Chasin' Eight: Rough Riders, Book 12 (43 page)

Ginger? No. Just in case the family emergency only affected Chase’s branch of the McKays.

But Ava also knew Chase’s entire family watched the PBR, and if they weren’t aware there was a problem with Chase’s family, they’d know now.

Maybe the PBR had kicked Chase off for his diatribe and used his family as an excuse—they’d done it before with his injury story. Because really. Would Chase McKay give up his big comeback, his chance to win an event, especially riding in first place…to deal with family issues in Wyoming?

The former bad boy Chase McKay might have blown off his family for eight seconds of glory, but the Chase McKay she knew had changed.

That was it. She had to find out. She scrolled through her contact list. God, she needed to weed out about three quarters of these names. Bingo. She had saved his number. She hit
Dial
and returned to pacing until he answered. “It’s Ava.”

Chase woke completely disoriented. He didn’t feel like warmed-over dog crap, so he hadn’t been drinking last night. He sat up and looked around. Right. He’d crashed in Ben’s spare bedroom.

He squinted at the sun streaming through the window. Was it really late afternoon? He fumbled for his cell phone on the nightstand, only to remember he’d left it at his parents’ house. He stumbled into the kitchen.

“Glad you could join me at the crack of five in the afternoon,” Ben said slyly.

“Cut me some slack. I slept about two hours out of the forty-eight before I went comatose.”

“You’re in time to leave for supper at Mom and Dad’s with Gavin. Guess he’s leaving early in the morning.”

Chase scratched his head. His hair needed a damn trim. He’d gotten so used to wearing it short, he wondered if he’d ever go back to longer hair. Especially remembering how good Ava’s hands felt on his scalp.

Ava.

He needed her. He loved her. He had to make this right with her. But he couldn’t do it from here.

Naturally when he found his cell phone it was completely dead.

Supper was strained. Adam and Amelia made mealtime entertaining, until they both started shrieking and Quinn and Libby took them home.

Saying goodbye to Gavin was awkward amidst half-assed promises of staying in touch, would any of them ever see him again?

Ben sighed as they sat in his pickup in front of his house. “Look, don’t think I’m an asshole, but something came up and I’m gonna need you to stay somewhere else tonight.”

That fucking blew. He’d looked forward to hanging with Ben. Playing pool. Picking his brain about how to handle the situation with Ava once he reached LA. “It’s more a douchebag move than an asshole move, kicking me to the curb at eight o’clock on a Sunday night.”

“I’d hope you’d do the same for me if a good woman was involved.”

“Probably. It’s for the best anyway. I’d planned on driving to Denver in the morning to catch a flight to LA, but if I leave now, I’ll get an earlier one.”

“You’re still dragging ass, Chase. Why don’t you head over to Kane’s old trailer, get some rest in the peace and quiet? You know you ain’t gonna get that at Quinn and Libby’s place. Without bein’ a dick, Mom and Dad don’t need you hanging around tonight.”

Kane’s place. How hard would it be to stay where he’d met Ava and she wasn’t there? But it wasn’t like he had another choice. “Will you at least let me plug my phone in for five minutes so I can check my messages?”

“Sure.”

Chase had quite a few missed calls, including one from Ava last night. No voice message. Dammit. He stopped at the call from HeadGame, a sports safety equipment manufacturer. They’d only called thirty minutes ago. Intrigued, he kept his phone plugged in as he called the number, expecting to get a recording. But a live person answered. “This is Chase McKay. I received a message from this number tonight.” He listened. “Yes, sir. That sounds fine. Actually, I’d planned to be in California tomorrow. Sure. I’ll call you in the next couple days after I figure out my schedule. The event in Salinas starts Friday. After blasting my opinion across VERSUS airwaves…I ain’t sure they’ll let me compete.” Chase laughed. “No idea. I’m putting off returning phone calls to my PBR rep until tomorrow. Good enough. Thanks. Talk to you soon.”

“What the devil was that about?” Ben asked.

