Chapter Twenty-Nine

They lost. Very badly. Chase had arranged for a limo to take her friends back to the hotel while he’d drawn her a bath at his place. Tag football, her patootie. She’d fallen more times than she’d run.

“I think this guy could be a keeper.” Celia nudged Ava when they settled in the back of the limo on Friday morning on their way for another day of tourist fun. Chase wasn’t joining them this time as he had to go back into the studio, but he followed Celia on Instagram to be a virtual participant in their activities.

“I must say, he does know how to impress. The other thing I’ll say is he seems to do it out of the goodness of his heart. No expectations. No fanfare, just considerate. He’s just an all-round nice guy,” Fredi said, and they all turned to look at her.

“Fredi, am I hearing you right? You’re actually complimenting him, and it isn’t the first time on this trip. Could it be your icy heart is starting to melt?” Bonni teased, but with a hint of seriousness in her tone.

Fredi shook her head and her curls swung. “Oh no, don’t get me wrong. My feelings about happily ever afters haven’t changed. But Chase isn’t the usual dumbass I see every day.”

Ava was both surprised and charmed that Fredi seemed to have Chase’s back. That made her heart happy. If her friends liked him, well, then…

“You’re right,” Ava agreed.

Her friends stared at her, glanced at each other then back at Ava.

“What?” she asked, not sure what the strange expressions on their faces meant.

“So, what does that mean for you, then? It’s obvious he has a thing for you and I know you know that.” Fredi took a sip from the flat white she’d got from the hotel before they left and kept a keen eye on Ava.

Ava shrugged. She knew there was something between her and Chase, and they did need to discuss it…soon. She sensed that Chase felt it, too. However, she was not eager to bring up the topic with Chase; they were having too good of a time for seriousness,

Her friends were all watching her expectantly, like she had something important to say. But she didn’t, not yet anyway. She did know it had to be done eventually, and that time was fast creeping up, since they really only had another full day and night after today. Her heart started to race with the impending timeline. This trip seemed to be flying by and the idea of only seeing him probably one or two more times filled her with a heavy sadness.

“Ava, what’s wrong?” Bonni rested her hand on Ava’s shoulder.

She shook her head and sat back, trying to calm her nerves. This was so unlike her. Emotional, yes; overthinking, yes; but being nervous wasn’t really part of her repertoire.

“I–I’m fine.” She did her best not draw in ragged breaths and took slow and steady draughts of air. Was she giving herself a panic attack with the stress of the looming deadline? Ava wasn’t used to this kind of unsettling emotion. She was a rock, solid and tough in the business world. Why was she feeling uneasy now, to the point she almost felt like she could puke?

“You don’t look fine. Put your head between your knees,” Celia instructed.

“Okay, okay. It’s all good.” Ava sighed and relaxed back. “It’s never going to work between us anyway, so I—”

“What do you mean ‘never going to work?’” Celia asked.

“Us. Chase, me. If you don’t mind, I don’t really wanna talk about it now. Let’s just have fun today.”

“Yes, let’s have fun today. I’m especially looking forward to lunch on the riverboat.” Bonni was always good at deflecting a conversation away from something uncomfortable. Ava cast her a thankful smile. Bonni squeezed her hand in response.

“Yeah, it should be fun. We’re also absolutely going to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Bluebird Café, and oh geez, I had another spot on my list, but I can’t remember,” Celia said.

“Once we see the main things, I’m pretty sure Dave might know of some other fun places.” Ava leaned forward and called up to the driver. “Dave, think about some other places you can show us.”

“You got it,” the man said. They’d had the same driver each time Chase arranged for a car and Ava was incapable of not being friendly enough to learn the guy’s name.

The first stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame. They hoped to beat the crowds and then head out to the river boat for lunch. The women piled out of the limo and stood in front of the doorway to country-music history.

“I can’t believe I’m here.” Celia gazed at the front doors in awe.

“You know what? Me either,” Fredi said, and she stepped forward to be the first one through the door. Bonni hung back with Ava.

“Are you okay, honey?” she asked.

“Sure, why?” Her friends knew her well.

“I know you, Ava. I know how you open your heart and, remember, you told me about that guy in Texas. I know what’s going on in your head.”

Ava sighed. She couldn’t hide anything from Bonni. “I don’t know what to think.”

