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Chapter 6 - Gavin: Conversations
Danny had gone in to get Axel while I waited outside. I was worried about the little guy. Just in these short two months, I had grown attached to him. Axel, like his mother, had a way of working his way into your heart. It was that Anderson charm.
Danny had been right, though, he was acting out of sorts lately. He was grumpier and seemed highly reactive to everything around him. I had tried to talk to him a few times, but I found that he preferred not to speak. He was a lot like his mother in that regard. He preferred to be outside and look at nature when he needed to cool off. Which was why I often took him to the creek on the ranch. We would just sit by the bank and listen to the water until he started talking again about everything except what he was feeling.
He liked to run from his feelings, something I knew all too well about.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and, when I pulled it out, I saw my mother’s face flash across my screen.
I groaned, “Here we go.”
I loved my mother but she was often overbearing at times. Ever since I told her I was moving back, she had been pestering me almost every hour of the hour. She worried about my mental health. She was very big on these lifestyle gurus, and on the last phone call we’d had, she had told me that I was exhibiting the signs of a person who was in denial of truth, whatever that meant.
“If I don’t answer, maybe she will stop calling,” I said to myself, staring at my phone. “But if I do that, my mother would be the type to hop on a plane and make her way to Riverroad.”
So I answered. “Hey, mom.”
“Finally! I have tried your phone three times and no answer. I thought something had happened to you.”
“Just like all the other times I have told you, I am fine and well. No need for you to worry about me, mom. I’m not in the freaking wild.”
“But you are working on a ranch, Gavin.”
“And?”
“Honey…” She took on her sweet tone and I knew what was coming. “Dr. Rupert says that rearranging your entire life and running is the beginning signs of insanity. I know Tatiana broke your heart, but you didn’t need to run away from the whole city.”
Tatiana hadn’t been the one who had broken my heart. I had done that the day I decided to walk away from Riverroad. Tatiana had been a catalyst that helped me see light and point me in the direction I should have been following all along.
“Mom, I am not insane. I just needed a breather. LA was starting to suffocate me.”
“Then you could have come to Briton Bay. You would love it here.”
“And suffer in a small town I don’t know? No thank you.”
“But you are suffering in Riverroad.”
“Who said I’m suffering? I am fine here, mom.”
There was a moment of silence. “I am just worried about you. What with all the tabloids coming out with that story on Tatiana and Hunter.”
“What?”
“Dammit, sometimes I just need to keep my mouth shut,” she muttered under her breath. “You didn’t see the article, did you?”
“I’ve tried to stay off of social media.” After my split with Tatiana, various news outlets had reached out to get a comment, and I was sick of it. Fan pages for our relationship had been going crazy, and my DMs were flooded with death threats, proclamations of love, and nudes. None of which I cared for.
Maybe I was a prick for saying it but the Tatiana situation had bruised more of my ego than my heart. Even if my life in LA had been fake and superficial, I had built a name for myself and a brand and Tatiana had torn it down in only a matter of seconds all because she was after the next best thing.
Yes, I had loved the girl but now having Danny in my life again, everything was put into perspective again. Tatiana paled in comparison to Danny. For me, Danny was the gold standard. No one could ever beat her. I had tried to forget her but in my attempt to forget the woman I loved I plunged myself into messy situations such as getting engaged to Tati.
The breakup had been hard but it had been needed. It took finding Danny again to see that.
“What did it say?” I tried to keep my face passive and unmoving.
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment. I knew that whatever she was trying to brace me for was not going to be good.
“She is dating Hunter Tomlan. Well, at least that is what the rumors are saying. This is all speculation, but they were pictured together leaving Valester near Malibu.”
