Chapter Seventeen
“IT’S OFFICIAL,” SALLY announced to Kaylie and Max the following Saturday morning as they decorated Kaylie’s chalet for Danica’s baby shower. “We’re telling Rusty about our relationship, and after he goes back to Harborside, I’m formally moving in with Gage.”
Kaylie squealed and hugged her. “That is awesome!”
“Finally!” Max threw her arms around them both. “I swear you guys had the longest pre-dating courtship ever. Gage must be over the moon.”
“Both of us are,” Sally gushed. “I haven’t stopped smiling since we made the final decision.” Gage must have asked her fifty times since then if she was sure, and every time she answered, she was even more certain she’d made the right decision. When he realized she wasn’t going to change her mind, he deemed the largest of the other three bedrooms Rusty’s, which warmed her all over. He’d spent last weekend making their mosaic into an end table, which was now proudly displayed in their living room. He was also rearranging one of the guest bedrooms to make space for what he called Sally’s creative station. He’d offered to set up a studio for her in the barn, but she didn’t want to be that far away from him when the urge hit to work on a project.
“When are you telling Rusty?” Max asked. She handed Sally one end of a streamer and walked to the other side of the table, twisting it as she went.
“When he comes home for the holidays. I hate to spring it on him when he’s only home for a week, but I think it’s best if he hears it in person.”
Max secured the end of the streamer to the table, and Kaylie taped the middle, creating a scalloped pattern.
“He loves Gage,” Kaylie said as she cut another length of streamer for the other side of the table. “But remember when he was sixteen? That poor boy carried so much anger and snuck off all the time. I’m not looking forward to those teenage years with Lexi and Trev.”
“They’re only in elementary school, like Adriana,” Max pointed out. Her daughter was in second grade. “We have plenty of time to train them. And by train them, I mean scare the living bejeezus out of them about drinking and sex and everything else they can get into.”
Sally laughed at their naïveté. “You think you can control a teenager with fear, but trust me. They think they’re indestructible. And what’s worse is that testing parents seems to be a rite of passage.”
“Well, Adriana is like a saint, and a Daddy’s girl. Dylan, on the other hand, is rascally as a monkey. That boy gets into everything. Poor Treat. He was such a good kid; he won’t know what to do with him.”
“Oh, please!” Kaylie waved a hand as they hung up the streamer. “Treat practically raised his five younger siblings. Think about them for a minute. Back then, Hugh was as into girls as he was cars, and you know python-in-his-pants Dane didn’t keep that viper all to himself. I’m sure Treat will be one step ahead of your kids at all times.” Both Hugh and Dane were now happily married and fathers to boot. Hugh was a professional race-car driver, and Dane was a shark researcher. They’d both been major players before falling in love with Brianna and Lacy.
The girls shared a giggle.
“Don’t say that about Dane in front of Treat,” Max warned. “It’s no secret that Dane’s the most well-endowed man to come out of Weston, Colorado, but my studly husband does not want to hear about it.”
“Like I’d ever?” Kaylie said. “Hell, I’d never say that around my own drop-dead-gorgeous husband. Men and their penises. I swear you could tell a man you love him a hundred times a day, and he’d love you. But tell him he has a golden cock?” She spread her arms out to her sides and dropped down to one knee. “He’ll worship you forever.”
Sally wound a length of streamer around Max’s waist, leaving a piece hanging down like a penis. She did the same to Kaylie, then herself.
Max put her hands on her hips and gyrated. “Come on, baby. Hang from the chandelier. I’m worth it.”
Kaylie puffed out her chest and stroked the streamer. “Mine comes with diamonds and it tastes like ice cream. I swear it!”
They all doubled over in laughter. Max and Sally made a litany of bad penis jokes. They clung to each other, laughing so hard tears streamed down their cheeks.
A knock sounded at the door, and Kaylie said, “See? The girls are banging down my door already!” causing more fits of laughter.
Sally tried to catch her breath as Kaylie answered the door, but Max started swinging her streamer-penis, and Sally lost it again. She turned her back to try to regain control. A few seconds later a heavy hand landed on her shoulder, and she spun around, coming face-to-chest with Gage, who wore a dreadful, serious expression, turning her laughter into concern.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s Rusty,” Gage said solemnly, tightening his grip on her shoulder.
Fear shot through her.
“He’s been arrested, and we need to go to Harborside.”
“Arrested?” She tried to wrap her mind around the idea, but Rusty wasn’t a troublemaking teenager anymore. He was responsible and sensible. Her heart hammered against her ribs as questions spilled out. “Why? What did he do? Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. It sounds like it was a misunderstanding, but we have to leave now and get to Harborside. He’s going in front of a judge at four o’clock and we have to be there to bail him out if they set bail.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Bail?” She clutched his arm to stabilize her buckling knees. “What did he do? Does he need a lawyer? We need a lawyer, right? I don’t know a lawyer in Massachusetts.”
