“Brek’s not here to take care of you, so that’s our job. Mom brought you cupcakes, and I brought baby therapy.” Aspen started digging through the sack and opened a bakery box.
“Claire?”
“Just be glad I didn’t call Mom in on this meeting,” Claire replied.
Their mother worried way more than she should. She’d have Velma’s refrigerator filled with meals from the church ladies if she caught wind that Velma wasn’t eating.
Velma shook her head slightly. “You came all the way down here to bring me cupcakes and have me babysit?”
Pam rubbed at her temples, her expression pained. “No, that’s only a temporary fix. We came down here to convince you to go get Brek.”
“His communication has gone to crap, and we know that, wherever he is, he’s not eating, either,” Aspen added.
Velma shifted the munchkin in her arms. “What makes you think Brek wants me to get him?”
“He probably doesn’t know that he wants you to get him. Guys are dense like that.” Dean absently rubbed Claire’s back.
Velma cocked her head to the side. “He wants me to get him but doesn’t know that he wants me to get him?”
“Such is love.” Pam dug out a chocolate cupcake, dropped it on a paper plate, and slid it to Velma.
“First, we’ve got to find out where he’s run off to,” Aspen mused, gazing longingly at Velma’s cupcake.
“Give me a second.” Velma handed the baby back to his mother. She pushed the cupcake toward her, too. Without another word, Velma pulled the green file folder from her attaché case. She tucked her latest spreadsheet back inside the bag—Pam and Aspen didn’t need to see that.
Velma dropped the file onto the table. “Brek is on the Western Slope. A little town called Collbran. He’s been there since he left Denver.”
“How the fuck’d you find that out?” Jase snatched the file and flipped through it.
“I called his band members.” She glanced around the table. “You’re not the only ones who care about him.”
“Asshole’s staying at a bed-and-breakfast while we’re all sitting here worried? I’m gonna kick his ass.” Jase scanned Velma’s notes and came to the confirmation for Velma’s airline tickets.
Her legs suddenly shaky, she leaned against the cool metal of the table.
She’d bought the tickets online as soon as she’d found out where he had gone. She hoped like heck Brek would still be there when she arrived on Friday night. Even more, she prayed he wouldn’t immediately send her packing.
“You’re going to Collbran?” Dean asked, holding up the paper.
“Let me see that.” Jase reached for it.
Velma shrugged. She refused to think anything more about it until she was waiting for takeoff on the tarmac. “Well, he hasn’t come back. So, I’m going there. Any idea why he’d be there?”
“Tucker McKay,” Jase said offhand, still reading her flight itinerary.
“Who’s Tucker McKay?” Velma asked.
“Shut up. You don’t know who Tucker is?” Aspen gaped.
“Clearly not,” Velma pointed out. “Seriously, who is he?”
“Five-time Grammy nominee, three-time winner. Used to be with the Skintight Bandits but went out on his own.” Jase gave her the evil eye. “Seriously, you don’t know him?”
Velma shook her head. “No.”
Jase threw his hands up in the air. “He and Brek are buddies, but I wouldn’t have suspected Brek would go visit him. Guess that’s why he went.”
Aspen shifted her son and laid a kind hand on Velma’s shoulder. “Thank you for going to get Brek.”
