Chapter Sixteen
Chance
Try as I might, I couldn't wipe the ear-to-ear grin off my face as I drove to Melissa's house to pick up Cassie. Making out with Mackenzie had been absolutely amazing. I hadn't felt like this with a woman for a long time. It wasn't the kissing or fondling itself; I mean, I'd been with a fair number of women over the past couple of years since my wife had passed. But all of that, all of them – hadn't meant anything to me. They'd never made me feel anything beyond a bit of physical pleasure. They’d just been distractions, ways for me to escape my pain and satisfy my urges.
This, this was entirely different. This was like being a teenager again, excited and eager, feeling that rush of getting the girl you'd liked so badly but never thought would reciprocate those feelings. It was almost like the rush of that first kiss you ever had – almost.
As I drove, I glanced across at Mackenzie and was pleased to see a warm smile beaming on her face too. I only hoped she was feeling the same sort of thing I was – a thought that made me even happier.
After a few minutes of driving, we arrived at Melissa's parents' house. I pulled up outside the house and parked the truck.
“You wanna come in or stay here and wait in the truck?” I asked her.
“I'll come in,” she replied with a smile.
We got out of the truck and walked side-by-side to the front door. As we walked, I slipped my hand around hers, and she took it gently. It felt good. It was the first time I'd held hands with a woman since Joanna.
We reached the front door, and I reached out and knocked on it. Soon it was opened by Melissa's mother, Anthea.
“Hi, Chance, come on in,” she said. “Oh, and who's this? I didn't know there was a lady in your life?”
“Mackenzie, this is Anthea Green. Anthea, this is Mackenzie Shea,” I said. “She's a very talented singer and guitarist, and I'm lucky that she seems to find something interesting about me!”
We all laughed.
“It's lovely to meet you, Anthea,” Mackenzie said as she extended a hand to Anthea, who took it and shook it politely.
“You know, Mackenzie, there's something very familiar about you,” Anthea commented.
“That's because she's famous – well, almost famous,” I added with a smile. Mackenzie elbowed me gently in protest just as Melissa's father stepped out of their living room.
“Hi there,” he said to Mackenzie. “I'm Gregory or Greg as most people call me. And I think Chance here is right. You are famous! I just saw a video on YouTube of you singing Thunder and Rain with James Masters. You have an absolutely amazing voice, you really do.”
Mackenzie smiled. It was cute how her cheeks turned a little pink with embarrassment.
“Well, thank you, Greg, I really do appreciate the compliment. But I'm certainly nowhere near famous.”
“You might say that now,” he replied, “but have you seen how many views that video has gotten?”
“I haven't checked it in a while, so no,” she said.
“Well, how many did it have when you last checked?”
“I think it was around twelve thousand,” Mackenzie replied.
Greg chuckled. “You ain't gonna believe what it's on now.”
“Has it doubled? Tripled?” she asked.
He laughed again. “You're not even getting warm.”
A look of disbelief spread across Mackenzie's face. Her excitement was infectious; even I was aching to find out just how many views the video had now had.
“Six times as many?” she asked. “Surely it can't be that much.”
“Almost a hundred thousand now,” he said with a grin. “And it's only gonna get bigger! Say, let me get a piece of paper and a pen, and you can give me your autograph. It'll be worth something in a few years!”
She chuckled. “I doubt that, but I'd nonetheless be happy to oblige. I can't believe that, though! Almost a hundred thousand views!”
“I have to get you on the radio station,” I said. “Music and an interview. Maybe we could even do some sort of live session. But we'll talk about that later.”
Anthea smiled at her husband then said. “I’ll go get the girls. They've had a wonderful morning of playing and fun. I think your little Cassie is quite tuckered out now, to be honest. I know Melissa is likely gonna have a good nap after this.”
She went and fetched Melissa and Cassie, who said goodbye to each other.
“Thanks for having her over,” I said to Anthea and Greg.
“It was our pleasure,” they replied. “And she's welcome anytime.”
“And Melissa can come out to the ranch any time she wants, as well,” I said. “Same goes for you two, by the way.”
