I have to force myself not to flinch. Everything she says is right on the money. We started out as a sham. If she gets to him first, she might be able to convince him that a divorce really is the best idea, even if she doesn’t know all the details surrounding our relationship.
“I’m sorry for bothering you,” I get out, turning, trying not to trip over my own feet as I head back to my car. Coming here was a mistake.
“Wait!” Shannon’s voice cracks through the quiet of the neighborhood.
I stop automatically, turning to see what she wants. “Let him go,” she says like she’s imparting words of hard-won wisdom. “My boys are stubborn. If he’s ignoring your calls, it’s because he doesn’t want to hear from you. Give him space. Leave him be. If you’re lucky, he’ll eventually call you back.”
With a nod—because what other response am I supposed to give?—I stumble the rest of the way to my car, get in and drive off, too distracted to even know which way leads back to the gate.
Colt’s not here. I just met my in-laws in the worst possible circumstances. And I have no idea how to fix any of it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Colt
My phone rings for the thousandth time since I got to Brendan’s house an hour ago. First it was Alexis calling over and over and over again but not leaving messages. Then she started sending me texts begging me to call.
Now it’s my mother.
Exhausted, heartsick, and not thinking straight, I smash my thumb on the green button to take the call. “What?” I growl into the phone.
“Now, Colt, I know you must be upset, but that’s no way to greet your mother.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I force myself to take deep breaths rather than screaming and chucking my phone across the room.
I’ll have to talk to Alexis eventually, if for no other reason than to figure out what to do about our remaining concerts. Though if she’s taking a contract that requires her to divorce me, she probably won’t be allowed to perform with me, so I’ll need to contact everyone to have them remove her from the billing and give them the option to back out if they don’t want just me.
Sighing, I consider just hanging up on my mom, but part of me wants to know what she’s calling about. “It’s been a shit day, Mom, so can you get to the point with a minimum of reprimands about my tone or choice of words?”
She sniffs. “I was just wanting to let you know that we met your little wife today.”
God, I hate that she keeps referring to Alexis that way. Like she doesn’t think anything between us is real or serious.
And I don’t know if it pisses me off more because once upon a time that was true or because with the stroke of a pen this afternoon, it all ended.
But then the actual meaning of her words, not just the dig, penetrates my mental processes. “I’m sorry, did you just say you met Alexis today?”
“Yes.” She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “She came to the house looking for you. I’m not even sure how she got in, because she didn’t ring through from the gate. Did you give her the code?”
“Why would I do that?” The question is pure bewilderment. My goal was to keep Alexis as far away from my toxic mother’s presence as possible for as long as possible. I would never have sent her into the snake pit alone. So why in the world would I have given her the gate code?
Another sniff. “I’ll have to speak to security then. People shouldn’t be able to just get in like that.”
“What did she want?” I ask, my tone sharp enough to cut granite, hoping to snap her out of whatever tirade about lax security she’s about to launch into. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with that right now.
“Like I said, she came looking for you. Which means she doesn’t know where you are. Trouble in paradise?”
I can’t. I absolutely cannot. Without a word, I hang up the phone. I know I’ll hear about it later, but I don’t care right now. I can’t deal with my mother on top of everything else.
When my phone starts ringing immediately, I decline the call and power down my phone. I’m done. One hundred percent done. I just want to climb into this bed that Lauren assured me had fresh sheets on it and not wake up for a week. Because maybe then life will make sense again. Or at least I’ll have the wherewithal to deal with how fucked up it’s become in the course of one afternoon.
I can’t do that, though, for a lot of reasons. Not least of which being the fact that I do need to talk to Alexis sooner rather than later. There are details that have to be worked out. I just …
Not yet. It’s too raw. Too new. Too painful. I’m still bleeding from a wound that hasn’t had the chance to start scabbing over, and this is me putting pressure on the arterial bleed until I can stitch it shut.
A soft tap sounds at the door, and I don’t know if it’s been five minutes or five hours since I turned off my phone. Probably somewhere in between.
Blinking, I grunt out a gruff, “Come in.”
Lauren’s face pokes around the door, sympathy radiating from her. I don’t want it, though. I want to be alone with my pain, a wounded bear hiding in a cave. I don’t want sympathy or pity or comfort.
I want Alexis.
But that’s impossible.
“How are you doing?” she asks softly.
I grunt again. A nonresponse.
“Yeah. I kinda figured. What’s your preferred method of dealing with heartbreak? Ice cream? Liquor? Both? We could do like spiked root beer floats.” She gets a contemplative look on her face like she’s working
