Country: a novel Part 4

"I've already been here for two days, and I'm staying tomorrow. I have to go home sometime." But she could no longer think why. She was having too much fun here with them.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," he said firmly, and she laughed. They both knew she had to go home. But in the meantime, she was having the best time she'd had in years. "See you tomorrow, Stevie. Sleep tight," he said in a tired voice. He had given the show his all tonight. He always did. And Sandy had been terrific too, and put her mouse shoes on the minute she came off stage. "You can become Sandy's mentor, or mine," he said warmly. He liked spending time with her.

"There's nothing I could teach you that you don't already know," she said kindly. He was a wise man, and she agreed with the wisdom he had shared about life.

"I don't think that's true, Stevie. You're a very special woman. You just don't know it yet. Come to Nashville and find out." She didn't know what he meant by that and didn't want to ask. She liked the friends.h.i.+p that they shared, and she wasn't ready for it to be more, with him or anyone. And he had sensed that from the moment they met. He was satisfied with what they had. He just liked being with her. He hadn't enjoyed anyone this much in years. "Get some sleep. We'll figure out something to do tomorrow, or just lie by the pool and relax. I'll call you in the morning," he promised.

"I'd like that," she answered, and they both hung up. It had been another perfect day. And she was thoroughly enjoying her new friend. And so was he.

Chapter 9.

They spent the morning at the pool the next day, until people started hounding him for autographs. And they went back to his suite, and ordered lunch there. It was still impressive to Stephanie to see how fans chased after him and intruded on him every place he went. He was always gracious about it, but it was wearing after a while.

They were halfway through lunch when Chase brought up the subject of Nashville again.

"I know this isn't the kind of thing you do," he began, "but it's a h.e.l.l of an opportunity to see the city with someone like me. It's a two-day drive from here. I can drive your car for you, or one of the boys in the band. You can stay a few days and then drive back to San Francisco. And you can visit your son in Atlanta while you're there. Come on, Stevie. We're having such a good time. Don't leave now." His eyes pleaded with her when he said it, and she was touched. And he was right, it was an opportunity, but it made no sense in her real life. What was she doing following a country music band around the country from Las Vegas to Nashville, and then driving back west alone? It was really a stretch for her. But the alternative was depressing. Sooner or later she had to go home. Why not have some fun before she did? He did all he could to convince her, and by the end of lunch she still wasn't sure. The chance to visit Michael in Atlanta appealed to her and almost seemed like a good excuse, but not quite.

"I don't know, Chase. And you have work to do when you get home." He had told her about the new alb.u.m they were doing.

"Yes, but I'd love to show you around. Just come for a few days, and you can see your boy." He was touching every chord he could.

"If my boy wants to see me. He has a girlfriend I don't like, and she's not crazy about me either."

"A local girl?" She nodded. "Ah, a Georgia peach. They're the worst kind. Saccharine sweet while they knife you in the back." He had described her perfectly, and Stevie laughed.

"You're a very convincing man," Stephanie said with a serious look. But she knew it was something she might never do again, and what better way to see Nashville than with him?

"So have I convinced you?" He looked hopeful, and she shook her head.

"Almost. I just don't know how to explain this to anyone. It's so not part of my normal life." But her normal life now was loneliness and grief. She dreaded going home, which was how she had wound up in Las Vegas in the first place. But Nashville felt like she'd really be pus.h.i.+ng it, and leading someone else's life, not her own.

"Then don't explain it. Who do you need to explain it to?"

"My son, if I show up."

"Can't you say you were visiting an old friend? You have nothing else to do right now. That might sound okay to them."

"Yeah, it might," she said, looking pensive, and then she sank her chin into her hands with a sigh. "Maybe I should just stop worrying about it and do it. I can figure out some explanation later. I don't know why I feel like I need to explain things to anyone, or make excuses, or have their permission. I'm just not used to doing whatever I want. Maybe they don't give a d.a.m.n anyway. My kids are grown up, so am I." She looked troubled as she glanced at him. "Okay, I'll come to Nashville. I can tell my grandchildren about it one day, about when I made friends with a famous country music star and followed his band to Nashville." He smiled at what she said and her expression, and he was happy she agreed. He was enjoying her company too much to want to see her go. It was one of those rare encounters in life that seemed important to both of them, although neither of them knew why. And he knew that sooner or later she had to go back to San Francisco, where she lived.

