I jump in the shower quickly so I don’t cause suspicion. I change into shorts and a t-shirt and let my hair air-dry. I have no idea where we are or how much longer we’ll be here, but I don’t care. The press saw me at my worst last night; I’m done caring. When I come out of my room, Cole is standing at the bar, making his breakfast. It doesn’t escape my notice that he’s shirtless, his sweatpants hanging way too low to be legal.
Alex is napping in the chair with her book resting on her chest. I can’t imagine she got much sleep last night. I’m such a great friend, not. I take this opportunity to pull up Ryan’s name and hit send. It rings and rings, but no voicemail. Maybe he never set it up or more likely I never showed him how to so why would he bother with such a thing? I text Happy Birthday, Ryan. I want to add more, but I don’t think we can adjust back into any type of relationship. I watch as my text says delivered and know he’ll get it when he has a chance to look at his phone. I hope that wherever he ran away to, he brought his charger. He had to know once this day came, I’d reach out to him, even if I didn’t know it myself.
“Who are you are calling?”
I look up at Cole and send my phone into sleep mode. “No one. I was just texting my mom.”
He looks at my questioningly, but doesn’t say anything as he walks to the table to sit down. I walk over to the balcony and look out the window and watch cars pass. We must be near the highway.
“Why are you eating in here?”
“Your room is bigger and has what they consider room service.”
“Where are we?”
“About two-hours from Jackson.”
“Lovely.”
I bring my phone to life and look at my text. He still hasn’t read it, but I can be patient. It was stupid of me to call anyway, maybe he’s found a job in his new town and he’s working. Of course that’s why he didn’t answer, because he wants to hear from me, especially today, even though I broke his heart and left without telling him why.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Hadley. Of course he’s waiting for you to call and ruin his life some more.
CHAPTER 37
Ryan
When I open the door to my mom’s office she stands and shouts, “happy birthday!” I’ve never seen her like this and for a moment I wonder if she’s been drinking. I can’t hide the grin on my face as she rushes over and envelopes me in a hug. I hold her tight, not wanting to let her go and trying to savor this moment and embed it where I’ll remember it most.
She steps back. There are tears in her eyes. Something changed for her and I don’t know what it is. “I can’t believe this day is finally here.” She pulls my hand into hers and takes me into the conference room. When I walk in, her co-workers yell out “Surprise!” scaring the crap out of me.
“Wow,” I say as I look around the room. There are streamers hanging from the ceiling and everyone is wearing party hats. There’s a cake on the table, too. Everyone starts singing. I feel my cheeks heat up. I must be as red as a tomato right now. My mom puts her arm around me, leads me to the chair and motions for me to sit down. She lights the eighteen candles and I blow each one out, making a wish like Dylan used to when we were little. I can’t remember the last time I did this. I look up at her and silently thank her for making my day special.
Mom cuts and serves cake to everyone, giving me an extra-large piece. I anxiously dig my fork in and take a big bite causing her to laugh. It’s the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. I close my eyes and clear my head. I won’t think about her anymore, not like that. I don’t need her to survive. Besides, I like how things are with Dylan and that’s definitely something I want to explore.
“This is great, Mom, thank you.”
She pulls out the chair next to me and sits down. Most of her co-workers have gone back to their offices. I’m curious what she had to do to get them in here. I suppose the offer of free cake was enough.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything.”
I set my hand down on hers. “This is perfect,” I say, because it is. I never expected this – especially from her – and I’m going to enjoy every moment that I can with my mom.
I stay and chat until I’m dangerously close to being late for work. She sends the rest of the cake with me, making it incredibly hard to run down the street, but I’ll manage. I want to share this cake with Dylan tonight so I need to make sure I’m not wearing it all over the front of my shirt.
Work goes slowly. For a Friday night, we’re dead. I keep hoping my boss will let me cutout early, but since I’m the one who always asks to stay late, he never gives me a second thought. He does offer me a ride home, so that’s nice. It’s about an hour walk from the restaurant to Dylan’s house.