Excitement bubbled inside her at the opportunity to build something, to unleash some of her ideas and creativity. Then she frowned, thinking of how she’d treated Chase and how embarrassed she’d been in front of him. She looked down. “I don’t think Chase would want to work with me.”
Michael scoffed and stood, picking up the fussing baby out of his wife’s arms. “Nonsense. He wants my money and resources, so he’ll work with who I say he’ll work with.”
Autumn still wasn’t certain. Looking at Janet and then at Michael, she asked, “Why are you doing this? I’ve brought nothing but trouble here, and now you’re helping me again.”
Janet stood and linked her arm with Michael’s. “Because it’s the right thing to do. And …” She winked. “We want to make sure we have a babysitter for life.”
Autumn laughed and lightly touched the baby’s head. “He’s so precious.”
Michael cleared his throat. “Okay. Be ready by two pm. Chase is gonna pick you up, and you guys will catch a plane from Billings to LA.” Michael handed the baby back to Janet and moved to the door, pulling on his boots.
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. Now I’m going to go tell Chase.”
Chapter 7
Chase sat in his pickup at two sharp, waiting outside of Michael and Janet’s mansion-sized house by the hot springs, and grunted again at the idea of taking this woman on a trip to LA. First of all, he had no interest in going to a big city. Second of all, he had no interest in a woman who didn’t appreciate what he’d done for her, sticking his neck out yesterday. And now, he was facing an assault charge?
Michael had assured him his attorneys would deal with the matter, but he’d made it crystal clear Autumn was part of their “business deal.” Either he worked with Autumn or he didn’t get the money for what he needed.
Autumn appeared in the doorway of the guesthouse. She was wearing a white parka with fur around the face and white snow boots that laced to the knees. Once again, she looked like a porcelain doll. Perfect. Precisely put together. She began pulling her bag down the driveway behind her.
She seemed to be having trouble lugging her carry-on. He jumped out of his truck and moved toward her, unable to prevent himself from being gentlemanly even though she didn’t deserve it. Clearly, she didn’t appreciate men helping her.
As he neared her, she stopped, giving him a wide-eyed look. “What do you want?”
Shaking his head, he reached out. “I want to help with your bag.”
She slowly held the bag out. “Thank you.”
Taking it, he turned back to the truck. “Coulda said those words last night.” Opening the passenger side door, he slipped it into the back seat and waited for her to get in.
She stopped next to him, and her beautiful face looked pinched. “I didn’t need to say thank you last night because I was handling the situation before you roughed him up and got us both in a world of trouble.”
She stared up at him with fire in her eyes, and he couldn’t stop himself from noticing how fresh she smelled—a light laundry smell with a touch of lemon. His senses got all out of whack for a second, and all he wanted to do was kiss the fire in her eyes. He looked at her perfectly shaped lips.
But she didn’t let the moment continue. Instead, she put her hand on his shoulder and hiked herself up into the truck. Turning to him, she flashed a smile. “Thank you, again.”
This was rich. He slammed the door and trudged around to the driver’s side of the pickup. What in the world was he gonna do with this woman for the next three days? And she had to sit in on those meetings. Why? He had tried to explain to Michael that he could handle all that from here, but Michael had dug in his heels. If Chase wanted his money and connections, he would do it his way. He’d better be able to give a good presentation about how horses can change people’s lives, and he’d better be able to get along with Autumn.
Hoisting himself into the truck, he decided to focus on the music on the radio and not the already awkward silence he knew he would be enduring all the way to California.
He drove down the driveway and then turned toward the highway.
“You shouldn’t have gotten involved last night. You know that, don’t you?”
The best thing he could do was not respond. If he responded, he would blow up. So he ignored her and turned up the radio.
A few minutes went by, and he could feel the angst rolling off her. “I would have gotten rid of him. I would have.” She insisted quietly, staring out the window.
He turned up the music even louder.
Without warning, she turned the music off and faced him.
“Just don’t.” He put his hand out. “Don’t tell me how you’re a liberated woman and how you don’t need me to pay or hold the door for you or protect you. I wasn’t raised that way, okay?” He scoffed and thought of the last woman he’d dated.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then he reached for the radio and turned it back on.
She immediately turned it off.
“Woman.” He growled.
She laughed. Her hands covered her face, and her shoulders shook with mirth.
He just stared at her, completely taken off guard—weren’t they just fighting? Weren’t they enemies?
“You sound like an ape.”
He shook his head tentatively, wanting to join in the laughter. “Okay.”
Tears were flowing down her face, and she dabbed at them with her fingers. “Oh my gosh.”
He let her carry on for a few more minutes until she sucked in a breath and let out a long sigh.
They were cruising on the road now, heading toward Billings, and Chase had to pay closer attention because a storm started hammering the roads. The sky had been cloudy but no snow. Now, it was a full-on blizzard. “Will you answer me one question?”