“How about you don’t think right now? How about you just put it all away for a little while and have some fun? Give your brain a break and just let everything play out naturally. When it’s time to act, you’ll know,” Bonni said earnestly, and tapped her chest over her heart. “Trust me, you’ll know.”

She gave her a hug then they linked arms and followed Fredi and Celia inside.

“Oh look, there’s a Little Big Town exhibit!” Ava said excitedly.

“I almost feel like I’m in hallowed halls,” Bonni said.

They walked through the rotunda, taking the time to look at all the exhibits in the displays. They purchased tickets for the museum proper.

“I wonder if they have new-performer information here,” Ava pondered.

“Do you mean, as in, there could be something here talking about a man named Chase Hudson? One of the CMA new artists of the year?” Celia asked her.

“Something like that.” Ava looked around.

“Why do you like Little Big Town so much?” Fredi asked Ava.

“For one thing, I love Kimberly Schlapman’s hair. If I had curly hair, I’d totally get my hairdresser to cut it like that. But I think their song ‘Girl Crush’ is heart-wrenching, and ‘Better Man’—geez, all their songs are soooo good. They resonate with me. ‘Girl Crush’ is just so sad.” Ava turned away, feeling the emotion rush into her, and tried not to let it take over thinking about that song, but man, it was a hard thing to do. “Could you imagine? Knowing your man was loving someone else and you couldn’t cope with it, wanting to be all the things that the new woman was? It chokes me up every time.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Fredi wandered around and stopped before a fashion display. “I think I’m going to need more time than what we allotted. Just look at these clothes.” She reached out and touched the glass.

Bonni and Celia chattered away as they continued on their tour.

“Look at all these vintage instruments.” Celia was leaning down to read the inscriptions and taking photos.

“You can almost feel the history, can’t you?” Bonni said. She put her hand beside Celia’s. “I often wonder, if I touch something, will it suck me back to the time or give me visions.”

Fredi hooted. “Seriously? This isn’t Outlander. Come on, guys.”

They were silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. But all Ava could think of was her and Chase. About their future, what was to come tomorrow, and beyond that. Standing amidst all this history made her certain that there was no time like the present. It was time to talk.

They wandered through the exhibits for a while, each finding delight in something they saw, and finally Celia wrangled everyone. “You know what? I think we’ll have to come back here later, because we have to get going to catch that paddle boat for lunch.”

“Oh yes!” Ava didn’t even bother to hide her excitement. “It’s lunchtime, and I’m hungry.”

“When are you not hungry?” Fredi asked her. “We need to feed the beast, girls. And don’t sneak anything off her plate or we could have a repeat of the meatball caper.”

“I’m not that bad,” Ava said, but that was a lie. She would also admit she was protective of her plate. “That reminds me, what is the chicken-fry place in Nashville?”

“I don’t know.” Celia shrugged her shoulders.

“Reese Witherspoon did a video a few months ago and she recommended it for hot chicken. I’ll have to try and find that video when we get back to the hotel.” Ava led the charge out of the museum.

“No need,” Celia told her as she pulled out her phone. “I’ll find it and—”

Ava watched her and saw Fredi roll her eyes, then she commented, “Celia, if yesterday at the distillery tour was any indication, you really need to curb your phone addition.”

Celia didn’t even lift her face from the screen but Ava saw the smirk on her face. “Nope. And, come to think of it, I haven’t done a group shot yet. Gather round, girls, it’s selfie time.”

They pressed close together, with Bonni and Ava at the back and shorter Celia and Fredi in front. Celia held her phone out and they all leaned in.

“Everyone say cheeeeeese,” Celia instructed, and she captured it.

“This is definitely going on IG,” she said, sticking her nose back in her phone.

“Why I am not surprised?” Fredi muttered.

“And I’m tagging you all. I’ll even tag Chase.” And before Ava could tell her not to Celia hit send and did jazz hands to prove it.

“Done and done.” Celia laughed, obviously quite pleased with herself.

“Now let’s hightail it back out to the car. We have lunch waiting,” Ava said, and led the way. She hadn’t heard from Chase yet this morning but she knew he was in the studio. She was going to have fun with her girls but she also had the sweet heat of desire, knowing she’d be seeing him later.