“Okay! Are you coming home tomorrow?”
“Yeah, buddy, I’ll be home tomorrow.”
I heard him yell out in happiness. “Grams! Grams! Daddy needs to talk to you. Fast!”
Nodding, I said, “That’s it, Blayze!”
“Hello?” My mother’s voice was tight and held no emotion. That was how she’d spoken to me for the last two weeks, since I’d left for Ohio.
“I need to talk to Lincoln. I tried calling her cell, but it—”
“She left already.”
It felt like my heart had plummeted to the bottom of my stomach. “She left?” I repeated.
“Yes. What time does your plane get in tomorrow?”
I couldn’t even think. I wanted to ask my mother a million questions. Is Lincoln coming back? Is she just taking Kaylee back home? Is it a one-way ticket or a round trip?
“Brock? What time do you get in? I need to let Ty know.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I said, “Ten.”
“Okay then, we’ll talk after you get home. You have some explaining to do. I know I raised better men than this. I don’t think I have to tell you how upset I am with you. Disappointed is a better word to use.”
“Yes, ma’am.” It was all I could say. I knew every word she spoke was the truth. “Is Lincoln coming—”
The line went dead. She hadn’t even said goodbye. Or to have a safe trip. Nothing.
I felt sick. I instantly ran to the side of the building and threw up.
The moment I stepped out of the airport, I took in lungsful of crisp mountain air. It didn’t take me long to find Ty. He was leaning against his truck, a smug look on his face. As I made my way closer, he pushed off and walked over to the front and climbed into the driver’s seat. I put my stuff in the back and then made my way into the passenger seat.
“Hey, bro,” I said, shutting the door.
Ty looked at me and shook his head. Then he pulled out of the parking spot.
“You want to tell me why you’re pissed at me?”
He laughed. “I think I’m the last person you need to worry about. Our mother is on a damn tirade and ready to blame you for the collapse of everything right now.”
“Why?”
Ty glanced my way, a look of disbelief on his face. “Are you for real? You left, Brock. You only said goodbye to Blayze, and you took off for two weeks. And I don’t know what you did to Lincoln, but she walked around town for a solid week in a daze.
“Kaylee was ready to rip your head off, and since you were nowhere to be found, guess who she came after? Me! That’s right. She unleashed on me about how you broke her best friend’s heart. How all men were dirty, rotten bastards, and how she wanted nothing to do with this town. So then I got pissed, and yelled back at her, telling her she didn’t belong here and needed to take her happy little ass back to Atlanta . . . which was not the right thing to say, because that’s exactly what she did.” His voice went from angry to sad at the end.
“Why did you tell her to leave?” I asked.
He took off his cowboy hat and dropped it next to us. “I don’t know. She made me mad. She’s always making me mad, and I have no idea why.”
“Maybe it’s because you like her and don’t want to admit it.”
Ty didn’t respond at first before he let out a frustrated sigh and spoke again. “Anyway, when Kaylee said she was going back to Atlanta, Lincoln wasn’t far behind.”
A heavy thickness grew in my chest, and a feeling of sickness hit my stomach. “For good? Is she going back to Atlanta for good?”
He shook his head. “No. Lincoln isn’t. I’m not sure about Kaylee, though. Lincoln told Mom she would be back Sunday night.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. The thought of not seeing her for another four days gutted me.
“Warning, though, little brother: I don’t think she’ll be anxious to talk to you. Her sadness turned to anger. When Tanner took them to the airport last night, he said he asked about you, and Lincoln told him you’d made it perfectly clear you were no longer interested in her, and she informed him that she was going to move on—and had a date on Monday night.”
Balling my fists, I gritted my teeth. “What? Who with?”
Ty shrugged. “I don’t know, and Tanner didn’t ask.”
Lincoln has a date? Well, that’s just great. I’ve messed things up more than I thought.
Chapter Twenty-Three
LINCOLN
“You sure you’re okay?” I asked, closely watching Kaylee as we stood near the security line at the Atlanta airport.
“Yes.”
“I’m going to miss you not being in Hamilton with me.”
She gave me a warm smile. “I need to get everything settled here, and I promise I’ll be back. Except this time, I plan on finding my own place. It’s time I started to build a new life. Maybe find someone who wants to help with that.” Kaylee waved her hand around in the air and laughed. It didn’t reach her eyes. I knew deep down she had been hurt when Ty told her to leave. She hadn’t been acting the same since that day.