Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(87)

“Ever?”

“Ever.”

Chase didn’t say anything, but obviously he wanted to.
“What?”

“How is it you know all about your mother’s position as CEO of Cooper Hotels, but you don’t have any interest in your father’s business? Especially since he built it from the ground up and he was around more during your growing-up years than your mom.”

That jarred her. She’d never thought of it that way. Her dad used to ask her to come to races. She always refused. When had he stopped asking?
Why hadn’t you noticed?
Chase’s deep voice startled her out of guilty thoughts. “So your brother chose the hotel business over the racing business?”

“Axel is involved with DRT, mostly from the Cooper Tires side. He attends all the events with Dad.” Again, it struck Ava, how much she’d cut herself off from her family in recent years since she’d “made it” as an actress. Was that why Axel acted so curt with her? Because she blew him off, he was mirroring her behavior?
When had she gotten so selfish? So stingy? Unwilling to share any of her free time with her family?
She knew Chase had taken a rash of crap about his emotional and physical distance from his family. She’d felt sorry for him, but come to find out, she’d been acting the same way.
“Ava?”

“Sorry. Spaced there for a second. I’m a lot like my mom in that I don’t do domestic things. My housekeeping service keeps my house tidy. They take my dirty things to the laundry once a week. Then clean clothes are miraculously returned to their proper places. I don’t have to do anything. So that makes me as useless as teats on a bull, doesn’t it?”

Chase smiled. “Nice barnyard reference, Hollywood.”

“If the horseshoe fits… Anyway. It’s embarrassing to admit I’m so helpless.”

“Shouldn’t be. You lead a different life than most folks. Doesn’t mean it’s wrong. You have what most people work so hard for. You shouldn’t apologize for it.”

How was it this man knew exactly what to say? Not in a suck-up way, but with total sincerity?
Such a sucker for this man, Ava. Write it on your forehead—s-u-c-k-e-r.
“Okay, back to the hard-hitting questions. What’s the most personal thing anyone gave you?”

“You go first this time, McKay.”

“A bronze my cousin Carter sculpted of me ridin’ the bull Chicken on a Chain that scored me a ninety-two point ride.”

That was a very personal gift, which caused Ava another pang of sadness when she thought about the loss of hers.
“What’s wrong? Your face changed.”

“The camera showed you that?”

“Ava. I don’t need to look through a viewfinder to see you’re upset.”

Damn intuitive man.
“The camera is off. Talk to me.”

“My grandfather commissioned a necklace for my sixteenth birthday. A tiny beautiful Swarovski crystal rose with a gold stem artfully twisted into an ‘A’. The one time I didn’t take it off before I jumped into the ocean? I lost it. I don’t know if the chain broke or what, but I was devastated because it happened about a month after he died.”

“Aw, sugar, I’m so sorry.”

Evidently Chase had enough taping. He returned the camera to the case and faced forward, wiggling to get comfortable.
“Before you nod off, tell me why we’re backtracking. You planned a route through Montana and now we’re back in Cornhusker territory.”

He rolled his eyes. “South Dakota is not Cornhusker territory. The reason I’m not goin’ to the event in Billings is because Ryan told me a former PBR bull rider who switched to the PRCA circuit will be competing. I don’t wanna run into him.”