Chase unplugged the charger. “A company that specializes in sports helmets wants to meet with me about possibly becoming a spokesman. Which would be cool, since I’ve been thinking about putting my…celebrity, for lack of a better term, to good use. Advocate safety in bull ridin’. Some of the older riders ain’t ever gonna change. But if I can connect with the younger kids, the ones in high school, or even elementary kids who dream of ridin’ bulls, about the need for proper safety equipment, maybe I can save some kids lives. Save some parents from what Jackie Ackerman is going through.”

“That’s ambitious. And it’s great to see you—”

“Acting like a grown up?” Chase supplied with a grin.

“No, smartass. It’s great to see you believe in a cause enough to actually do something about it.”

“Thanks. I better scoot so your mysterious lady friend can come over under the cover of darkness.”

Ben gave him a smug smile. “Don’t be a stranger, bro.”

He said, “I won’t,” and meant it.

Chase’s mind raced as he drove to Kane’s trailer. First he’d book his ticket online. No, first he’d call Ava. He wasn’t taking any chance there’d be miscommunication.

Once he was inside the quiet trailer, he caught a whiff of flowers. But this time he didn’t attribute it to cleaning supplies. This time, he recognized the scent.

Ava.

His skeptical side warned about wishful thinking, while his optimistic side urged him to hurry the hell up.

Chase threw open the bedroom door. There she was, standing on the bed. Just like before. Except this time she wasn’t nekkid. This time Ava didn’t look like she wanted to kick his ass.

She looked like she wanted to kiss him.

He hopped up on the bed and kissed her first. “My God, woman, tell me I’m not dreaming.”

“You’re not dreaming.”

“As much as I’m thanking my lucky stars…why are you here?”

“When I didn’t hear what constituted a family emergency that had you pulling out of an event you were winning, I called Ben last night. He told me you were here. So I hopped a plane in LA—not a word about me using the family jet—last night and drove over from Rapid City.”

His wily brother hadn’t been expecting a lady friend after all. “I missed you like crazy.”

Ava rested her forehead to Chase’s. “I missed you.” She tugged him down until they sat on the bed. “What happened with your family?”

“Short version? My teenage mom had a baby out of wedlock with my dad, and I have a brother no one knew anything about. He showed up out of the blue this weekend.”

“Wow. That’s TV-movie-of-the-week stuff. How’s your family taking it?”

“We’re in shock. This Gavin guy…my brother…he’s pretty tight-lipped.”

“So there is a family resemblance,” she teased.

Chase smiled. “Maybe.” He kissed her knuckles. “Ava. I don’t even know where to start to make this right between us again.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s start there.” She inhaled deeply and let it out. “First let me say I’m so, so sorry I slapped you. There is no excuse for my behavior but it’ll never happen again. I swear.”

“I believe you. I’m sorry I left the way I did. I had a lot of time to think between Omaha and Wichita.”

“About us?”

“That and some other stuff.”

“Like what?”

“I’ve been thinkin’ about safety issues and helmets and all that since Ryan died. And then after what happened to Dirk, I realized I wanna do more than talk about it; I wanna act on it. It’s a murky idea right now, but I have an opportunity to make a difference and I’m going to take it.” He kissed her just because he could, because she was here with him, where she belonged. “Enough about that. Tell me how long you were in LA, because Hollywood, I was headed there first thing in the morning.”

“A couple of hours after you left, I got a casting call for a new sitcom and flew back to LA. I should come clean and let you know that my agent called me three times over the course of our road trip, after she’d lined up auditions. And every time I declined to go back to LA to audition. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, besides I didn’t want to leave you. But now I understand it was a sign I’m done with acting. Maybe not forever, but definitely for now.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.” She laughed. “But I feel freer and I’m taking a chance to change the path of my career. Which sounds stupid. I could’ve gotten off the path at any time.”

“Events that force a change ain’t always bad,” he said softly.