"Do you mind driving back cross country alone?" He was mildly worried about it. She had a good car and was an independent woman, but she was still a woman on her own.

"I'll be fine."

"You can always have the car s.h.i.+pped from Nashville and fly home," he suggested, but she shook her head. She liked the challenge, and it would be a good time to just think peacefully while she drove. "I'll drive your car for you tomorrow, or we can ride the bus if you prefer."

"I think it would be fun to drive," she said as they left the lunch table in his suite. They chatted for a while, and then she went back to her own room. She wanted to buy a few things for the trip to Nashville. She was running out of clothes. She had only brought enough for the weekend at the Biltmore, and even if she only stayed a few days in Nashville, with the drive back, she needed clothes now for ten days. She was about to leave her room to go shopping when Chase called her and offered to go with her.

"Won't your fans drive you crazy?"

"We'll see how it goes." But he liked the idea of shopping with her, and he wanted to give her an idea of what she might need. And from her perspective, suddenly she had a pal to do things with, and he made everything more fun.

They started out on foot and went to one of the huge malls she had already discovered. He was wearing dark gla.s.ses and a baseball cap, and they got through two stores before anyone recognized him.

And he made their shopping expedition an adventure. Stephanie burst out laughing at the first thing he chose for her. It was a red-sequined stretch jumpsuit that he said would look great on her figure, and it took her a minute to realize he was kidding. She picked out jeans, a pair of white silk slacks, and a white cotton jacket, while he concentrated on a low-cut silk blouse and a black leather miniskirt that made her laugh.

"Are you kidding? I'll get arrested."

"Not in Nashville, Stevie. Why not? It would look great on you." She tried to imagine what Bill would say if she had shown up in an outfit like that. They compromised on a short denim skirt, and one s.e.xy black top and a short white denim skirt she could wear with her high-heeled sandals. It was still younger looking and more revealing than most things she would have bought if she'd gone shopping on her own, but it was new for her to have the male point of view while she shopped, and she liked it. It was nice knowing what he wanted to see her in and thought looked good on her. Bill hadn't gone shopping with her since they were first married, and even then he considered it a painful ch.o.r.e that he was happy to give up after the first year. Her entire wardrobe was one that suited a respectably married woman, and was not meant to make her look s.e.xy or even attractive. Everything she owned was practical, conservative, and fairly plain. Chase reminded her that she looked fifteen years younger than she was and had a great figure, and should take advantage of it. It was strange hearing him say it, and when she got home she tried on everything they'd bought. It all looked good on her, but she hardly recognized the woman in the mirror, in the short white skirt and a youthful pale pink top. She wondered what her daughters would say if they saw her.

She called Jean and told her what she was doing. She felt uncomfortable not having someone know where she was, and where she was going.

"Has he put the make on you yet?"

"No, and I don't want him to," Stephanie said firmly. She didn't have the same fantasies as Jean. She was enjoying their friends.h.i.+p and didn't want to spoil it with anything more.

"Why not?" Jean asked her, and Stephanie thought about it.

"I still feel married. Maybe I always will." She sounded sad for a minute as she said it.

"I hope not. Bill didn't when he had that affair," she reminded her. Jean never minced words.

"That was different."

"Yes, it was. You wouldn't be cheating if you went out with this guy. You're a free woman, Steph."

"It's only been four months, not even that."

"Well, keep your options open. He sounds like a nice guy."

"He is. But it would spoil everything if we got involved. We're just having a good time, and I don't live in Nashville. And his life is completely different from mine. I'm just going to Nashville for a few days. I'll visit Michael in Atlanta, and then I'm coming home."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

"Both," Stephanie said, and laughed.

"Let me know where you are. And have fun."

