Country (15 page)

“Shit luck. She came down with the flu last night, and she's sick as a dog. I'm so disappointed. I wanted you to meet her, although she tells some pretty awful stories about me in college that you don't need to hear.” He smiled. “She called Chase Taylor, and he's giving us the tickets and passes anyway. Everybody seems to know people involved in music here. So we're all set for tonight.”

“That's too bad she's sick,” Michael said, thoroughly convinced. It never dawned on him that his mother would lie. Or be involved with a country music star. Both concepts would have seemed preposterous to him, and Stephanie felt a little guilty for not telling him the truth, and hoped that nothing she or Chase said that night would give them away. She had told him the story she would tell Michael, and they had picked a fictional name for her college friend. Laura Perkins. It sounded perfectly credible to them, and it did to Michael too.

They had dinner at the hotel's excellent Capitol Grille that night, and at eight o'clock they left for the Bridgestone Arena, where Stephanie knew Chase had been rehearsing and setting up for the past eight hours. He always oversaw the preparations himself, and never trusted the event producers or venue managers to do it right. He had sent a car and driver for them, which Michael thought his mother had arranged, and as soon as they showed their tickets, they were escorted to the first row, dead center, where Chase would be only a few feet away from them. Amanda was so excited, she was practically squealing and called a friend from work on her cell to tell them where they were, and that they'd be meeting Chase backstage.

“I never knew you liked him this much,” Michael said, looking surprised.

“Are you kidding? He's gorgeous,” she said, with her heavy southern drawl. She always made a point of saying that southern men were better looking than Yankees, “except for Michael, of course.” But the added compliment never sounded totally sincere. She chatted with Stephanie then, while Michael checked the baseball scores on his BlackBerry. The Braves were in Philadelphia that night, and he was happy he didn't have to go. He went to a lot of their out-of-town games. Amanda loved going with him, especially when they stayed at fancy hotels, paid for by the team, who treated their employees very well. And she liked their room at the Hermitage Hotel too. His mother was always very generous with them. Amanda just expected it, but Stephanie did it for her son.

The arena was packed, and the concert was due to start at eight-thirty, but it didn't begin till nine. Stephanie wondered what was happening and hoped nothing was wrong, but she couldn't go backstage to ask. Sandy had been feeling squeamish that day, and she hoped she wasn't sick. The last time she had spoken to Chase was before dinner, and he had said that everything was fine. He had sounded busy, and they had gotten off quickly. And as she started to worry, the house lights went down, and the opening band started playing. Bobby Joe and his group played a short set and left the stage. And then the big band came on, and the music exploded through the sound system, and a moment later Chase was on the stage, as dynamic as ever, grabbing the audience's attention, and his fans screamed his name as he started to sing one of his new songs. He saved the one about Stephanie almost till the end, and the audience fell in love with him all over again.

She could see that Amanda was mesmerized, and Michael was enjoying it too. The concert had been fabulous, and the crowd applauded and screamed and begged for encores when it was over, and he played three. And then he took his final bow and left the stage as the spotlight followed him off. It had been a fantastic performance, and Amanda was jumping up and down and clapping her hands, as an usher appeared next to them and asked them to come backstage. Chase had looked straight at her several times during the performance with a look that was filled with his feelings for her, but the people around them just thought it was part of his act, and she was a lucky fan. But she knew exactly what it meant, just as she did when he sang the song he'd written for her. She just hoped Michael didn't figure it out too, but there was no reason why he would.

They followed the usher up onto the stage, into the backstage area, past all the sound technicians, and into a trailer they had set up for Chase behind the arena. It was almost as luxurious as his bus. Amanda was wide-eyed as they walked up the steps into it. Stephanie introduced them both to Chase.

“Thanks so much for coming to the performance,” Chase said to Michael, who looked amazed.

“Thank you for the tickets.” They talked about baseball for a few minutes, and Chase said he was a Braves fan. Chase couldn't have been more welcoming to both young people, and he gave nothing away when he spoke to Stephanie. He played it to perfection when he told her how sorry he was that Laura couldn't come and he hoped she wasn't too sick. Stephanie assured him it was just the flu, just as Sandy bounded into the trailer with a look of fury and walked right up to Chase, oblivious to Michael and Amanda, and even to Stephanie for once, as Michael stared at her. She was wearing the sequined cowboy shirt and skin-tight jeans she'd worn on stage, and her straight blond hair was hanging down her back to her waist.

