by Naomi Niles
With that, I turned around, pricked Silver's sides with my spurs and galloped off.
***
“You ready to go, Cassie?” I shouted up the stairs an hour later.
“Coming, Daddy!”
“All right, well, you better hustle or we're gonna be late!”
“Coming!”
She came running down the stairs on her little legs, looking as cute as anything.
“I'm gonna be five years old in two weeks, Daddy!” she exclaimed with a big, broad smile – a smile that reminded me of her mother's. That sent a sharp and sudden stab of sadness through my heart, and I had to turn away from her for a second.
“What's wrong, Daddy?”
“Nothing Cassie. Just that... you're growin' up so fast is all.”
“I'm gonna be so old. Five years, Daddy! I'm gonna be so big!”
I couldn't help but smile – even with the sadness that the memory of my late wife, Joanna, brought on. It had been two years since she had passed, and while time had healed some of the wounds, some remained open and fresh.
“Yes, you are – but right now we can't waste no more time sitting around and yakking; we gotta get you over to school. You got everything?”
“I do daddy.”
“All right, let's go.”
We hurried out to my truck, and I got her strapped into the kid seat I'd installed between my seat and the regular passenger seat.
“You in there nice and tight, Cassie?” I asked.
“I am, Daddy. I like your new truck.”
“I like it too, pumpkin, I like it too. So, what are ya’ll gonna get up to at school today?” I asked as I drove off along the dirt track.
“We're gonna learn about animals in Africa. Have you ever been to Africa, daddy?”
“I have. It's a fascinating place.”
“What did you see there, Daddy?”
“Oh, I saw a lot of things. Most of the animals you're gonna learn about today, I think.”
“Did you see lions?”
“I did.”
“Elephants?”
“Plenty.”
“Crocodiles?”
“Yep, saw those too.”
“An' tigers? Did you see tigers?”
“There ain't no tigers in Africa, Cassie!” I replied with a laugh. “They live in India.”
“Where's India, daddy? Can we drive your truck there? I wanna see tigers!”
I laughed.
“It might be a bit of a long drive to go from here to India, princess, and there's a little hurdle in the way called the Pacific Ocean, or the Atlantic Ocean, depending on which way you wanna go.”
“So, we can't drive there?” she said, looking disappointed.
“No, I'm afraid not, pumpkin. But I do know a place we can to see tigers. You wanna go there?”
Her face lit up immediately.
“I do daddy, I do!”
“Well, if you're a real good girl, we'll see if we can go there soon, okay?”
“All right, Daddy! I'll be good, I'll be super good, I promise!”
***
After dropping Cassie off at school, I ran a few errands and was on my way to the radio station when I pulled up to a red traffic light. A car pulled up alongside me, and I didn't think anything of it, but I did get a feeling like someone was watching me. I glanced to the side, and my eyes almost popped out of my head at the sight of one of the most gorgeous women I'd ever seen. She had long, luscious brown hair and big brown eyes, set beneath finely arched brows on either side of a cute, slightly upturned nose. She had a friend with her in the car too, but I only had eyes for the brunette. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but the arrangement of her features just seemed to be quite perfect in my eyes.
When our eyes met, she smiled, parting her full lips slightly to reveal perfect white teeth. I smiled back, nodded – and then the light turned green. I stepped on the gas, gunning the truck hard away from the lights. I didn't know why, but I just felt like I had to speed off. Maybe there was something about her that caught me off guard, and I never liked feeling like that.
Still, even as I drove off, the image of her beautiful face remained imprinted on my memory, and I soon started regretting not having said or done anything. I mean, hell, I should have at least tried to get her number, right? Well, it was a bit late for that now.
I pulled into my parking space and got out, and headed up into the station. I bumped into Terry on the way up the stairs.
“Hey, buddy!” I said, offering him a hand, which he gripped tightly and shook firmly.
“Morning, Chance,” he replied. “How'd you sleep?”
“I didn't get nearly enough,” I replied.