They talked for a few minutes and hung up, and Stephanie went backstage again that night. It felt like a familiar scene now. After three days the band was starting to treat her like one of them, and Sandy loved talking to her. Stephanie had shown her photographs of her children, and Sandy had worn the mouse shoes that day. Delilah had shown Stephanie photographs of her children too.

Their performance that night was electrifying, and the audience loved them, and knowing it was their last night got everyone even more worked up. Chase had Sandy sing a solo, and she was great. She told Stephanie afterward that she had worn the mouse shoes for good luck, although she usually wore stilettos on stage.

They went back to the diner for dinner, and Chase had an enormous steak. He was starving as usual when he finished work, and told her all about Nashville while he ate.

"You're going to love it," he said with a look of excitement in his eyes, and Stephanie couldn't wait. It was a trip she would never have taken without him, but a place she had always wanted to visit, after reading about the music scene there. But she'd never had a reason to go.

The band went back to pack up their equipment after dinner. There was a truck that would be following the bus, and Chase had told her they would be leaving at nine the next morning. She promised to be ready on time.

She had trouble sleeping that night, she was thinking about the trip. And just as she was falling asleep, she had a text from Charlotte just checking in. Stephanie answered her immediately, and didn't say where she was or where she was going. She still had to invent a credible story for all of them, about a college friend she had decided to visit, but she didn't broach the subject yet. And Charlotte hadn't asked how she was, and a.s.sumed she was at home. She had just written to tell her mother what she was doing. She said she was going to Venice for the weekend. And Stephanie was relieved to know she'd be home in a few weeks, toward the end of June. After answering her text, Stephanie lay awake for another hour, wondering what Bill would think of what she was doing, and if he would approve. And she couldn't help wondering too what he would have been doing if she was the one who had died. But he would have had his work as a lawyer to keep him grounded. She didn't have anything except the kids, and her occasional work at the shelter, which just wasn't enough.

Stephanie was ready when Chase called her from the lobby the next morning. She'd been up since seven, her bags were packed, and she'd had coffee and scrambled eggs.

"Ready for your big adventure?" Chase teased her. It was hard to believe that they had met only three days before and had become friends. He was opening the doors to a whole new world, one that she was really starting to enjoy.

"I'm ready," she said, and called the bell captain after she hung up. When she got downstairs, the boys in the band were just boarding the bus with Delilah and Sandy, who waved at Stephanie. She was wearing the mouse shoes again.

"You're going to wear them out," Chase called after her, and she made a face at him and disappeared into the bus. The truck had already left with their equipment and headed to Nashville, and Chase slipped behind the wheel of Stephanie's car. She got into the pa.s.senger seat, and they took off, following the bus. The day was hot, and they had a long way to travel. Stephanie wore shorts, a T-s.h.i.+rt, and sandals, and Chase was wearing his torn jeans and a tank top, which showed off all his tattoos.

He turned on the radio as they drove down the strip toward the highway, and sang along to the music in his strong clear voice. She smiled at what she was listening to, her very own concert. It was still hard to believe. And as they set off on the open road, with the bus behind them by then, Stephanie started to sing with him, in a cautious voice at first. He pretended not to notice, so as not to make her self-conscious, and waited through several songs before he said anything.

"You've got a d.a.m.n fine voice," he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Not really. I just like singing." He smiled at her then.

"You've got perfect pitch. And not one false note. I should hire you to sing with the girls."

"Yeah, right."

He flipped through the stations then, until he came to some country music, and sang along with that, and she joined him on the ones she knew. She got braver as he got louder, and they were having a good time.

"Have you ever thought of writing lyrics?" he asked her, and she shook her head.

"I don't think I could."

"You said you like to write. You should try it sometime. It's fun. I'll show you how it works. All you need are some couplets and a refrain. You just tell a story with words, about who screwed over whom, who broke whose heart, and how long they've been crying ever since. You know, just like real life." She laughed.

"You make it sound so simple."

"It is. Just listen to the songs." She knew he wrote his own music and lyrics, and most of his songs were touching, told a story, and were very good. And the melodies were easy to sing. "I'll bet you could do it if you tried. We can try it when we get to Nashville. h.e.l.l, I'll turn you into a country singer yet."

