Chapter Thirty-Five
Loving Ava all night long was what he was born to do. But not for just one night…every night. Right now, Chase needed to put Ava out of his mind. It was the hardest thing to do after their fantastic night last night. But waking up early on a Saturday morning for rehearsals and sound check for tonight’s performance hadn’t been easy. He needed to be focused. Singing with Lance and getting that down pat was a major career high. His initial set was for fifteen minutes early on in the program, but he also had the two songs later with Lance. The more he thought about it, the more he grew excited, thinking about singing Ava’s song. He’d decided he wanted to. He had to sing it. Even if it wasn’t perfected yet, he would sing it from his heart.
Backstage was a flurry, as it always was during the CMAs; this was what he loved about country-music life: the intensity, the hustle, the bustle, the music, the sounds, the people.
His Martin slung over his shoulder and holding a cappuccino, Chase leaned against a pillar and watched Kelly Clarkson do her thing. It was when he was in the company of talent like her that he was filled with awe and wondered just how he’d ever managed to get to this point.
She finished her set and as she walked off the stage Kelly stopped in front of him and he straightened, putting his cup down on a chair.
“Chase Hudson! I love ‘You Drive Me Crazy.’ It’s such a great song. Maybe one day we can do a duet.”
“Ms. Clarkson, I appreciate your words and I’d be more than honored to do a duet with you.” Chase was a little star-struck and did his best not to look like a buffoon.
She reached out her hand and he shook it. “I look forward to it. I’ll have my people call your people.” She gave him a big smile, and then she was off in the flurry of her entourage.
Chase had not expected that to happen; it actually made him feel giddy.
“It looks like you’re about to swoon, big guy.” A familiar woman’s voice behind him made him crack into a big grin. He spun around and saw Fiona Johns.
“Well, if it isn’t the top entertainer of the year, or is it the last two or three years?” He was thrilled to see her. Fiona launched into his arms and he gave her a huge hug, swinging her around.
“Chase, it’s so good to see you. What have you been up to? I love your new song, by the way! Has any woman snagged you yet? Are you going out on tour, because I want you to come with me if you’re not? I hear you’re singing with Lance tonight. Why aren’t you singing with me?” She was a firecracker and shot a million questions at him, which was totally like her.
He laughed, tossing his head back. “Whoa there, lady, you’re making my head spin. One question at a time.”
“Listen, my rehearsal’s soon. Once I’m done, how about we catch up?” She held his forearm and nodded. “Yes?”
“Sounds perfect to me. Let’s fit something in.” She stood on her toes and planted a big kiss on his cheek, then she was gone, her long, dark hair streaming out behind her.
He shook his head; she was something else. They had met way back—like, fifteen years ago—when both of them had started writing and singing, doing gigs at the local music holes and then finally the Bluebird. There was never anything romantic, just a strong friendship bond. He was looking forward to talking to her. Maybe a female perspective could help him figure out how to maneuver through the situation with Ava. It was times like these that he wished he had a sister.
“Chase Hudson, you’re up. Sound check.”
Chase drew in a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little bit nervous. It wasn’t like him to have nerves, but there was a hell of a lot going on emotionally for him. His biggest worry was Ava. All he had with her was the remainder of today and tomorrow before she left.
He was determined to do his damnedest to make sure it wasn’t for good.
Fiona was waiting for him after his sound check and hooked her arm through his. “Come on. We’ve just got a few short minutes to catch up.”
They went and grabbed a coffee and found a quiet corner with a couple of chairs.
“So what’s new?” Fiona leaned forward on her knees, a coffee cup dangling between her fingers.
“Geez, what’s new? It’s been a bit of a crazy ride the last little while. But I’m loving it. You, though, you have really done great. I’m happy for you.” Chase really was: it was good to see someone who worked so hard do well.
“It definitely has been a challenge. But I was up for it, grappled my way through, and you know how it goes,” she said in a secret tone of voice, her eyes wide. “I love it, though, and my label is super-good to me.”
“Any man in your life?”
She waved her hand and made a phssst sound. “When do I have time for a man? I have been on tour steadily for the past year and I’m booked out for the next eight months. And, by the way, I want you to join me at some point,” she said, and pointed her finger at him.
“I would like that. Give me some dates and I’ll take a look at my schedule.”