“Oh no, why?”
“We had a bit of a situation on the ranch last night, and all the boys was in town drinking and chasin' tail, so Andy and I had to take care of it ourselves.”
“Damn. What happened?”
“Ah, nothing crazy. Our foal, Starlight, got out and got herself stuck in a big, deep puddle of mud.”
“That does not sound good. Did ya’ll get her out all right?”
“We did. Eventually.”
“Good, good. Hey listen, I'm gonna run a lil' contest on the late morning show in a couple of minutes. Can you get Farrah or one of the other assistants in the booth with me to help me out?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, look now, Terry, I give you a lot of freedom in there, and you know it, but you also know that you're supposed to clear stuff like this with me well ahead of the time. Why are you just springing this on me now?”
He smiled mischievously.
“Oh, it's nothing major, nothing at all. Trust me, I've got everything under control.”
“You're not gonna tell me what it's about?”
He kept smiling and shook his head.
“Just trust me, Chance, just trust me.”
I sighed.
“All right then, Terry, but I don't want no nasty surprises, you understand?”
“Don't worry, old friend, it'll be a perfectly good surprise, I promise you that.”
“If you say so. Anyways, I'm gonna order some Starbucks; would you like some?”
“I've already got, but thanks anyway. See you later, buddy!”
“Just remember to run any other contests by me first!” I called out after him as he hurried off.
After that, I headed out to my office and sat down to take care of a few emails and other matters. As I was doing that, Terry headed into the booth to start his late morning show. I glanced up and shot him a smile through the glass partition, which he returned. I flipped on the speaker next to my desk so that I could hear what he was saying.
“It's brunch hour with Terry McGuire on Corral FM,” he said, his voice rich with enthusiasm and joy. He really was a great DJ. “And this hour, in addition to some great country tunes, we're having a special, once-off contest. That's right, listeners: you get to call in and stand a chance of winning a great prize. This prize is, unfortunately, only available to single, unattached ladies.”
I sat up straight and shot Terry a questioning look through the glass. What was he up to?
“That, listeners, is because the grand prize in this morning's contest is a date with my boss, the owner of this radio station and one of Nashville's most eligible bachelors, the one, and only, Mr. Chance Lawson!”
My jaw dropped with disbelief. Half of me wanted to drop on the floor and roll around with laughter, but the other half wanted to punch Terry's lights out. What the hell was he thinking?! He flashed a shit-eating grin at me through the glass, and I pointed at him with one hand while I drew my finger slowly across my throat with the other.
Terry continued with his announcement, still grinning.
“All right, ladies, if you want to win this amazing prize, you need to call in within the next hour. We'll take twenty calls, and for each call, you'll only have ten seconds to tell us about yourself – or your friend, if you're going to e
nter for a friend. At the end of the hour, I'm going to narrow it down to five names, and then pick one of those out of a hat. Are ya’ll ready? The lines are gonna open after this great classic from Johnny Cash, so single ladies, get your fingers dialing!”
The next hour was pure torture for me as I listened with disbelief as a bunch of ladies called in, each introducing themselves in hasty ten-second spurts. Well, all right, it wasn't all torture – actually, it was a bit of an ego boost to see just how many women wanted to go on a date with me. Still, I was sure that not a single one of them would do anything for me.
Eventually, though, the hour came to a close and, as promised, Terry narrowed the field down to five contestants whose names Farrah wrote down on scraps of paper and put into a hat. Terry reached into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper.
“And here it is, listeners, the name of the lucky lady who my boss Chance Lawson is gonna take out on the town. Annnddd the winner is... Mackenzie Shea!”
Chapter Five
Mackenzie
I poked at my pasta, feeling unenthusiastic about the meal.
“I was really expecting this place to be a little nicer,” I remarked.
“Yeah,” Lilly agreed. “I think I could've made a better plate of spaghetti than this – and that's saying a lot, considering my culinary skills.”
