When Worlds Collide (My Kind Of Country Book 3)

by M. Lynne Cunning

  “Baby, you’re the one,” he crooned, giving the guitar one last slow strum.

  The crowd blew up. Cheers and hollering, clapping and whistling. Chad couldn’t contain the pride he felt at the reception the song was receiving, and he stood up slowly, nodding to the crowd as he lowered his guitar back into the stand. He turned, crooking a finger at Katie in the front row, with a wry smile on his lips.

  She didn’t hesitate, which shocked him more than anything. She patted Mason’s leg, then pulled him along with her toward the stairs at the side of the stage.

  Mason made it to him first, clambering up the stairs and across the stage before Chad had taken more than a few steps. The young boy threw himself at him, and Chad laughed at his enthusiasm, hugging him tightly against him.

  Katie was right behind him, her eyes set squarely on him, and he tipped his cowboy hat toward her with a chuckle. The audience had roared to life, on their feet and cheering wildly. When Katie lifted his cowboy hat from his head and used it as a shield to block the passionate kiss she shared with him, the loud frenzy heightened to an all-time high.

  “I love you,” she whispered, tucked safely behind the shelter of the makeshift curtain. “More than you know.”

  “If it’s anything like the love I have for you, Katie, then I’ve got a pretty damn good idea.” Chad bent his head down to kiss her again, the screaming crowd and bright lights a million miles away.

  ***

  The last of the crowd had dissipated, leaving behind only a heavy blanket of plastic beer cups in its wake, and many of the audience members would undoubtedly continue their rowdy honky-tonk Friday night at the nearest bars and pubs down the street. There had been a time when the idea of the smoke-filled, raucous pub scene and the scent of liquor and beer would have been appealing after a night like tonight. Chad’s adrenaline was still spiking, and his brain had no intention of slowing down the replay of the concert in his mind. Tonight, though, sitting on the edge of the stage, legs dangling, with Katie on one side of him and Mason on the other, while the arena employees and stage workers worked steadily around them, seemed like a pretty great Friday night to him.

  “So, how does it feel to be Chad Ashton again?” Katie nudged his arm gently, her hand interlocked with his.

  “Amazing,” he admitted, running his thumb over her knuckles. “It’s like I’m on a high I’ll never come down from.” He said it without thinking, and he jerked his head around to stare at her at the same time she looked up at him. “I mean...it’s a good high, not a—to hell with it. I didn’t mean it literally.”

  “I know you didn’t.” Katie lowered her gaze back down to their enjoined hands. “I know I shouldn’t ask, Chad, but I’m curious. It’s really none of my business, but do you or don’t you remember? About that night? About your—” She leaned forward to check if Mason was paying attention, but Chad didn’t need her to finish her sentence.

  “Do I remember what I did that night? God, no. And, honestly, I hope I never do. Listening to Dad tell me what I did was bad enough.” He shook his head. As long as he lived, he would never completely forgive himself for the pain and suffering he had caused his family. They may have forgiven him, but he wasn’t sure he had it in him to forgive himself. “As for my addiction,” he said in a lower voice, leaning close to Katie’s ear. “Yes, I remember. I mean, I wasn’t in a coma forever. Liz and I spent many nights talking about it, which makes it even more surprising that she knew about what happened with my father and never said a word.”

  “Do you wish she had?” Katie asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. If she had, there’s a chance I may have been closer to my family over the past twelve years, but I don’t blame her for that. That’s on me, not on her. She kept a secret my family asked her to keep. I would never condemn her—or anyone—for that.”

  “Do you think you’ll tell her that you know the truth now? It would make sense if you wanted to.”

  Chad wondered if Katie had been bottling up all the questions she had for him, afraid to ask them. “Unless it’s related to work, Katie, Liz and I have nothing left to talk about. She’s my past, but you’re my future. If I’ve got things I want to talk about, it’ll be with you.” He squeezed her hand, and then brought it up to his mouth, placing a feather light kiss against it.

  “You two sure know how to rile up a crowd, don’t you?” a familiar voice hollered from the side of the stage. They turned to see Jillian striding toward them, Elaine and Hayden not far behind.

  ‘Why, whatever do you mean, little sister?” Chad joked. He let go of Katie’s hand and looped his arm around her.

  “Normally, I’d be telling you to keep that sappy stuff behind closed doors, but dang, Chad, I think you just sold more albums tonight because of all that lovey dovey, public display of affection stuff you pulled, rather than your ability to sing.” Jillian held out a hand, and Mason gave her a high five, smiling happily.

  “Well, gee, thanks.” Chad rolled his eyes, but he knew his sister well enough to know she was purposely just giving him a hard time. “It wasn’t planned, but whatever works.” He grinned at Katie. “I’m not against doing that at every show, just so you know.”

  “Uh, slow your horses, Kirkwood. I’m not publicly kissing you on stage at every show so you can sell albums.”