“I’ve been itching to ride since we moved, so we'll take you up on that one of these days,” Greg replied. “See you soon, Chance. And it was great to meet you, Mackenzie.”
“It was lovely to meet you too,” Mackenzie said.
We walked out of their house, and then Mackenzie and Cassie started to talk.
“Well hey there, Cassie,” Mackenzie said with a big smile on her face. “You are so pretty, you know that?”
Cassie smiled shyly. “You're really pretty too. Are you daddy's friend?”
Mackenzie laughed. “Yes. Your daddy and I are friends.”
“Do you wanna come to our house? I can show you my dolls,” Cassie said.
“Why, that would be lovely!”
“We got horses too! Daddy can ride a horse; he's real good at riding horses. And I'm gonna get a pony for Christmas, then I'll be able to ride a horse too! Can you ride horses?”
“It's been many years, but I used to ride when I was a little girl.”
“Did you?” I asked, interrupting their conversation.
“I did, yeah. We had an uncle who had a small bit of land outside of town, and he had two old horses that my brother and I used to ride every once in a while.”
“Well, like my lil' pumpkin said, you should come out to the ranch sometime. I've got plenty of horses. We can take a ride around the ranch, I can give you the grand tour.”
“That would be lovely.”
“Well... seeing as it's the weekend, what are you doing later?”
“I have to spend some time with my family – you know, since my dad isn't doing too well at the moment. But, tomorrow might be good. Do you have any free time tomorrow?”
“Even if I didn’t, I'd gladly make time. How about lunch on the ranch? We can do some riding in the morning, and then fix up something nice to eat. How does that sound?”
“It sounds perfect,” she replied with a smile that made me want to kiss her all over again.
I couldn't help smiling too – I was really looking forward to this.
“Great! I can pick you up around nine in the morning if that works for you. The ranch can be a lil' tricky to find if you don't know the way.”
“Nine sounds good,” she agreed.
“So, we'll call it a date, huh?”
She laughed. “Yes, we will. And no interrupting phone calls or excessive charges on someone else's card this time, right?”
I chuckled. “Nope, none of that.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Cassie asked.
I ruffled her hair and grinned. “Mackenzie is gonna come over to the ranch tomorrow. That's what we're talking about.”
Cassie beamed out an ear-to-ear smile. “Yay! I like Mackenzie! Do you wanna play with my dolls tomorrow, Mackenzie?”
“That would be fun, Cassie. I'm looking forward to seeing your dolls,” she replied.
“All right, well it's a date then. Let me take you back to your car now.”
We drove back to the parking lot where Mackenzie had left her car. We kissed briefly as we parted – not too passionately, as I didn't want to do that in front of Cassie – and then I drove away, feeling like a million bucks.
The Next Day
As I pulled up outside Mackenzie's house, I glanced in my rear-view mirror to check my reflection. I ran my fingers through my hair and checked my face from either side. Convinced that I was looking as put together as possible, I was about to get out and walk to her door when she came out wearing a checked shirt, a pair of jeans that showed off the delicious curves of her legs, thighs and hips, and a pair of boots. A shiver of excitement tore through me as she sashayed toward me in those form-fitting jeans.
I got out of the truck, walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for her, as a good gentleman should. As she reached me, she leaned forward and gave me a peck on the cheek. I pushed the door shut before she could move to get in the truck and backed her up against the door, pressing my lips firmly to hers. The kiss turned from a greeting kiss into a full-on make-out session. Even though we were both feeling the addictive high of kissing so passionately, her front lawn wasn't the place for such things. She did have neighbors, and we weren't a couple of teenagers, even if we did kinda feel that way.
I reopened the door with a smile and helped her in. Once she was comfortably seated and safely strapped into my truck, I made my way to my side.
“It's a beautiful day,” I said. “Perfect for riding out on the ranch.”
“That's what I thought as soon as I woke up,” she replied. “And I'm very excited to see this ranch of yours.”
“It's beautiful. My family has owned the land for generations.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, we're old blood here in Nashville. My ancestors were some of the first settlers out here in the eighteenth century.”
“Oh wow! And I thought my family had been here a long time because my great-grandfather moved here from Florida.”
