Poked

by Naomi Niles

  “What about drummers? My best friend Lilly—”

  “Oh, I know all about her, I saw some videos of the two of you playing, and I recognized her. But she's contracted to another label as a recording artist, and it'd be too much in legal fees and paperwork to get her to play on your record. I'm sorry, but that's how it is. I have one of the best drummers in Texas contracted to my studio, and you'll play with him. Jake Adams, you heard of him?”

  “I have, yeah, and I know he's really good.”

  Jake Adams was a huge name among drummers – and not just for his skill on the drums. He was famous for being a party boy and a wild character too. Not to mention a big hit with women, with his smoking-hot good looks and ripped body that he’d shown off on social media all too willingly. He was covered in tattoos, and he always played shirtless, giving his legions of female fans plenty to scream about.

  “I tell ya what, the offer is on the table. You can take the paperwork home and read it over, and get your lawyer to comb through the legal-speak if you'd like. But even though I really want to sign you, I can't keep this offer open forever.”

  “I'll get an answer to you by the end of next week... is that all right?”

  He smiled. “Perfect. I'll be in town until then. Thought I'd use the trip up here as an excuse to catch up with my family and spend some time with them.”

  “Okay. Well, thank you so much for the offer. I really, really appreciate it. Would you be able to drive me home now?”

  “I sure can. C'mon, coffee and donuts are on me.”

  Judd settled up the bill and then took me out to his car and drove me home.

  “You know,” he said as I got out the car, “I just had a thought. How about I fly you out to Austin for a show and you stay at the ranch over the weekend and try out the studio? Then you'll have a better idea of what to expect from the record contract. What do you say?”

  “Wow, that would be perfect. When would you like to do that?”

  “One of Regent's bands is playing at one of the main music bars in Austin on Friday. I'd like you to open for them. How does that sound?”

  “This coming Friday? As in a few days away?” I asked.

  “That's the one.”

  “Well... uh... yes! Yes, I'd love to do that!”

  “Great! I'll make all the arrangements and let you know what's going on tomorrow. Have a good day, Miss Shea.”

  “You too, Judd!”

  ***

  Austin was great, I had to admit. I hadn't been there before, but once I arrived, I wished I hadn't waited so long to come see it.

  I was excited, yes, but also, I was sad – I was already missing everyone back in Nashville, especially Chance. He and I had spent the previous night together, and it had been amazing. I'd almost felt like calling Judd up and telling him I wasn't gonna come to Austin for the weekend – but that would have been a crazy thing to do.

  So, there I was, outside the bar I was scheduled to play at in a couple of hours. The sun had just set over the city and all the lights were coming on. This was a music street all right, and people were lining up outside of music bars to check out the acts of the night.

  I was just standing outside the bar with my suitcase and guitar case, looking kinda lost, when a voice spoke my name.

  “Mackenzie Shea?”

  I turned, a little dazed. “That's me,” I replied, having to look up at the owner of the voice who was standing in the doorway. He smiled and extended a hand, which I shook.

  “Michael Haggard,” he said, “pleased to meet you. I'm the manager here at the Buzz Bar. C'mon in. I'll take your suitcase we'll stash that safely backstage. Judd's arranged a limo to take you back to the ranch whenever you feel like leaving the bar. You can go right after your set, or you can stick around for the other acts. It's totally up to you. Just let me know so I can tell the limo driver when to be here.”

  I nodded and followed him into the bar – though, it was more like a club. The place was huge and looked as if it could fit a thousand people. I followed him to the spacious, elevated stage.

  “We'll just do a quick sound check now, if that's okay? When you’re done, you can leave your guitar on stage and head on down the street to get yourself dinner and check the place out a little, and come back before your set starts. You just need to be here an hour before going on stage.”

  “Sure.”

  I got my guitar out, tuned it up, and then plugged it in to the cable provided. A stage hand came and set up a chair and mic for me. I got myself comfy, and then looked at the sound engineer, behind the mixing desk at the end of the bar.