  Chad pretended to wipe his brow. “That’s okay. It’d be Chad Ashton you’d be kissing, anyway. Are you cool with kissing him?”

  Katie shook her head, rolling her eyes dramatically. She was still chuckling as she turned to Elaine and Hayden. “Everything went pretty well, I think?”

  “Oh, it was wonderful!” Chad’s mother gushed, much to Chad’s amusement. “Did you read what some of those signs in the audience said? There are women out there who are proposing to you! Using handmade signs!”

  Chad bit back his laughter. “I’m not sure whether to find it funny that you’re even mentioning that or to be offended that you’re shocked by it.”

  It was Hayden’s turn to laugh, and the sound of his deep rumbling chuckle was foreign to Chad’s ears. He couldn’t remember hearing it as a child; his dad had always been more serious and reserved than the rest of his family. “Tough gig, I’d say.” Hayden winked at his son, shrugging.

  “Mase, we’re going back to the apartment. Cash has had the run of the place since we left, so there may not be anything left to come back to. Want to come?” Jillian laughed. She bent down low and cupped her hand over her mouth, loudly whispering, “We’re going to get pizza. Extra cheese.”

  Mason’s eyes widened and he hopped off the stage, his cowboy boots making a loud thump on the concrete floor. “I’m in.” He looked up at Chad, jutting his hands out on either side of him in a What do you expect me to do? gesture. “It’s pizza, Chad. I can’t turn down pizza. With extra cheese.”

  Chad pursed his lips, giving himself a moment to compose himself. “I get it, Little Man. Pizza with extra cheese is so much cooler than I am, anyway. Save me a slice. Your mama and I will be there soon.”

  Mason stretched himself upward to give Chad a dramatic high five as well. “10-4, rubber ducky!” With that, he grabbed Jillian and pulled her toward the exit. “C’mon! The pizza awaits!”

  Everyone was still laughing at Mason’s witty banter when the heavy doors at the back of the arena slammed shut.

  “We’d better go,” Elaine said. “Those two are liable to leave without us.”

  “I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I just got sidelined because of pizza,” Chad smirked.

  “With extra cheese,” Katie grinned, as though that explained it all.

  “You’re not helping my self-esteem here at all.”

  “You’ll have him all to yourself after tomorrow,” Hayden cut in. “Our plane leaves at ten. So, for now, let us bribe him with pizza. You can be the cool one again in the morning.”

  Chad arched a brow, but held his hand out. “Deal. I’m not sure I could compete with pizza, though. At any time.�
��

  Hayden shook his son’s hand, a sly grin on his face. “You may be right, but I don’t think you have much to worry about. He likes you just fine, and you’re good to him. It does this old man good to see you and him together the way you are.”

  The compliment stunned Chad, and at first, he didn’t answer. Finally, he nodded. “Well, I’d like to think I had a pretty good role model to look up to when I was growing up, so I suppose I’ve got you to thank for that.”

  Chad’s father gave his hand a subtle squeeze, clearing his throat loudly as he pulled away. “We’d better go. See you when you get home.”

  Elaine gave Chad and Katie each a hug, and he watched his parents retreat down the middle aisle of the arena, arm in arm.

  “You guys seem good.” Katie’s voice cut through Chad’s thoughts.

  “We are.” He turned to face her. “Jay was here tonight.”

  “Jay?” Katie stared back at him in confusion. “You talked to him?”

  “I sure did, and we didn’t scream or throw punches or anything,” he laughed, pulling her closer to him.

  “That’s not what I meant,” she smirked. “Why was he here, though? It seems a little—”

  “Suspicious? Yeah, I thought the same thing. But he just wanted to wish me luck. At least, that’s what he said. Personally, I think it was his backward way of letting us know he’s all right. You know, without actually admitting it.” The more he thought about it, the more Chad believed he was right.

  “Well, I would know for sure whether or not he was okay if he’d say something when he came around to see Mason.”

  “It’s okay, Katie. I talked to him, and I think I got through. He said he would call you soon.”

  “You’re just the master of fixing these kinds of things, aren’t you?”

  “Hardly,” he chuckled. “I won’t pretend to know what it’s like to be a parent, but I do know how hard it’s been for you to go through all this stuff in the last few months. I imagine it’s been hard on Jay as well, but for different reasons. I just tried to keep that in mind when I spoke to him. I think it’ll all be okay now.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do, so hopefully he doesn’t make a liar out of me,” Chad said it jokingly, trying to ease the skepticism in Katie’s tone. “It’ll be okay, Katie,” he repeated, reaching out to smooth the lines of worry creasing the corners of her eyes.

  “I believe you.” She patted his hand. “It is going to be okay.”

  Chad sat there for a minute, soaking in the heat of her skin.

