Chapter Twenty
Chance
Waking up beside Mackenzie was amazing. Making love to her had happened so spontaneously and so intensely – just the way I liked it. I could hardly believe how just being next to her made me feel. I almost wanted to jump out of bed in my birthday suit and run all the way to my radio station to give Terry a big ol' bear hug. If he hadn't set up that damn “win a date with Chance Lawson” contest on his radio show, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't be lying here happy, with one of the most beautiful, amazing women I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. I couldn't exactly run to the station but I had to thank him at least. I owed him that much.
Climbing out of bed as gently and quietly as I could, because I didn't want to wake Mackenzie, I got my phone and went into my bathroom, closing the door quietly behind me. I called up Terry.
“Hey, Chance,” he said, picking up quickly. “What’s going on, man?”
“Hey there, sonny boy!” I said. “Actually, you aren’t going to believe this, but I'm just callin' to tell you how glad I am that I hired you!”
He chuckled. “What song did I play on my show that's got you all worked up like this?”
“Nothing – although I do appreciate your tunes, of course.”
“Well, what have I done to deserve this praise then, Bossman?” Terry asked.
“That date contest you set up as a prank on your show!”
He laughed. “I take it that it went well?”
“It went beyond well, Terry, beyond well!” I assured him.
“You know... I had a weird feeling it would.”
“When you sprang that on me all unexpected like, I wanted to run into that studio and punch your damn lights out, on air! I swear to God, I did.”
His laughter grew. “But look how things have worked out.”
“I know man, I know! Now all I wanna do is come and give you hug!”
“Wow. Never took you for the hugging kind,” he joked. “Like I said, Chance, I had a hunch I was settin' up something good. And it seems I was right, buddy, I was right! What was the name of this siren who's gone and stolen your heart again?”
“Her name's Mackenzie Shea, and—”
“Oh yeah! I remember that name now. Wait! Isn’t she the one I saw—”
“On the YouTube video with James Masters?” I added for him.
“Holy hell. Man, half the country has seen that video. She's gonna be a star, that one. Voice like a damn angel! And gorgeous too, I gotta say. I think you've found yourself a keeper there, Chance.”
“I’d be inclined to agree with ya. And I owe you a bottle a' fine bourbon to say thank you.”
“Aww, don't worry about it man, you don't owe me nothin'. I'm just happy to hear it all worked out so well for you. And that you aren’t going to fire me over it,” he said with a laugh.
“Well, fingers crossed, man, fingers crossed – let's hope it keeps working out! I’m more than pleased about it.”
“You sound like it, buddy! Well anyways, I'm about to get in my car so I'll have to cut this off here. Ya’ll have a great time, and I'll see you at the station later.”
“Thanks again, Terry. I'll see you later.”
As I cut off the call, I heard Mackenzie stirring in the bedroom. I began to come down off cloud nine and float on down to reality. This was great now – but Terry's mention of the YouTube video with its growing fame and popularity reminded me that things weren't going to stay as they were. In fact, they might change very drastically, very quickly.
I couldn't help thinking of Judd and his record deal – the record deal he wanted to offer Mackenzie, the record deal that would take her away from me and all the way to Austin. I'd chickened out and been selfish, and had told him at the doctor's office that I didn't know how to get hold of Mackenzie. I knew it had been the wrong thing to do, but I just hadn't been able to handle the thought of her being pulled away from me right when she and I were just starting to get close.
Of course, he would find her eventually, much sooner than later, as we did live in the age of social media. I just wanted to buy a little time, just enough to get to know her a little better – and that had worked. It had worked out pretty damn well, in fact. But I couldn't delay the inevitable, and I knew that that phone call would be coming, whether in five minutes or five days, it would be coming. And neither of our lives would be the same after she got it.
“Chance?” I heard her say from in the bedroom. “Are you there? Where are you?”
“I'm in here,” I called out. “I'll be out in a second, I'm just about to take a shower.”
“All right.”
I stepped into the shower and turned it on, losing myself and forgetting temporarily about my worries as the jets of hot water hit my skin. Still, the thoughts about the record contract and the possibility of Mackenzie leaving kept pushing to the forefront of my mind. I couldn't keep it from her. I had to talk to her about it.
I got out, dried myself off, and then wrapped the towel around me and walked out. I couldn't help but beam out an ear-to-ear grin as I saw Mackenzie tangled up in the sheets. God, she was gorgeous.
“It's not every day I walk out of my bathroom and find an honest-to-God angel in my bed,” I said.
She chuckled.“Enough with the flattery, Chance Lawson. You already got me into bed,” she said, winking at me. “Would you mind terribly if I stepped in there and freshened up?”
“Go right ahead.”
She pulled the sheet around her and got up.
“No need to be shy,” I said, grinning.
“Au contraire, Mr. Lawson,” she retorted. “Just because we did what we just did, don't mean you get to lay your eyes on this body whenever you feel like it.”
“All right, all right, take the sheet if it makes you happy. My bathrobe is hanging in the bathroom; you can put that on when you're done.”
She stood up but part of the sheet fell away, revealing her lower torso. I noticed there, as I had while we had been making love, a long, jagged scar running across her lower belly. She saw that my eyes were on it, and she covered it up hastily.
“I know you want to ask me about the scar,” she said, “and I'll tell you. After I shower though.”
“Whenever you want tell me is fine, or not at all. It sure as hell ain’t gonna keep me from trying to see you naked again,” I said trying to keep the conversation light. Clearly the scar was a sensitive subject for her and I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable in any way.
