“Erik is leaving for London in the morning. Summer can tag along and then he can send her directly to whatever airport she needs.”
Summer’s head snaps up. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be any trouble, but my mom…” Her eyes fill with tears.
“Family first. Always. No problem at all. Let me go talk to him.” She disappears back down the hall and Summer sticks her phone in her pocket.
“Babe?” I follow as she heads for the elevators. “Where are you going?”
“I have to pack.”
“Honey, it’s early—you won’t be leaving until morning. Let’s get something to eat.”
“I’m too upset to eat,” she says, stabbing the button multiple times.
“Hey. Calm down. Getting upset can’t be good for the baby.”
She pulls in a shaky breath. “I know you don’t like your mom, but I love mine! And I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her.”
I mentally count to ten, reminding myself that she’s upset and there are pregnancy hormones at play, but that feels like yet another copout.
“If something does happen, it isn’t your fault.”
“You don’t understand,” she says, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as we step into the elevator.
I follow because I’m not sure what else to do.
“Are you cold?” I ask.
“A little. I don’t know.” She seems agitated, so even though I want to put my arms around her, I’m not sure that’s the best move.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask after a brief hesitation.
She rapidly shakes her head. “No. You have to be here.”
“This isn’t a paid gig. I’m sure Stu can cover for me so we can deal with this together.”
“You have responsibilities,” she says, continuing toward our suite. “Just like I do.”
“Babe, what’s going on? You’re acting like you’re going to get on a flight in ten minutes. It’s going to be at least nine or ten hours before you go anywhere.”
“I have to keep moving so I don’t freak out.”
“I just want to help,” I say finally. “Why won’t you let me?”
”My mom is missing,” she says, squeezing her eyes shut, hands balled into fists at her sides. “Fuck. I knew this was going to happen if I left for too long. Dammit!”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Of course, it’s my fault. And the nursing home’s fault, but mostly mine for not being there.”
“What are you talking about?” I demand, starting to lose my patience. “This could have happened when you were in New York just as easily as it’s happening now.”
“It wouldn’t have happened because I would’ve gone to the home the moment they said she was having a bad day! I wouldn’t have waited hours like Dolly did. And frankly, the nursing home is going to hear about this because they should have been watching her. This didn’t happen overnight when they have a skeleton crew—this was smack dab in the middle of the day. Which pisses me off.”
“We can move her somewhere safer and?—”
She shakes her head, cutting me off. “Look, I can’t think about any of that now. I have to get home and make sure she’s safe. That’s the only thing that matters.”
She spins around once we’re in our suite, yanking clothes off the hangers and throwing them haphazardly into her suitcase.
