Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(134)

Ava perked right up. “A present? For me? I love presents.”

“There’s news,” he said dryly.
“Hand it over.”

Grumbling, he moved and rummaged though his jeans pockets.
Her eyes focused on what he’d clutched in his hand when he returned to bed.
“Close your eyes.” Something cool and hard landed just above her cleavage and his finger fumbled with the necklace clasp below her hairline. “Okay. You can look. But if you don’t like it, won’t hurt my feelings if you wanna return it.”

Ava glanced down as her fingers lifted the charm. A miniature rose. The twisty stem and tiny leaves were antique silver. The bloom, the size of an eraser, was milky white shot through with pink undertones. Delicate, old-fashioned and absolutely perfect.
“I couldn’t find one like your grandpa gave you, and this was the closest I could come. The rose is carved out of rose quartz, which is all over Wyoming.”

“So I’ll think of you whenever I wear it.” Like I’ll ever stop thinking of you. Ava tried really hard not to cry, but a couple of tears slipped free. The last man who’d given her jewelry had been her grandfather.
“Ava?” Chase tipped her face up. “Ah, hell. Don’t cry. I told you that you can take it back.”

She made a sound half-laugh, half-sob. “No way am I taking it back, McKay. It’s beautiful. Perfect. I love it. Thank you.”

The guardedness in his eyes vanished. “You’re welcome.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chase paced in the hotel room, glaring at his phone. He hadn’t minded that the f*cker hadn’t worked at all yesterday, since he and Ava had spent the whole day in their room, most of it in bed after they’d returned early in the morning from the penthouse.
Dammit. He needed to access his email. Nothing was showing up on his phone. And he’d been in such a hurry to get away from the sorrow in Nebraska he’d accidentally left his laptop in his truck at the Omaha airport.
His gaze landed on Ava’s computer on the desk. She’d left it on for a change. It’d take him about two seconds to log on to his account. If Ava were here she’d probably tell him to go ahead and borrow it.
Two programs were running and he minimized them before clicking on her web browser. He typed in his server site, his password and waited while five days’ worth of messages downloaded. Four jokes from Quinn. Eight forwards from his father, which made him smile.
When Charlie McKay first got daily computer access, he drove Chase insane with all the crap messages he forwarded. But at some point, Chase figured out those forwards, sometimes funny, sometimes politically incorrect, sometimes sentimental, were his dad’s way of showing love. His way of telling his youngest son that he was thinking about him. Now he didn’t mind them at all.
He scrolled through the messages. Inquiries from his website from fans wondering when he’d be back in action. A notice from his credit card company about receiving his automatic payment. Same for his cell phone. Same for his rent. The last email, from Elroy, was time stamped roughly two hours ago, a form letter to all riders, regarding changes in the remaining schedule. Nothing new, just standard practice before an event. An event in Wichita he hadn’t heard whether he’d be competing in.
What would he do if that call never came?
Go to trade school? Chase didn’t see himself working as a mechanic. Or running heavy equipment on a construction site. Or writing speeding tickets as a law enforcement officer.
Think harder.
Chase pushed the chair back and stared at the bubbles popping up as the screen saver. He could ask if his buddy Darren needed an investor and hands-on help for his bull-breeding program in Oklahoma. Possibly Cash and Colby could get their venture off the ground sooner if they had a full-time partner who wasn’t ranching. No one could deny he had more current contacts at various rodeos than either Colby or Cash.