“Hey, Chase! See you at the table.”
Chase turned to see Travis riding away, headed for the practice pen.
“Don’t forget—nine o’clock,” Trav called to him. “Bring your money—you gotta have it if I’m gonna take it away.”
For a second, Chase had to think what Trav was talking about. Damn. This dust-up with Shane had rattled him good.
“Dream on,” Chase called back, forcing a smile.
To his surprise, when he looked at Shane again the kid was smiling, too.
“I’m sorry I hit you,” he said. “You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to have another dad.”
That made Chase stop and think.
“Yeah,” he finally said.
“I don’t, either. Not even Blue.” Shane scowled. “I can’t believe they’re getting married. That’s another reason I’m gonna live with you from now on.”
Chase felt his sore jaw drop. He damn sure wasn’t ready for this.
“Hey, now, not so fast, sport. I’m on the road all the time, you know that.”
Shane barely heard him.
“I’m gonna ride bareback and broncs and bulls, all of ’em.”
Chase clamped his lips together. Just when he’d thought they had the kid all straightened out.
“What about school? You’re doing good now.”
“Who needs it? I’ll be a rough-stock rider like you.”
“I went to high school,” Chase said.
“Mom said you left home when you were fifteen.”
“I did. But I lived at a buddy’s house and his mom made us go to school.”
Shane narrowed his eyes and judged that statement. Finally he nodded. Thank God he didn’t ask if Chase had graduated.
“Your mom would miss you something terrible, too,” Chase said. “Think what all she’s done for you these last couple of years. You’ve been a pain in the ass, Shane. Past that. She’s the main reason you’re clean and sober today.”
That tripped the boy off all over again. “Not,” he said, with the fury coming back. “She is not.”
“How do you figure that?”
Shane bent over to pick up his bags as if to signal it was time to move on from the subject of his mother.
Chase felt a touch of panic. The kid had lost his mind, and all because Andie Lee had done what he’d told her not to do.
“I decided to get sober on my own,” Shane said.
He started to step forward but Chase wouldn’t get out of his way.
“What made you decide?”
He had to make the kid see reason, get over his temper, and go back to his mother.
Shane shrugged. “Blue told me what it’s like in prison. I’m smart enough to know I don’t wanna go there.”
“Well, your mother introduced you to Blue, right? And she’s the one who arranged for you to ride with him, right? And she’s the one who brought you to rehab at the Splendid Sky in the first place, is what I’m thinking.”
Shane gave him a narrow-eyed look that said he couldn’t believe Chase’s stupidity.
“Maybe so, but I’m the one who made the choice.”
He had him there.
“You nailed it,” Chase said. “That’s the bottom line. What I’m pointing out is that your mother never gave up on you, which is what got you to the place where you could make that choice.”
Shane gave no indication he could hear. He just kept standing there holding the two canvas duffels that Chase now saw were packed to bursting.
The kid meant what he was saying. He had set his stubborn head to it.
And with the shape he was in, Chase couldn’t just order him to go home. Could he? Would that be the best way to handle it, just send him right back to the Splendid Sky and not even let him stay the night?
But what if that made him so mad it drove him back to drugs?
If he stayed very long, Chase would be driven to drugs—or drink, at the very least. It was nearly sundown. It was beginning to look like he could forget about the game and Elle.
He deserved a little fun. He’d stuck to his midnight curfew and slept his eight hours and kept to all the rest of his athlete’s regime for months and months. Wanting some fun didn’t mean that he was losing his desire to ride or getting ready to retire or anything like that.
“Look here, Shane…”
“Where are we stayin’?”
Hardheaded little idiot.
“At the Desert Rose,” Chase snapped. “For one night. We are staying there for one night and then you’re on a plane.”
Shane startled and stared at him.
“I’m your real dad, Shane,” he mocked, imitating Chase’s voice. “I’ve got your back, Shane. Oh, yeah. Always.”
Chase felt himself flush to the roots of his hair with anger, and then his blood cooled with fear.
How could the little turkey make him so mad so fast? He’d better get hold of himself.
“I do,” he snapped. “I am. But…”
“But I’m not your dad so much that you can do something normal like live with me,” Shane said, still in Chase’s voice.
“It’s a damnfool idea and you know it,” Chase said. “Now, come summer…”
“Come summer you’ll be on the road even more,” Shane said. “Are you my dad or not? By the way, where were you when I was growing up?”
Chase could not believe how the kid could push his buttons.
“I came to see you….”
“Every six months or so,” Shane said sarcastically. “So you could sleep with my mom.”
“Watch your mouth.”
It was all Chase could do to keep from decking him. He had to get a grip on himself. He turned on his heel and strode to his gear bag.
Shane followed.
“At the Desert Rose, do they have a casino?”
“The town’s full of ’em and you know it. But that’s nothing to you. You’re too young to get into any casino and you’re grounded anyhow.”
That took Shane back. “Grounded! You can’t…”
Chase opened his mouth to say, “I’m your dad,” but instead he said, “While you’re with me you’ll damn well do as I say.”
Shit. He’d better forget all this confusion about how to be a real dad and just try to hang onto Shane until morning.
“Yes, sir,” Shane said, and Chase couldn’t decide whether his tone was sarcastic or not. “But why am I grounded?”
“Runnin’ off from your mother.”
Chase bit his lip. He didn’t know that. What if Andie Lee had given her permission for Shane to come to him? Maybe just to give herself a break. But no, he’d guessed right. Shane didn’t say