“You know what? Do what you want.” I walk up the stairs and grab one of the suitcases I keep stored under my bed.
Her footsteps sound on each step as she comes up after me. To think that this morning, I watched her sleep and pictured our life together. I shake my head as I toss the suitcase on the bed. I’ve been tricked into thinking I’m as important to her as she is to me.
“Are you going somewhere?” Her voice is weak and distant.
“Back to LA. I have things to take care of down there anyway and I really need some time to think things over.”
“What?” Her voice raises an octave. “Was this all a game to you? Get me close and leave?”
I abandon my suitcase. “No actually. I was gonna ask you to come with me for a weekend. But you have your own priorities. Plus, you should stick around if you’re gonna replace your mom on the ballot.”
“You’re really that mad?”
I grab my underwear and toss it in my bag, then my shorts and T-shirts. “Yes, if you hadn’t noticed, I am.”
“I don’t understand why.”
“Because you’re going to sabotage my happiness. Do you not see that? You know the mayoral race is important to me.”
“But my mom…”
I point at her. “I like your mom. She’s a great woman, but she’s a grown woman who knows what she wants, and right now she wants to be with her husband. I think that’s admirable. She can make the decision for herself. But now you’re making decisions that affect me and work against my happiness. If I won, I wanted to win fair and square. I’ll feel undeserving winning by default anyway, but there’s clearly a disconnect between me and you.”
She sits on the edge of the bed, staring into the suitcase I’m packing. “That’s it?”
“Yeah. That’s it. You obviously don’t see the problem and I’m not going to try to explain it again.” I pick up my suitcase and walk down the stairs. Anything else I can pick up in LA. “Lock up if that’s not too much trouble. God forbid someone sees you at my house.”
I slam the front door and climb into my Bronco.
She pulls open the front door. “You son of a bitch. You played me!”
I roll down the window. “If you honestly believe that, then we’re definitely over.”
I speed off down the road by the bay, eager to get out of here. This small town has never felt so small. I only make it to the stop sign before I rest my forehead on the steering wheel. What the hell just happened?
My tires squeal on the pavement as I take off. I need to make one more stop before heading to the airport.
I walk up the walkway of Marla and Hank’s house, not even sure what I’m about to say. There are still a few trucks here that I know belong to Posey’s siblings. I ring the doorbell and step back so there’s some room.
Marla opens the door, her head tilted in apparent confusion. “Gavin.”
“Hi, Marla. Posey told me about Hank, and I wanted to say that I’m really sorry. He, as well as your entire family, will be in my thoughts.”
“She just left. Did she go straight to you?” Her eyes crinkle as if she doesn’t understand. Maybe Mandi and Chevelle were wrong. Maybe everyone doesn’t know about us.
I nod. “She did.”
“Oh. I had no idea you two had grown that close.”
I take a deep breath. “I really care for your daughter. A lot. And until just now, I thought she cared… you know what? That doesn’t matter. I just wanted to let you know that you’ve been nothing but gracious to me since I moved here. I never went into my decision to run against you lightly. I’m not even sure I expected to win.”
“Gavin.” She opens the door wider. “Would you like to come in?”
I shake my head. “No, thank you. I’m almost done. Anyway, I just want to say I’m sorry this horrible thing is happening to two nice people like you and Hank. But I’ve learned life is unfair and cruel and doesn’t punish the ones who should be.”
“Please, Gavin, come in.” She opens up the door farther.
I shake my head adamantly. “Posey is at my house right now. She’s going to be upset. I think… I think we just broke up. I have to go to LA and sort some things out. Just… can you send someone to make sure she’s okay?”
She looks behind her, steps on the porch, and shuts the door. “I know I’m not your mom, but I’m going to tell you what I would tell my boys. Do not run away. Whatever happened is not unfixable. Posey is… she can have a one-track mind. I can see that whatever transpired, she’s hurt you. Just give her an hour and I swear she’ll see the error of her ways.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Just please send someone to check on her. And I’ll be thinking only good things about Hank’s health. Hopefully this is just a blip in the road.”
She offers me a sweet smile. But instead of asking me to stay again, she nods that she understands.
I walk down the path back to my truck, slide in, and pull out of her driveway. The entire way to the airport, I deny the urge to turn my truck around. I’ve played second to everyone else’s desires my entire life and I can’t allow myself to accept that position in the life of the woman I love.
I take the keys from the front table and lock Gavin’s door. Not knowing what to do with the key, I figure I’ll hold on to it until he returns. Logan can pass it on to him or something.
An SUV pulls down the path and stops, and I recognize it as my mom’s. She gets out and leans against the vehicle.
“How did you know I was here?”
“A little six-foot-tall birdie told me,” she says and pushes off her small SUV, walking toward me.
I drop down on the front stoop of his house, settling my purse between my legs. “What else did he tell you?”
She joins me on the stairs. “Something I probably should have heard from you. It’s okay, you know.”
“What gave it away?” I ask.
“When he showed up with Erwin for the hair class.” She chuckles. “But I think I saw it in both your eyes when you’d look at each other. You tried really hard not to like one another, but I could tell.” She sits next to me and hits her shoulder to mine.
“Well, it’s over now.”
“I heard. Want to fill in the blanks for me?”
I turn to my mom. “I disregarded his happiness.”
“Is this about the mayoral race? What did you do, Posey?”
I swear this woman always knows when I did something bad.
“I can’t ever take it back.”
“Oh, I don’t believe that.” She looks at me, waiting for me to tell her.
“I told him I was going to run in your place so that when Hank is all healthy, I can step down and you can be mayor.”
My mom blows out a long breath. “And where did he fit in this new equation?”
“That’s what he wanted to know. I said I’d hire him.”
She nods and a small noise escapes to confirm that I might’ve blown it. “You know, I probably should’ve addressed this with you a long time ago. Each of you harbors such different scars from your dad’s and my divorce. You’ve always thought it was your job to make me happy. But there are a few things you probably don’t know.”