Country by Danielle Steel

thick carpeting, some nice paintings, and sleek modern furniture, some of it covered in alligator, that he had had made for the bus. There was a full kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom with a king-size bed where he could rest. He preferred the bus to any other mode of travel, for privacy and comfort. He could do whatever he wanted on it. There was even a piano.
    Chase glanced around when they got on the bus, and asked where Sandy was. Delilah told him she had gone to the casino to find Bobby Joe. Delilah was the other singer, she was in her thirties, and she didn’t spend much time with Sandy away from work. She was married and had kids.
    “Christ, I feel like a kindergarten teacher half the time with those two,” Chase complained good-naturedly, and everyone laughed as he said it. Sandy and a lanky young boy covered in tattoos with bright red hair came running up to the bus minutes later.
    “Sorry, he was winning,” Sandy said apologetically to Chase, as Bobby Joe let himself down on the couch next to Stephanie and stretched out his long legs. He had a cocky look about him, and one could sense that he both admired Chase and was jealous of him. He wanted to be him one day, and until then had to content himself with being an opening act. He was about twenty years old, and his accent was even heavier than Chase’s and Sandy’s. He told Stephanie he was from Mississippi, and had been opening for Chase for about a year, but had played with another band before that. They all talked about the show that night and some things they wanted to change in rehearsal the next day, and by the time they got to the diner, everyone was calling her Stevie, and acting as though they knew her. They were an easy, congenial group, and it was obvious that they all adored Chase, except for the somewhat arrogant Bobby Joe, whom Sandy circled like a shepherd dog. He was arrogant with her too, and then kissed her long and hard in front of Chase, which shocked Stephanie, thinking she was Chase’s girlfriend.
    “Okay, Bobby, enough, don’t wear yourself out before dinner,” Chase said as they filed past him, on the way off the bus to eat, and the two young people brought up the rear. Stephanie was intrigued by Chase’s casual reaction. He was a hell of a good sport, or very self-confident if she was his girlfriend. She couldn’t help asking him about it, as they walked into the diner and Charlie the drummer asked for three booths. The people at the restaurant all knew Chase and were happy to see him back. They gave him three booths in the rear, where he was less likely to be bothered, although his fans always found him.
    “That doesn’t bother you?” Stephanie asked him as she slid into the booth next to him, after he patted the seat beside him to invite her to sit next to him since she was his guest.
    “What?” He looked blank.
    “Bobby Joe and Sandy.”
    “Not unless he knocks her up and she can’t work for the next year, and gets saddled with a baby. If he does that, I’ll kill him. He’s twenty-five years old and hopefully he knows better. She’s just a baby, and she’s crazy about him. But she’s eighteen, and there’s nothing I can do. And she’s got to have some fun,” he said reasonably. “Her daddy died three years ago, and left her to me when she was fifteen. I’m her guardian. Her mama died when she was two, so I’m all she’s got. Thank God she can sing, or I wouldn’t know what to do with her. But I can tell you, it’s a hell of a responsibility raising someone else’s kid. I figure that if I get her to twenty-one, she’s on her own after that. Until then, she answers to me.” He looked serious as he said it, and Stephanie grinned broadly. “I’m serious. It’s not easy. Especially raising girls.”
    “I know. I have two of my own. And a son,” Stephanie said just as seriously, and then smiled again. “I thought she was your girlfriend, so I thought Bobby Joe was being pretty gutsy kissing her right