  Katie’s voice broke the comfortable silence between them, apprehensive and fragmented. “I, uh, got an interview for the nursing job I was telling you about.”

  Chad turned to her, struck by her sudden trepidation. “Here in Nashville?”

  “In Ontario.”

  “Near the farm?”

  She nodded. “What do you think?”

  “I think, if that’s what you want, we’ll make it work.” Chad tightened his arm around her shoulder. “Is it what you really want? You seem...unsure.”

  “I want you, too, though.”

  Chad gave her a knowing grin. “You’re still thinking like you have to make a choice between the two, babe. If you didn’t have me, would you want the job?”

  “That’s not an option.”

  “I know, I just meant—”

  “I said, that’s not an option.” She stared into his eyes. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

  He nodded. “All right. Well, I’m just saying, you can have your career and me, too. It’s not one or the other. We’ve been back at the farm for the past month, off and on, and it’s been working out well. Mason likes his school there, and it’s a lot closer to my parents’ place than here. We’ll make it work, Katie. Hell, we already are.”

  “You’re okay with it?”

  “I love the idea of you doing what you love to do again. There’s too much that’s not guaranteed in life, so you may as well do what you want, be who you want, and find out where you belong.”

  “I belong with you,” she smiled.

  He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “And as much as I agree with you, it would be unfair for me to think you should be by my side all the time. That would only prevent you from doing what you want. Think of it this way: Take the job if you want it, and just try it for a bit. If it works out, perfect. If not, you’ve got loads of other options.”

  “You’re seriously not going to tell me what I should do?”

  “I just did.”

  “I wonder what Jay will think.”

  Chad stole a glance in her direction. “When he comes to talk to you, we’ll find out. That’s all we can do.”

  They sat there in silence, while the workers bustled around them in a dizzying haste.

  “We did it.” Katie’s voice was just above a whisper, and Chad wasn’t sure he’d actually heard her speak. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her what she meant, but he thought he already knew. He answered her with a quizzical look instead.

  “I mean, we made it,” she clarified.

  Chad’s mouth formed a grin. “Nah. We’re making it. This isn’t the end, Katie. It’s only the beginning.”

  She seemed to mull the words over. “So, what should we do now?”

  “Whatever we want. That’s the beauty of it.”

  Katie lifted her legs back up onto the stage and got to her feet. “I’m thinking we should start with pizza.”

  It took Chad a minute to get himself hauled up from the stage floor. “With extra cheese, right?”

  “I like the way you think, Kirkwood. Or is it Ashton?”

  “Chad Ashton ain’t lucky enough to have the life Chad Kirkwood is living.”

  Katie held a hand out to him. “Good thing I love Chad Kirkwood, then.”

  “I’ll never tire of hearing those words from your pretty little mouth.” He enveloped her hand in his.

  “And I’ll never tire of saying them.”

  Chad led the way off the stage, holding the back door open for her. “Hey...”

  Katie turned back to face him, partway through the doorway, her brows rising in askance.

  “I love you, too.”

  THE END

  Acknowledgments

  Writing a series is hard work. It involves more hours sitting in front of a computer than I’m prepared to admit to, and many of those hours are either spent staring at a blinking cursor wondering what to write next, or checking facts and details from the previous books in the series to make sure there are no inconsistencies or discrepancies. I did those things by myself, and if there are discrepancies in this series, I’ll take the blame for it. Please just know, every effort was put forth to prevent such a thing from happening, and I hope you enjoy the end result.

  As for the pretty little package the book is published in, once again I’ve got to send my sincerest gratitude to Jo at Just Write Creations for creating the beautiful covers (and for listening to my scatterbrained, practically incoherent suggestions and ideas regarding the final product). You’re a freaking miracle worker, my friend.

  CP, I hope you know how adamant I am about making sure you’re the one who formats my books. You do an amazing job, and I still gush over the beautiful mason jar chapter headers. You do flawless work, and I am so thankful to know you.

  To my many, many author friends—the folks who not only understand the chaos that comes with being a writer, but also willingly put themselves through it as well—you guys are amazing. A special shout-out goes to Hally—our friendship is fate!—and to Kari (thank you for the thousands of text messages to keep me going when I didn’t think I could possibly finish this book—oh, and you beat me this year, so it looks like I owe you a coffee!).

  Finally, to Fifth Ink Publishing, thank you for believing in this series even when I didn’t. That means more to me than you could ever possibly know (and thank you for the laughs regarding American versus Canadian stuff—just so we’re
clear, Thanksgiving is in October, so my timeline is not wrong!).

  Most importantly, to the readers, your love and support knows no bounds. To everyone who has read the series, or any of my books, thank you. To anyone who has taken time out of their busy schedule and left a review on Amazon and Goodreads, thank you. And to anyone who had never heard of me, or my books, and took a chance on reading them anyway, thank you. You are fan-freaking-tastic.