“I’m calling Treat.” Max pulled out her phone. “I’m sure you can use his plane.”
Arrested. Oh my God, Rusty.
Gage kissed her temple and said, “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get there and figure it out.”
“Treat’s alerting the pilot,” Max informed them. “It’s a three-and-a-half-hour flight to Boston, plus the drive time. He’ll have a driver waiting to take you to Harborside. He said he knows an attorney, but you’ll never make it by four o’clock.”
Max held out the phone to them.
“I’ve got it, babe.” Gage took it from Max and spoke to Treat. “Thanks, Treat. I spoke to the clerk on my way over. She said if we’re not there when they set bail he could be sent to prison until we arrive to post it. Think your attorney could show up and arrange for them to hold him locally? I don’t want to deal with a bail bondsman or any of that if we can avoid it.”
“Prison?” A sob broke from her chest. Max and Kaylie put their arms around her. “Rusty can’t go to prison. Gage…?”
Gage pulled her from the girls’ arms and into his own as he wrapped up his call with Treat. “Thank you. As much as I appreciate the offer of a driver, I think we need our own rental car. I don’t want to have to rely on anyone else while we’re there. Thanks, Treat. I owe you the world.” He ended the call and handed the phone back to Max. “Thank you.”
“Where’s your purse and coat?” he asked Sally.
Kaylie handed Sally’s purse to Gage and held up Sally’s coat, helping her into it. “Go. Explain to her in the car, and call if you need us.”
Gage was already moving toward the door. Once they were in the car, he headed for the highway. “Apparently Rusty borrowed his buddy’s car to pick up something across town. One of the taillights was broken, and he got pulled over. They spotted a bag of pills on the floor in the backseat and nailed him for possession.”
“Pills? That makes no sense. What kind of pills?”
Gage exhaled and squeezed her hand. “A few. OxyContin, Xanax, and ADD meds.”
“OxyContin?” Her stomach sank. “I’m going to throttle him. He swore he wasn’t into any of that stuff. Remember? I asked him about it last summer when we read that article about how kids were getting into heroin as a drug of choice. How could I have missed this? I know how. He’s never home. This is all my fault.”
“Baby, baby, baby,” Gage said quickly. “He swears it wasn’t his.”
She pressed her lips together, fuming, wanting to believe her son and afraid to at the same time.
“There’s more,” Gage said. “I had to promise him I’d come alone.”
“What?” Move over drugs, because this new information is front and center. “You promised my son you’d keep this from me?”
“Damn it, Sally. Does it look like I’m keeping it from you?” He ground his teeth together. “He was freaking out about you having enough to worry about with work and not wanting to bother you with something like this.”
“Like this? He was arrested! If ever there was a time to tell his mother something, it’s now. Why didn’t you tell him that?”
“Do you really underestimate me that much?” He put two hands on the wheel, his biceps flexing with his tight grip. “Jesus, Sally. Give me some fucking credit. I tried to convince him, but he was adamant about not making you worry.”
Tears welled in her eyes again. “I’m sorry. I’m just overwhelmed. I’m so confused. What if it was his? What if he’s screwing up his life out there in Massachusetts and I’m letting him? I should have made him come home for the whole break. I never should have agreed to let him work this winter. I should have—” Angry sobs stole her voice.
Gage reached across the seat and took her hand. “He’s twenty, Sal. He’s a young man, and he makes good decisions. I think we should wait until we talk to him in person to get too upset.”
“Wait to get upset?” She scoffed. “Like that’s even an option? And why are you so calm? Even if the drugs aren’t his, what kind of friends is he hanging out with? And how long will it take for peer pressure to drag him over to the dark side? His entire life will forever be shadowed by this arrest. Where did I go wrong? Do you think it’s because his father is dead?”
Gage took the next exit and pulled over to the side of the road, giving Sally his full attention. He leaned across the console and embraced her. She was shaking all over, and even being in his arms didn’t settle the fear running rampant inside her.
He drew back and wiped her tears. “Sally, he’s your son. You taught him to make all the right choices. Even though I want to believe him—”
“I do, too! He’s my son, but I’m not stupid enough to be one of those mothers who thinks ‘not my kid.’”
“I know, Sal. If it’s his, it doesn’t mean he’s throwing his life away. If it’s his, then this arrest will probably shake him up enough to get on the right track.”
“If the drugs are his, he’s coming back to Colorado, living under my roof, with my rules, and straightening out his life.”
They drove the rest of the way to the airport in silence. The long plane flight was just as tense. Sally could hardly believe they were flying to Massachusetts to bail her son out of jail. The stress made her feel sick to her stomach, and Gage hardly said two words.
It wasn’t until they were driving into Harborside that Sally realized her mistake.
THEY MADE IT into town just in time to post bail before the cashier closed for the day. On the way back to the car, Sally’s eyes were wide and worried, like a deer caught in the headlights.