“Or rather, the lack thereof huh?” I joked. “You're definitely better making magic on the drums than in the kitchen.”
“I know, I know, no need to rub it in! Hell, Jason does that often enough. He's always complaining about how I never make him enough home-cooked meals. And then when I do, he remembers why I don't do home-cooked meals!”
We both laughed at this.
The waiter came along and gave us a warm smile, and he locked eyes with me for just a little longer than he should have. He was a young guy, maybe only eighteen or nineteen, but he was very good looking and built as well; it was obvious that he was a gym rat.
“Is everything all right, ladies?” he asked. “Can I get you anything else?”
“We're good,” I replied.
“Are you sure?” he responded with a cheeky smile. “Anything at all I can do for you? Anything?”
I blushed, seeing where this was going.
“No, seriously, we're fine. But we'll let you know if we do need anything.”
“All right,” he said, still smiling, and then he turned around and left.
We both chuckled after he left.
“Wow!” exclaimed Lilly. “That young buck was hitting on you hard! Damn, girl, you've still got it!”
I laughed.
“I guess I do, I guess I do. I must say, I feel pretty flattered.”
“Yeah, and do you feel anything else? Come on, he's hot as hell! Did you see those muscles? Imagine what he looks like without a shirt on. Mmm, yummy! Good enough to eat, I'd say!”
“Lilly! Jeez, he didn't look a day older than eighteen.”
“And? That's only ten years. Why not have some fun, you know, of the no-strings-attached kind?”
“Only ten years? Come on, Lilly, there's a world of difference between eighteen and twenty-eight. What on earth would we talk about?”
“Who says you need to do any talking? I can think of all sorts of things I'd like to do with him, and none of them involve talking.”
I laughed.
“Oh, Lilly, what would Jason say if he heard you talking like that?”
“He'd egg me on is what he'd do. And he'd also be telling you to go up to that hot young thing and get his number!”
“I may be close to thirty, but I'm not planning on going down the cougar road anytime soon, Lil.”
She laughed.
“All right, all right. But come on, I'm sure you at least considered it for a second or two. I saw how you were looking at him.”
“He is very, very good-looking, I'll admit. But that's the end of the story. You know that I need more than just good looks.”
“I know, I know.”
We sat and ate for a while, and while we were doing that, someone changed radio stations, so that now the speakers in the restaurant were playing Corral FM.
“Hey, this is the station owned by that guy we saw in the truck at the traffic lights earlier,” I remarked.
“That's right. He was quite a hottie too, wasn't he, Mackenzie?”
“Oh, come off it, Lil.”
“But he was hot, though.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, okay, he was hot! Not that that matters; it ain't like I'm ever gonna run into him again.”
We continued eating and listened to the DJ talking. He was going on about a contest, a contest that was only open to single, eligible women. Lilly and I couldn't help but prick our ears at this and listen intently.
“I wonder what the prize is?” she asked.
We got our answer soon enough.
“That, listeners, is because the grand prize in this morning's contest is a date with my boss, the owner of this radio station and one of Nashville's most eligible bachelors, the one and only Mr. Chance Lawson!” said the DJ.
Both of our jaws dropped with surprise.
“Oh my God, Mackenzie...” began Lilly, her eyes wide with shock, “this is totally fate. Totally! I mean, we were literally just talking about the guy, and how hot he is – and now we hear that you could win a date with him? Come on, girl, get your phone out right now. You're entering this contest.”
I couldn't say I wasn't tempted, and I couldn't deny that my heart was pounding with excitement – but after seeing Brad this morning, and having all those bad old emotions stirred up again, I just didn't know if I could handle something like this.
I shook my head.
“No, I can't, Lil. I just... No.”
“Why are you so scared to just take a chance?” she asked. “You can't just live in this bubble forever. I know why you're reluctant to get back into the game, trust me, I do – but you can't just exist in this little cocoon of yours, too scared to open your heart up to someone else. Not every man is going to hurt you like Brad did. There are some really good guys out there. C'mon, I mean, look at Jason. Wouldn't you want to just take the chance that a decent guy could come along and sweep you off your feet?”