“Now you,” she said. “Tell me what’s going on with you. I’ve seen those Instagram photos with you and this red-headed siren. Who is she?”
Chase put the cup down and sat back in the seat, crossing his arms. That came out of the blue, but if he could talk to anybody about Ava it would be Fiona. “I just met her the other night. And we’ve pretty much spent every moment together since.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? So the elusive Chase has been caught? She must be something pretty special to have snagged you.”
Chase was quiet. Hearing Fiona say the words he’d been thinking only drove deeper that he needed to do something to make Ava see it.
“Yeah, something like that. She is pretty special. Only she’s hesitant on any kind of future.”
“Why?” Fiona looked concerned.
“Because we’d have to have a long-distance relationship. Ava is the epitome of a dreamer and a romantic, but she’s also insanely practical. Plus, she’s not all that keen on being in the public eye. I’m trying to respect her space but also romance the hell out of her so that she doesn’t want to end our relationship after this weekend.”
“What’s your plan, then?”
“I need to make one last-ditch attempt. I think I’m going to do it tonight.” He drew in a deep breath and frowned. “Yep, it has to be tonight.”
“What are you thinking? Are you going to do something public or something private?” Chase saw the look of concern on Fiona’s face.
“Public. I’ve got a new song—”
“That you wrote for her?” Fiona leaned forward with interest.
Chase furrowed his brows ‘Yeah, how did you know?”
She lifted a shoulder and said mysteriously, “It’s a small town. Anyway, forget it, just tell me more.”
Chase frowned. He’d have to find out who’d been talking. “We just put the track down yesterday, and it’s pretty damn good.”
“Uhm, are you sure putting her on the spot like that is the right thing to do? If she’s skittish now, that might make her bolt.”
“I don’t think so,” he said in a low and thoughtful voice, and shook his head. “Even if our story isn’t meant to have a happy ending, I know Ava, she’ll appreciate me doing this. Like I said, she’s a romantic and, if this isn’t romantic, me bearing my heart and soul to her on stage in front of thousands of people and on television, I don’t know what it is. I have to know I’m doing everything I can do in order to win her over.”
He saw tears fill Fiona’s eyes. “Oh, Chase, honey, I hope you know what you’re doing. You could be in for a world of hurt.” She leaned forward and put her hand on his knee and squeezed.
“I know it. And I think it’s the right thing to do. But how about we take a selfie? I know she’d get a kick out of that.”
“Anything for you.” Fiona hopped out of her seat and came over to stand beside Chase.
They both snapped a couple of selfies and Chase attached one to a text.
He didn’t expect to hear back from Ava quickly so when his phone chimed almost immediately he chuckled and held it up to show Fiona.
Chase laughed and showed Fiona the comment. She also chuckled and took Chase’s phone from him.
Ava was stunned, and her friends were gathered around, equally star struck she was texting with Fiona Johns.
“Oh my God!” Celia was nearly screeching. “You were just texting with one of the biggest country superstars. And look at you, you’re calm. I think I’d be a hot mess.”
“What am I going to do? I just have to talk back to her like a normal person. But wow, that was pretty mind-blowing.”
“No kidding.” Bonni was peering at Ava’s phone to look at the texts and photo again.
“What have we just done? We have fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole. All this fantastic stuff that’s been happening to us ever since we got to Nashville and met Chase.” Excitement bubbled in Fredi’s voice, which was very unusual for her.
Ava plopped down on a bench in the rotunda. The girls had insisted on coming back to the Country Music Hall of Fame because they’d been rushed the last time. And here she was in the middle of this fantastic place with so much going on. She had a wonderful man who wanted them to have forever together. Ava was overwhelmed. With everything being thrown at her so quickly, her usual practical self was having difficulty digesting it all.
“I wonder if she’ll come to our suite later?” Celia asked and sat down beside Ava.
“That would be super-cool,” Fredi said. “But she’s such a superstar, I doubt it. Hey, guys, I want to go over and look at those displays. There’s some really amazing fashion here and I didn’t get to see it all last time.” She wandered off and Bonni’s phone rang.
She held up the phone. “It’s Quinn.” She answered it and found a quiet spot to talk to her love.
Celia put her arm around Ava. “How are you doing, sweetie?
Ava sighed and closed her eyes. She didn’t really want to answer the question because she knew, no matter what she said, it would raise the issue she was facing.
“What’s the matter, Aves?”
