Chapter 43

Adelaide

“It’s rude,” my mother huffs, sitting in a hard plastic chair in the Labor and Delivery waiting room. “It’s one more thing she’s keeping from us.”

“I don’t see it that way at all, Virginia.” My father consoles her by rubbing slow circles on her back.

“What did we do wrong to raise such a selfish child?” Tears brim her eyes as she looks pleadingly at my father.

“They just want a little time for themselves,” Mandy offers. “They’re a new family. Give them an hour with their daughter. You’ll get plenty of time to play grandma.”

“She already told me I couldn’t stay for delivery,” Mom complains further.

“She had Elijah with her,” I say, looking at the clock above the silent TV for what seems like the millionth time since we arrived at four in the morning.

“She was allowed two people. I could’ve been in there.” She folds her arms over her chest.

Due to my mother’s less than receptive attitude in the beginning, Renee has limited her involvement, but my mother’s no fool. No one holds a grudge as long as my oldest sister, and she’s exerting that power now.

“I may just go home and come back later,” Mandy mutters so only I can hear. “She’s driving me nuts.”

I chuckle, earning a glare from my tired, cranky mother.

“Renee would murder us,” I assure Mandy. “If Mom goes in without one of us distracting her, we’ll never live it down.”

Mandy gasps, which is out of line for what I just said. Turning to look at her, I see she’s looking past me toward the double doors leading out of the waiting area.

Brown eyes meet hazel when I see what’s grabbed her attention.

“Speaking of distractions,” she mumbles.

Axton stands in the doorway, squeezing a small teddy bear like he’s going to strangle it, exhaustion etched into his usually handsome face. His clothes are wrinkled, and his normally barely-there scruff has been taken over by a full, unkempt beard. The look isn’t as unappealing as I would’ve imagined.

I stand from the hard chair, legs nearly giving way, and I don’t know whether it’s from seeing him here unexpectedly or from sitting too long. I walk to him before he can make it to my parents. Mom’s asked me about him more than once, and she’s well aware my depressed demeanor the last two months is because of him.

“What are you doing here?” I shoot for indifference with a twist of annoyance, but my breath is ragged and husky.

“I got this for Renee.” He hands me the teddy bear, and his eyes soften when he looks into mine. “I didn’t know if she was having a boy or a girl, but I figured you can’t have too many teddy bears.”

I stare down at the tiny toy, unable to look into his tired eyes. “Why are you here? You’re not supposed to be in Macon until May.”

The one thing I have done as far as keeping track of him is finding out his three-week break starts the last week of May, a week after I graduate and five days after I plan to move to Atlanta. I wasn’t going to risk the chance of running into him on the street, but it seems he’d track me down no matter where I am.

“Well, you just ran every red light to get here, didn’t you? I told you back at the house you have no business up here.” Marcus and Julie come around Axton with the items Renee needed in a small, rolling suitcase. Marcus is fuming and Julie looks as if she wants to run away, no doubt having to listen to her boyfriend rant and rave all the way to the hospital. Marcus doesn’t speak of it often, but there’s no love lost between these two.

“Do you need me to call security?” Mandy is at my elbow now.

“No,” I tell her, then turn my eyes to Marcus. “Can you give us a couple minutes?” They all just keep standing around. “Alone?”

“We can go for a walk,” Axton offers.

“I don’t think—”

“Five minutes, Addi. That’s all I’m asking.”

Five minutes is all it will take to lose myself all over again.

I nod as he turns to walk back to the door, and Marcus clasps my arm. “You don’t owe him anything.”

“I know,” I whisper, shrugging him off and following Axton into the hall.

He places his hand at the small of my back, and I allow if for roughly five seconds before I sidestep, letting it fall away.

“I’m done with the tour,” he says as soon as the heavy doors close behind us. “I’m done touring altogether. I’m never leaving again.”

The words I wanted to hear months ago don’t have the same impact now.

“Your dream is to make it big, headline your own international tour.” I can’t imagine what would’ve happened to make him change his life’s direction.