“Man, this storm is bad.” Leaning forward, she looked back and forth. “Doesn’t it make you dizzy to see this much snow?”
“No.” He let out a sigh. “And talking about how it makes you dizzy isn’t gonna help me get us to the airport.”
“True.” She leaned back into the truck seat.
He glanced over at her, taking in the details—her pretty face, her jeans with a mismatched pattern of pink sewed on. He couldn’t help but smile at the way she dressed so differently from any woman he’d ever spent time with.
“Don’t like my pants?”
Dang, he’d been caught. “Uh, no. I mean yes—I mean, I wasn’t looking at your jeans.” He gazed into the blizzard, taking care to make sure his lights were on and he could see the reflector posts on the side of the road. “Would you check your phone and see how long this storm is going to last? See if we’re going to follow it into Billings.”
Silently, she did as he asked. A few minutes later, she said, “Billings looks pretty clear. The airport is clear. Flights are still taking off and landing.”
“Good.” He focused on the road and tried not to react to the way she was staring at him. Tried not to think about how she smelled and how much he’d really enjoyed the dance with her the other evening.
“I’m sorry.” She blurted out.
He glanced at her, confused.
“I’m sorry about Brad. I’m sorry you got involved. I’m sorry …” She let the words trail off. “For all of it.”
It wouldn’t be cool to rub her nose in the fact that the guy she’d been engaged to was a jerk, so he didn’t say a word.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
A light laugh slipped out of him. “Sweetie, my momma taught me not to say a word if I couldn’t say anything nice.”
Once again, they fell into silence. That suited him just fine because it was taking his full attention to get down the highway. He had to lock his gear into four-wheel drive. Then he noticed that near the edges of the road it was beginning to ice up, so he did what he always did when things got dicey in his life. It didn’t matter if it was when he was on a bronc or in a hospital. Ev
en when the funds didn’t seem like they would be there to cover the bills at the ranch when he’d been growing up, he did the same thing. He started praying in his mind. He petitioned the Lord for help. To get to the airport safely. To have everything work out with the charges against him for assault. To help this girl who sat next to him so she could be okay and get through her struggles.
“What are you thinking?” she asked after a couple of minutes.
Sitting up straighter, he saw her solemn, nervous look out of the corner of his eye. “I’m praying. I’m praying like it all depends on God. Then I’m working like it all depends on me.” He winked at her. “Just what good cowboys do.”
Chapter 8
If anyone would told Autumn, six months ago, she’d be sitting with a cowboy in a truck on her way to California to help him start a corporate retreat, she would have laughed her butt off.
Right. As if she would be away from the theater. As if she would be away from the excitement of Billings and graduating and moving to some big city and running a major theater. It was the primary reason she’d double majored. She didn’t want to just be part of the theater for a few years while she had her looks, hoping she would hit a home run and be that one-in-a-million who was picked to be in movies.
No. Honestly, she wanted to work with the theater for the rest of her life. Wanted to be in it. Wanted the thrill of city life. A real city.
Brad had seemed like the real deal. Devoted. Loving. Ambitious. They’d shared a dream. She would work at a theater in whatever big city they lived in while he would work at a big law firm and build his career.
It was perfect. Until it wasn’t.
She scoffed, thinking about the fact his parents had already bought them a home in Billings. Another thing she hadn’t wanted.
“What are you thinking?” Chase asked as he finally took the exit for the Billings airport. His smile was inviting and fun. She had seen that same twinkle in his eyes that first night. It said he knew a joke and he would tell you if you asked. It was obvious he liked people a lot.
“Nothing.”
“You were thinking of something.” He pointed at her.
“Don’t accuse me of thinking.” She said it with a bit of a twang to copy his accent from the first night.
Startled, he laughed. “You’re copying me.”
Seriously, could he get more cliché country?
She would never admit how his strength kind of amazed her. That first night when she’d danced with him, she’d felt the hardness of his muscles when she’d put her hand on his shoulder. It’d been wonderful.
But he was a cowboy. A true, John Wayne kind of cowboy. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“It’s okay, by the way.” He turned into the parking garage and started to pull a ticket before going inside.
“What’s okay?”
He pulled forward, searching for a parking spot. “Well, you said you were sorry because I had to get involved with the idiot. I’m telling you it’s okay.”
Smiling, she let out a derisive laugh. “The idiot, I think it fits him.”
He parked and then looked at his phone. “That drive took us a little longer than anticipated. We’d better get going.”
Getting out, she pulled the seat forward, and they tugged her bag out. Then they both took off in a sprint for the elevators. He got there first and pushed the button. When it arrived, he held the doors open for her.
A gentleman, she thought. He really was. “Why are you always smiling like you know some joke?”
He winked before sighing. “I don’t know. I just think there are two choices in life: be happy or be sad. It’s up to us to choose.”
