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Ava bumped her knee to his “That doesn’t count He had no buddies He just drove around killing people”
“Maybe we’ll wanna kill each other after a feeeks on the road together”
“Highly unlikely because we are gonna be the best friends in the history of the world” She tacked on a fake s boot ca occurred to her “Will the people putting you up have a place forout”
“But—”
Chase grabbed her hand again “You wanted an adventure, Ava Part of that is learning to go with the flow Things ain’t always gonna be planned out to the letter Can you do that?”
“I can try”
Chapter Seven
Chase suspected Ava would chatter the entire way to the Bar 9 But she was absorbed with the scenery and writing in her notebook Occasionally she’d ask a question, or make an observation Since Chase spent the majority of his time on the road alone, he appreciated her cootten a later start than he’d planned His folks had been pleased to see hiave them more inforet it back on track Neither pointed out the errors of his previous ways, as they’d been prone to do in the past Which was the first outward first indication they’d changed
Chase about fell off his chair when his dad rose froot a bit choked up when his father followed hi past mistakes to affect his future How the truefro on them
So Chase had been introspective when he dropped by Quinn and Libby’s Five minutes with the rambunctious Adam cured that The kid talked a mile aimpression Then Adam was in his baby sister Arown so ain Chase felt a pang of guilt for not being part of his niece and nephew’s lives
After they’d dropped off Ava’s rental car in Spearfish, they grabbed a bite at McDonald’s Chase had purposely chosen the always-busy restaurant as a test to see if anyone recognized Ava A couple guys sent appreciative glances her direction, but that was it Wearing workout clothes, her hair secured in a ponytail and a Devil’s Tower ball cap on her head, she looked nothing like a glamorous Hollywood actress That was a mark of true beauty in Chase’s mind; dressed up or dressed down, Ava looked exactly the saed dramatically fro vistas Here the land was flat until a deep rock-ridged canyon appeared Scrub oak abounded, as did several different kinds of sage The wooden snow fences scattered at randohts, piqued Ava’s curiosity Chase pointed out one covered in tu snoere predictable across the high plains desert, so the snow fences were per
About ten miles to the turn-off to Gemma and Cash’s ranch, he said, “Almost there”
Ava stowed her notebook and faced him “You excited? Nervous?”
“Both I’ve met Cash a few times over the years, but I don’t know him My dad and uncles have dealt with Cash’s wife Geets tricky My cousin Carter is hter from a previous relationship”