry… I must be taking up a lot of your time…"

I noticed he said engaged. When were we talking about being engaged? We were on the subject of our life stories. Something told me something was wrong. I didn't know quite what, without jumping to conclusions. And the way I had thought of attempting to make him break his engagement with Maya made me feel kind of bad.

"No, no. It's really been nice to talk to someone about this… that is besides my mother… Thanks," I said, looking into the empty plate that I had cleared while we were talking.

"Really? I don't get to talk so seriously with Maya. She doesn't understand such matters, so she avoids them…" he looked toward the door.

I realized why he looked at the door when I heard the high pitched squeal that belonged to Maya, "Chase, I found the spice. Mr. Simon let me in the store to get it…"

Chase sighed and I quietly said, "Good night. Maybe we'll talk again."

He nodded and once again was forced to deal with Maya. I quickly got up and found Kathy to pay her, as I didn't want to wait and feel like an intruder with Maya hanging on Chase. I found her and gave her the money and headed up the stairs to my room. I needed to sleep.