“He’s coming out the back entrance.” Steven, the head of his security team, pushed the steel bar and opened the back door that led to where his bus was parked.
As they stepped outside, he saw that there were probably two hundred fans gathered. Chase nodded, giving the signal to the two men that he would sign autographs for the crowd of people. Steven, however, shook his head sharply.
“Tully instructed us to take you directly to the bus.”
Chase’s brow furrowed. That was odd. The next thing in his schedule wasn’t until the interview and photo shoot. Normally, his assistant was more than happy to wait for him while he signed autographs and took pictures with fans.
The bus rocked as he climbed onto the step, his hands wrapping around the steel safety bars as he made his way inside.
“Hey, Chip. How ya livin’?” Chase asked, patting his driver on the shoulder.
“Livin’ good, son,” Chip answered, his dark eyes looking up under his signature fedora, an unlit cigar hanging from his lip.
Chip was a retired school bus driver and jazz musician. Chase had never seen him actually light or smoke even one cigar, but he always held one between his lips. He couldn’t count the number of nights he’d spent up at the front of the bus with Chip. They talked about everything from music to philosophy, from cards to women. Chip was the closest thing to family Chase had on the road. Or at all, really.
As he moved through the narrow aisle down the center of the bus, Tully rose from behind his laptop. “You should probably sit down.”
The ominous words coming out of Tully’s mouth caused a feeling of dread to well up in his chest. “Is there another problem?” Chase asked, not heeding his assistant’s advice and remaining standing.
After the power outage due to the unprecedented heat wave this afternoon, he wasn’t sure his assistant’s nerves could handle much more. Tully was a smart, good-looking kid who was great at dealing with people and keeping Chase’s schedule straight. He always stayed one step ahead of stories before they broke, and one of his greatest talents was smoothly removing Chase from situations he did not want to be in, which was a talent you couldn’t really teach. The only complaint Chase ever had with Tully was that when things didn’t go according to plan—which happened far more often than not—his assistant would go into panic mode. Luckily Chase was pretty good about keeping calm.
This afternoon, when it looked like they were not going to have electricity, Chase had been the one to suggest moving the concert to the large park across the street. They had been in the process of getting the necessary permits when Memphis Light, Gas and Water had been able to bring the grid that powered the street the venue was on, back on line.
Now, as Tully looked up at him, he shook his head, obviously not happy with Chase’s decision to remain standing. He handed Chase his cell phone as he explained, “I got a call from Harper’s Community Hospital. Your mom is there. They believe she has suffered a stroke. I have the doctor’s number for you to call if you want.”
Chase’s entire body went numb. He knew he should have some kind of a response to this news. He mentally repeated the information Tully had just given him. His mom was in the hospital. She’d had a stroke. But he honestly didn’t feel anything.
“I need to go there.” The words had flown from Chase’s mouth without passing through his brain for approval first.
“What?” Shock registered on Tully’s face as he stared at Chase in disbelief.
Chase felt the same way. What the hell had he just said?
“I have to go home.” Again, he’d made a statement without any vote from his mind or heart. It had just spilled from his lips.
“Okay.” Tully sat down and began typing. “I’ll look for the next flight out.” His fingers rapidly moved across the keyboard.
“I want to drive.” Wow. Now that Chase had started speaking without filtering it through logic first, he was really on a roll. The score was now Chase’s brain: zero, Chase’s mouth: three.
“Do you want me to rent you a car?” Tully asked, looking as lost as Chase felt.
“I want to take the bus. Instead of heading to Austin, I want to go to Harper’s Crossing.”
With that declaration, Chase moved down the narrow hall towards his bedroom in the back of the bus. He had total faith that Tully would handle everything. Maybe it would be smarter to catch a flight rather than drive eight hours. But for some reason, Chase wanted his bus with him. He wanted Chip and Tully with him when he crossed the Harper’s Crossing city limits. Also, the thought of dealing with paparazzi in airports, getting a rental car, and driving over an hour to get to his hometown was not how he wanted to spend the night before he saw his mother again for the first time in over a decade.