What We've Become (My Kind Of Country Book 2) (4 page)

***

“Are y’all ready for this? Here he is, the man of the hour... Chad Ashton!”

Chad took one last long exhale and then bounded forward onto the stage, his acoustic guitar at the ready before him as the bright stage lights beat down on him. An eruption of applause, whistles, and hollering greeted him, and his smile widened because of it—a
true
smile. The welcoming from a cheering crowd would never get old, no matter how long he was able to maintain his career. The drummer tapped his drumsticks together to count everyone in, and the musicians immediately started into the first chords of
Crossing That Line
. Chad’s heart swelled with pride at the melodic sound as his song was played for the people before him; a musician’s dream.

“
On the other side of goodbye...
” he began to croon into the microphone, closing his eyes as he sang. “
We’ll see each other again...
” His fingers strummed the guitar strings with a cool confidence, allowing the rhythm and lyrics that had painstakingly poured out of him to set his mind on an easy drift. He opened his eyes to see a couple of lighters waving among the partygoers and his smile widened. A woman in the front row was holding her hand to her chest, her eyes glistening as she listened. The showing of clear emotion urged him on, and the huskiness in his voice became even more pronounced. “
And now I’m crossing that line with you...
” He broke into the instrumental portion of the song and stole the chance to turn and peer back at the band. The reception from the crowd was pleasing them, too. They were playing their instruments with such fervor and energy that Chad couldn’t help but send an accepting nod towards Barry, who stood just off the stage behind them, hidden from the audience by the edge of a curtain. He made eye contact and tipped his head forward knowingly in return.

They had done it. Chad was back, and his true country roots were showing. And people loved it. He scanned the crowd, wondering what Katie might think of his performance, but he couldn’t find her within the swaying bodies of the crowd.

***

Chad took another pull from his beer, or pretended to, anyway. As long as he held a beer in his hands and acted as though he was actually drinking it, no one tried to offer him another. He idly made his way amongst the crowd. He had to keep up appearances, therefore having to make sure he said hello to all the right people and made a point of being seen with more of the right people. It occurred to him that he would love nothing more than to slip out the back entrance and trade in the warm beer he had been nursing all evening for some iced tea and a little relaxation—less people, more serenity. His mind pushed forth a memory from deep within its folds; the image of a sinking sunset over distant trees, the scent wafting through the open window of dinner bubbling away on the stovetop, and a warm hand within his as he gazed out from his chair on the porch with...

Katie.

Even with all the bustling going on around him, she still had the allure to push everything else from his mind. He focused on his mental image of her so intently he could almost feel her next to him. Chad looked down at the bottle of beer within his grasp, silently wishing it would reveal life’s answers to him. Instead, he gave up the ruse and set the beer down on the appetizer table—he’d never found solace in alcohol, anyway.

Enjoying the lull in social interaction, he relished in having a moment to take in everything that was going on around him. He had to admit, his team had worked hard to make him look good in front of all these people. The album cover art he had just chosen last week was hung around the room on signs of various sizes, boasting the new song’s title and that the album would be available soon—which Chad found humorous since he knew no one had confirmed the album’s release date yet—every beer, wine, or spirit anyone could ever want seemed to be available at the bar, and judging by the staggering gait, and loud obnoxious laughter from some of the party attendees, he would say that most of them were utilizing the bar’s well stocked status to its full potential. The food and appetizers were just as plentiful as the booze supply, and tables of handmade, catered finger foods and hors d’oeuvres lined two of the walls. He was scanning the table beside him so thoroughly for cornbread that he didn’t see her until she spoke.

“This is quite the party.”

Chad whirled around, so struck by how close Katie was to him that he attempted to take an unsteady step backward. He tried to catch his balance, which, in fact, did result in him remaining standing, but the beer he had intended to discard toddled to the floor, its odorous contents splashing their feet.

“Christ! I’m sorry!” Chad flung his hands out for a pile of napkins and dove to the floor, trying to clean up the mess before it spread any further. He was frantically sopping up the puddle when the sound of her laughter drifted through the noise surrounding him. He glanced upward, slowing his efforts to clean up, and saw that she was holding out her hand to him.

“Get up, Chad.” She laughed softly again. “I guarantee your beer is not the only one that’ll be spilled tonight.”

Chad rose to his feet, a small smile dancing on his lips. He did not dare to touch her hand. His mind might be over-thinking things, but he was sure the heat of her skin would be too much to bear. Seeing her had already reopened the wounds he was sure he’d roughly mended and hidden away.

“This, right here, is my biggest fear and my greatest hope.” The words rolled from his tongue without thinking them through.

“What is?” Katie pulled her hand away, confusion outlining her features.

“Seeing you again.”

She looked unsure of how to respond, but Chad decided not to elaborate. She had shown up at his party, so it wasn’t up to him to explain himself.

“I didn’t plan on being here, trust me.”

Her words cut through him, slicing through his resolve. He flinched. She must have realized how crass her statement sounded, and she held up her hands.

“Wait, that’s not at all what I meant. I just meant—” Katie lowered her hands, obviously trying to calm down her nerves. “I had no idea the party Jay was taking me to was for...well, you.”

“And you wouldn’t have come if you had known I would be here?” Again, words were formulating before Chad had thought them through. He sighed, shaking his head mournfully. “I’m sorry, Katie. Forget I said that. It’s just—I feel like two worlds are colliding right now and I am not sure if I am ready for it.”

“That makes two of us.” She offered him a sad smile. “I can’t even bring myself to look at Jay right now. I am not sure what he thought he was going to accomplish by bringing me here.”

