My Kind Of Country: The Complete Series

by Michelle Thomas

  “Please tell me this is some kind of joke.” Katie whispered the plea to no one in particular, but she heard Jay scoff behind her.

  “So, you couldn’t just be friends after all, I see?” He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head at the notion.

  “Jay, it was not like that. This picture is bogus. I mean, it’s real, and I was there. But this picture makes it look like something it wasn’t. He was just giving me a hug. He was just—”

  “You’re telling me you didn’t go there and sleep with him, then? Is that what you’re saying, Katie?” He glared at her, waiting for a response.

  She opened her mouth to answer, closing it again before she could get the words to come out.

  “Yeah. That’s what I thought. At least you have the decency not to lie about it.”

  Tears stung her eyes, but Katie blinked them back. She grabbed the paper from the dining room table and waved it in his direction, crumpling the picture of the article in the process. “This is not what it looks like! Chad and I—”

  “Do you want to know who else saw that picture, Katie?” Jay’s voice was growing louder, and she silently prayed he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying. “Our son. Mason is the one who saw your little make-out session on the front page of the entertainment section first. Mason, Katie!” He slammed his fist down on the table, and coffee splashed over the rim of the mug onto the newspapers below it.

  Her heart plummeted, and tears spilled over onto her cheeks. This couldn’t be happening. She and Chad had talked about it all; this wasn’t in the plan. “I never meant—”

  “You never what? You never thought your son would find out? You never thought he would see that in the paper? What about the thousands of other people who got to see your little escapade while they sipped their coffees this morning and gossiped to their spouses about the woman who’s probably just with Chad Ashton for his money, or for her fifteen minutes of fame?”

  She shook her head emphatically. “It’s not like that! You know it’s not.”

  “You’re absolutely right. I know it’s not, but all those reporters and all the folks reading the damn paper don’t have a clue. To them, it is exactly as it looks, and what it looks like is that you and Chad Ashton are making out, hot and heavy, on the sidewalk in front of his place. What it alludes to is that you went back up to his place and spent the night in his little love shack. So, I’m telling you right now, Katie, no one gives a damn about how it actually is.”

  Katie leaned against the table for support, unsure how things had gone so horribly wrong. “Is Mason okay?”

  “Oh, now you’re thinking about Mason’s wellbeing?”

  His words stung her like a slap in the face. “Jay, don’t you dare! You know I always put him first! Hell, I’m always putting everybody first! That’s how we got into this mess!”

  Jay snickered, pointing at her. “You got one thing right, anyway. This is definitely a mess.” He turned away from her, pacing across the kitchen and then back again. “And Mason seems okay, but I’m sure he wants to talk to you, especially seeing as I didn’t say much. It’s not up to me to do your damage control.”

  “I’ll talk to him.” She spat her words out, getting fed up with the distasteful looks he gave her. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I will explain it to him.”

  An angry sneer formed on Jay’s face. “I would love to hear that explanation. The thing is, there is no explaining this away. This is how it’s always going to be with Chad! No matter what you two have surmised during your little love affair, this is how it’s always going to be. Your every move is going to be questioned, documented, and embellished. You’ll be viewed as his little play-toy now, not to mention having cameras and reporters in your face everywhere you go, making things look different than how they really are. There will be no getting away from it.” He reached forward and ripped the newspaper from her hands, and she flinched again. “That’s fine if that’s the kind of life you want for yourself, Katie, but you need to ask yourself...is that the kind of life you want for Mason?”

  “I would never intentionally hurt my son. Neither would Chad.”

  “Maybe not, but if you’d seen his face this morning when he saw you in the paper, you would realize that you’re pretty good at it unintentionally.”

  “That is not fair,” she choked out. “I’m not allowed to be happy with someone because it will hurt my son. That’s what you’re telling me right now?” She squeezed her hands together, her mind reeling.

  Jay scoffed again, this time glaring at her with such disgust that even Katie averted her eyes to the floor to avoid his stare. “He’s seven. For that reason alone, you might be able to smooth it over with him and make it sound like you did nothing wrong. What I want to know is, what about when he’s older, Katie? What about when he’s old enough to understand that you walked out of here yesterday, directly into the arms of someone else?”

  “You told me to!” She blurted the words out before she had time to think about them, covering her face immediately with her hands.

  “Are you seriously blaming me for this?”

  “No.” Her sobs made it difficult to speak. “I’m not blaming anyone, but don’t sit here and make it sound like I did you wrong, Jay. You know I didn’t. You and I have been over for a long time, and even you finally admitted it yesterday by giving me an out.”

  “I did not give you an out, Katie. I gave you a choice.” He held the newspaper up again, tapping his finger hard against the picture on the page. “And trust me, your choice has been made, loud and clear.”

  “He is my choice!” She wiped the tears from her face. “And I hate it that loving him has turned into something so wrong according to everyone else. I wasn’t thinking—”

  “There is the first smart—and true—thing you’ve said since you walked through that door, Katie. You’re right, you weren’t thinking! That’s the main problem! The other issue is that you chose him over your son, and be damned if I will sit here and tolerate that.”

