My Kind Of Country: The Complete Series

by Michelle Thomas

  Eyes that were staring back at her in an identical questioning stare.

  She cleared her throat, taking a step toward Chad’s family hesitantly. “You must be Chad’s parents. I’m Katie.” She held her hand out to his father, hoping the trembling in her fingertips wasn’t as obvious as she thought it was.

  The man stood, hauling his weight from the chair unsteadily. He reached out and shook her hand, squeezing it tightly before letting go again. “I’m Chad’s father, yes. Call me Hayden. This is my wife, Elaine.”

  “Jillian has told us so—” Elaine, a woman who’d aged gracefully and kept her hair meticulously highlighted and simply styled, stood to join her husband, jutting her hand out to grasp Katie’s hand before she’d managed to pull completely away. The words were already partially out of her mouth, but she must have realized how untrue the statement would be. Katie couldn’t help but feel bad for her.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Kirkwood. And Mr. Kirkwood. You must have so many questions.” She squeezed her hand and awkwardly let it go when the woman held on longer than she expected.

  No one seemed to know what to say next, and for the first time she was aware of the Christmas carols being played in a hushed volume on the television. This poor family was being ripped apart, and Christmas was less than two weeks away. Suddenly, the pain and tragedy that came from Chad’s car accident seemed to quadruple.

  “I just—” Katie began, but her explanation was quickly cut off by the appearance of Dr. Vale. Did he ever go home? She idly wondered if he refused to, because of his patient’s condition.

  Hayden and Elaine’s attention turned to him, but not before Elaine leaned in and whispered, “There’ll be plenty of time for answers later, Katie.”

  Dr. Vale introduced himself to Chad’s immediate family, explaining the extent of his injuries once again in a patient, soothing voice. He advised that he had been stabilized, and that they could visit with him if they wished. To their credit, his parents and sister remained composed throughout the doctor’s matter-of-fact descriptions, his mother only once reaching up to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle an impending sob that she managed to choke back down. Katie wondered if they’d have managed so well if they’d already seen their son in his current state.

  She expected Chad’s family to want to visit with him alone, but Elaine and Jillian both turned simultaneously, beckoning to her with a wave of the hand. “Come with us,” Jillian offered quietly.

  “I’m not sure—”

  “Come on, Katie, dear.” Elaine’s voice was soft as well, but there was no question in her tone. She meant for Katie to be with them when they saw their son.

  She followed silently, remaining behind the family as they entered the room. She watched as Dr. Vale pointed a finger toward the closed door of Chad’s hospital room, but he remained outside, heading down the corridor to another room. Katie didn’t blame him for not wanting to witness a family about to be shattered.

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to witness it.

  Jillian, already knowing what version of her brother lay beyond that door, led the way in. Katie watched how her eyes settled first on Chad’s bruised, swollen face, then flitted to her parents. She looked concerned for them, as though she wasn’t sure they could handle the truth of it, the brutality and the rawness.

  Chad’s mother immediately broke into tears, unable to hold back the wave of fear and pain at seeing her son in such a vulnerable and threatened state. The multiple machines, cords, and intravenous lines huddled around him only added to the desolate scene. Whispered utterances passed her lips, but Katie wasn’t sure what exactly she was saying. She stayed by the door, not wanting to intrude more than she felt she already was.

  Hayden remained expressionless, but she was struck by the feeling she got from the man’s stance and stillness.

  Emptiness.

  It was also the first time she truly noticed the limp he walked with, favoring his right leg as he stepped forward, his hand still touching his wife’s lower back as he guided her along with him.

  Chad remained just he had been, unmoving. The beeps of the monitors seemed overpowering and obnoxiously loud as his family gathered at his bedside, unsure of what to say or do.

  “What happened to you?” The question passed Elaine’s lips in a hushed voice, and the tone made Katie look up suddenly from the spot she’d been focusing on in the middle of the floor. The way she asked it, so desperate, so lost, she had a gut feeling his mother wasn’t just asking about the accident.