“I never thought I’d be bailing out my son,” she said solemnly. She pushed Gage’s coat open and placed her hands on his chest. “I really want to reach for my hair right now.”
“Always reach for me, bird.” He covered her hands with his own, mentally working through how he’d handle things with Rusty when Rusty realized Gage had brought Sally against his wishes. The attorney told them that Rusty insisted the drugs belonged to his friend, although they’d been unable to reach the other kid. Until they heard the other kid’s side of the story, Rusty was considered guilty. Gage fucking hated that, and he hoped to hell Rusty wasn’t using his friend as a scapegoat, because that would only make things worse.
“I’m sorry for what I said about ‘my house and my rules,’” Sally said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to exclude you, or make you feel like you weren’t going to be part of our lives. I just…It just came out.”
Having let go of the sting of her words hours ago, he said, “Don’t think twice about it. You’re under a lot of pressure. Let’s just get through this and make sure Rusty’s okay.”
She nodded, her eyes as sad as they were scared. “Thank you for being there for him, and for telling me even though he didn’t want you to. I still can’t believe he wanted to keep this from me, but I’ll deal with him on that.”
“I told you, I’ll always be here for both of you.”
They drove straight to the police station. Rusty came out of a room in the back, his dark blond hair hanging limply in front of his eyes. His face was weary and drawn. His shoulders were rounded forward. He was probably dead on his feet after a stressful, sleepless night. He lifted his chin with a surly expression and skulked out of the station with his mother on his heels.
Rusty spun around, his eyes hooking into Gage like fangs. “What the hell, man? I trusted you. I asked you not to tell her.”
“Don’t yell at him for doing the right thing,” Sally snapped. “You should have told me, Rusty, not Gage. What were you thinking trying to keep this from me?”
Rusty’s eyes narrowed to angry slits, and his voice escalated. “What was I thinking? How can you even ask me that? I was thinking that I could trust him not to drag you into any of this mess. They weren’t my pills, Mom. I’m not a druggie or a dealer. This was just a messed-up misunderstanding that you don’t need to get all upset about.”
Gage stepped between Rusty and Sally, looking Rusty directly in the eyes. “Rusty, take a breath. I get that you’re pissed at me right now, but I’m not about to let you holler at your mother.”
“Oh, now you’re worried about my mother?” Rusty scoffed. “What the hell, Gage? Look how upset she is. That’s on you, man. She doesn’t need to worry about this shit on top of her job and everything else. You’re supposed to be her friend. I was trying to protect her. Why aren’t you?”
Gage gritted his teeth to keep from ripping into Rusty about the reason they were there in the first place. “I am protecting her, Rusty. I know you can’t see that right now, but I care about you, and I care about your mother. I would never keep something this important from her. It wouldn’t be good for either of you.”
“Whatever.” Rusty turned away.
“Rusty Michael Tuft!” Sally yelled. “Don’t you dare blame Gage for your mistakes. Do you have any idea what it’s like for me to hear secondhand that you were arrested? And do you realize the horrible position you put Gage in?”
“The position I put him in?” Rusty snapped. “Excuse me for thinking I could trust him.” He scrubbed a hand down his face and paced.
“You can trust him,” Sally insisted. “But what you asked of him was unfair. Rusty, you have to know that.”
“How about the position he put you in?” Rusty challenged.
“Okay. Enough,” Gage demanded. “I’m sure you’re exhausted, Rusty, but that’s no excuse to take it out on your mother. Why don’t we go grab something to eat and talk about this rationally?”
Rusty stared him down, his jaw clenched tight. He shifted his gaze to his mother and said, “I’m sorry I got into this mess and that you got dragged into it.” Grinding his teeth together, he turned to Gage. “Thanks for coming to bail me out, but I need to clear my head.”
Sally stepped closer to her son, dwarfed by his size. She reached for him, stopping short, her expression torn. Gage could see her struggling between being the mother she wanted to be and letting her son be the young man he needed to be.
“You can tell me if they were your drugs,” Sally said softly. “Don’t make this any worse.”
Rusty rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Mom. They’re not. I promise, okay?”
She nodded, her eyes damp as she put her arms around Rusty and hugged him. Rusty stood rigid, his long arms hanging by his sides. Sally didn’t move until Rusty reluctantly gave her a quick embrace and stepped back.
“Come on, we’ll take you home.” Gage unlocked the car.
“I’m going to walk,” Rusty mumbled, heading for the sidewalk. “It’s not far.”
“Rusty,” Sally called after him.
“It’s okay, babe.” Gage put a hand on her back. “Give him time to decompress. He’s been through a hell of a time.”
“He shouldn’t have treated you that way,” she said.
“I broke his trust. He has reason to be pissed. We’ll give him some breathing room, and then we can talk to him.”
“He thought he was protecting me,” Sally said as she settled into the car.
“It’s ironic, don’t you think? You’re hiding our relationship from him for the same reason.”