“Well, yeah... but...”
I couldn't really argue against what she was saying. It was just so difficult, though, to get past the scars and past the fear.
“But what?”
“I just can't, all right. I just... It's a silly idea. And what are the chances of winning anyway?”
“You'll never know unless you try.”
“It's too big a risk to even try.”
She shook her head.
“All right, if you say so, Mackenzie. Listen, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute, okay?”
“Okay.”
She got up and took her bag and headed off to the bathroom while I sat and poked my pasta idly with my fork and kept on listening to the show. The DJ, Terry, was now taking calls from eager single ladies who were all hoping to win the prize, a date with Chance.
“All right, we're taking the last call before the next song,” said Terry. “And it's from a girl called Lilly.”
I sat bolt upright in my chair.
“Oh no... oh no, Lilly, that better not be you!” I said out aloud.
“Hi, Lilly!” said Terry. “Remember, you've only got ten seconds to tell me why Chance should go on a date with you. And your time starts in three, two, one, go!”
“I'm calling for my friend, Mackenzie. She's a drop-dead gorgeous brunette who can sing like an angel but play guitar like the devil. She's talented and smart, and has a smile that breaks men's hearts! She's also—”
“Times up!” Terry announced, “Thanks, Lilly, we'll write your friend's name down, and maybe she’ll be the lucky lady. Up next is a great, head-bopping tune from Garth Brooks.”
I saw Lilly come strolling out of the ladies’ room with a huge, shi
t-eating grin smeared across her face. I honestly didn't know if I wanted to slap her or hug her.
I stood up, my mouth wide open with shock. “Lilly! I cannot believe that you just did that!”
She chuckled.
“Well, you sure as hell weren't gonna do anything about it! I had to take matters into my own hands.”
“I am so mad with you right now! So mad!”
But even as I said this, I smiled. I couldn't stay mad at her for very long, and I knew she had done it out of love for me, and a desire to see me happy. And, after all, what were the chances of winning anyway? It was just a little bit of fun.
We sat down and finished our meal, and by the time the bill came, Terry was about to announce the winner of the contest. I couldn't deny that I had a few butterflies fluttering around my stomach as he prepared to make the announcement.
“Annnddd the winner is... Mackenzie Shea!”
I almost fell off my chair. Lilly jumped up off hers and whooped with triumph.
“I knew it! I told you, girl, I told you it was fate!” she exclaimed with a huge smile pasted across her pretty face.
“Mackenzie,” continued Terry, “please call into the station within twenty-four hours to make arrangements for the date. Congratulations! You're one lucky lady. And now that that's over, I'm gonna play a great number from Luke Bryan...”
“I can't believe it,” I said, still feeling shocked. “I seriously can't believe it.”
“Believe it, girl. C'mon, let's call them right now!”
***
I couldn't deny that I was nervous as I walked into the restaurant three days later. I'd checked my makeup about a million times in every mirror that I'd come across on the way. I'd even stopped to double-check my appearance by looking at my reflection in the front window of the restaurant.
“Table for one?” asked the waitress as I walked in.
“No, I'm meeting someone here.”
“His or her name, please?”
“Mr. Chance Lawson.”
“This way please.”
I followed her through to the back of the restaurant, a French restaurant, with tasteful décor and lovely ambient lighting, and there I saw Chance sitting at the table. He hadn't seen me yet, and to tell the truth, I was a little put off. While he remained as strikingly handsome as he was when I'd first seen him, he was looking bored and fidgety, as if he really didn't want to be there. While it hadn't exactly been my choice to go on this date either, I at least was approaching it with something of an open mind. I'd really hoped he'd do the same for me. Still, maybe I was wrong... but maybe I was right. Maybe he was just a rich, arrogant asshole. I hoped that he wasn't, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high and then get them shot down.