And that was terrifying.
CHAPTER 32
LEO
With no news from Cath or Mari, I assumed the plan remained the same for the day.
I triple-checked the back of the van Ford Rutledge had dropped off at Devlin’s place last night. Beatrice and the kids were loaded and ready. Unbeknownst to Cath, I would surprise her with the drums after the audition. Regardless of what she ended up doing, she deserved to have these. And there was a full circle beauty to think they might be on stage playing with The Burnouts again.
I had picked up my phone to call Mari a hundred times since she left last night but felt myself being too clingy and needy. I never knew where I stood with her. I was so sure of my deep feelings for her, but she kept parts of herself at bay. Every hour that ticked by, I felt her grow further away from me, but I would show up today. Just like every day and she would see.
I heard a sniffle behind me and spun on my heel.
“Cath?” I asked.
I stupidly moved to block the view of the drums, like she couldn’t still see them. It made sense for me to be packing them up. One, they were my drums as far as Cath was concerned, and two, they weren’t needed at the studio anymore. But I had been so surprised to see her, and it was so damn early, I hadn’t been thinking.
It was barely sunrise, and we weren’t planning to be at the college until nine, a solid two hours before her audition.
“What are you—how’d you get here?” I asked. Looking for a car I hadn’t heard pull up.
She thumbed over to a bike leaning against a tree. I imagined her pedaling up to Devlin’s house before the sun even started to rise. Winding, blind corners. No light. A fear gripped my chest. It was reckless, and thank God, she’d made it in one piece. Her arms wrapped tight around her middle, shoulders hunched, head facing the ground.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
I stepped forward, shaking palms facing her as I approached.
“I can’t do this.” Her voice was choked, and when her head lifted to me, her face was red and streaked with tears.
“What?”
“I don’t know what to do.” Her voice broke as she started sobbing silently into her hoodie sleeves.
I wrapped her up in a hug, and she shook in my arms. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
She looked up and sniffed in. “It’s not,” she said. “No matter what I choose, I’m going to upset people who have worked so hard for me.”
“This is your life, Cath.”
Her chin trembled as she nodded.
My phone rang loudly between us. She shrugged out of my hug as I pulled the phone out of my back pocket. Mari must have sensed a disturbance.
Cath saw the screen and scrubbed at her cheek. “Please don’t get it.”
“Okay. I won’t.” I nodded calmly, but I felt like I had negotiated a hostage situation. Mari was probably losing her mind, wondering where Cath was. “Do your parents know you’re here, though?”
She nodded. “I told them everything this morning.”
“Good,” I said, eyebrows lifted in hope.
“Not good.” Her voice broke.
And my eyebrows pinched. “Not good?”
“They said they support whatever I decide and they love me.Ugh.” She groaned loudly, dropping her face in her hands again.
“Can we sit? And talk?” I gestured to the back of the van.
