Lance got out of the bed with a curse as the knocking on his door grew louder. Who would be bothering him at ten in the morning on a Sunday? He walked over to the door and looked through the peephole to see Erin standing there looking back at him. She gave a little wave and he shook his head as he opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. She walked into the room and flopped herself down in the hard floral arm chair next to the couch.
"Be nice to me, Lance." she replied.
"How did you know what room I was in?"
"Bradley told me. I dated him in high school and he can't resist it when I bat these big green eyes…. Plus the fifty dollars I stuffed in his palm might have helped loosen his tongue." Lance made a mental note to have a talk with Bradley.
"So what brings you to my hotel room at ten in the morning? I thought you and Tiffany were spending the day at Gary and Laura's house."
"We are. I told her I had some errands to run first." Erin replied as she smoothed her hands over her knee length black skirt.
"You hated me six years ago so what's up with you hanging out with me and Tiffany yesterday and then showing up today?" Lance asked as he rubbed some sleep from his eyes and flopped down on the couch.
"I never hated you, I was just jealous because my best friend loved you so much." she replied matter of factly. Lance shook his head and let out a long breath.
"Why are you here?" he asked again and even he could hear the impatience in his voice. He was still mad at her for interrupting his and Tiffany's kiss the evening before. Erin laughed lightly.
"You have Tiffany fooled into thinking you're some kind of patient saint but you don't have a bit of patience with the rest of us."
"The difference is that I love Tiffany." he replied and then his cursed when he realized what he had just said. He definitely hadn't wanted to say that to Erin before he said it to Tiffany. Erin just smiled knowingly.
"And that is why I am here. You see Tiffany still loves you very much and she wants you in her life as more than just Parker's father. As a matter of fact having you around this last week has driven her crazy because she doesn't think that there is any way you'll ever love her back now that you know about Parker."
"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Lance asked refusing to let her see just how happy the news that Tiffany still loved him made him feel.
"Not all of it. I also want to say that if you hurt my best friend again, I will skin you alive… Or better yet my husband is a sniper in the marines and I will get him to kill you and make it look like an accident. I want to make sure that you are sticking around and that you aren't just going to take off and leave her again with a broken heart."
"I'm staying here." Lance promised. "I would never leave my son."
"And what about Tiffany?" Erin asked. Lance stood up and walked back over to the door. He opened it and signaled with his hand that he wanted her to leave.
"Goodbye Erin." he said. Erin shrugged and stood up. She stopped in the doorway and pointed her finger at him.
"Don't you hurt her." she warned. Lance sighed and pointed out into the hallway.
"Goodbye Erin." he repeated. Erin gave him one last hard look and then walked out.
888
Tiffany leaned against her truck, waiting for Parker's class to come out of the doors of the school. The early October air was chilly and she buried her hands deeper into the pockets of her hoody sweatshirt.
She couldn't seem to get Lance off her mind. She had seen that look in his eyes Saturday. The look that clearly told her that he loved her still. Hope had lodged itself firmly inside her heart. Maybe God had heard what was in her heart even though she had refused to pray for her own happiness. Maybe she was going to get the family she had been dreaming about having for the last six years.
"What are you thinking about so hard?" Lance's voice came from beside her and made her jump with fright. She looked over at him and saw his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.
"You scared me." she scolded. He shrugged and held his hands up.
"I wasn't sneaking." he promised. "You were just so caught up in your thoughts that you didn't hear me."
"I was just thinking about how funny life can turn out sometimes." she said and then she shivered as a gust of cold autumn wind blew. Before she had time to realize he was going to, Lance had his arms wrapped tight around her and her back pulled against his chest. He rested his chin on her shoulder and his warm breath caressed her cheek and caused her entire body to tingle.
"Thought you said you can handle cold weather?" he teased. Tiffany looked around and saw the eyes of many of the mothers on them and she realized that they were starting to whisper excitedly to each other.
"I can… It's just going to take my body a while to adjust after being hot all summer is all." she replied as she snuggled deeper into his arms. She couldn't help herself. Standing here with him made her feel like she was nineteen again and she just wanted to enjoy his warmth and strength.
"How long do we have before Parker gets out because I really want to talk to you about something."
"About ten minutes or so," Tiffany replied after looking at his watch.
"I would like to go out to dinner with you one night this week." Lance said and Tiffany tried to keep herself from jumping up and down with happiness.
"I would like that." she replied. She felt Lance smile against her hair.
"Can someone watch Parker tomorrow night?" he asked.
"Erin is staying until this weekend. She'll watch him."
"It feels good to hold you like this." Lance said as he squeezed her tighter. Tiffany suddenly wondered how she could have been so cold a few moments ago when she was on fire now. "I'm sorry that we haven't had a chance to talk much about us since I came back."
"You've been focusing on Parker, that's the way it should be." Tiffany replied and she noticed that a group of women kept edging closer and closer to them while they whispered excitedly. She wondered what in the world they were up to.
"Speaking of Parker… I made that appointment to get the birth certificate changed Wednesday at ten." he said. Tiffany nodded and pulled away from Lance as the three women walked up to them. Lance was irritated to have his conversation interrupted as he looked at the three ladies.