“Oh, nothing and everything,” she moaned.
“Well, that doesn’t make any sense. Tell me what’s going on. Come on, fess up.”
Ava let out a big puff of air and turned her head to look at her friend. “You know we had those bets, right?” Celia nodded. “I won the first bet, and he won the next two. So I asked him what he wanted.”
“What he wanted? Do you mean, like, because he won the bets?” Celia leaned forward and hung her hands between her knees.
“Yeah, and he shocked me. I thought it would be something fun with a sexual nature to it, but it wasn’t.”
Ava was quiet, thinking about it. Somehow, right now it didn’t seem as terrifying as it had when they talked about it last night.
“Are you going to tell me or leave me in the dark guessing?” Celia nudged her arm.
“He wants to see me after this weekend.” There, she had said it.
“And that is bad how?” Celia inquired, and Ava heard a bit of humor in her voice.
“It’s not funny.” Ava frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.
Celia held her hands up in supplication. “I know it’s not funny. I’m not trying to make it funny. But we talked about this before and I thought you were going to give it a go.”
“We may have discussed it, but I haven’t made any decisions. All I know is a long-distance relationship rarely works.”
“I beg to differ with you on that one. I know two people who have successfully made a long-distance relationship work. And I think three times could be the charm.” Celia reached over and placed her hand on Ava’s, squeezing it gently.
“Oh, I don’t know. It just seems so complicated.” She was looking at all the negatives, none of the positives, which was so backwards for her. But, she was worried the negatives would overtake the positives before long.
“Listen, Aves, it’s only complicated if you make it complicated. And it doesn’t have to be complicated. If anybody had a complicated situation, it was me,” Celia said wisely. “Look, I have two kids, dickhead for an ex-husband, and found a new man who is okay with my baggage. He helps carry it, for crying out loud.” The love that flooded over Celia’s face told Ava everything she needed to know. She was happy it had worked out so wonderfully for her friend. She’d met a great man, taken a risk and it had worked out for her.
“But I’m afraid,” Ava said in a low voice
“Oh honey, what are you afraid of?” Celia scooted closer and tightened her arm around her shoulder.
Ava looked at Celia, trying to decide if this was the moment to own up to her fear.
“That I’ll fall so hard and it won’t work out and I’ll be broken,” she blurted.
Celia tightened her arm around Ava. “Look, what if you don’t give it a try? You’ll always wonder. And all you’ve talked about all these years is finding your soul mate. The love of your life. To fill your world with romance.”
“I know, right? I’m broken, aren’t I?” Ava dropped her face into her hands and didn’t bother to hold back the tears.
“You’re not broken. You’re the most warm and compassionate person I know. Why would you ever think you’re broken? You deserve this. You owe it to yourself to take that plunge and see. If I can do it, you most certainly can, too.”
“Celia, I know everybody goes through their own dramas in life. We all get hurt and we all either get over it or we don’t. Yes, the idea of romance and love is powerful for me and something I so desperately want.”
Celia took Ava’s hands in hers. “I can’t tell you what to do. All I know is I was indecisive with Landon but you guys helped me see it could work. I don’t want you to miss out on this opportunity with Chase. You deserve love.”
Ava sucked in a big breath and squeezed Celia’s hands.
“At least I’ll be able to say I knew him when,” she sniffed through the tears.
“Look at you! Don’t be such an idiot. We now have access to a private jet, Chase is loaded and there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t see each other every weekend if you want to. It can be done.” Celia was adamant.
“But I don’t want to be a kept woman. I’ve fought hard for my independence,” Ava countered.
“Listen, you are young, have no kids and your business skills translate so well into telecommuting it wouldn’t be hard for you to work remotely.” Ava opened her mouth to say something but Celia wouldn’t let her talk. “Geez, if the Beast hadn’t trusted Belle, she would never have come back for him. And in Notting Hill! That’s like you two, and they made it work. And what if Dorothy had given up—like you’re talking about doing—and gave her ruby slippers to the Wicked Witch? She would never have found her way home.”
“The Wizard of Oz is not a love story,” Ava pointed out.
“But the metaphor still stands, dammit. Follow the yellow brick road, Dorothy, and find some courage, trust your heart and use your brains!”
Ava digested that, and a little bit of hope sparked inside her. Maybe it could work. But she still wasn’t entirely sure.