Broken Strings

Nine

His fault, of course, because if Travis were being honest, it would never truly work with Ginger. Still, he cared for her enough to try and deny the part of him that came alive when he spent time with Sam. That part he knew would never really be allowed to dominate his life.

So he was trying with Ginger. Perhaps one day that person who emerged in the darkness of motel rooms on the circuits would dissipate entirely and he could find himself purely and innocently happy with her.

"How long has Caroline been gone again?" Travis asked to put his mind back on a fully functioning relationship and off of his own.

"About a month."

"That's a fair bit of time. She enjoying Nashville?"

Stephen said, "Seems like it. She's been meeting with a lot of different artists and now Bailey's label has also been discussing finding opportunities for Caroline with some of their artists in L.A. as well."

Travis whistled through his teeth. "L.A...That's something."

"Yeah, it's impressive – but she'd only be there on vacation. She's been working in Nashville more and more though. I don't think she wants to say it but I'm pretty sure she's considering moving to the city at some point."

"Oh?"

Stephen nodded but his eyes weren't as troubled as Travis thought they might be. "She's doing a lot of writing and recently started working with Aysha Mathis who is apparently a songwriting genius, according to both Caroline and Bailey. And you know Bailey – if she says someone is genius they must really be good. Aysha's basically taken over for Bailey as a mentor to Caroline and she lives in Nashville so if anything is going to prompt Caroline to move, it would be that."

"And you? Would you stay here or go with her?"

"I don't know," Stephen said but from the way that he said it, Travis had a pretty good idea of where Stephen's head was at. He didn't seem like he was staring at the writing on the wall but rather a yellow brick road of opportunity. It sounded like he was considering going with her if she went.

"What would you do in Nashville?"

Stephen didn't even hesitate. It was clear that he'd given this some thought even if he was outwardly noncommittal about the whole affair. "There are ranches in Nashville outside of the downtown area. I could find work on one of those or look for a position as a horse trainer somewhere."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

"Hardly. Just...contingency plans."

Travis said, "Well, whatever happens, I'm sure it will all work itself out for you and Caroline. The two of you are practically a match made in heaven."

Stephen laughed and replied, "Pretty sure that sounds more like Bailey and Noah. Those two are so damn happy it sometimes makes Caroline and I nauseous just to be around them.

That sounded about right, Travis thought. Though, if anything, Bailey and Noah were also one of the least overtly affectionate people that he knew. In public, they didn't hang all over each other or feel the need to blatantly let everyone in their nearby vicinity know that they were together. There were no make-out sessions in corner booths or grinding on each other in bars.

Instead, it was small intimate gestures. The way that Bailey unconsciously reached out to link her fingers through Noah's when they were sitting next to each other or how Noah looked at her when she was otherwise preoccupied. On more than one occasion, Travis had noticed Noah staring when Bailey was in mid-conversation with someone else and laughing with her head tipped back. It wasn't the gesture that was particularly noteworthy but rather the dumbstruck expression on Noah's face whenever he looked at Bailey like she was his whole world.