“The bright lights of stardom aren’t more than a dull spotlight these days,” he says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his ill-fitting jeans.

“You just walked away? I didn’t know it would be that easy.”

“I didn’t walk away. I was kicked off the tour.” He sighs and points to a row of benches in a smaller waiting room. This one is empty and gives us more privacy than we need. I sit, but remain on the edge of the seat in case I need to make a quick escape. “I couldn’t get my shit together. I was drinking too much. It affected my performances.”

“Partying and women were always your thing. I’m not sure how being on tour would’ve made a difference.”

I sound bitter and vindictive, but my mouth and brain aren’t very coordinated right now.

His head hits his hands as he places his elbows on his knees and bends forward. “I’m not going to lie and tell you there haven’t been other women, Adelaide, because there have.”

I cringe at the words coming out of his mouth. That stings more than I thought it would. Speculating and facing the truth is always more difficult.

“Trying to get over you...” his head shakes, “it’s impossible. What I feel for you isn’t something I’ll ever get over.”

My heart slams into my ribcage. I want nothing more than for Axton Lane to be the man I deserve, but I know the man sitting beside me right now doesn’t even come close.

“Listen,” I begin, trying to keep the lump in my throat from surfacing, “I’m seeing someone else.”

I have no idea why that lie just slipped from my lips, but it seems like the only protection I have from him.

“He’s a lucky guy.” He looks up but away from me. “It was good to see you.”

He stands, leaving me staring at his back as he walks away.

“You too,” I mutter, but he’s already disappearing behind the closing doors of the elevator.

The tears I successfully staved off fall in a torrent down my face. I don’t wipe at them. I don’t try to hide the fact that just seeing him has my heart breaking all over again. I let them wet my shirt as they seep off my chin, vowing these tears are the last I will ever give him.

I’m determined to move on, just as determined as the last time I made this promise to myself. God willing, I have the strength to actually follow through this time.

“You can get a restraining order,” Mom whispers too loud to even consider it a whisper.

“She doesn’t need a restraining order,” Mandy chimes in.

“I never took him for the stalker type,” Renee adds. “So he came to see her, what’s the big deal?”

“He’s never had to chase women,” Elijah says unhelpfully. “They tend to follow him wherever he goes.”

Renee swats him in the stomach, then winces from the sharp movement.

I look down at my amazing niece, Savannah, and do my best to ignore my family discussing my life like I’m not even in the room. She’s beautiful, perfect, and untainted by the hurtful world around her. I want to wrap her in a bubble and protect her from anything and everything that could harm her.

“I thought he wasn’t supposed to be back for another two months.” Mandy is sitting on the floor with her back against the small wardrobe.

“I bet he got booted. I watched his last show after someone went live while he was on stage. It was awful. I hate it for him, but I hate it even more for the people in the crowd who had to sit through that mess.” Renee reaches for her phone. “I can pull it up. I saved it.”

“That’s not necessary. He did get kicked off the tour. He’s having a hard time right now,” I explain.

“You need to stay away from him,” my mother says, just as my dad declares, “He may need you now more than ever.”

“He’s not hers to fix,” my mother snaps. “You need to just go out with Gabriel. He’s respectable. You won’t have to worry about womanizing, cheating, and drinking himself into an early grave.”

“Gabe isn’t so bad,” Mandy says.

“He’s a stick in the mud,” Renee counters. “She’d be bored out of her mind.”

“He’s safe,” I say to shut them all up. Still stinging from the encounter with Axton, I say something I thought I never would. “I think a date with Gabriel is a great idea.”

Renee rolls her eyes, and my mom beams, the glint in her eyes telling me she’ll be picking out a china pattern before the end of the summer.

“I can set it up if you want.” My mother has found her purpose it seems.

“I can arrange my own dates, thank you very much.”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve agreed to a date with him,” my mother says.

“I know.”

“It’s rude to offer your time and not follow through.”

I look at her as she stands by my father. “I said I’d call him. Can we take a few minutes to enjoy this sweet girl before we go all crazy family again?”