  “Play a tune,” he shouted. “Something that you'll play tonight.”

  I started strumming the chords of Thunder and Rain, and then started singing. The guy obviously knew what he was doing; I didn't even have time to get to the chorus before he stopped me.

  “That's perfect!” he shouted. “Levels are all mixed, you sound amazing! You're gonna kill it tonight.”

  “Thanks!” I called out.

  I set my guitar down on a stand on the side of the stage, but then I heard an unfamiliar voice behind me.

  “So, you're Mackenzie Shea, huh?”

  I turned around and found myself face to face with a guy so attractive that he almost made me have to catch my breath. Tall, lean muscled with broad shoulders, wearing a tight T-shirt that showed off his sculpted arms and tattoos. Shoulder-length, sandy-blond hair, piercing, blue eyes, and a shit-eating grin.

  Jake Adams.

  “I am. And you're Jake Adams.”

  “That's me. You're way hotter in person than you are in the videos, Mackenzie. And since you're smokin' hot in the videos. You can only imagine how hot I think you are now.”

  I couldn't help but blush.

  “Thank you,” I said. “And you're an incredible drummer, from what I've seen.”

  “Drumming isn't the only thing I'm a pro at,” he said with a wicked grin. “And if you have a few drinks with me later, I guarantee you'll find out about my other talents. And you'll like 'em, Mackenzie Shea. You'll like 'em a lot.”

  I could see where this was going, and as hot as Jake was, he was no Chance Lawson.

  “I don't think that's gonna happen,” I replied.

  “But you are saying there's a chance,” he retorted with a wicked grin. “And on a night like this, anything could happen. Anything...”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chance

  I finally made it home after a busy day at the radio station. I was tired, but there was still a lot I needed to do. Andy needed help with the stables, so I spent an hour down there fixing a few things up. By the time that was done, it was already dark, and I trudged back up to the house. Luckily, my housekeeper was in, so dinner had already been made for myself and Cassie. She was waiting at the table for me with a sweet smile on her angelic lil' face, and that made all the weariness of my day okay.

  “Well, hey there, lil' princess!” I said. “How my girl?”

  “I'm good, Daddy! Why are you so late?”

  “Oh, I've just had a lot of stuff to do. Real busy day today.”

  “Daddy, can I ask you a question?” she asked.

  “Sure you can, pumpkin. Fire away.”

  “Where's Mackenzie? When's she gonna come here again? I miss her.”

  I sighed. I missed Mackenzie too, even though she'd only been gone a matter of hours.

  “Well, she was just here this morning! And she stayed over last night, you guys had a great time together, and she made you that real nice breakfast this morning! How can you be missing her already? It's only been a day, pumpkin!”

  “It feels like longer. She said she was going to Austin. Where's Austin?” she questioned.

  “It's far away, sugar.”

  “Like, an hour if we drive in your truck? That kinda far?”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “A lot longer than that, Angel.”

  Her eyes widened with surprise. “Longer than that? Ho
w much longer? Two hours? Three hours?!”

  “Try twelve hours.”

  “Twelve! That's like... that's like the other side of the world!” she insisted.

  I couldn't help but laugh at her innocence. “It kinda feels like that, doesn't it? Don't worry too much about Mackenzie; she'll come back and see you real soon. Come on now, eat your mashed potatoes.”

  “How soon, Daddy? Tomorrow?”

  I sighed. “Maybe not that soon, sugar; maybe not that soon.”

  We finished up dinner around half an hour later, and then I let Cassie watch some television while I went out to the porch to give Mackenzie a call.

  “Hey there, beautiful,” I said as she answered her phone. “How's Austin?”

  “Well hello yourself, handsome,” she replied. The sound of her voice like music in my ears.

  “So, how's it going?”