  Jillian reached a steadying hand out toward her mother for reassurance. “He’s going to be okay, Mom.”

  “He was so angry all the time, Jillian. So hell-bent on proving himself to us. To everyone.” Tears swelled over Elaine’s eyelids again.

  “He was headstrong, Mom. He was always like that.” Her gaze never left Chad’s face.

  “He was—”

  “Stop saying was.” Hayden’s voice sounded deep in the sterile room. “Chad is right there, and he’s not gone. So, stop talking like he is.”

  His outburst left everyone speechless, only making the ensuing blip, blip, blip of the monitors louder to Katie’s ears. It also made it easier to be aware that the monitors were beginning to beep faster, and she glanced over to see the glowing digital lines on Chad’s heart rate monitor starting to spike frantically. The beeping that coincided with it caused her own heart rate to speed up.

  “What’s going on? Chad?” Hayden’s voice was louder this time, uncertain.

  The monitors blipped and beeped wildly, and Elaine dove toward the bed, her hand scooping up Chad’s own in one fluid motion.

  Katie scanned the digital displays of the monitors. “Someone get the doctor!” She turned, eyes wide, but Dr. Vale and two other nurses were already pushing past her.

  “What happened?” the doctor commanded, his gaze flitting from one display screen to another. A second later, “Lucinda, get them out of here!”

  Katie, closest to the door, made it out of the room first, but she turned, trying desperately to see what was going on. The words “What is happening?” fell from her lips at the same time Dr. Vale announced, “He’s crashing. Lucinda—”

  The rest of the jargon the doctor barked would have made sense to her ears if she’d been able to hear him, having been a nurse what seemed like a lifetime ago. Unfortunately, Elaine was wailing something awful, fighting against the restraining hands of her husband as he held her away from the bedside. Hayden’s eyes were just as wide, just as fearful, but something else was etched on his face between his emotions.

  He realized it, too.

  Chad’s rising blood pressure, the increasing pulse rate, the frantic alarms and bleeping monitors—none of it had begun until the moment Chad’s father spoke.

  Katie’s hand rose to her mouth, shielding a sharp gasp. Fear gripped her, but she couldn’t look away despite the nurses demanding them to leave the room immediately. There was no movement on Chad’s part, no flicker of the eyes or twitch of the fingers.

  But he was there.

  If Chad could respond enough to get riled about the presence of his father in his hospital room, then, damn it, Chad was still there. The thought was the only thing keeping her from joining Elaine and Jillian by bursting into tears herself.

  When Chad’s family finally relented—only after Dr. Vale turned his attention toward them for a split second and forcefully demanded “Get out, please!” with a taut finger pointed toward the door—they joined Katie outside the door.

  She stood there, motionless, her ears waiting for the sound of a voice to come across the overhead speaker announcing a Code Blue, waiting for other medical personnel to coming running, but the code was never called. It made Katie feel slightly better; it meant he hadn’t gone into cardiac arrest, and they were succeeding in stabilizing him again.

  No, he’d just been miffed about his father being there, and his vital signs had let his anguish be known.

  Elaine managed to ca
lm herself down by the time Dr. Vale reappeared from the room, his face drawn in tight lines. Katie didn’t know exactly how long he and his nurses had been in there, but the doctor was all business now.

  “Chad is stabilized again,” he announced solemnly.

  “What happened?” Jillian demanded. “He seemed...I mean, Chad was...you said...”

  Dr. Vale cleared his throat. “I know you’re family, and I know you want to be as close as possible to him right now. I understand that, I do. But, ma’am, Mr. Kirkwood is not okay. He is, as I’ve already stated, stable. Which is important. He’s got a lot of healing to do, and we’ve all got to be patient and let him have the time he needs to do it.”

  “He can hear us, can’t he?” Katie said the words aloud without thinking, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. She was careful not to look Chad’s father in the eye.

  Dr. Vale gave a noncommittal shrug. “The jury is still out on that one, I’m afraid. I’d be inclined to say no, medically speaking, but as I’m sure you’re very aware, there are a lot of conflicting thoughts and theories regarding the topic.” He offered her a faint smile. “Therefore, just to be safe, I’d say let’s not say or do anything that may hinder his healing or upset him, all right?”

