Chapter 19

Mia

The office still felt strangely empty without Hudson there. Things had normalized some, and most people had started working after engaging in a few minutes of small talk in the mornings, but Henry hardly ever had the walls to the office clear and couldn’t seem less concerned with the work force.

The result was a lot of gossip, a lot of speculation, and a lot of distractions for those of us trying to get our work done. It was awful.

Something pivotal was missing in our office. Something that drove us and pushed us and formed us to be our best. That something was someone. Hudson.

Clive and the guy next to him were actually tossing a football around in the office. Not far enough to risk damage or attention from Henry, but enough to make it impossible to concentrate.

I pulled my earbuds from my ears in time to hear someone yell, “Cut it out, guys.” But they weren’t deterred.

Walking to a conference room where I would have some privacy, I dialed Tina’s number. She answered on the first ring.

“Scorned brides’ support service. How may we be of assistance today?”

I rolled my eyes at her greeting but suppressed a giggle. “How is it that you can always make me smile, no matter what’s going on in my life?” I asked, needing to know her secret.

“Easy. I know you, baby girl. Besides, you got stood up at the altar a week ago. What else could you possibly be calling about?” She joked, but the reminder that it had only been a week twisted something in my stomach. It felt like only hours had passed sometimes and a lifetime in other moments.

“You know me too well.” I hadn’t even spoken to Ryan that week, though he’d sent me some memes about what he wanted to do to Hudson. One day, I would have to explain the truth to him. It just wasn’t going to be today.

“Yeah, I do. If you’re calling to ask for another gorgeous illegal immigrant to marry, I’m afraid I’m fresh out. I just had a runner last week.”

“Has anyone ever told you not to quit your day job?” I asked dryly.

“Never. I’m a hoot. Now, what can I do for you?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. Things are so different at the office. Everything feels wrong without Hudson around.”

“Have you spoken to him?” Her voice softened with sympathy.

“Not a single, solitary word. For all I know, he’s lying in a ditch somewhere and never even made it to Santo Via Island.” Tears pricked the backs of my eyes.

“Maybe you need to try to talk to him, baby girl?” There was a commotion at her end, and she pushed the phone against her chest as she dealt with it.

A muffled cry of “No Braden. Ashleigh, you know better than that,” sounded. I suppressed another laugh.

“Okay, I’m back,” she said breathlessly.

“You sound busy. It’s okay if you want me to call you back later?”

“No. It’s okay. It’s not a class. We’re rehearsing for a concert in a couple of weeks’ time. You remember when we were kids and boys used to pull your hair when they liked you?”

“Yeah?”

“This class is in that phase. It’s usually fine, but since we’ve thrown them together for rehearsals, it’s like there’s a hair pulling contest. Only, the girls aren’t backing down. They’re pulling back.”

I laughed. My first genuine laugh in over a week as I imagined what poor Tina was dealing with.

“Sounds like a handful.” I giggled. “Pun intended.”

Tina groaned. “Yeah, I’m sure it was. Back to you. You haven’t heard from Hudson since the wedding, huh?”

“Nope.” It was all I could manage.

“Have you tried talking to him?” More muffled admonishments rang out.

“I haven’t. His number was disconnected by Sunday. I don’t have any other way of contacting him. I don’t think I can email him because everything gets rerouted to Henry.”

“Ooh, there’s another one? Tell me about Henry. Maybe he can calm your aching loins.” She laughed again.

“Shut up Tina. The man’s my grandfather’s age. And he’s not Hudson.”

“Of course, he isn’t. Has it occurred to you yet that he might have Hudson’s new number, though? Presumably, the man hasn’t returned to the stone age, and he got a new number in Santo Via Island. Last I heard, they had phones and signal and stuff there.”

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about that. My stomach sank. “By that logic, he could’ve contacted me the moment he got his new phone.”

“Granted, but he just stood you up at your wedding and got deported. It’s not exactly a surprise that he might be too embarrassed to contact you.”

“Hudson doesn’t get embarrassed,” I told her.

“You’ve never seen him at his lowest. You did that day, Mia. Is it comprehensible to think that he may feel humiliated?”

“I guess not.”

“I think you guess right.” A muffled yell sounded again. “I’ve got to go, babe. That damn Braden is going to pull that poor girl’s hair out of her head if I leave them much longer.”

“You go pull them apart, spoilsport.”

“Hey, you deal with her mom later, and I’ll let them go at it.”

“I was joking. Go do your thing.”

“Well, I wasn’t joking, go call that man!” she ordered, her phone clattering to a table without her clicking off.

“Braden, I swear to god I’m going to call your mother...”

I chuckled before I ended the call.

I felt sorry for Braden, whoever the poor boy was. Tina was right about me getting a hold of Hudson’s number, though.

I’d never get closure without it.

Henry believed in an open-door policy, even though his door was always closed and the walls always opaque.

“Ms. Doyle is here for you, Mr. Carson,” Jenny announced me and motioned for me to take a seat while I waited.

