Chapter Twenty-Five
Sawyer
The incessant ringing of a phone was about to send me over the edge. “Kurt, your phone.”
“Hmm…”
When he didn’t move, I gave him a shove. “Kurt, make your phone stop.”
He shifted, and I heard him knock over something on his nightstand as he tried to grab the phone. For a moment, there was nothing but heavenly silence.
“Oh shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”
I jerked up. That got my attention. “What?”
“My mother is on her way from the airport. She’ll be here any second.” Kurt rolled out of bed, pulled on his jeans, and finger-combed his hair while he looked for a shirt. “Where’s my shirt. You’ve organized it, and now I can’t find anything.”
Wait. He’s worried about a shirt? This was not good timing—not good timing at all. “Your mom is coming? Now? Why?” Then I froze as I remembered the schedule for the day. I had done this. I’d arranged for Lana to come here and surprise Kurt. “This is my fault. This was supposed to be a surprise for you.”
“What?” Kurt paused to look at me.
I scrambled off the bed and retrieved my Kurt-approved pajamas. “Before the tour, I made arrangements for her to come see you in Denver.”
I froze, remembering I left my prenatal vitamins in the living room. I dashed down the hall.
“Sawyer! Don’t run like that!”
Rolling my eyes, I found them and ran back to my room.
Kurt scolded me from the doorway. “Sawyer, don’t run. You’ll jiggle the baby.”
Putting my hands on my hips, I tried to keep a straight face. “Don’t you think fucking my brains out last night jiggled your baby?”
A look of disbelief crossed over his face. “That’s different!”
We stared at each other and burst out laughing. I pointed at him. “I’m blaming your baby for forgetting about your mom. I never forget anything. It’s like the Hendrix gene has infected me. If I start being messy, so help me, I’m coming after you with a baseball bat until you’re infertile.”
Horror crossed his face and he cupped himself. “No touching the jewels.”
I waved my hands in the air. There wasn’t much time. Later, we could argue about jewel mangling. “Go get a shirt! We look like we’ve spent the night fucking and not sleeping.”
“Because that’s what we did.”
“Kurt! Your mom is going to be here any minute. Put. On. A. Shirt.”
Seriously. I forgot. I combed through my hair, managing to put it up in a messy bun as I walked around the bus making sure everything was in place. An easy morning lounging around the bus look. I believed I accomplished it.
The brunch.
“Kurt, you have reservations to take your mom to brunch downtown.”
What was wrong with me? Then there’s the scenic drive. Oh hell, I had fallen apart.
Kurt came back into the hall, his toothbrush in his mouth. Oh, I need to do that too. I ran back to my bathroom with him on my tail.
“Stop running, Sawyer. What else do we have on this surprise agenda?”
The way he said surprise riled me. I knew he’d probably spit some toothpaste out as he spoke. I started to brush my teeth, refusing to turn around. Don’t look at the splatter. Don’t look.
“Umm, you have brunch and then a scenic drive to the lake.” Ugh, I now sputtered toothpaste out. We were a mess. I grabbed a towel and cleaned the spots.
He spit, and I followed. The difference was his rinse job was not thorough. So I took the extra time to get the excess toothpaste from the sink. Then he tossed his toothbrush on my counter. Not wanting to argue, I put mine in its proper holder and speed-walked to his bathroom to put his away.
“Okay, I think that’s it,” I announced from my doorway.
Kurt hadn’t moved from the bathroom.
“Why aren’t you moving? And by the way, I speed-walked to your bathroom. No baby jiggling.”
Baby jiggling. Crazy, crazy man.
“You did all this before we left? Why?” His voice grew soft and a little reflective. It touched me.
I wrapped my arms around his waist so I could look into his eyes. “Yeah, I did. You told me in LA that Crystal Lake was special for you and your mom when we set up the tour. I don’t know why it is, and I didn’t ask her. When I called her with the plans, she cried. If I’ve overstepped, I’m so sorry.”
Without a word, Kurt grabbed my face and kissed me fiercely. “You are worth everything to me.”
My insides melted. “I feel the same way about you.”
“Even when you had no reason to hope there would be an us, you never stopped caring.” Kurt searched my eyes.
Touching my lips to his, I kissed him softly. “I’m glad I have you now.”
“You will have me. Always.”
I jabbed him playfully in the chest. “But I mean it. If I become a slob, okay with just discarding my toothbrush at whatever sink and throwing my shoes in the corner of my room because of this baby, I am not going to be a happy camper.”
Kurt grinned. “The Hendrix gene is strong. Remember it broke through birth control and a condom.”
I groaned. “I am so fucked.”
“Yeah, you are.”
Kurt’s phone vibrated. “My mom’s here.”
“Wait. Are you telling her about the baby?”
He stared off into the distance for a moment. “What do you think?”
Whoa, this seems like a rushed decision. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I left it up to Kurt. “That’s up to you. I don’t want my parents to know, but that doesn’t mean your mom can’t know. She doesn’t have to be punished because of my parents.”
“We’ll see. Let’s play it by ear.”
“Sounds good.”
Walking out into the hall, Kurt asked, “Aren’t you coming?”
Suddenly, nerves washed over me, and I thought about how my parents felt about me. Lana might feel the same way. “What if she doesn’t like me? Or think I’m good enough?”
Kurt put his phone down and focused on me. “One, she already loves you and has been busting my balls to make my move for the last three months. Two, she wouldn’t be pushing me to not let you slip through my fingers if she thought you weren’t good enough. And three, it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. You make me happy. And that’s all that matters.”
“I like number three.”
We smiled goofily at each other. “Me, too.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Ready, baby?”
“Sure.”
No, not really. But what the hell.
Kurt hit the button to open the door, and his mom walked up the stairs. “Oh, my baby boy! I’ve missed you!” He wrapped his arms around his mother and brought her to him tenderly. It was the soft-mushy side rarely anyone saw. “Where is your darling girl? I’m so glad you pulled your head out of your ass.”
I stayed off to the side, unsure what I should do.
“Me, too. She’s right behind us.”
Kurt’s eyes sparkled when they met mine.
Giving a small wave, I said, “Hey, Lana. It’s good to see you.”
Lana hugged me tightly. “I’m so happy for the two of you. So happy.”
“Me, too.”
I saw the time on the bus. “You guys better get going. Reservations are in thirty minutes. Then, a driver will take you guys on a scenic tour.”
Lana looked confused, tucking a strand of gray hair behind her ear. “You aren’t coming?”
“Yes, she is,” Kurt stated.
I never wanted to intrude. “I…no. This is your time together.”
Lana grabbed my hand, and the kindness I felt from her warmed me inside. “It’ll be our time together. All three of us.”
That sounded wonderful. I wanted to get to know her better. “Thank you. I’d love to go.”
After how my parents had treated me for so long, this was an unexpected change. And I loved it.