  She swallowed the lump that now restricted her airway, her eyes growing wide as she made eye contact with the man she once thought she loved. “I did not choose anyone over my son, and you know that. I chose him over you. There’s a difference.”

  A wicked laugh escaped his throat, and he shook his head, sending incredulous glances in her direction. “That’s funny, because I’m pretty sure the courts won’t see it that way.”

  “The courts?” She repeated the words as though they were foreign on her tongue.

  “You heard me.”

  “You’re planning to take me to court?” The walls were closing in around her, and the room suddenly felt smaller than ever. “You have got to be joking.”

  “That is your biggest problem, Katie. You’ve never really taken me seriously.”

  “Jay, we are not—”

  “Do not say we!” he erupted, his voice loud and hostile. “If you’ve made your decision, then it looks like mine has been made for me.”

  She held up her hands, the tears no longer spilling from her eyes. Instead, a growing fury smoldered within her, building with each vengeful word he threw at her. “Are you telling me that, if I end things with you and go to Chad, you’ll take me to court for custody of our son? Are you seriously doing that to me?”

  “Ah, so you are listening to me, after all.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  He glanced down at the newspaper again, turning it so she could see the picture once more. “You might be okay with subjecting Mason to this kind of life, Katie, but I’m sure as hell not. This kind of pictorial evidence will go far in helping my case as well.”

  Katie felt sick, her stomach churning incessantly. “Jay, don’t do this. We can’t put Mason through that kind of turmoil.”

  He rolled his eyes. “But you think you can put him through this and it’s okay?” He tossed the newspaper at her, and she watched it fall in a crumpled heap on the floor. “I’m through playing these ga
mes, Katie.”

  “You were fine with it when you left me—and Mason—to be with Liz.” The words were meant to sting, but she watched Jay’s face transform into one of vacant amusement.

  “No one had her and I plastered on the pages of the newspaper. No one even knew about us, not even you and Chad.”

  In that moment, she hated him. She hated Jay for the cocky, narcissistic manner he discussed his infidelity in, and she hated him for threatening to have her son taken away by the courts because she no longer could put up with the ruse of a relationship with him. “I don’t even know who you are anymore, Jay.”

  “People do crazy things when their back is up against a wall. You brought it on yourself, I’m afraid.”

  “I’m his mother! The courts won’t take him from me.”

  Jay averted his eyes toward the crumpled newspaper once more. “You sure you want to take that chance?”

  Her mind was racing, an abundance of thoughts flowing rapidly through it in quick succession. The seconds ticked by. She lifted her gaze up from the floor when she realized there was only one thing she hadn’t yet questioned him about. “What if I don’t?”

  “Don’t what?”

  “You said if I leave you to be with Chad, you’ll take me to court for custody of Mason. But what if I don’t? What if I stay?”

  He sneered. “I’m not a hypocrite, Katie. I can get past the fact that you slept with him, just like you had to when I cheated on you.”

  “I did not cheat—”

  He held his finger up to silence her. “Like I said, I can look past all that. We all make mistakes.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. What if I stay?” Her nerves hummed with apprehension. Jay’s sudden angry grin caused her to feel nauseous again.

  “Then you’d have a choice to make. And this time, there would be no turning back from it.”

  She didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAD

  Chad couldn’t seem to wipe the grin from his face. As he tidied up his apartment that morning, finding his t-shirt tossed on the floor of his living room, he picked it up, reminding himself of the bashful yet beautiful look Katie had worn as she’d removed it so ceremoniously.

  We’re finally going to be together.

  “Finally.” The word crossed his lips without thinking, but he meant it. Never in a million years had he expected Katie to show up there at his doorstep and finally give in to the connection they shared. Never had he expected her to decide to stop denying how she felt about him, and never had he believed she would stay the night, allowing him to see her so vulnerable and full of desire in the darkness of the night.

  Now, they could move on. Together. No more pushing his feelings aside, and no more holding himself back from being near her, from touching her to make sure she was really there.

  There would be no more pretending and no more hiding. Everything that needed to be said had been spoken without judgment. There were no more lies, no secrets, and no demands on either of them to be something they weren’t.

  He wanted nothing more than to have Katie become who she wanted to be; not just a lover or friend, and not just a mother. Whoever Katie Wicken wanted to be, he wanted to be there to help her become that woman. It struck him as odd that she was so genuinely sure of how to respond when he’d asked what she would want to do if she didn’t need to think of anyone else’s wellbeing, yet she seemed to be so lost on the path that would get her to that goal. He couldn’t fathom what it must be like to not remember who you truly were, so shadowed and erased by the people who should’ve loved you and built you up, so removed from the world still spinning around you.

  No more, Katie. Together, we’ll get you back on the path toward a life you’ll love.

  He wanted to despise Jay for it all, to blame him solely for stripping her of her pride, confidence, and desire to live. He couldn’t, though. It may very well have never been his intention, even though he’d done things to hurt her and bring her world crashing down around her.