* * *
An hour later, they finally got settled into their seats on the plane and listened to the flight attendant go over safety protocol in case they fell into the ocean. She never liked to fly. She felt cooped up and a bit claustrophobic on planes. Her mother had always asked her how she would live in New York if she couldn’t handle tight spaces.
Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on her breathing. It didn’t help that Chase was sitting right next to her, and dang it if he didn’t smell good. Some manly cowboy musk scent, a bit outdoorsy. She could just imagine the way the commercial would play out. Chase was in his cowboy hat, galloping up on his horse. He was swinging a rope around his head before the shot cut to the announcer: If you want your man to smell like a real cowboy, the kind that makes women swoon and faint with his charisma and manliness, get Chase.
She felt him nudge her. “Why are you smiling?”
No! She wouldn’t tell him why. Covering her mouth with her hand, she coughed and tried to clear her brain. Tried to clear the distracting scent of him from her senses.
He frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He’d taken off his hat and put it on his lap. His bright blond hair and striking blue eyes made her stomach do a flip-flop. A memory surfaced—Chase effortlessly taking Brad by the scruff of the neck and shoving him out the door and onto his butt. Her smile widened.
“What?” He demanded, louder this time.
She shook her head, feeling silly for thinking about commercials of Chase’s cologne. “My ex.”
The smile disappeared. “What?”
She put her hand onto his forearm. “No, it’s that I can’t help but think how funny it was when you put my ex on his butt in a matter of seconds. The look on his face!”
Suddenly, Chase’s playful smile was back. He winked at her and nodded, looking like a Cheshire cat. “You thought I was tough, right?”
She couldn’t stop smiling. She pulled her hand back, noticing that even his forearm seemed strong. Everything about him felt strong. Sure. Exactly cowboyish. Another image of him riding a bronc shot through her mind. “I can’t help but think of those YouTube videos.”
“Right, that Lacy showed you.” He gave her a half grin. “Lacy is a good fan club to have.”
This made her laugh too. “She sure is. I’ve heard all about you.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t even know you were in town until the wedding.” His eyes were serious, and his gaze was intense.
Another flip-flop in her lower belly. It felt good. Kind of. She’d been in such a dark place for so long. “Well, I’ve been on the down low.”
“Right.” He nodded. He waited.
She didn’t know why, because she didn’t like to talk about Brad at all, but she kind of felt like she owed Chase an explanation. “I met him two years ago. We dated pretty seriously for over a year. Last fall, he asked me to marry him at homecoming. When I said yes, apparently I was saying yes to getting the crap beat out of me.”
The look in Chase’s eyes hardened.
Staring at her hands, she played with the bracelet on her wrist. “I was stupid. I put up with it for a couple of months. My mom caught me covering up the bruises Christmas Eve. And—”
“She brought you to Snow Valley to live with Janet and Michael.” He finished.
Sucking in a breath, she realized it felt good to have him know. Strange, but good. No more hiding. “Yep. Until two days ago, he didn’t know where was. I don’t know why I froze in the store.” She shook her head. “I’ve been training with Michael to beat the crap out of Brad myself if I ever had the opportunity. But …”
Chase waited.
“I couldn’t.”
The pilot’s voice came over the intercom, and they both sat back in silence as the plane started taxiing down the runway. Flight attendants hurriedly crossed up and down the plane, looking at seat belts and making sure the overhead bins were shut tight.
Autumn wondered at the fact that she was pouring her heart out to him. The ladies’ man. The cowboy. The one Lacy had gabbed on and on about for the past couple of months.
The one who had actually helped her the other night.
The plane was accelerating, and without thinking, she put her hand on his and said, “Thank you. I don’t kno
w what he would have done if you hadn’t been there. You are … a good man. Thank you.”
Chase grasped her hand tightly and smiled at her. “That’s just how a good cowboy rolls.”
It made her smile, and as the plane took off into the air, Autumn felt, for the first time in a long time, that everything might truly be starting to work out in her life.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, when the seat belt light went off and they were informed they could move about the cabin, Autumn went to the restroom. When she came back, Chase was talking to a businessman on the other side of the aisle. As she took her seat, Autumn noticed how friendly Chase was. It was just his nature. Happy. Kind. Hard-working. A guy like Chase deserved good in his life. He deserved a break.
Glancing at her, Chase winked.
Her heart melted. Was this the stupidest thing in the world? She was attracted to a cowboy. Pulling out the airline magazine with a bunch of overpriced stuff you’d never use but seemed highly useful when you were stuck in a plane, she pretended to be engrossed by it.
Chase let out a laugh and then said to the guy, “Hey, I’m gonna be contacting you about having your company stay at the ranch.”
“I hope you do.” The man reached in his jacket and pulled out a business card.
Chase took it and then turned to her, his grin as wide as the Grand Canyon. He held it up like the winnings from a big hunt.
Taking the card, she eyed the name of the company. It looked like the guy across the aisle was in HR for a software company. “Nice,” she said, handing it back.
Winter in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance) Page 59