“True. When we met? I really was just using my camera for fun. But after we’d been on the road a couple weeks, I began to see the potential of telling a story from three different sides, from the perspective of three riders at varied stages of their careers. I started cataloguing the video segments and realized I’d shot a lot of footage. I have enough to do at least two documentaries. One with you, one without. I would never exploit Ryan’s death. I hope you know I’m not that heartless and willing to do anything to forge this new path.”

He kissed her knuckles. “I know.”

“But if you say no, Chase, I’ll shitcan the whole works and find something else to work on. I’d still like to put together a memorial disk for Jackie so she can see Ryan’s happiness being part of the rodeo world.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to not to do that. This project is important to you.” He locked his eyes to hers. “Would you ask me to give up bull ridin’?”

“No. I worry every time you get on the back of a bull, even more now after I saw what happened with Ryan. But it’s a part of what makes you, you. I’d never ask you to give it up.”

“I’ve come to the same conclusion. You’re talented, Ava. The little bit of your film I saw was amazing. You need to make the documentary however you see fit. If you have Jackie’s blessing, and she’s the one who’s the most affected by all of this, then I’m on board.”

Ava briefly closed her eyes and mouthed, “Thank you.”

“With a couple of exceptions,” Chase cautioned. “I want full veto power on the personal footage you use of us. That was our time, Ava. We fell in love, and we both know it had a lot to do with our conversations on the road, both on and off camera. Since we’re both in the spotlight, we have to keep some things private.”

“I agree. I’m sorry you saw that segment. And I swear I didn’t tape you on a secret camera. I set it down and forgot it was on. I intended to erase it, but in my frantic file switching it ended up in the wrong place.”

“That’s good to know. Also, if you plan on using the footage, you’ll hafta out me as Bill Chase. I don’t know what the repercussions will be, as far as how the PRCA will react, not to mention the PBR. But I’m prepared to deal with the consequences no matter what.”

“And I’ll stick by you no matter what happens.” Ava laid her hand on his cheek. “You know that, right?”

“I do now. Look, I’m gonna ride bulls as long as I’m able. There’s risk with that. But I’m also looking ahead to what I’ll do when I’m done. Maybe I’ll open a bull ridin’ school. I hear it’s warm year-round in California.”

She squeezed his hands. “That’s an excellent idea. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure you’ll come up with something else.”

“Until that time, I also plan on being very active with safety issues for riders. And to raise money, I want to host a rodeo in Ryan’s hometown, in his name. With Jackie’s permission, of course.”

Ava’s eyes filled with tears. “That’s perfect.”

“Ava. I don’t have a lot to offer you. I’m sure the heiress to the Cooper conglomerate could find a much more socially acceptable match than a height-challenged Wyoming bull rider.” When she started to protest, Chase put a finger over her lips. “But them other guys? The suit-and-tie and stupid-wearin’-shoes types? They’re too late. You’re mine now, Ava Rose
, mine
, through and through, and I play for keeps.” He let his lips cling to hers in a kiss filled with promise. Then he eased back and smiled. “So. Were you serious about getting married on an island with just your intended and a preacher? Because I’m all over that idea. As soon as possible. Heck, I’m free next weekend.”

“Stop right there if that’s your way of asking me to marry you, Chase McKay.” She poked him in the chest. “First of all, we’re going to a Dumond Racing event with my family next weekend.”

“We are?”

“Yep.” Ava gave him a haughty look. “Be aware that I’m doing this marriage thing once in my life and I expect a real proposal, with a ring, you on bended knee, spouting words of love, holding flowers.”

“Always setting the scene, aren’t you?”

“Only because you need so much help.”

“A lifetime of help.”

Author’s Note

I’ve taken quite a bit of artistic license in using the Professional Bull Riders Association and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association organizations in this book. Events, actions and persons are entirely fictional and the characters comments are no reflection on either of these fine organizations, nor the cowboys and cowgirls who compete in them.

About the Author

To learn more about Lorelei James, please visit
www.loreleijames.com
. Send an email to
[email protected]
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