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PART IV
24
SAVANNAH
MARCH 11, 2013
If one more person spoke to me, I was going to combust. Everyone thought that since Martin and I had gotten married less than three months earlier, I wanted to be with him all the time.
We’d come back to Atlanta after our spontaneous Bora Bora honeymoon, and suddenly, my trailer had disappeared. I’d fought tooth and nail for my own fucking space. I was the star of the show after all. Then, someone had even written Josephine Harper on all of my scripts and paperwork. I’d blown a gasket. I was married. I wasn’t a different person. And I certainly wasn’t changing my name. The internalized misogyny was driving me batshit crazy.
I slammed the door on my brand-new Josephine Reynolds trailer. Martin had laughed on set when I had to correct another person about my name. He’d laughed. Even though he knew I was pissed. I’d had enough of him today.
We’d had a beautiful wedding and a dream honeymoon. It hadn’t been what I’d planned, but I’d enjoyed every minute of it. Now that reality was crashing back in, it was a whole new world.
I snatched my phone off of the charger and slouched back into the couch, but then I stilled when I saw the missed call.
“Maddox?” I whispered in shock.
I hadn’t heard a single thing from him since he’d hung up on me before Christmas. Not that I blamed him. He was right. I shouldn’t have started anything with him before breaking it off with Martin, and it was terrible optics that I’d gotten engaged. I was in the wrong. Not that he’d let me get that out. Now, I was married. Why the hell would he reach out?
But I didn’t stop and think before dialing him back.
He answered almost instantly. “Josie.”
I stilled. He sounded … sad. Like he’d been crying.
“Maddox, are you okay? I got your missed call.”
“Gramps is dead.”
I gasped. My hand went to my mouth, and tears came to my eyes. Gramps hadn’t been doing well the last couple years. He’d been in a home for dementia, but I hadn’t heard that it was this bad.
“Oh my God, Maddox, I’m so sorry. He was a wonderful man. I loved him too.”
“I don’t know why I called you,” he admitted.
“Because … I’m your person,” I whispered.
He sighed. “Yeah. I don’t know. Mars is probably going to call you too. I could have let her.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Yeah,” he said, sounding utterly dejected. “I didn’t know what else to do. I have a fucking girlfriend, and the first thing I did when I found out was call you.”
I winced at the word girlfriend. I had no right. None at all. But I couldn’t stop the feeling of disgust when I heard it.
“It’s okay. You’re allowed to feel how you feel.”
“I don’t know how I feel.”
“Heartbroken,” I whispered.
“Fuck, I should go.”
“Hey,” I said softly, consolingly. “Do you need me to come into town? I’m in Atlanta. I could drive down there.”
“Don’t you have work?”
“Gramps was family. I can get out of it.”
“No, you should stay.”
“Maddox,” I growled. “You called me for a reason.”
“Yeah … yeah.” He sighed. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll be there in four hours.”
I wasted no time, letting everyone know that I had to leave. Production looked pissed, but when I told them I had a death in the family, there was nothing they could say.
“Babe,” Martin said. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Uh, no. You know, you should stay here. I need to deal with this.”
Martin touched my arm. I could see that he didn’t really want to drive down to Savannah for this, but he was being supportive. So, I relented and let him pull me into a quick hug.
“I’ll text you when I get there,” I promised my husband.
He pressed a kiss to my lips and then let me go. Little did he know.
A twinge of regret ran through me. I could have told him the truth. I could have let him come with me. I could have done a million things, but I didn’t. I got into my new black Mercedes and drove the four hours to Savannah.
Maddox needed me.
Lila opened the door when I arrived. She and Maddox had been living together since August when she started at physical therapy school. Two dogs barked and ran in circles when they saw me standing in the doorway.
Maddox’s shih tzu, Walt, nipped at my ankles while Lila’s puppy, Sunny, had the zoomies. I dropped down to pet and quiet them both before standing up again before my friend and pulling her into a hug.
“Hey,” I said. “How are you doing?”
“Sad. Maddox hasn’t come out of his room. I talked to Mars. She’s flying down for the funeral.”
“Good.”
I stepped inside and found Ash Talmadge standing there. It felt like an intrusion. He and Lila had started dating again in December. I wanted to be happy for her, but I’d never forgiven him for hurting her. I was crazy loyal to my friends even if I let myself get hurt.