  Katie, however, had allowed herself to stay within the confinements of the sullen life she’d become accustomed to, if for no other reason than because it was the easiest and safest thing to do. She worried so much about Mason that she failed to allow herself room to grow, and failed to see the toxic bubble she’d built around them.

  Jay had failed her many times, but Katie had also failed herself. Chad didn’t want to admit it, but it was true.

  Now, he felt an inner protectiveness toward her, an obligation to remind her of all that she was missing and that she didn’t have to wake up each morning with no reason to be content in the life she’d made.

  Last night and this morning, with him, within his tiny apartment—it was all just a miniscule glimpse of what it could be like for them. Chad’s mind wandered back through the hours they’d shared, safely hidden within the darkness of his bedroom with only the faintest hint of moonlight peeking in, followed by the tender kisses and closeness between them as they breathed easily and made promises of the way things would be for them from now on. His last thought was of the words that had fallen so simply from Katie’s lips in the cozy morning light of the kitchen.

  I would definitely call this love.

  She seemed so sure, so ready for it.

  “Finally.” He repeated the word in a whisper, the corners of his mouth tugging upward again.

  ***

  He checked his phone for the thousandth time that day, but the display screen still revealed no missed calls or voice messages. The urge to check on her, to send a quick text or call, consumed him.

  It’s been five hours.

  Katie was right, he did sound like a stalker. He wondered if he should be expecting to hear from her so soon, or if he was just being overly zealous with his desire to be near her again.

  “I’m going to take that thing away if you don’t stop eyeing it up like it’s about to spontaneously combust.” Barry came back down the narrow staircase into the recording studio, two mugs of coffee clenched tightly in his fists. Chad reluctantly set his phone down on the edge of the switchboard and watched in amusement as Barry’s tall frame walked slowly and steadily toward him, doing everything in his power not to slosh the hot coffee onto the floor.

  “Sorry, I don’t even realize I’m doing it, to be honest.” He reached out to take one of the mugs from his manager, and Barry exhaled in relief. If it spilled now, it wasn’t his fault.

  “Well, I do. It’s Katie you’re waiting on, am I right?”

  Chad raised a skeptical eyebrow toward him. “Since when do we discuss personal matters when we should be working?”

  “Since when have you ever answered me so damn vaguely? It must be Katie,” he quipped, setting his mug on the rolling cart beside the control panel. “Well, I hope she calls you soon. You’re driving me nuts.”

  “I will be sure to let her know that when she does.”

  “Look, it’s not my place to pry—”

  “But you’re going to, anyway.” Chad smirked, taking a sip from the mug. He pulled his acoustic guitar from the stand beside his chair and began to pluck the strings sequentially, confirming it was in tune.

  “I won’t ask any questions; it’s not my place. I’m just a bit worried you’re going to get hurt, I guess.”

  “You’re worrying too much, old man. Trust me, the worst is over. I appreciate your concern, though.” He strummed a few chords and flashed a semi-convincing smile in Barry’s direction.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.” Chad chuckled, setting the guitar back down. “She showed up at my place last night. It was unexpected, to say the least, but we finally have everything worked out.”

  A hint of a grin shone crookedly on Barry’s face. “Workin’ things out. Is that what you kids are calling it these days?”

  Chad laughed, stretching out to pull the sheet of lyrics he needed from the table by his chair. “Easy, Barry. You’ll give y
ourself a heart attack just thinking about it.” He handed the sheet over to him. “And it’s not like that with us. Anyway, here, look over these. That’s the song I want to cut next for the album.”

  Barry glanced down at the paper he’d thrust at him, and his eyes immediately flicked back up to meet his. “We’re going to record this one? You sure you want to do that? I mean, you were so adamant that we couldn’t before.”

  “Katie thinks I already have.”

  Barry rolled his eyes emphatically, but a glint of vibrancy flickered in his gaze, mixed with entertainment. “Well, as long as you’re sure.”

  “I am. It’s time.”

  ***

  Thirteen hours. Chad plucked the phone one last time from his bedside table, even though he knew there was no text message or call from Katie. The clock was winning this game, ticking by the minutes while he perceived each of them as hours. He knew he was just being impatient and selfish, but that didn’t make it any easier on his mind and his body, both yearning for some sign that she was near and she was okay.

  Katie needed time, he knew that. There were a lot of things she was dealing with, and some of those things were undoubtedly weighing heavily on her right now. There were so many things she had to consider before everyone involved could finally move forward.

  That was fine, he could wait. This wasn’t a race, and it wasn’t a contest he was out to win. This was their life together. And as anxious to begin that as he was, she needed him to be amicable to the time she would need to get her head wrapped around all the changes.

  He felt guilty about that—all the upheaval she’d have to tolerate in the wake of her decision to leave Jay—but he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a tinge of culpability for what Jay would go through now as well.

  Within all his wrongdoings, Chad had to believe that, in some messed up and backwards kind of way, Jay had just been trying to do what was best for his family. Unfortunately, sometimes not even the best of intentions could fix a scenario that had that much going wrong within it, and Chad didn’t blame himself for that.