He shoves me away a second later, clearing his throat before murmuring, “Asshole.”
“What are you doing here?” I finally inquire. “And how did you find me?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “After the cops tried for a few months and said they couldn’t turn up any leads, I hired a private investigator.”
“You what?”
“After three months with no contact? Yeah, East. I was panicking.”
“You didn’t have to?—”
“I did,” he cuts in. “Because I thought my best friend was dead.”
I don’t know what to say to that.
“I wasn’t hiding from you,” I mutter.
“Could’ve fooled me.” He gestures vaguely around us. “Turns out, you’re not as good at hiding as you think you are. Some cattle supplier mentioned a guy matching your description working out here. It only took a few more calls.”
“And you just… drove up.”
“Flew into Bozeman. Rented this.” He tips his head toward the ridiculous yellow Lamborghini. His gaze sweeps over the house, the barn, and the open fields. “This is where you’ve been.”
“Yeah.”
“Working?”
“Yeah.”
“Sober?”
“Yeah.”
“You look it.” He nods his approval. His gaze roams the property again before landing back on me. “Wait… Like…actuallyworking?”
I arch an eyebrow. “You see a tour bus parked anywhere?”
He shakes his head slowly. “I don’t understand you.”
“You don’t have to understand this.”
I invite him onto the porch of the main house, and we no more than take a seat before he blurts, “The studio wants us to come back.”
My head shakes involuntarily, accompanied by a heavy sigh rising from my lungs.
“Sponsors hung on to the postponed tour because your back catalog still sells. The label thinks the mystery of where you’ve gone only made people want you more,” he continues unprompted. “They want to relaunch and release Rosie’s album.”
“Is that the only reason you’re here?” I grumble.
“No, I’m here for my friend,” Mason shoots back defensively.
“Feels like it…”
“This life,” Mason says slowly with his eyes on the ranch, “it’s not small. It’s not insignificant. But it’s notyou.” His gaze falls back on me. “You could walk back in tomorrow and pick up where you leftoff.”
“I don’t want to. Hell, I don’tneedto.”
“Easton.”
