Page 89 of Hauling Ashe

I finally get a chance to escape and check on Mae once Chopper dances with Lily during the mother-son dance. The dance is a token of his love for his stepmother, who has only been his stepmother for a few years. He had a friendship with Lily prior to Brut finding her again and the story is quite the tale.

A hand catches my sleeve as I’m attempting to step away again. “Hey, I need to tell you something.” Brut stills me.

“Brut, I really need to check on Mae.” Frustration sets in as it’s been more than half an hour since she disappeared.

“That’s what this is about.”

Instantly the hackles on my neck rise. “What about her?”

“She left.”

“As in went to our room?” I clarify, tipping my head and lowering my voice with a calm I don’t feel.

“No, she left. Her son had an accident, and she went home.”

“What happened to him? Will he be okay?” Concern for her child races through my head.

“She didn’t have all the details, just that it was bad and he’s at the hospital. She went to the airport. I got a text from her that she found a late-night flight. She’ll be boarding soon.”

She went to the airport? “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me earlier?” Mae needs me. She’s been here for me, and now she needs me, right?

“Because she knew tonight was important. Julia needed you to sing with the guys. Maybe you needed it too.” He pauses and arches a brow. “The harmonica?”

It’s a question I can’t answer now. “I need to get to Mae.”

“She’s gone. On an airplane.” Brut gives me a sympathetic look. They all know I rode across the country because I have a fear of flying. The guys even remember how I freaked out after my parents died and we needed to catch a flight to make a gig. I practically needed to be tranquilized to get on that plane. I drank so much I’m surprised the airline let me board, but back then security wasn’t half as strict as it is now.

“What about Louie?” That damn Prius. My chest aches with fond memories of that car.

“She wants me to sell it.”

“What?!” I bellow. “Why you?” But I quickly remember Brut owns a classic car repair shop. “Why sell it?”

“She said she might need the money for her son.”

I’m still puzzled why Mae didn’t just come and tell me she was leaving.

“She left the keys at the front desk for me, and her plane takes off any second,” Brut adds.

I’m caught between anxiety for Mae’s child and my own emotions. My heart beats in sympathy for Mae and I hope her boy is okay, but she actually left. There’s no reverse here, no U-turn. She’s really gone this time. I still can’t wrap my head around her leaving without a word to me.

Did she believe whatever Jude said to her? I’m not buying it. Mae is stronger than spiteful words from an arrogant man. Hell, I’m proof of her strength. She handled me across two-thousand miles and seven days.

Then again, a simple goodbye wouldn’t have been enough. There are so many more words to be said between us.

42

THE NEXT DAY

Playlist: “Scars” – James Bay

[Mae]

“Wyatt, stop fidgeting,” I warn my son as he sits on the hospital bed, his leg lifted in traction.

While Wyatt’s broken leg is certainly upsetting, it wasn’t quite life threatening like Owen led me to believe. Unfortunately, I had not been able to reach Pam while I raced to the airport. She had extensive medical training from her previous work as an EMT, and a simple phone call with her would have explained his condition. She had been with Wyatt when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. In a second attempt to reach Pam, she’d been in the surgical unit when I called.

I hadn’t bothered to reach out to Adam.