  “This place is great! There are music bars left right and center, so it does remind me of Nashville a lot, but there's a lot more variety here. I mean, hell, country music is my heart and soul, but it sure is nice to see something different for a change. I just walked past some guys playing jazz on the sidewalk – a trumpeter, a guy with an upright bass and a guy on a drum kit – and now, just around the corner, there are some guys playing what sounds like African tribal music on conga and bongo drums. Oh, and now I'm walking past a bar that sounds like it has some sort of death metal band inside! Crazy!”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, it's a great place if you're after variety, that's for sure. How about the place you're playing tonight, what's that like?”

  “Oh my God, it’s huge! Great stage, and it looks like it'll hold a big crowd. We'll see how many actually come out tonight.”

  “I bet you'll have a good crowd. After all, you're almost famous! I think your YouTube video has almost seven hundred thousand views now.”

  “I still can't believe it! All of this is happening so fast. And that YouTube video is what kicked everything off... and I have you to thank for that, for organizing that surprise with James Masters. You really are an amazing human being, Mr. Lawson. I'm so lucky to have you, I really am.”

  “And I'm lucky to have you, Mackenzie. I'm so excited for you!”

  “Oh, hey, I gotta go. I'll call you later though, all right?”

  “All right. Talk to you soon, beautiful, hope you have a killer show later.”

  “Thank you, Chance. Chat later.”

  I sat in silence on the porch for a while. I had to admit that a part of me kinda regretted doing the whole James Masters thing for her. That was what was taking her away from me – well, what had started everything that was taking her away from me. I knew it was terrible and selfish to feel like that. This was amazing for her career, and yes, most of me was happy for her in that regard. But there was a small part of me that kinda wished I hadn't done it. If I hadn't, she'd still be by my side with no plans to move to another state, with no—

  “No, Chance, stop this. You can't think like this. It ain't right, and it's downright selfish,” I said to myself out aloud.

  I resolved to be happy for her, instead, even though there was a good chance that this whole record deal might tear us apart permanently. Even so, her dreams took precedence here. I loved music myself, hell, so much that I'd bought a radio station, and I sure as hell had no right to interfere with someone else's musical dreams.

  With these thoughts running around my head, I headed inside to go relax with my Cassie, and to try not to think about Mackenzie too much.

  ***

  “Happy birthday, you beautiful bastard!” I said to Terry as I handed him his gift.

  “What's this?” he said with a grin as he took the gift from me.

  “Well, there's only one way to find out, ain't there? Go on and open it up!” I insisted.

  He eagerly ripped open the wrapping, and then beamed as he saw what was inside – a vintage Johnny Cash LP, autographed by the man himself.

  “Dang, Chance, you always get me the best gifts!”

  “Happy birthday, Terry,” I said with a grin. “I knew you'd love it.”

  Tina handed him a gift as well. “Here you go, a gift for my favorite co-DJ. Is that even a word?”

  Terry laughed as he took the gift from her. “It is now! Now, let's see what this is.”

  It turned out to be a book, an anthology of country music.

  “Well, ain't that right up my alley!” Terry exclaimed. “This has been a great haul this year, I feel seriously spoiled!”

  “The best gifts for the best guy in the station,” I said, giving him a quick, tight bear hug.

  “All right, well now that we're all finished and that new guy is on the air, how about we go out and celebrate with a drink?” Terry suggested. “After all, this only happens to me once a year!”

  “Sounds good, man; where do you wanna go?” I asked.

  “Well, it's nice and hot out, and there's still two or three hours of daylight. I was thinkin' somewhere outdoors would be great to have a couple sundowners.”

  Tina pitched in her opinion as well. “I agree. And somewhere by water would be even better.”

  “Well, that settles it,” Terry said, “ya’ll are gonna come to my family’s ranch. We've got that nice lil' dam there with the creek, and that's a perfect spot for sundowners. I've got some deck chairs we can take out there, and plenty of spare beds if ya’ll have a few too many drinks. We can throw something on the barbecue, maybe do some shootin' too. I gotta show you my new rifle anyway, Chance.”