"Lance Asher?" The tallest of the three asked timidly. Lance sighed and nodded.
"Yes ma'am. I'm Lance Asher." he replied knowing that he'd been recognized. He had known it was going to happen sooner or later. He was lucky it hadn't happened as soon as he'd gotten to town.
"Oh my gosh! This is amazing. I'm a huge fan!" another of the women said. Lance went into 'star dealing with fan' mode and signed a few autographs before finally wrapping his arm around Tiffany's shoulders and smiling apologetically.
"I hope you understand ladies, but I'm just here to pick my son up from school." he said. The ladies understood they were being dismissed.
"Tiffany, this is Parker's dad?" the first lady spoke up again. Tiffany nodded.
"Yes." she replied. The ladies all threw a jealous look in her direction and then one more look of longing at Lance before walking back to their cars slowly.
"Guess I've been found out." Lance said with a sigh.
"So what, is the paparazzi going to come after you now?" Tiffany asked and Lance chuckled.
"No. I've never had problems with paparazzi. I'm just a retired country singer after all… But there will be the occasional reporter, fan or photographer that'll pop up now and then." Before Tiffany could reply, kids began pouring from the school.
"Daddy!" Parker's voice carried over the noise and Tiffany's eyes quickly picked him out of the crowd. He was running toward them as fast as his legs could carry him. Lance wrapped him in a big hug once he got to them.
"Did you have a good day squirt?" Lance asked he released him. Parker nodded.
"Yes. I have homework though." he added making a face of disgust. "Are you picking me up from school?" he asked. Lance nodded over to Tiffany who was standing there patiently, waiting for Parker to notice her.
"Your mommy was here first." he said. Parker smiled up at Tiffany.
"Hi mommy." he said. "Can daddy take me to the house today?" Tiffany nodded. She was just happy that Parker was asking today instead of demanding.
"Sure. You can ride with your daddy."
888
Lance woke up the next morning with his stomach tied in knots. He had a date with Tiffany…. He could hardly believe it even though he had been there when she had said yes.
He looked at the clock and decided that he needed to call Thomas Blaine and let the man know where he was and that he had a kid. He didn't want his manager to have to hear about it in a magazine or on the internet and this was the kind of news that was going to leak out soon, especially now that people were starting to recognize him.
He had done a lot yesterday before meeting Tiffany at the school. He had called the bank in new york and had most of his money wired to a bank here in town. He had found a piece of land not far from where Tiffany lived and was just waiting on the deal to go through with the real estate agent. He had already talked to an architect over the phone and had him drawing up plans and once those were done he was going to find a local contractor to help him build his house. He was hoping to have the house started by next week.
He grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table and used speed dial to call Thomas's office.
"Hello Thomas Blaine's office, may I help you?" Thomas's longtime assistant Peggy answered.
"Hey Peggy. I need to talk with Tom if he's not too busy." Lance replied.
"Mr. Asher! He'll be happy to hear from you. Hold on and I'll put you through." Lance waited for several long minutes and then Thomas's voice came over the line.
"Where in the world are you? Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah Tom, I'm fine. I just wanted to let you know that I've found the place where I'm settling down. I've already bought me some land."
"Where?'
"Hardan County, Kentucky." Lance replied.
"Where?" Thomas asked again. Lance laughed.
"It's a small town."
"Thanks for letting me know, kid. I've been worried sick about you."
"There is more you need to know actually. I want you to hear it from me instead of from some reporter."
"What?" Thomas asked suspiciously.
"I have a son." Lance replied and he could practically hear Thomas's brain explode.
"A son?" he bellowed. "How did that happen?"
"Do you really need a sex ed lesson?" Lance asked with a chuckle but Thomas clearly was not in the mood for jokes.
"How old is he?" he asked.
"Six. I had a girlfriend before I came to Nashville and I left her to go after my dream… Turns out she was pregnant." Thomas snorted.
"Yeah like I haven't heard that one before. You gotta be careful Lance. You're a rich guy and I wouldn't put it past that woman to lie about you being the father just to get a piece of the pie."
"Tiffany would never do that." Lance replied calmly. He knew that Thomas was just trying to look out for him.
"Did you get a paternity test?" Thomas asked.
"I don't need one. I trust Tiffany and besides the kid looks just like me."
"Lance…." Thomas started but Lance cut him off.
"I just wanted to let you know Tom, I don't need your advice or two cents on the situation." he said and he hung up before Thomas could say anything else.
Thomas slammed his phone down and sat there fuming. He would be damned before he let some slut take advantage of Lance. Lance was too trusting for his own good. Thomas had seen many a man be taken advantage of by scheming women just out to make some money.
He paged Peggy and had her look up the number to a hospital in Hardan County, Kentucky. He would just take matters into his own hands if Lance wasn't willing. He dialed the number once Peggy had brought it in to him and smiled when the phone was answered on the second ring.
"Hi, my name is Lance Asher and I need to look into getting a paternity test."