“Four generations is a lot,” I commented with a laugh. “We can both safely say we're old-school Nashville people.”
“I guess we can. I have to ask, how do you manage to run the radio station while owning a ranch? I mean, doesn't the ranch keep you busy enough?”
“Oh, it keeps me plenty busy all right,” I replied. “But I have an amazing foreman who helps out with the place. His name is Andy. You'll meet him when we get there. He was like a second father to me when I was growing up – and since my dad passed around eight years ago, he's been pretty much like a dad. Without him and my ranch hands, I don't think I could handle the place. It's a real handful. But like I said, it's in my blood, it really is, and I wouldn't trade that land for all the world. Even though there are those who are doing their damnedest to get me to.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I sighed. “I think I may have mentioned it after our disaster of a first date how Circle B Beef Corporation is trying to take my land, right?”
She giggled a bit before responding. “Yeah, you did.”
“They're getting more and more desperate to get their dirty ol' paws on my land. It's part of some mega feedlot plan they've devised for the area. Two ranchers in the area have already signed the contracts and sold out, but I refuse to. That land is my daughter's birthright, and I sure as hell ain't gonna sell her out. Especially not to some big, nasty corporation who’s just gonna demolish everything there, everything that my father and grandfather and their ancestors before them built with their bare hands. No ma’am. It ain't gonna happen – no matter how low those bastards stoop in their effort to run me off my own land.”
“Have they tried anything else with your horses?”
“Not yet. I've got my ranch hands patrolling the place throughout the night in shifts. They're gonna need to hire some damn ninjas to sneak past my boys if they plan to try anything else like that. But one of them – a slimy Yankee bastard called Duvalle – he showed up at my ranch, made some thinly-veiled threats, and pretty much threatened the safety of my daughter.”
“Good Lord! Can't you take 'em to court over something like that?” she asked.
“There isn't enough in what he said to make a case, I don’t think. And my gut tells me it's exactly what they'd want. It might have been some strategizing on their part to get me into a legal tussle with 'em. Those guys are huge, and they have access to the best lawyers money can buy. They'd bury me if it came to court, so it's something I'd like to avoid.”
“But they threatened your daughter!”
“And I sure as hell won't stand for that. But without any hard proof that they did threaten her safety, legally I don’t have a leg to stand on. All I can do right now is make sure I keep a real close eye on her. My foreman, Andy, heard that snake making those threats. He had his revolver out and pointed at the bastard. Told Duvalle straight up that if he tried anything with Cassie, he'd put a bullet in his skull. I was about to say the same thing, but legally, it's better that I didn't. But I think it did at least give Duvalle a bit of a scare. Andy was dead serious. He told Duvalle, he's an old guy, and it wouldn't matter much to him to go to jail if it meant taking a snake like Duvalle out,” I chuckled a little as I told Mackenzie. Andy was an ornery sort if you messed with him. “Still, with Andy’s threat of harm or not, I know they're gonna try something else. They have it in their head to get this mega feedlot going, and I'm standing in their way. And with these huge corporations, once they want something, they usually get it one way or another.”
“Yeah... it's sad that's the way of the modern world. It's like that in the music business as well,” she commented. “But I'm sure you know that, being in the radio business.”
“I do, I do...but perhaps not as well as someone like you, an actual artist,” I added.
“Yeah. Getting a big record deal is a real dual-edged blade. On the one hand, you do get the full support of a huge company, you get to record with the best producers and get tours and shows organized with the biggest names, but on the other hand, you lose a lot of your creative freedom, and often they craft you into what they think will sell, rather than allow you to be the artist you need to be and make the music you wanna make.”
“I hear ya. What about small indie labels?” I asked.
“They're better for artistic integrity, sure, but the distribution and money are lacking. It's a tough choice to make.”
“I imagine it is. Especially to someone who has the talent to get that big record label.” I smiled over at her then nodded back toward the road ahead of us. “Look down there,” I said as we crested a rise in the road, and then started going down the hill. Spread out across the landscape in its green, beautiful splendor, was my ranch.
“That's it,” I commented. “That's home. That's where my heart is. And you're about to understand why!”