In a way, Hayden is right. Why let these guys win? I’ve done nothing wrong. Well, okay, making out in the closet was not cool, but it’s nothing compared to the depravity going on at Blue.
I have no idea what Hayden was talking about when she said she wasn’t going to run this time. Has she run from this sort of thing before? I don’t get her determination to work at Blue Casino and see this thing through, but I love working with her and she asked me to stay. So I did.
The rest of the evening was a blur of errand-running and schmoozing with vendors, and even some celebrities performing that night. I didn’t see Tyler again, but then he doesn’t work for Hayden, and I’m pretty sure his boss was serious about letting him go.
It’s five in the morning and I’m just getting back. I Ubered it home, since Tyler drove me in to work. I exit the car and wobble up the gravel driveway barefoot. The gravel is hard on my feet, but not as hard as twelve hours in heels. I’ve lost all feeling in my right big toe.
A smile fills my face as I slide the key quietly into the lock. Tyler and I have traded off fighting this thing between us, and the dam finally burst in a happy-to-be-alive moment in the dark. What he said about me being the only woman he’s going to love was so Tyler, and so totally wonderful. I got a little carried away in that closet, but it felt good to let go. Tyler has been showing me in small and large ways he’s here for me, and I finally get it.
It’s turning light out, but Tyler won’t be awake at this hour. I wish I wasn’t awake. Better yet, I wish I were curled up next to him. I actually feel like I might be sleepwalking, my head is so fuzzy from exhaustion.
I squeeze the handle to open the door, but the door swings open for me. Tyler is standing on the other side, fully clothed.
“Hey,” I say, confused but happy to see him, a smile forming on my face—until I notice the worried look in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”
He doesn’t say anything. He grabs my shoes from my hands and closes the door behind me. And then I realize what I glimpsed as I exited the Uber. The old car I’ve seen my mom drive in was parked on the street in front of our cabin. I was so out of it when the Uber dropped me off, it barely registered.
But it’s not my mom sitting on the couch, it’s her latest boyfriend. “What’s going on?” I ask Tyler. “Where’s my mom?”
Billy—Willy? Crap, I don’t remember his name, they all run together after a while—stands nervously, setting his beer on the coffee table. Beer at 5 a.m.? Of course. This is my mom’s boyfriend, after all. “Hi, Mira. Sorry to catch you so early—uh, late. Been here waitin’ for ya. Got some bad news.”
Tyler wraps his arm around my waist, his palm warm and a bit clammy on the side of my stomach. His hand is shaking.
I glance up to see worry and tension filling his face.
My heart speeds up and my throat goes dry. The 1970s clock with an orange and yellow rooster ticks loudly above the kitchen table.
My mom isn’t here…Where is my mom?
I shake my head. No. No, no, no.
“Your mom,” Billy/Willy says, “she took a nap and passed in her sleep yesterday.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Was a peaceful way to go,” my mother’s boyfriend tells me. “Weakened heart, the doctor said.” Willy, Billy—whatever—shifts his feet. “I’m sorry to bring such sad news. I knew you’d want to know right away. Been keeping Tyler company until you got home.”
I swallow, my chest rising on a shaky inhale. “Just tell me one thing. All this time, the money I’ve been giving her, was it for drugs?”
Did I help put my mother in an early grave?
My mom’s boyfriend glances down. “Some, but she was living on scraps. You kept her fed. Wish I had been better about caring for her, but the itch got to me too.”
My hands are cold, shaking. I look down and stare at them. “Thank you for coming,” I say, going on automatic. “Do you need anything? Food or…?”
“Naw, I’m good. I’ll just—” He grabs his beer and walks toward the door. He stops a foot away and pulls out an envelope from his back pocket. It’s folded in half, the edges gray from dirt. “Found this in her things. Think she wanted you to have it.”
I stare at the envelope that Tyler takes for me, because I can’t seem to move my arms.
Tyler mumbles something to the guy and walks him to the door.
A moment later, I’m being wrapped in an afghan. Tyler picks me up and cradles me in his strong arms. He sinks onto the couch, and my body molds to his.
I think I should cry, but my tear ducts aren’t working, or my facial muscles. I am frozen.
We sit like that for what seems like hours.
I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know, Tyler is gently setting me aside, re-tucking the blanket around me. He goes to the front door and pulls it from the sticky jamb. Lewis is on the other side. And he looks a mess. His hair is standing on end—which is so not him. Tyler’s the one with the messy hair that I love.