  The doctor excused himself after requesting that the four of them wait until the evening visiting hours to see Chad again. They made their way back out to the waiting room in silence, and Katie contemplated getting another coffee from the cafeteria just so she didn’t have to sit across from his parents without knowing what to say. Unfortunately, she didn’t leave fast enough.

  “Come sit with us, Katie. We’d love to know more about you.” Elaine’s voice was soft, almost sheepish. As much as she didn’t want to, Katie couldn’t deny the poor woman an explanation. Besides, she was feeling jittery after Chad’s triumph at proving his presence, so the last thing she needed was more caffeine running through her veins.

  “There isn’t really much to tell,” she mumbled as she took a seat, sitting on the edge of her chair, ready at any moment to make her escape. She felt like a high school student about to be grilled by an overprotective parent.

  Elaine sat back in her seat, clutching her husband’s hand until his fingers turned white. Was she nervous, too? “How did you and Chad come to meet?”

  Katie translated the question in her mind automatically, knowing what she really meant to ask. Why are you here, and not Liz?

  But she didn’t know how to answer. His family hadn’t known about Chad and Liz’s breakup, so they almost certainly didn’t know he’d left Nashville for a short period and come back to Canada. Without visiting them.

  “He helped me out at my dad’s farm a few months ago.” It wasn’t a lie. It was just a very, very vague answer.

  “Obviously not anywhere around here, I take it.” Elaine’s mouth twitched in a knowing grin when she didn’t respond. “You don’t talk like an American, dear.”

  Right. The accent. Or lack of one. “Right. Chad and I met in Ontario. I’m not from here.”

  “I didn’t realize he had crossed the border. Closest he’s been to home in years, then. That I know of, anyway.” Elaine’s voice was distant, like she was fighting back the painful truth of what she was hearing.

  Katie swallowed, unable to hold the woman’s gaze for more than a second. “I’m sure he meant to visit, Mrs. Kirkwood.”

  “Even you don’t believe that.” Hayden’s voice seemed so deep and loud in comparison to his wife’s, making her flinch. “He had no intentions of visiting, and you know it. We all know it.”

  She was confident that her cheeks were blazing a fiery redness by now. Katie clutched her hands to the armrests on either side of her, glancing upward while she had the guts. “Look, Mr. Kirkwood—”

  “Hayden.”

  “Hayden, right. Look, Hayden, I don’t want to sit here and pretend I know the whole story of whatever went on between you and Chad. He told me a few things, but not much. But Mr. Kirk—I mean, Hayden, I saw what just happened in that hospital room. Your son responded to your voice. You realized it, too.” She almost added that she didn’t think it was a good response, but wisely bit back the words.

  His jaw worked, mulling over the words he wanted to say as though they were tangible. “You may not be wrong, so I’ll give you that one. But, Katie—it’s Katie, right?—Well, Katie, you don’t know anything.”

  His words stung, just as they were meant to. His tone also heightened her defenses, and she clenched her jaw in humiliation. “I never said I knew—”

  “You may know more about what’s going on with Chad Ashton right now than we do, but don’t think for one second that you know Chad Kirkwood better than we do. Because you would be wrong.” He was clutching the armrest of his chair, too, and Katie wondered if Elaine was holding his hand as tightly as she was in order to keep him in his seat.

  “You’re his parents,” she snapped, fed up with being treated like an outsider. “Therefore, I’d never assume to know such a thing.” She swallowed hard again, her eyes steely. When she spoke again, there was an edge in her voice she hadn’t meant to convey, but her emotions and frustrations were colliding, causing an inner whirlwind of uneasiness, and this man was asking for the storm to descend on him. “What I do know is that you sold his guitar and tossed his dreams aside like they had little meaning at all. And that tells me all I need to know, Mr. Kirkwood.”

  She stood, a solid lump forming in her throat. She was going to cry, and be damned if she wanted to do it in front of three sets of judgmental eyes who viewed her as some sort of enemy.

