“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 stretched 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 attempt to still her, and she flung his fingers from her skin.
“Get your damn hands off me!”
“Then stop trying to jump out of a moving car!” He’d pulled onto the highway, his eyes flitting from the yellow line to Katie and back again.
She knew she was being ridiculously reckless, and she frankly 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.”
“Some of the artists I work with were attending—”
“Why were we there, Jay? You purposely invited me, knowing full well—”
He rested both hands back on the wheel, seeming confident that she’d calmed down enough to stay in the car. “I let my pride get the best of me. I really am sorry.”
She snapped her head around to look at him. “Your pride? You took me to Chad’s release party to prove a point? To ruin his night? Wow, you should be really ashamed of yourself. You do know that, right?”
The venom on her tongue must have stung; she saw him flinch. “I said I’m sorry.”
“It’s not me you should be saying sorry to, Jay. It’s Chad.”
Jay slammed his hands down hard on the steering wheel. “I won’t be apologizing to him! I made a mistake, I admit it. I just wanted to show off my fiancée. I wanted to show him how far we’ve come.”
Her anger flared again. “There’s only one problem with that, Jay. I am not your fiancée, and you need to remember that.”
“You were, though. Before...everything. Before him.”
“Go to hell,” she snapped. “Don’t you dare blame him for the breakup of our engagement. That one’s on you, in case you don’t remember.”
Silence ensued, and they both sat unmoving, seething. Katie clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly as she stared blankly out the passenger window, anything to relieve some of the tension coursing through her veins. “This was all a bad idea. I shouldn’t be here.”
For a moment, she wondered if he’d heard her. “Don’t say that, please,” he pleaded finally. “I screwed up—”
“You’re damn right you did.”
He’d taken the exit ramp, and the rhythmic ticking of the turning signal echoed through the car as Jay turned it onto their street. “I know. Let’s just start over—”
“How many times are we going to do that?”
“Just give me one last chance. I promise, I will never do something like that again.”
Katie exhaled loudly. How many times was she going to let him away with things like this? Honestly, why did she let him? She knew how he was, who he was. And she knew she didn’t want to be with him.
“Just give me Christmas,” he added. “Three weeks with you and Mason here, and if it’s not working, then...” He let his sentence drift into the silence.
“You need to apologize to Chad.” Katie saw him stiffen slightly, but he nodded in response.
“If I see him, I will. I promise.”
She didn’t believe him, but refused to argue anymore. “I’ve decided I’ll leave in two days for the farm. There is a flight leaving at a decent time and I’ll only be gone a few days.”
Jay must have taken the turn in conversation as confirmation that she was still agreeing to stay, as she saw his shoulders lower visibly. “Sure, whatever you need. I’m not complaining, but that is definitely going to be a whirlwind of a trip for you.”
“It will be, but I know what needs to be done to be able to leave the house unattended. It shouldn’t take me long. Besides, I don’t want Mason to get too bored.”
“If you’re only going for a few days, maybe Mason could stay here with me.” His words were riddled with uncertainty.
“What about work?” Katie questioned.
“You let me worry about that.” He offered her a sly grin, but his gaze was unsteady. He was waiting for her to turn him down.
“You know what?” She held up her hands, surrendering. “If you think you can make time to hang out with him for a few days, then I’ll take the flight home by myself. Are you sure?” One last chance to back out.
“Of course, we’ll be fine.” He dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand, but his eyes gave away the nervousness behind them. “We’ll eat potato chips and watch football games. You know, guy stuff.”
“Good luck with that,” Katie snorted. “Mason doesn’t have much interest in most sports. Come to think of it, neither do you.”
He shrugged, a smile on his face once again. “We’ll figure it out. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”
But worry pulsed through her veins, and she knew Jay enough to know that the same thing was happening to him. Mason had grown up a lot since his father had last spent any extended period of time alone with him. The boy had been through a lot, too, and some of that had been caused by Jay. It was anyone’s guess what a child so wise beyond his years would say or do.
Good, she thought spitefully. You can see what you’ve missed over the past nine months since you walked out on us.
“It’s going to be okay, Katie.”
His words rang through the silence, making her face him and exhale. She was scowling and hadn’t been aware of it. He’d noticed, however.
“Of course. Yeah, I know.” She nodded again, more to convince herself than him. Leaning her head back on the seat rest, she stared aimlessly out the windshield as the apartment building came into view. Everything might turn out okay, but Katie realized, at this moment, she didn’t even know what that meant.