"Oh G.o.d, that's a frightening thought. You'd be out of business in a week."

"Maybe not," he said, smiling at her again. She was easy to be with, and they were quiet for long periods, as Nevada slid by them. He was happy to be going home. He told her about the house he had remodeled a few years before, with a professional sound studio in it, where he recorded, and about his dogs. It sounded like a good life, and he didn't seem to mind being alone.

"After Tamra, I needed some time off," he explained to her when they talked about it as he drove. "It just got too intense, but that's how she is. She set fire to all my clothes once, when she thought I'd cheated on her." He smiled at the memory now, but he hadn't then.

"And had you?" Stephanie asked with interest. There were lots of temptations in his world, and he was a good-looking man.

"Not that time," he said laughing. "I used to be pretty wild when I was younger. I gave that up after my first few years with her. It wasn't worth the headache. Before her, I was kind of a bad guy. I was thirty-two when we got together, and I settled down after I turned thirty-five. She never believed me, though. She always thought I was cheating on her. She's a hotheaded woman. She cheated on me, though. She left me a few times, but she always came back. I was the one who wanted out in the end. I wanted a peaceful life, and I couldn't do that with her."

"Why did you take her back?" Stephanie was curious about him, and he was very open with her.

"She was a beautiful woman and hard to resist. I finally figured out that wasn't enough. I needed someone I could talk to. Tamra was too self-centered to listen. She never cared about anyone but herself. We sang great together, though. I thought I'd take a hit when we stopped recording together, but actually my alb.u.ms have done better since she's been gone. I always believed the fans liked her. Turns out I have better sales on my own." The bus pa.s.sed them a couple of times once they were on the open road, and some of the boys in the band hung out the windows and hooted and waved. He knew they would be having lunch on the bus by then, but Stephanie had brought them sandwiches from the hotel so they wouldn't have to stop. He ate his with one hand while he drove, and she offered to take a turn so he could rest, but he said he was fine. And she ate her sandwich as he continued driving. He put the radio back on then, and as she looked out the window and listened to the music, she fell asleep. He glanced over at her and smiled, and when she woke up two hours later, they were just pa.s.sing Gallup. He said he wanted to keep driving until dark and get as far as they could that day. There was a motel in Elk City, Oklahoma, where they usually stopped. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean, and he said there was a great truck stop nearby, with a diner where they liked to eat.

"I'll help you plan your route back to California when you leave Nashville. You need to stay in decent hotels. You can't stay in the kind of dives we do when we're on the road. I could write a guidebook to the worst motels in the world," he said with a grin, but she appreciated his concern for her. "As long as you stick to the main highways, and stay in good hotels and motels, you'll be fine on the way home," he rea.s.sured her. By then they were getting to Albuquerque, New Mexico. She felt as though she were getting a geography lesson as they drove. She would have liked to see Albuquerque, but they didn't have time. Chase had told her, before they left, that they would be driving on average fourteen hours a day for both days. It would have been easier and more relaxing on the bus, where they could stretch out on the couches, eat in the kitchen, use the bathroom, and walk around. But Stephanie liked being in the car with him, and talking as they drove. On the bus they would have had to be sociable with the others. This way she had Chase to herself.

When they stopped for dinner that night in Amarillo, Texas, they met up with the others on the bus. Sandy sat down next to Stephanie as soon as they walked in. She had been dying to talk to her all day. Everyone was looking a little raggedy by then. They had been watching movies on the bus on the large screen in the living room, and Sandy had slept in Chase's room. She was the only one he allowed to use his room. It was off limits to everyone else. And he put an arm around her after dinner, as they walked out of the restaurant. Stephanie liked watching him with her. He was so fatherly, and affectionate and kind, and stern when he thought he had to be. He told her to go to bed and sleep when they got back on the bus. They would be laying voice tracks of her when they got back to Nashville, and he didn't want her getting overtired.