  “I’ll say it once more. You don’t know anything.” Hayden sounded suddenly calmer, and it unnerved her, making her turn back to look at each of their faces.

  “Is that what he told you?” Jillian said. For the first time, Katie realized Chad’s sister’s eyes were reddened and brimming with tears. She’d been so quiet, she’d almost forgotten she was there. “Is that all he told you, Katie?”

  The woman stood, meeting Katie’s uncertain gaze head on. “Because, if that’s all Chad told you, I’m pretty sure he forgot to mention one important thing, and that’s that he almost killed our father.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  KATIE

  In the wake of Jillian’s statement, Katie was left with only confusion and shock. She stood on a precipice, and finding out the answers to the questions she wanted to hurl at his sister—mainly “What the hell are you talking about?” and “Why?”—would only cause her to lose her footing and go careening over the edge. That left her standing there doing the only thing she could, staring blankly at the shifting expressions worn by Chad’s family members.

  “Come on, let’s go for a walk.” Jillian’s voice was softer now. “I’ll shed some light on this.”

  “Now, wait—” Hayden glared at his daughter.

  “Dad,” she interjected. “We don’t know her, and she doesn’t know us. But she and Chad must be close, otherwise the hospital wouldn’t have called her. Like it or not, Katie knows more about his life right now than we do. We know his past, Dad, but Katie knows who he’s become since then. Maybe it’s time we all gained a little insight from each other, seeing as it’s his future he’s fighting for?”

  Hayden stared into his daughter’s eyes, not once turning his gaze toward Katie. “I don’t need to hear the story. I was there, remember?” He turned away, motioning to Elaine to follow him. “Let’s go talk to the doctors. See if we can make some sense of all the medical lingo they were shoving at us earlier.”

  Katie watched as Chad’s parents turned and walked away from her, Elaine glancing back quickly to give an apologetic nod. To Katie or Jillian, she wasn’t sure. “I can’t go far. Chad’s manager is going to be bringing Mason back here soon.”

  “Mason?” Jillian asked.

  “My son.”

  Jillian’s eyes grew wide. “You have a son?”

  After first she didn’t realize what the incredulous look was all about, th
en it dawned on her what Jillian must be thinking, and she held up her hands. “No, wait. Mason isn’t Chad’s son. Jesus, I’m sorry. He’s mine, my seven-year-old.”

  Jillian blew out a long breath of air. “Christ, Katie. I swear to God, if you were about to tell me my brother had a son he never told any of us about, I was going to promise you that, once he’s feeling better, I’d beat him to a pulp.”

  Katie winced at the thought, running her hands through her hair. “I think that’s the second time you’ve threatened to beat him up. Should I be worried?”

  “Not in the least. If I wasn’t making idle threats, Chad would think something was wrong,” she chuckled, shrugging it off like it was an everyday occurrence. “Want to go to the cafeteria at least? I hate waiting rooms.”

  Katie let her lead the way, taking a moment to really digest the similarities between her and her brother. Both had the same sandy hair, though Jillian’s was just below her shoulders. No highlights or roots showing, just au natural. It surprised her a bit; she’d thought she was the only one left in this world who didn’t dye her hair. Their eyes were the same color, too, with the same slight squint when they said something they thought was comical. The same prominent cheek bones and angle of the jaw. If Katie hadn’t already known Jillian was younger than Chad, she could have mistaken them for twins.

  “Thanks for, well, sticking up for me back there,” Katie mumbled as they made their way into the cafeteria and proceeded to get more coffee. “With your father, I mean.”

  Jillian kept her eyes on her Styrofoam cup, her face remaining neutral. “Dad’s a tough case when it comes to Chad, that’s all. They have more history between them than the rest of our family combined, but he doesn’t want to admit that he doesn’t know his son anymore.” She ripped into two sugar packets and poured them into the cup. “He also doesn’t like to talk about the past, which is basically all he’s got left when it comes to Chad, so that makes it harder for him, too.”