What We've Become (My Kind Of Country Book 2) (3 page)

“So, you’re saying that if you were able to make a quick trip back to the farm you could get it all prepared to be left unattended for three weeks, and arrange for someone else to step in and check on things for you while you and Mason are here for the Christmas holidays?”

Katie held his gaze. Was that what she was saying? Did she really want to stay here for that length of time with him? Did she want to give Mason that kind of opportunity, to really see his dad, and to spend the entire holiday season with him? When it came down to it, she did. Katie couldn’t deny the appeal of not having to keep up with the constant travelling schedule she had been maintaining. She welcomed the notion of not having to keep her bags packed, and not having to tear Mason away from Jay each time they left again for another five days.

“You would be willing to take time off from work?” Katie asked.

“I can book days off sporadically throughout those weeks so we can all spend time together,” he offered. “I will not sit here and say I can stay home the entire time, but I will be here as much as I can be, and definitely on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.” He nodded as though making a promise to her.

His words were surprising to Katie, and she’d be lying if she said she believed he would be so accommodating. Jay’s work had always been first and foremost for him, and he made sure that what needed to be done within the walls of his office was done before anything else—family, friends, or time away—could be contemplated.

“Besides, you’re probably going to want the odd day away from me. You like your space, and I can appreciate that,” he added, grinning ruefully.

“You’re making it sound like I am always trying to get away from you.”

“Maybe you’ll want to after three weeks of being here, but at least then we’ll know.” His smile never faltered, and Katie could see the accomplishment written on his face. He knew he had her, and that she was going to agree.

She sighed, shaking her head. “All right, Jay, here’s the deal. If I can go back to Canada for a few days to get the house set up—you know, stuff like the hot water tank, the water pipes, the heaters, and blah, blah, blah—
and
if I can convince Ed Johnson down the road to look in on the place while Mason and I are here,
and
if I can count on you to be here enough that Mason won’t end up feeling like he is just always waiting for you to get home, then I guess it looks like we are all spending Christmas together.”

Jay let out a holler, slapping his hand down on the counter in triumph. In seconds, he was around the island and holding Katie tightly. She squealed laughingly when her feet left the ground as he spun her around. He had just set her back down on the floor when Katie recognized the sound of Mason’s little footsteps coming down the hallway.

“Please, just do not let him down, okay?” Katie whispered, locking eyes with Jay. He’d heard Mason coming to see what was going on, too.

“I promise, Katie. I’ll be here for him this Christmas.” He turned to face Mason’s confused gaze just as the boy rounded the corner into the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you were home, Dad!”

“Just getting in the door, I swear. How was your day?” Jay stooped to chat at eye level with his son, ruffling his hair playfully. Immediately, Mason attempted to smooth his unruly hair.

“Boring. There’s nothing to do here.”

“Oh, Mase, there is
so
much to do here! Get your Mom to take you around the city tomorrow and check it all out. You won’t be bored, I guarantee it.” Jay glanced over at Katie, but she held her hands up. She didn’t know what he wanted her to do.

“I don’t have a clue where to go here. You forget, I’ve never lived here before.”

“You can take us out tomorrow then, Dad, and show us some stuff!” Mason exclaimed, and Katie saw the anticipation highlighting his eyes.

“I have got to go to work again tomorrow, pal. I’m sorry.” Jay held up a finger in pause, and Katie knew he was scrambling for a way to make the situation better. She would be as well if Mason were looking at her so dejectedly. “How about we spend tonight showing your Mom how to work that cell phone we got her so she can easily look up all the cool sites that are close by? That way you guys can make a list of them, and then plan to go check them out next time you are bored stiff.” Jay ducked his head to catch a glimpse of Mason’s eyes, seeking confirmation that he had moved beyond his bout of sadness. Sure enough, Mason peeked out at him through his messy bangs, the wheels of mischief and imagination turning once again in his overactive mind.

“Can we find a zoo?” the little boy asked.

Jay chuckled. “Go grab a pencil and some paper from your room and we will all sit down and create a list of things we can look for in the area, okay? A zoo can definitely be at the top of the list, my boy.”

Mason cast a wide-eyed glance of sheer happiness at Katie and she offered him a slight nod to get him moving along. She wasn’t keen on figuring out how to stare at a teeny tiny cell phone screen and using it for absolutely everything the way most of the modern population did, but she knew Jay was right, it was a necessary evil, and it would help her and Mason to become more acquainted with their new surroundings.

When their son had skidded in his sock feet around the corner and down the hallway toward his room, Jay rose to his full height and reached out for Katie. “This is going to be great. I mean it. Thank you for agreeing to this.”

“There were a lot of ‘ifs’ in my conditions, but I agree with you. If it will work out, I think we’ll all have a nice Christmas here. A little relaxation sounds oddly appealing.” She smiled up at him, letting him wrap his arms around her tightly.

“It will be a perfect family Christmas. We’ll go all out. More festiveness than you can handle.”

She nodded against him, glancing toward the hallway. Her eyes rested again on the unpacked bags still sitting on the counter. “So, those shopping bags are...”

Jay pulled away to beam down at her. “Your outfit for Saturday night.”

“But I am not going anywhere on Saturday night.”

“Sure you are. Come with me to that release party I’m attending. I was just going to go make an appearance, but why not use it to celebrate our upcoming holidays? Let me show you off a little bit.” Jay leaned down and kissed the side of her face gently.

“It
is
tempting, Jay, but I can’t. Mason will—”

“Mason can hang out with Julia and her kids in the apartment down the hall. She already said it was okay.”