CHAPTER SIX
CHAD
Three days. That’s how long it’d been since Katie unknowingly waltzed through the entrance of the convention hall and turned Chad into a complete mental wreck. Four days ago, he had been planning the next steps in his career, throwing himself back into his work, and—for the most part, anyway—looking ahead at what the future would hold for him.
Now, he was at a standstill, and his heart was reeling from the glimpse he’d been given of what he’d lost. He wanted to thank the heavens above for bringing her back to him, at the same time fighting the urge to curse fate for its role in her unforeseen return. He was conflicted, unsure how to react.
There was also the matter of the silver and ruby hair barrette that he now turned over again and again in his hands, the metal warm from the heat of his constant handling. Barry had coerced him into having one last beer after the party came to a close—another bottle that remained mostly full by the time he finally caught a
ride home from Barry’s wife, the designated driver for the band. They’d stood there in the hall, leaning comfortably against the appetizer tables, the bright lights now all on as the staff started to clean. When the cleanup staff began to speak in low voices and a middle-aged woman raised the barrette in the air to question whether anyone recognized it, a flash of Katie’s beautiful face and curled hair with the barrette situated strategically behind her left ear flooded his memory. Disappointment shadowed the cleaning woman’s face, but he quickly pocketed the barrette, citing he would return it to its rightful owner.
However, it had been three long days since that night and he still had yet to do it. Back and forth, his mind constantly teetered between seeking Katie out in order to give it back, or tossing the damn thing in the trash and pretending like he’d never seen her in that form-fitting dress and high heels. The jury was still out as to which side of the battle would win.
That’s not fair, he chastised himself. If she found something of yours, she would return it to you.
Or would she?
It’ll be easier if I don’t see you. Her words cut through him again. He understood why she’d uttered them, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier to withstand.
He was being immature. It was just a barrette, and he knew he should return it. Unfortunately, there was an unfavorable process he would have to go through to do it, and that process caused even more turmoil on his heart.
Just call her. It’s for Katie.
He shook his head at how cruel fate could be, and then reluctantly pulled his cellphone from his back pocket. He searched through the numbers in his phone’s directory, having removed her from his speed dial months ago. As the phone rang shrilly in his ear, he struggled to level his breathing.
“Well, hi. This must be one hell of an emergency.” Liz’s greeting caught him off guard, and he suddenly found himself nervous and unsure of what to say to the woman he’d spent so much of his adult life with.
“Uh, hey. Look, I was hoping you could help me with something.”
He could practically hear her smiling on the other end of the phone. “And here I thought you were calling to rub my nose in your new success. Good for you, by the way. The new single’s doing well on the radio, from what I hear.”
She was right. Crossing That Line had been welcomed with open arms by radio and digital downloads. Country music fans were liking what they heard. “Thanks, Liz, but that wasn’t really what I was calling about.”
“What is it you need, babe?”
Don’t call me babe, was the first thing he thought of requesting, but it was better to play nice. “I need Jay’s address here in town.”
Silence met his request and, for a moment, he wondered if she’d hung up. “I’ve got to tell you, I did not see that one coming.”
“Believe me, I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t need it. Katie’s staying there.”
“Katie.” Liz spoke her name bluntly. “Well, I didn’t think you would be going to see Jay.”
He blew a long breath out. “Come on, Liz. Will you give me the address or not?”
“Desperation never was a good color on you, Chad.” She rhymed off the address.
Chad scribbled it on the notepad he kept on the counter for impromptu song lyric ideas. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“She must really mean something to you,” she goaded.
“It’s not like that.”
“Chad, I may not know exactly how the sad country song ended, but I was privy to some of the sad, emotional struggle that it derived from. I know exactly how it is.”
They said their curt goodbyes and Chad closed his phone, his gaze set firmly on the address scrawled messily before him.
Was he crazy to show up there, especially after she’d basically told him not to? Probably. The constant back and forth battle raging in his mind for the past three days was beginning to torture him, however. And it would only continue; perhaps even more than if she turned him away at her door. Besides, it would be worth it despite the outcome. He’d get to see her pretty face once more.
***
Chad pulled his truck into one of the marked visitor parking spots at the apartment building, cringing at the squeak reverberating as he pushed down on the brake pedal. He made a mental note to book the truck in to one of the garages near his place to get it fixed.
Shielding his eyes from the sun that shone high above him, he considered the apartment building that stood before him. Over seven hundred miles separated it from Canada, yet it struck him that Jay’s apartment complex here seemed to look a lot like the building he and Katie had once lived in back home. And as he strode through the lobby doors and headed for the elevators, the rich, feminine decor of the halls confirmed it. Maybe all high-end apartments and condos looked similar, but he wouldn’t know.
