We walk into Kinley’s house, and Polly has a small stack of lemon bars for me. Even Mrs. Bridgelock is there, giving me the hairy eyeball.
She carefully, slowly makes her way to me, then smacks my arm.
“Ouch! I just got out of the hospital, you old bat.”
“You scared us. Stop being stupid, you dumb lesbian.”
I snort and pull her into a gentle hug. “You bet, Mrs. Bridgelock.”
Even Ed is there. “Glad to see you’re okay, Mac.”
“Thank you, Ed.”
Cassie and her wife come walking up, surrounded by three little girls. Cassie gives me a gentle hug, then wordlessly sticks her finger in my face, raising her eyebrow.
I drop my chin, nodding. “Message received.”
“Good,” she says, leaning in for a hug. “Kinley would be devastated if anything happened to you.”
“I’m beginning to pick up on that.”
Lucy, our waitress, comes up with her twins and girlfriend in tow and kisses my cheek.
“Thanks again for taking care of my medical bills. I really appreciate it. Though, if you could stop, you know, racking up your own medical bills, that would be fantastic.”
“I’ll try,” I say, patting her arm.
I realize I’ve been thinking of myself as some sort of outsider or visitor. But these people aren’t here because I’m famous country musician Mackenzie Nash. They’re here because their buddy Mac was in the hospital.
I’m not dumb enough to think I can control seizures, but I’m picking up on the fact that the hours I’ve been putting in aren’t helping. Looking around the room, seeing the people who’ve shown up for me, it occurs to me that I’ve been treating myself like a commodity and not a human being.
Not going to lie, it makes me a little emotional, and I don’t think that’s the dysregulation talking. I’m pretty sure that’s just some real, true emotion.
Maybe the reason I never settled in Tennessee is that it never felt like home. It’s a fine place and a fun place to make music, but there are a ton of country music stars who don’t live in Nashville. I don’t have to live there either.
I’m still in the middle of introspection when Mayor McBride comes up to me. “I’m so glad to see you looking so much healthier and happier than the last time I saw you.”
I shuffle my feet. “I was so rude to you the last time we saw each other, and I am incredibly sorry. Please, please forgive me.”
“Already forgiven and forgotten. Kinley may have explained to me that you didn’t have a lot of control over your feelings back then, and from what I can tell, the people in our community really like you.”
“I definitely feel better than I did then, but…I’d like to make up for my rudeness somehow. If there are any community projects you want me to support, I’m there.”
She taps her cheek, her eyes searching the ceiling. “I don’t think you know what you’ve unleashed,” she says, grinning.
“I’m here for it.”
“Excellent. I’ll have my assistant contact you.”
Facing our visitors, the good mayor claps her hands. “Alright, we got to see for ourselves that Mac is going to be okay. As you can imagine, rest is a super important part of her recovery, and we need to support that. So, let’s wrap it up and leave these two to enjoy their evening.”
Everybody hugs me all over again, warns me they’re going to keep an eye on me, and then takes their leave.
Gene salutes and then goes up to the guest room, leaving Kinley and me alone in the foyer. I pull her into my arms, needing to erase the doubts and fears swimming in her eyes.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” I whisper into her hair, tightening my grip on her.
“No one’s blaming you for having a seizure, Mac.”