He talked to the bus driver for a few minutes, estimating how much longer until they stopped for the night. While Chase was talking to him, Alyson called Stephanie on her cell. It was the first time she had heard from her all week, which was just as well.

"Oh my G.o.d, I'm so sorry, Steph. It's been a nightmare. The kids have been sick. They came down with chicken pox the night we got home. They're covered with them, and I know the baby is going to get them as soon as these guys get over them. I haven't left the house since we got back. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Stephanie said cheerfully. It had been a great week, but she didn't want to explain it to her.

"I don't know when I'm going to get out of here," Alyson said, sounding exhausted.

"I'm going to Atlanta to see Michael. And an old friend of mine from college." Alyson was happy to hear it. She knew that Stephanie had hardly left the house since Bill died.

"That'll be good for you," she said kindly. "I don't think I'll be able to get out till next week. And if Henry comes down with it, then I'll be stuck all over again." Henry was her two-year-old.

"I'll come and see you when I get back," Stephanie said.

"That would be great. Give my love to Michael. When are you leaving?"

"Soon," Stephanie said vaguely, as Chase walked toward her, and she saw the bus pull out. "I'll call you," she said, and hung up quickly. She didn't want Alyson to hear Chase talking if he said something to her, but he was cautious. He didn't know if it was one of her kids or someone else.

"Everything okay?" he asked as they got back in the car. They had a few more hours to drive before they stopped for the night in Elk City.

"It's fine. That was one of my two best women friends. Alyson. Her kids have chicken pox. She has young kids. Her husband is a doctor." She had mentioned them to him before, and as she said it, her life sounded so staid and bourgeois compared to his. But now everything seemed to be changing. She didn't feel like a boring housewife anymore, on the road to Nashville with Chase and his band. She looked over at him as he started the car, and he looked tired. "Do you want me to drive for a while?" she offered, and he shook his head and turned the car back onto the road.

"I'm fine," he said easily. "I like driving. It reminds me of all the years I drove the van, when we were on the road on tour in the early days."

"I like driving too. And I'm wide awake, if you want to switch off."

"You can ride the bus anytime you want," he suggested, and she smiled.

"I'd rather ride with you. It's nice talking to you." He looked pleased when she said it. "And being alone," she added shyly.

"I like it too," he said gently. "I keep wondering about the hand of fate that made us run into each other on that hiking trail." And now it felt as though they had known each other forever. She had admitted things to him, particularly about her marriage, that she had said to no one else. And he had been equally candid with her, even about cheating on Tamra. "Destiny is a strange thing," he added. "Sometimes I think people are brought into our lives to teach us lessons."

"I believe that too," she said softly, but she couldn't imagine what she was teaching him. He was teaching her to be more spontaneous and seize the moment, which was what had convinced her to go to Nashville, but she had decided to go to Las Vegas on her own.

"You've led a more stable life than I have. And you spent more time with your kids. I was too busy building my career and going on tour when my boy was little. He pretty much grew up without me. I was all over the place then, but he doesn't hold it against me. He comes up from Memphis pretty regularly to see me. And he loves the Grand Ole Opry. He has a great voice too, but you can't get him near this business. He's happy in construction."

"Is he married?" She had never thought to ask him, and there was something about driving at night that led to confidences, revelations, and confessions. But he knew most of hers already.

"No." Chase laughed at the question about his son. "He's still a bad boy, like I was at his age. He's always got a string of girls running behind him. But they can't catch him. He's too smart for that, and he doesn't want to settle down."

"He should talk to my son Michael. I'm scared to death that girl is going to convince him to get married. He's such a decent guy, and so steady and reliable, any girl would want him. And I think she has her eye on marriage."

"He sounds like you," Chase said gently, glancing at her in the light from the dashboard. She had let her hair down, and her face looked soft in the dim light. "Steady and reliable. Someone you can count on to always be there for you. I've never had a woman like that in my life. I've always been drawn to the wild ones, and the bad girls. They always seemed more exciting. It took me a lot of years to figure out that they're just trouble and not much else. They're never there when you need them, and cheating with someone else."