  I nodded. “Sounds great, Terry. You've got some wife, buying you a rifle like that for a birthday gift. You're a lucky guy!”

  “She's a better shot than I am! But you know that. I wonder if she's a better shot than you too though, Chance?”

  I laughed. “Set up some tin cans at two hundred yards and we'll see about that.”

  “I might just do that. Perfect way to break in the new rifle, I think,” he added.

  “All right, well let's head out of here. We'll stop by the liquor store on the way to pick up some party supplies. I've already got plenty a' meat in the freezer for a barbecue, so we don't have to worry about that.”

  “Let's go,” I said.

  ***

  Two hours later, I was leaned back in my deck chair, watching the red sun as it hovered just above the distant mountains. I drank a long swig of ice-cold beer and then sighed. It really was a beautiful afternoon, and would have been perfect if Mackenzie could have been with me. But she was still in Austin. I had spoken to her on the phone earlier, but she had seemed busy, so it hadn't been a long conversation. I wondered what she was doing right then. I was tempted to call her, but I didn't want to be anti-social.

  Just then, Terry came up to me with a bottle of tequila.

  “All right, son, it's my birthday, and I make the rules just for today. And the rules here are that you have to have three quick shots of this, right now!”

  “Three!? Come on Terry, I've already had two beers. What are you trying to do here?”

  “Trying to have a kick-ass birthday celebration, man! What else? Now, I won't have any protests from you. You gotta have these shots. It's my birthday!”

  “How am I gonna drive home later?”

  “I told you, you can stay here.”

  “My kid, Terry.”

  “Aw, c'mon, can't you just ask Andy to take care of her tonight? Seriously, we hardly ever get to do this. How long have we been friends?”

  He was right. Terry was one of my best friends, and we hardly ever got to do this.

  “All right,” I said, giving in. “I'll call Andy and see if he can help me out tonight; if he can, then I’ll take the shots.”

  I called Andy and made arrangements. He was happy to take care of Cassie for the night, and I knew she'd be safe with him. She loved hanging out with Andy.

  “All right,” I said. “It's all been sorted out. C'mon then, man, let's have these damn tequila shots,” I said.

  “Y
ou know why I'm only makin' it three, right?” Terry asked. “Because they say...”

  “One tequila two tequila three tequila floor!” I replied with a laugh.

  “That's right!” He poured three shots for me, and then three shots for himself. We knocked them back quickly, and it didn't take long for me to feel the burn of the liquid as it traveled down my throat.

  “Whew!” he exclaimed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Damn!”

  “Hardcore stuff, man, hardcore stuff!” I winced.

  “Mexico's finest. Hey, you gotta take another shot though?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why is that?”

  “Cause you beat my wife in the rifle shootin' contest earlier. Didn't I tell you? First prize was a free shot a' tequila!” he said with a grin.

  “Oh hell. Go on then, bring it on.”

  He poured one more shot for me, and I knocked it back quickly. I was starting to feel my head swim a little; I wasn't drunk, but had definitely entered the tipsy stage.

  Tina and Terry's wife, Belinda, came waltzing over to us.

  “Well, hey now, what's this tequila shootin' that's going on? You boys think you can leave us out?” Tina asked.

  “You don't have to ask twice,” Terry remarked with a grin. “We just did three shots—”

  “Four!” I interjected.

  “Well, he did four, I did three,” continued Terry.

  “We'll do four then,” Tina said eagerly. “Right, Belinda?”

  Belinda chuckled. “We ain’t lettin’ men out-drink us. That means you gotta do an extra one, hubby, otherwise you're gonna be left behind!”

  “All right, all right! Here we go, four shots each for the ladies!”

  He poured the shots, and they each knocked them back. He then poured one more for himself, and shot it fast as well.

  “Yee-haw!” he shouted. “Now this is a party! Let's have some music!”

  He turned up the portable stereo he'd brought outside, and we all got to drinking more and talking and laughing. We were all starting to feel pretty drunk as well, and it was starting to show.