I put on my jeans and then lay back on the bed, relaxing while Mackenzie showered. She came out about five minutes later, dressed in my bathrobe.
“Can a lady have a little privacy, or should I get changed in the bathroom?” she asked.
“I'll close my eyes. Tell me when you're done.”
“Thank you, sir.”
I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of her getting dressed. After a minute or two she announced that she was done and settled down next to me on the bed and I opened my eyes.
“You're a great guy, Chance, do you even know that?” she asked, tracing a finger faintly over my cheek and looking into my eyes with a smile that had me catching my breath.
“And you're an amazing woman, Mackenzie.”
“Thank you. So, it seems we're jumping into this a bit quickly, and I guess... I guess we need to talk about some stuff before I let myself get too far in. There's the scar you saw, and the whole story that goes with it. I need to tell you now, because it's not just a scar. There are... there are some other complications associated with it.”
“All right, you just tell me whatever you feel comfortable telling me,” I said.
“Thank you.”
I leaned across and gave her a kiss on her cheek, which quickly turned into a kiss on her lips – a deep, lingering kiss. We both smiled afterwards, and then Mackenzie carried on talking.
“You know a little, I guess, about my ex, Brad, from what I've already told you.”
“The douchebag. I do, yeah.”
“Now I did tell you about the accident before... but not the ultimate result of it.”
“The... ultimate result?” I questioned.
A look of deep sadness came over her face as she continued. Her eyes grew dim.
“A lot of things changed because of that car accident. A lot. My whole life changed, Chance. My future. My dreams and hopes. All of them changed permanently after that accident.”
“I understand, I think,” I told her. “The trauma, the time in hospital... and the feeling of being betrayed and let down by someone you loved.”
She shook her head. “No, there's more to it than just that. I mean, there is that, and those things are terrible, but there is one more thing about it that I haven't told you yet.”
“All right... well, if you're up to telling me, I’m listening.”
She breathed in deeply and held the air in her lungs for a while before continuing.
“I can't have children, Chance. Ever.”
I didn't know what to say for a second – but after the shock of hearing that, I pulled her close to me and hugged her tight.
“I'm sorry, Mackenzie... I'm so sorry. That's such a huge thing to be taken away from you, as a woman. I know that. But you know what? It doesn’t change my feelings for you, not one bit.”
“Are you sure?” she said, looking up at me with tears rimming her eyes. “You don't think of me as just... half a woman?”
“No. Hell no. Of course not... that doesn’t change the fact that you are an amazing woman and it sure as hell doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
“But... don't you want more kids one day?” she asked.
“I'm happy with my lil' Cassie. I really am. She's the most important thing in the world to me – not to say that someone, ahem, couldn't occupy that spot jointly with her in the future, but even she's a handful. I've got this ranch, I've got my radio station, and those are two things I'm passionate about. I don’t even know if it would be fair to bring another child into my world. I have to give everything I can to Cassie. And one day, to the woman in my life, the woman in Cassie’s life. I know we're just getting started, you and I, and I don't wanna jump the gun or put pressure on you or nothin', but you and her get along so well.”
She smiled up at me. “I really do like her, Chance. A lot.”
“Yeah. I can see that; it's obvious.”
It seemed like the mood had been lightened, still, there was something I knew I needed to talk to her about. She wasn't the only one who had been keeping a secret.
“Look, Mackenzie, there's something I need to talk to you about as well.”
“All right,” she said, running her fingers playfully through my chest hair. “What is it?”
“When I was at the doctor's—”
“Oh no, don't do this to me, Chance, don't tell me you lied about being okay when you're actually not.”
“No, no, it's nothing like that. I really am all right,” I assured her.
“Okay, so what is it?”
“I ran into an old high school buddy of mine.”
“When you say 'buddy', are you talking about a guy... or a girl? An ex? An old flame?”
“No, just a guy. His name is Judd.”
“Judd, huh? All right. So, what secret is there about this Judd character? Please don't tell me that you and him ended up doing jail time together or something like that,” she said playfully.
“No, no, we never got caught.” I winked down at her.
“Well, what is it then? What did you do with this guy that's such a big secret?”
“It's not what we did. It's what he's doing now.”
“And what is he doing now?” she asked.
“He owns a record company in Austin. A fairly famous one actually. You'll have heard of 'em – Regent Records.”
Her face lit up. “Wow, of course I've heard of them! I submitted a demo to them two years ago, but it was badly recorded and a bit amateurish, in hindsight, so they never got back to me. What's he doing here in Nashville? Looking for fresh talent?”
“He sure is. And he's offering a pretty sweet deal.”
“I've heard that Regent has this awesome estate outside of Austin with nice houses and a big recording studio and you get to go live there and you're given plenty of time and support with your record, and of course a very generous cash advance and allowance and stuff. It's really gotten a lot better than it was a couple of years ago. Your friend must have done a lot of things right to get that company where it is today.”
“He did all right, he sure did.”
“I wonder who he’s looking for here in Nashville? Was he just scouting, or was there someone specific he was after.”
I breathed in deeply, and then let out a long sigh.
The moment of truth had finally arrived. The time had come to tell her, and once I did, there would be no turning back. Everything would be different from this moment on – but I had to be honest with her. It was the right thing to do, and there was no getting around that.
I looked her straight in the eyes and spoke.
“He came here looking for you, Mackenzie.”