Her little hands worked quickly to pull a wrapped object from the bag. Right away, I wished it could be something else.
“I know it’s not much,” I began apologetically, “but there wasn’t a big opportunity for shopping around. We were only in town for an hour or two, and we didn’t—”
“Sawyer, I LOVE it!”
She hoisted the ‘I’d Rather Be in Maine’ coffee mug up to eye level, twisting it in all directions. It wasn’t the greatest gift in the world, but it adhered to our long-running tradition of me getting her something from every new place I’d visited.
“I don’t drink coffee anymore, I drink tea,” my mother smiled. “Herbal tea. And only decaffeinated.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Why don’t I just go outside, and crush some leaves into a cup?”
“Very funny.”
“There was one with a moose on it, and another with a lobster. But I figured—”
“No, no, it’s perfect! Thank you!”
She hugged me again, so tightly I wasn’t sure she’d ever let go. For a few long seconds, I wondered if the hug would last twenty-eight more minutes.
“I’m not going to be drinking out of it anyway,” she said, walking over to her tchotchke cabinet. “I’m putting it right here, next to everything else.”
By now, ‘everything else’ was a fairly impressive collection. My past occupation had sent me to dozens of countries, cities, and places around the world, and I’d scored serious mom points by bringing back gifts from each of them. All without having to join the Army, too.
“Dad’s going to see that if you put it in there,” I warned her. “And you’ll catch hell for me being here.”
“So?”
“So if you put it in the kitchen cabinet, you can pretend one of your friends brought it over, and—”
“Bah!” she frowned. “You let me worry about dealing with your father. I have four whole decades of experience at it, anyway.”
I watched carefully as she walked back to me, favoring her left hip. I didn’t like how pronounced her limp had become. There were small flashes of pain in her face, too, with every step.
“Mom, we really need to get your—”
“HowwasMaine, anyway?” she smiled.
“Fun.”
“As beautiful as I’ve heard?”
At the word beautiful, my mind wandered back to Hayden. I’d been dying to call her. Or at least text her. Or better yet, see her again. But the agreement I’d made with Carter and Bodie was all about giving her some space.
Still, I was willing to shatter our little pact; if only to make certain she was alright. And if I ended up kissing her in the process? Hey, shit happens.
“It was gorgeous, mom,” I sighed wistfully. “Better than you see on your TV shows, more incredible than all the stories you’ve heard. You and dad really need to see it. In fact—”
My phone buzzed, and I looked down at it hopefully. But the message I saw from Carter wiped the smile from my face.
“Mom… I gotta go.”
“But—”
“I’m sorry,” I said, gingerly sweeping her into my arms again. “My friends need me. I’ve gotta run.”
My car was parked a few blocks down, a full five-minute walk away. If I hustled, I could get there in two.
“I love you, Sawyer.”
