Country by Danielle Steel Page A

in front of you.” Chase burst out laughing when she said it.
    “Are you kidding? You think I’m a child molester? She may be eighteen on her driver’s license, but she’s fourteen in her head, or twelve sometimes, or two. I don’t go out with women young enough to be my daughter, or granddaughter in this case, by Tennessee standards. I’m forty-eight years old, and the last thing I need is an eighteen-year-old in my bed. That would kill me for sure.” He was still chuckling, and Stephanie looked amused too. “She’s a pretty girl, but that’s just a bigger headache, especially at her age. I lived with a woman for fourteen years, and we broke up two years ago. As she put it, our careers weren’t compatible. It’s hard to keep two people together in this business.” Stephanie vaguely remembered that he had been involved with some equally famous country music singer, and they had recorded several albums together. She didn’t remember the breakup. “I married my high school sweetheart at seventeen, and we had a baby a year later. My son is thirty years old and smart enough not to go into this business. He runs a construction company in Memphis. His mama and I divorced when he was two years old. She got married again and had a bunch of kids. I never did. I got busy with my career and stayed that way. It suits me better than marriage, and I’ve kind of taken a break for the past two years since Tamra and I broke up. That got a little heavy. She actually sued me over some of our music together. I don’t need the headache.”
    “So how do you manage to stay so normal?” Stephanie asked him honestly after they ordered burgers and fries. The two musicians sharing the booth with them were arguing about a change in the arrangement of the second song of the show, and they were paying no attention to Stephanie and Chase.
    “I don’t know. I don’t like it when people get all full of themselves. Besides, you might be a star one minute, and nothing the next. I figure keeping things simple is better. Tamra was always the big star—I just tagged along.” But the truth was, he was the bigger star, and always had been, and her career had tanked after she left him. Stephanie was impressed with his modesty and genuine, unassuming ways. After that they joined in the conversation with the two musicians, and Chase settled the argument about the arrangement. He liked it the way it was. “Don’t fix what ain’t broke,” he reminded them, which was a saying she had often used too. The enemy of good is better.
    The whole group spent an hour at the diner and then went back to the bus, and when they arrived at the hotel, Chase walked her across the lobby to the elevator. She didn’t invite him to come up, and he didn’t suggest a drink at the bar. She could see that he was tired. They had worked hard during their show.
    “So what are you doing tomorrow?” he asked with a gentle smile. “Driving back to San Francisco?” She nodded. She had had a great time that night, and she liked him. He seemed like a good man. She liked his values and his reactions, and his philosophies about life. Play fair, be honest, don’t screw over the other guy, work hard. It all made sense.
    “I should get back,” she said, although she wasn’t sure why she said it.
    “To what?” he asked her honestly. After talking to her, he knew that she had no kids at home, no job, no real reason to go home. “Why don’t you stay another day? We’re only playing here for three days, and then we’re going back to Nashville. Why don’t we drive out in the desert tomorrow? It’s beautiful. I’ll show you the sights. I don’t have to be at rehearsal until six.” He made the band work hard, which he said kept them all good, and him too. “What about it?” His eyes pleaded with her, and she hesitated and then nodded. Why not? She was enjoying herself. She didn’t feel like he was pursuing her as a woman, just as a friend, which was nice. There