Chad did. He had brought her here on purpose, gloating that he had won the war. That said, Jay was not a stupid man. He also had to know the hail storm of anger that would be coming from Katie after pulling a stunt like that.

“Are you okay?” Chad asked instead. Katie was not a stupid woman, either. She would be putting Jay’s selfish reasons together, too.

“Yeah, of course.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Looks like things are going well for you, too. Congrats, by the way. Your new song was great. You’ll be burnin’ up the charts with it in no time.”

Pride beamed within him. “Thanks, Katie. That means a lot, especially coming from you.” He watched as a deep pink blush crept up her cheeks, and a wave of satisfaction spread through him.

“I’m really glad you got back into doing what you love. Your passion for music was so clear when you were up on that stage singing. No one should walk away from something that they feel that passionate about.”

Instinctively, Chad’s hand twitched. He caught himself just before he reached up to brush his thumb across her cheek.
That’s how I felt about you, Katie...
The swell of emotion burned within him. It would be so easy to tell her nothing has changed since—

“Are you happy with him, Katie?” He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, not only because it wasn’t a polite thing to ask, but also because her face shadowed in response, and he knew then what her answer would be.

“I...” She was struggling to find the words to answer him. “I’m trying,” she stated finally. Chad raised an eyebrow.

It had been months—since she chose to work things out with Jay, and since she told Chad she loved him but couldn’t be with him. She had said
then
that she was going to try. The thought crossed Chad’s mind that no one should have to try that hard to love someone, but he was polite enough to keep that anecdote to himself.

“Mason and I are staying here in Nashville for three full weeks over Christmas, so I’ll know better afterwards where Jay and I truly stand. It’s been a big adjustment—the traveling back and forth, keeping Mason up to date in school, only being here for days at a time—it’s all made it very hard to really figure out if we’re—I don’t know—solid.”

“You mean like we were?” Chad grinned mischievously, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We were good, you and I. There was definitely a foundation there. You know...solid.”

“Chad...”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I know. Sorry, I couldn’t help it. You walked in here in that pretty, little red dress, and just turned my world on its axis. I thought maybe I was finally dealing with everything that happened. Seeing you has proved that is obviously not the case.” A strangled chuckle erupted from his throat, and Chad removed his cowboy hat momentarily to run his hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry, Chad. If I had known—”

“Katie, please stop apologizing. This is not your fault. It’s Jay’s, and I blame no one but him and his pride for it.”

“Well, there is something we can definitely agree on. If I had a drink, I’d clink it together with yours,” she said brightly.

“It’s safer if you don’t, seeing as I’d probably spill it again.”

Laughter erupted between them. The tension eased slightly, and the moment of brutal honesty and emotional truths had passed.

“You really do look beautiful tonight, Katie. That’s quite the outfit. Your hair barrette even matches.”

Her eyes lowered to the floor, reaching up to touch the intricate barrette tenderly. The heat crept up into her cheeks again. “Thanks. It’s all a bit too fancy, I think. But I quite like your countrified look, too. Especially the scruff. I’m a fan of the facial hair, I must say.”

“I’m glad someone approves.” Just this morning, Barry had been giving him a hard time about needing to shave.

Katie’s eyes scanned the room. When they finally rested on him again, she said, “I should probably get going.”

“Sure, of course. That’s probably wise, actually.”

“I think I know what you mean.”

“This is hard.” Chad swallowed audibly.

“It’ll be easier if I don’t see you, to be honest. Probably easier for you, too.” Katie was biting her lip, her eyes searching his for understanding.

All he could do was nod. It might be easier, but he didn’t want easier. He wanted Katie.

KATIE

“I just can’t believe you would do that to me! Or to him, for that matter.” Katie barked at Jay, unable to bring herself to glance over at him as he drove home. Instead, she focused her attention on her seatbelt, fiddling with it as she tried unsuccessfully to get it buckled before he put to car into gear.

“Don’t worry about him, Katie. But, you’re right. I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

She heard the seatbelt click into place and raised her head, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, her eyes widened even further. “You aren’t even going to apologize, are you?”

A scoff escaped Jay’s throat. “Of course, I am. I’m sorry. You know I am. I shouldn’t have brought you here tonight.” His gaze never wavered from the road stretching out before him, and Katie leaned back against the seat, her nerves bundled tight and tense with frustration.

“What the hell did you think you were going to gain from tonight? I mean, other than hurting Chad, and embarrassing me?”

“Katie, calm down, okay?” His hands clenched the steering wheel tighter. “I guess I was just—”

“Just what, Jay? Trying to see how I would react when I saw him? Well, how’s this for a reaction? Stop the damn car.” Katie pulled wildly at the door handle. Thankfully, the doors had automatically locked once the car was in motion, but Jay’s eyes still went wide when he stole a glance in her direction.

“Katie! Christ, stop it! You’ll get yourself hurt!” His hand gripped her arm in an attempt to stay her movements, and Katie flung his fingers from her skin.

“Get your damn hands off me!”

“Then stop trying to jump out of a moving car!” Jay had pulled onto the highway, his eyes flitting from the yellow line to Katie, and then back again.

She knew her actions were ridiculous, and frankly she didn’t care. “Stop the car, Jay. I’m getting out.”

“And going where, exactly? We’re a fifteen-minute drive away from the apartment and you’re wearing a party dress with a light jacket. This may not be Canada, Katie, but it’s still December.”

Katie huffed in frustration, leaning back against the seat. She would freeze. Her high-heeled sandals weren’t exactly ideal footwear for a hike, either. “What was the point of tonight? Tell me.”