He consulted the folded paper held tightly in his hand once more, confirming he had the right suite number. He hesitated before knocking, silently rehearsing what he planned to say when he saw her. Unfortunately, the door swung open prematurely to reveal a shocked-looking Jay, causing the planned dialogue to dissipate into the furthest depths of his mind.
“You have got to be kidding.” Jay stood unmoving, his gaze fixed firmly on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Katie came around the corner and stopped at the sight of him. Part of her face was obstructed from view by Jay’s shoulder, but her eyes spoke volumes.
“I was just...” Chad swallowed, starting again. “The cleaners found your hair barrette after the party the other night. I thought...” He trailed off, unsure what else to say in explanation.
“Go back to work, Jay. It’s fine.” Katie put a hand on his shoulder, and Jay whirled around, disbelief hardening his expression. He opened his mouth and promptly closed it again.
“It’s fine,” Katie stated again, more assertively.
He turned his gaze back to Chad once more, blinked twice, and then pushed past him toward the elevators.
“How very Cinderella of you,” Katie smirked, holding out her hand.
“Pardon?” He placed the barrette in her hand, letting his hand linger against hers a moment too long.
“You know, hunting me down to return my glass slipper...”
“If you’d lost your shoe at the party, I would’ve had to assume you were just drunk.”
Katie burst out laughing, stepping back to allow him into the apartment. “I guess you would be right about that.”
He took a few steps in and shut the door behind him. “If I’m being honest, Katie, the truth is...I had to see you.”
“And why is that?” She challenged him, laying the barrette down on the glass-topped coffee table. She waved her hand, offering him a seat on the oversized armchair to her left. He nodded gratefully.
“For such a big city, it seems cramped and suffocating just knowing you’re here.”
“I feel like I should be apologizing for that.”
“Don’t,” he pleaded, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just...how it feels. You’re so close, yet so far away. It’s like having a friend that you’re not allowed to talk to anymore.”
“And is that what you want to be? Friends?”
Was she trying to make him admit he was looking for more commitment than she could offer? He wasn’t going to take the bait. “I’ll take moments of your time any way I can get them, Katie.”
Her unwavering gaze met his, and he watched her jaw clench and release, mulling over something in silence.
“I’ve got a surprise for you.” She stood up and disappeared around the corner beyond the kitchen nook, leaving Chad alone with his confusion. He listened as a door opened and a series of low whispers were heard. He’d just realized there was no radio playing within the apartment the way Katie had always done at the farm when the thumping of running footsteps caught his attention and a familiar little boy came barreling around the corner, Katie grinning widely behind him.
“Chad!”<
br />
“Little Man Mason!” He hit his knees in front of the armchair, embracing the boy in a tight hug. “How’s it going?”
“Okay! Mom is going to take me to the zoo!” Mason exclaimed excitedly.
Laughter erupted from Chad’s throat. “You’re pretty lucky! I’ve heard it’s a pretty cool place to go.”
“Maybe you can come with us!” Mason offered, stealing a glance in Katie’s direction.
“Your dad is going to go with us, if he can.” She waited until he’d turned back around to shrug apologetically at Chad.
“That’s a great offer, Mase. You can tell me all about it, though, okay?”
Katie interjected, to abate the awkwardness. “Hey, Mase. Remember what I told you in the bedroom?”
He looked to his mother, nodding. “That Chad had a surprise for me.” Mason grinned wildly, snapping his gaze back to the man in anticipation.
Chad, bewildered, turned his gaze to her for answers, only to see her holding up a flimsily wrapped package. Recognition registered immediately.
“You kept it?” he murmured softly.
Katie nodded. “I did. But it’s yours to give him.”
Chad reached out to take the package from her, handing it over into Mason’s eager little hands. “That’s your birthday gift from me, buddy. It’s a little late, and it’s not wrapped very well, but at least it made it to you.” He watched in fascination as the little boy ripped into the race car wrapping paper to reveal a harmonica blanketed in velvet and an instruction booklet.
“Cool!” Mason immediately pushed the instrument to his lips and blew, making a horrid, high-pitched sound emit from it. Laughter erupted, but he shrugged it off.
“You’ll get better at it, I promise.” Chad reached out to tousle his hair affectionately.
“Thanks, Chad! It’s awesome! Maybe I can play in your band someday.”
The comment caught his attention, and he turned to Katie. She held up her hands. “He knows you’re Chad Ashton. He Googled you.”
My Kind Of Country: The Complete Series Page 18