“Bobby Joe is such an asshole!” she said to her guardian, and even surprised him. “He said I sang flat for the first half of the show, and I was completely off by an octave for the new song.” Chase tried to keep a straight face. It was just more of Bobby Joe's antics to make her feel bad about herself. She still hadn't figured it out.

“You were great!” he reassured her. “Believe me, if you'd sung flat or been off by an octave, I'd have given you shit myself. He's just jealous, and we cut his set short tonight because of the new songs. He's just pissed.” And then he reminded her of her manners. “Sandy, we have guests. This is Stephanie's son Michael from Atlanta, and his girlfriend Amanda.” He looked serious and circumspect as he said it and gave her a look to telegraph to her not to say too much. She got it immediately. She was a very bright girl.

“Oh, hi,” she said, looking embarrassed. “Sorry for the complaints. My boyfriend thinks my singing sucks,” she said, looking up at Michael, thinking she had never seen anyone as handsome in her life, except maybe Chase.

“You were fantastic,” Michael reassured her, as their eyes met and held. Stephanie felt as though she could see sparks coming from them, and she smiled. Amanda was too busy fawning over Chase to notice. She had her back turned to Michael and never saw the exchange. But Chase did, and so did Stephanie. Something had happened between the two young people without words.

“I need to rehearse that song some more,” Sandy said vaguely, but she looked as though she had no idea what she was saying, and Michael didn't seem to care. “You live in Atlanta?”

“Yes, I do. I work for the Braves.”

“I love baseball,” she said suddenly sounding very southern, even more so than Amanda, who was charming Chase, and he kept her busy so Michael and Sandy could talk. He was on Stephanie's team.

“You'll have to come for a home game sometime,” Michael said vaguely to Sandy, his eyes never leaving hers, oblivious to Amanda.

“I'd like that,” Sandy said, completely forgetting about Amanda, and that she had a boyfriend herself. It was as though Michael and Sandy were alone in the room. And then more people crowded into the trailer, Chase got busy, Sandy was pulled away to talk to someone, and Stephanie led Michael and Amanda out of the trailer. She noticed that her son seemed dazed. Amanda was talking to him a mile a minute about how incredible Chase was and how charming, and he didn't hear a word. He glanced at his mother with a blank look, as though he were under a spell and a bomb had hit him the minute Sandy walked in. She was seven years younger than he was, just eighteen, but he didn't care. She was the most beautiful, enchanting girl he had ever seen.

They had a nightcap at the hotel at the Oak Bar, and Michael literally didn't say a word.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” his mother asked him, and he nodded.

“Yeah, I'm fine. We lost tonight in Philly.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.” But they both knew he wasn't thinking about the Braves. She wondered if he would say anything to her about Sandy, but he couldn't. And he had no idea how well his mother knew her. Amanda was still rhapsodizing about Chase.

The young couple went to their room shortly afterward, and Amanda thanked her profusely for the tickets. Michael just said he was really tired and disappeared into the room.

Stephanie went to her room, lay down on the bed, and turned on the TV. It was two hours later when Chase called her after he left the arena, while the band was still packing up their equipment, and he was on his way home. He had been there for fourteen hours and he was tired, but it had been a very successful show.

“It was terrific,” she told him, as she turned down the TV. And she was happy that her son had suspected nothing between them. Chase had played it very straight, out of deference to her.

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” he said, as he drove the Corvette with the top down. It was a beautiful June night under a full moon. “I think we had some magic here tonight.”

“I loved our song,” she said, still very moved that he had written it for her and sung it while looking at her that night.

“Me too. But that's not what I meant. I meant in the trailer afterward. Your son looked like he was about to faint when Sandy walked in. I heard birds chirping, harps playing, violins. The two of them looked mesmerized by each other. I tried to keep Little Miss Busybody occupied so she didn't notice.” Stephanie laughed at what he said.