Katie crinkled her forehead. He had already made plans for a babysitter? “I don’t know Julia.”

“Not yet, but I do. Mason will have a blast. Her kids are a little older, but they’re boys and they will keep him entertained. She told us to stay out as late as we wanted.” He lifted his eyebrows suggestively, and Katie scoffed.

“Well, that was nice of her. But I still don’t—”

“We can go for an hour and leave if you’re not enjoying it. It’s just an evening out.”

“I can’t—”

“One night.”

“Fine!” Katie laughed. “But I get to meet Julie before we go out on Saturday night.”

A victorious grin flashed across Jay’s face. “Deal.”

CHAD

The festivities had not even really begun yet, and already Chad was wishing he could disappear out the back door. Unfortunately, that was really difficult to do when you were the guest of honor.

His record label had pulled out all the stops in order to promote his new single, mostly—he figured, anyway—in an attempt to make sure the general population knew that Chad Ashton was still around, still making music, and planning a stellar new album, despite the vague speculations that he had suffered from some kind of breakdown and gave up on his career. Those gossip magazines would print anything and call it the truth no matter how little they actually knew about the real situation. Then again, Chad was well aware he had brought those rumors on himself. His publicity team was constantly reminding him that he needed to regain the trust of his fan base and follow up his hit,
Take Me Home
, with something that would make them all forget the drama and just enjoy the music.

And Chad knew that was exactly what this new single would accomplish.
Crossing That Line
was country—something he could picture George Strait singing, and the thought of that made him smile. He knew that singing this twangy, heartfelt song about the boundaries between friendship and love would resonate within most people’s hearts. The lyrics were something pretty much everyone would identify with, and he couldn’t wait until they had a chance to do just that.

But first he had to make it through this overcrowded, noisy party. Everyone who was anyone on Music Row was here, it seemed. Hell, Chad had been wearing his wide, fake smile for the past forty-five minutes, shaking hands and laughing at jokes told by people whom he either recognized, didn’t know, or probably should know. As quickly as they introduced themselves, he soon forgot each name as it was followed up with the next fleeting introduction. Oh well, that was the way these kinds of functions always were. His only real purpose at this particular one was to sing his song for everyone, say something meaningful to show his gratitude that they’d all came out to celebrate, and then mingle for the remainder of the evening as though he actually wanted to be there, surrounded by a couple hundred of his closest friends.

That was okay, though. The single would be released on the radio tomorrow, and Chad sincerely hoped listeners would hear it and feel the same way he did when he played the recording back to himself. It would be heard here first though, tonight, when he sang it live for all the attendees of his release party. His nerves were buzzing within him at the thought, but he was excited just the same.

He was ready. He was prepared for whatever came from the release of the song, good or bad, but his gut was telling him that he had made the right decision in choosing it as the next single. He believed in it, and he had to trust in that. He would bounce back from his hiatus and overcome everything he had been through only months before. He had to believe that, too.

“Chad, the band is ready to gear up for the show.” Barry had appeared out of the masses of people around him, his voice a few octaves louder than usual to be heard over the multiple conversations melding together all around him.

“It’s that time already, is it?” Chad followed his manager’s lead through the different circles of people, doing his best to acknowledge each “Congrats, Chad!” and “There you are!” he heard as he made his way behind the small stage at the far wall of the convention centre. His eyes flickered from one face to the next, his less than genuine smile still plastered across his face. His feet suddenly stopped moving, however, when his gaze landed on a pair of green eyes that he would never be able to erase from his mind.

“Katie?” The name fell from his lips, though it became lost in the talking and laughter that invaded his senses. He blinked only once, but the crowds had shifted again, obstructing his view of the entrance doors. He craned his neck from one side to the other, ignoring the odd looks he was warranting from those near him, but she was gone.

Had she been there at all?
It was her
, he assured himself silently. Based on the width of her eyes and the shock etched on her face, he was sure she had recognized him as well.

Of course she did
, he scolded himself.
She’s at a party with your stage name and publicity photo plastered all over the place. It’s impossible she came here by chance.
So, what the hell did that mean? If Chad was honest, he’d daydreamed repeatedly about the moment he would see Katie in Nashville for the first time since they’d parted ways the way they had, but he never expected that moment to be now—or
here
, in front of hundreds of watchful glances. His chest clenched tightly at the thought of being close to her again—though, whether it was from elation or the purest form of fear, he couldn’t be sure.

He took a step in the direction he’d thought he had seen her in, only to be held back by a strong hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing? Come on. We need you at the stage. We’re ready.” Barry’s tone revealed a lack of patience, and Chad knew he was feeling the weight of what was riding on the success of this single as well. He glanced once more toward the entrance doors, but they were completely obscured from view. There was no sign of the bright, mossy eyes that had haunted his thoughts since autumn, and he reluctantly turned away to head to the stage.

Things seemed to go in fast forward after that. There were less people backstage, but the small group of them seemed to swarm him, invading his personal space and shouting questions and commands at him in rushed hostility. Everyone was on edge, hoping to make a lasting impression on the room full of artists, executives, and radio personalities. All Chad suddenly wanted to do, however, was remove the guitar that had been slung over his shoulder and head back out into the throngs of people to search for the only person he wanted to see. Thankfully, he hadn’t completely lost his mind, though, and he understood that his career was riding on the next ten minutes. He shook his head, shaking the intrusive thoughts of Katie back into the depths of his mind. He would deal with her as soon as he’d sung his song to the best of his ability. If Katie wanted to show up at
his
party, then she would damn well get to see him during one of his finest moments. He would make sure of it.