Seven years later

"Retiring! You can't retire. You're at the peak of your career!" Thomas Blane bellowed. Lance hoped the man would calm down. His big belly was shaking and his face was bright red under his white mustache. He was about ten minutes away from a massive coronary if he didn't get control of himself.

"I can do whatever I want, Tom. It's my career and my life remember?"

"Yes and you wouldn't have this career if it wasn't for me." Thomas said slamming his meaty fist down on his desk. Lance sighed and looked out the window of the giant high rise office. He looked at the crowded city streets below and his nose curled. New York City stunk. Bad. He missed the country. He had always been a country boy and while he had thought that his life would be in Nashville, it hadn't turned out that way.

Shortly after arriving in Nashville he had met Thomas Blane who had insisted his career would be better if he would stay up in New York and Lance had listened. And Lance's career had exploded fast and it had been very successful. But it had not been what Lance had expected.

Lance found that he hated performing in the big arenas. He was always attacked by stage fright that very nearly killed him each and every time. His heart would race, his head would get foggy and his chest would tighten until breathing was nearly impossible.

He hated the fact that fans and cameras followed him everywhere he went. He had always thought he wanted to be famous. But now that he was famous, he just wanted to disappear.

"I already had my lawyers look it over for me. I'm free to retire whenever I want." Lance said leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're serious about this aren't you?" Thomas demanded incredulously as his second and third chins bounced up and down. Lance nodded.

"Yes I am. I still want to keep you on as my manager. I would like to do small county fairs a couple times a year and little performances like that but I won't tour anymore."

"Not even a farewell tour?" Thomas demanded.

"I just got done with a tour. I won't go on another one."

"You can kiss the big money goodbye." Thomas grumbled as he settled back in his chair and shook his head sadly.

"I have enough money saved up to last me ten lifetimes. I'm just a simple guy, Tom, and I thought this big life was what I wanted but it's not…. I want my simple life back." Thomas stared at the man in front of him. He had found him as barely more than a boy wandering from bar to bar in Nashville hoping for a break and he had helped him find that break. Now Lance Asher was a grown man and Thomas had known this day was coming. Lance wasn't cut out for this life.

"Fine. Not like I can talk you out of this. I know better than anyone just how stubborn and hard headed you can be."

"Thanks, Tom." Lance said relieved that the big man wasn't going to put up more of a fight.

"You headed back to Georgia?" Thomas asked knowing that that was where Lance was from. Lance shook his head.

"Don't see any reason to. My folks are dead and I didn't have any other family I was close to."

"Where are you going then in case I need to get in touch with you?" Thomas asked. Lance stood up and stretched out his long legs.

"You have my cell phone number. I'll probably just travel around for a while. Don't worry I'll check in now and then." he added with a wink when he saw the panicked look on Thomas's face, then Lance made a quick escape from the overbearing mans office before he had a chance to speak again.

As Lance stepped out into the early September sun he felt free for the first time in as long as he could remember. His future was completely up in the air. He had no home (having sold his new york apartment the day before), he had no clothes other than what was in the small suitcase in the back of his truck and the only personal possession he still owned was his guitar, but he had never felt better in his life.

He walked down the street to where he had parked his truck and hopped in. He smiled at the picture of the blond haired, green eyed angel he had taped to his dashboard. He didn't know where he would eventually settle down but he knew where he was heading to first. Hardan County, Kentucky. He had left his heart there seven years ago and he needed to go get it back.

888

Tiffany slid herself out from under the old ford van she was changing the oil in and wiped her hands on an already grease stained rag she'd laid under the hood. She was just filling the oil reserve back up when a familiar voice came out of the radio and she froze as her heart began to beat faster.

Why after seven years did his voice still do that to her? She turned the song up that was playing and let herself get lost in his words of love and promises of forever. There had been a time when he had spoken those words to her. Maybe not the part about forever but his deep soothing voice had claimed to love her with all of his heart.

"Too bad you loved your dreams more." she said out loud and she noticed the look her brother sent her way from where he was working on a car beside her. She blushed red and slammed the hood shut on the van.

She was happy when the song ended and her heart started to slow back down.

"That was Lance Asher and I hate to have to inform all of you ladies out there that dream about his dreamy voice and amazing good looks but it seems we have heard the last of him. His manager announced yesterday that he has chosen to retire…" Tiffany quickly turned the stereo off, cutting off the heartbroken woman and then slammed her fist down on the tool shelf.

"You okay?" her brother Steve asked. Tiffany glared over at him.

"I'm just fine. I am not that young girl anymore that worshipped the boy. I am a grown woman. I am a mother. I am independent. Why do I care that after seven short years he has abandoned the dream that meant so much to him that he left me for it?" she demanded. Steve knew there was no right answer and that no matter what he said he was going to end up in trouble so he just rubbed the back of his greasy neck with his greasy hand and went back to work.

Tiffany walked into the bathroom and pulled off her dark blue, grease stained coveralls. She scrubbed her hands as clean as she could get them and smiled when she thought of what Erin would say about her nails. Erin was gone though. She had met her prince charming four years before and gotten married and moved to a bigger city about five hours away.

Tiffany smoothed out her pink t-shirt, fixed her denim shorts, changed into her sandals and then walked back out. She didn't bother with fixing her hair, which was up in a sloppy ponytail with strands hanging loose around her face, or her make-up which was nonexistent.

She said a quick goodbye to her brother, her fathers office door was closed so she knew he was busy, she grabbed her purse off the hook by the door and went out to her chevy truck. She drove to the school with ten minutes to spare before school let out. She parked beside the curb and then got out of the truck and leaned against the passenger door to watch for Parker.

The kindergarten and first grade released first and Tiffany scanned the crowd of five and six year olds pouring out of the tiny school and she smiled happily when she saw him. His jet black hair, bright blue eyes and deep dimples. Sometimes her heart broke just looking at him because he looked so much like his father.

"Mommy, look what I made!" he yelled with excitement as he ran to her. She dropped to her knee and ruffled his dark hair.

"What did you make?" she asked. He pulled his Transformers backpack off and opened it. He pulled out a picture that he had obviously drawn himself and for the life of her she didn't know what it was supposed to be. She smiled proudly.

"I really like it." she said hoping he would tell her what it was.

"It's a guitar like the one you said my daddy plays." he explained. Tiffany felt tears fill her eyes but she fought them back and kissed her sons forehead.

"It's wonderful." she said. "We'll put it up on the fridge when we get home." Parker smiled proudly and put the picture back in his backpack. Tiffany opened his door and he climbed up in his booster seat. She buckled him up and then walked around to the drivers side and got in.

"When is my daddy going to come see me?" Parker asked as they drove down the back road toward their tiny house. Tiffany let out a long breath at the familiar question.

"I don't know, baby boy."

"I'm not a baby." he reminded her. She smiled.

"No you're not." she admitted. "Your daddy is a busy man. He is busy playing music that helps people feel better."

"Doesn't he love me?" Parker asked as he kicked the dashboard with his Lightning McQueen sneakers.

"Of course he does." Tiffany lied. She prayed that God and her son would forgive her for the many lies she had had to tell over the last few years to explain Lance's absence. Parker didn't even know his fathers name because he had never asked for it and Tiffany did not know what she would do when he finally did want to know.

"Guess what, mommy?" Parker said suddenly full of excitement again. Tiffany breath a sigh of relief that the conversation about Lance was over and smiled.

"What?"

"Mrs. Gibson said I can be in the school play this Halloween. We're putting on a spooky play with bats and witches and everything!"

"That's great." Tiffany replied and she laughed as Parker explained to her all that went into putting on a play in the first grade.