“I thought maybe you were falling for her,” Stephanie teased him.

“Not likely. And I know exactly what you mean about her. I know the type. She's pushy, but in a very hidden way. Even hardly knowing her, I got the feeling that she's after money. It's all she talks about, who has what. But I think something happened there tonight, with Sandy. I hope he does something about it.”

“I doubt he will. He's totally faithful to Amanda. It's a terrible thing to say, but I'm not even sure he loves her.”

“Yeah, but something happened tonight,” Chase insisted, trusting his instincts, and Stephanie hoped he was right. “It was like watching a movie. He fell for her like a ton of bricks, and so did she. Sandy was telling him how much she loves baseball. Hell, she doesn't know a ball from a bat.” Stephanie was still laughing, and she wondered if Chase was right and something might come of it. It seemed unlikely to her, but stranger things had happened. She had met Chase. “Can you slip him her number somehow?”

“I don't know how. What would be the excuse?” Stephanie asked him.

“Tell him to invite her to a game,” Chase said simply.

“Are you promoting a romance between your ward and my son?” she teased him.

“Yes, I am,” he said unashamedly. “And I'll be doing you a big favor if it works,” he reminded her.

“Isn't that the truth. I'd owe you big time for that one!”

“I'll remind you of that one day.”

They talked about the concert again then, and he was pleased. He told her he'd call her the next day, when he woke up.

She was planning to see Amanda and Michael for brunch at the hotel before they headed back to Atlanta.

The next morning at the hotel restaurant, Stephanie thought that Michael still looked distracted, and he was unusually quiet, while Amanda chattered endlessly about the charms of Chase, how handsome he was, and how great the concert had been. She thanked Stephanie profusely for inviting them, and then went upstairs to pack her bag and brush her teeth before they left, while Michael spent the last few minutes with his mother.

“Mom,” he said, sounding serious for a minute, and she was suddenly worried that he would ask her again how she knew Chase, but he had given nothing away the night before, and neither had she. “You wouldn't have his daughter's number, would you?” He didn't see why she would, but he had to ask, just in case. He looked desperate and almost sick, which touched her heart.

“Do you know what's funny? As a matter of fact I do. She was with Chase when my friend Laura introduced me to them, and she gave me her number. She's not his daughter, by the way. He's her guardian. Her parents died, and her father left her to Chase when she was fifteen. She told me all about it when she gave me her number.”

“How old is she?” He still looked concerned. He was afraid she might be sixteen or seventeen. She looked young.

“Eighteen.”

“She's legal at least,” he said with a grin, and his mother didn't say a word. She was ecstatic that he was even remotely interested in her. Maybe Chase was right, and she had seen the magic happen in the trailer the night before herself. Stephanie looked up Sandy's number on her cell phone and texted it to him. And as soon as she did, Amanda appeared back at the table, carrying her overnight bag and ready to leave.

Stephanie walked them out to Michael's car and hugged him and thanked him for coming.

“I'm glad I did,” he said, looking her in the eye, and she nodded and then hugged him again. She couldn't say anything about his calling Sandy in front of Amanda, but she hoped he would. And she knew she couldn't pry after this. He was a man. It was up to him. But her fingers were crossed that the magic had been real. She wanted that for him even more than she wanted Chase. Michael had his whole life ahead of him, and she wanted it to be good, not spent with a woman who didn't really love him and saw him as a good catch. Amanda had convinced Stephanie of it in the past three years.

She waved as they drove away, then went back to her room at the hotel. Chase called her a little while later, and she drove out to Brentwood to spend the day with him by the pool. He broached a painful subject with her that afternoon.

“When are you leaving, Stevie?” He knew it would be soon. She had agreed to wait until after his concert, and she had wanted to see her son, but there were no more reasons left to delay. She had called Louise while she was waiting to hear from him, and she said that the only day she had time to see her mother was Thursday, which meant that Stephanie had to leave Nashville on Tuesday, to get from Nashville to New York in two days. It would give her another day together with Chase, but after that she had to face reality and leave. She was as sad about it as he was, and all Chase wanted was to figure out a reason for her to return. Soon. Or he'd go to California to see her if he had to. He couldn't imagine his life without her now.