My ass had barely hit the waiting room couch when Henry’s voice allowed Jenny to let me in.

“Mia, how are you?” Henry shook my hand, but he looked like he hadn’t slept since we’d last spoken on Monday morning. There were dark circles around his eyes, and his hair was tousled like he’d spent hours running his hands through it.

“I’m fine, how are you?” I asked cautiously.

“Oh, I’m okay.” He smiled a tired smile and sank into Hudson’s chair. It dwarfed him like never before.

“Are you sure?” He didn’t look it. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“I’m sure, my dear. You’re already taking on more responsibility than is fair.” He ran his hand through his hair in a path that was so worn, it almost stayed that way.

“What can I do for you, Mia?” He exhaled.

“I, uh, was hoping I could get Hudson’s number from you,” I stammered, fidgeting with my fingers.

“Is there a reason why you want to get in touch with him? I’m here if there’s an emergency.” Henry seemed to be mildly alarmed.

“There’s no emergency. I was just wanting to make sure he was okay.”

Henry leaned back in Hudson’s chair and seemed to channel Hudson’s intensity from it as his eyes raked mine. “You want to check on your boss?”

“Someone has to,” I argued.

“Fine.” He buzzed Jenny. “Please send Mr. Blake’s new number to Ms. Doyle.”

“Sir, are you—”

His hand released the button connecting Jenny to us. “Don’t make me regret this, Mia.” He said sincerely.

“I won’t, Henry.”

I considered waiting until I got home to phone Hudson, but as soon as my phone buzzed with his number, it started burning a hole in my palm.

Instead of heading back to my cubicle, I went straight back to the conference room I’d spoken to Tina in.

Hudson answered on the first ring with his usual bark. “Blake.”

“Hudson,” I said, my voice shaking.

“Mia?” He sounded puzzled. “How did you get this number?”

“It’s me. Henry gave it to me. Well no, it was Jenny really, but Henry said it was okay.” I stammered. “Please don’t be mad at them.”

“I’m not mad, Mia. Hey, relax baby. It’s okay.” His voice soothed me.

My breath caught in my lungs at the sound of his voice. I hated that I was that affected by him. “I’m okay, how are you?”

He was quiet for so long I thought he’d hung up. I pulled the phone from my ear, only to hear him speak again. “I’m adjusting. You good?”

“I’m okay.” I took a deep breath to control my nonsensical emotions.

“How are things at the office?”

“It’s okay, but it’s weird without you,” I answered honestly.

“People are actually having fun, huh?” he joked, the sounds of horns blaring around him distracted me. I tried to imagine him running around the streets of Pepper Cove, dressed casually and laughing into his phone.

A nervous laugh escaped me at the mental image, then I realized he was still waiting for an answer. “Not everyone.”

“I bet people are loving Carson.” His tone was light, but I heard the curiosity there.

“People are loving that he keeps your walls opaque and lets them talk shit,” I confessed.

He cursed. “They doing what needs to be done?”

“Yeah, I think so. I am, anyway.”

“I never doubted you, Mia. It’s the others I’m worried about.” Agitation was clear in his voice, so intense it had me pacing the length of the conference room as an outlet.

“Don’t,” I told him. “Don’t worry about anyone but yourself right now.”

“I talked to Dakota,” he said after a moment of silence.

“You did?” My heart leaped with joy for them, even if I’d been avoiding Ryan’s calls all week.

“I did,” he said quietly. “I think we figured some things out.”

“I’m really proud of you for doing that, Hudson.”

His breath caught. “Are you really okay?” he asked after a beat.

“I am. It took the rest of the weekend to calm Ryan and my father down, but they let me come back to Portland, so that’s a good sign, right?”

“Maybe. They let you go with the driver I sent?” More horns blared.

“Not lightly. They followed us all the way to the airfield. Where are you?”

Hudson laughed. “That bad, huh? Nowhere really. Just getting some stuff set up.”

“That bad,” I confirmed. “I meant to thank you, but your phone was already disconnected.”

“Thank me for what?” he asked, sounding confused.

“You know, for sending that driver. For your super over the top jet. You didn’t have to do that.” I sank into the seat in the conference room that he used to dominate meetings from. It helped to make me feel closer to him, but not close enough.

A deep laugh rumbled from his chest, sending the butterflies in my stomach scattering and burying themselves in the lining of my stomach. “So, you finally noticed the jet?”

“I did. I’m sorry I was so oblivious before. I didn’t mean to be. Owning that is a massive achievement.”

“You weren’t oblivious, babe. You were out of your mind thinking about the fuck-up you were about to introduce to your parents.”

“Shut up, you’re not a fuck up. The situation was just… different.”

“I’d say.”

“I want to come out and see you,” I said, finally gathering the confidence to ask. He kept quiet. “Would that be okay?”

“Mia, I want to see you, too,” he paused. “But I’m not me here, do you understand?”

“I do, but I’d like to come see you all the same. Would that be okay with you?” I held my breath as I waited for his answer.

“I think it’s a great idea.” I could hear the grin spreading on his face.