The Key West Anthology (14 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

Jett

Feeling like ass was an understatement. That would be an upgrade from my current state. My head felt like it had gone a few rounds with a Louisville Slugger. My stomach rolled and churned with what felt like fire. All the whiskey sloshing inside had my mouth watering, threatening to expel every last drop.

I groaned when I looked around, realizing I had passed out in my office. Once I was able to steady myself, I stared out through the glass wall, into the dining area, puzzled.

The sun was shining and the staff was busy serving guests. The bar was open, which meant it was well after eleven.

The events that had led up to my drunken stupor all came back to me in a rush. I scrambled for my phone and stopped abruptly when my eyes locked on the necklace at the edge of the coffee table in front of me. My stomach once again flooded with uneasiness. I slapped at the intercom on the table next to me, missing it three times before hitting the button.

“What?” Callie’s sharp response caught me off guard.

“Can you—” I cleared the drunken haze from my voice. “Will you cover Quinn for a few minutes? Send her in so I can talk to her, please.”

Silence filled the air. I looked out and met a glare that was aimed directly at me. “She’s not here,” she stated harshly.

“What do mean she’s not here?” I asked, glaring back even though I knew she couldn’t see me.

“She called in. Jude took the message.” She clicked off the intercom before I could ask any further questions.

Anger shot through me at her defiant behavior. I slapped at the intercom once more, and when Callie yanked the earpiece out and stuffed it into her apron, another round of anger erupted in me.

“
What the fuck?
” I groaned.

After attempting to right my clothing the best I could, I ran some cold water over my face and combed my fingers through my hair. When I realized there was little I could do with my appearance, I gave up and went to get some answers.

Callie was covering Quinn’s usual area. With her forced smile, she looked less than happy as she busied herself.

I waited until she walked in my direction before stepping out directly in her path. “What happened?” I asked.

Her glare locked on me and her nostrils flared. I had known Callie for years. Generally, she was easy to please and always smiling. She was full of attitude, but the kind that was always fun to rile up. The look on her face now was anything but fun. Her eyes were shooting daggers at me, and I knew her mind was racing with what she really wanted to say.

“You know what, Jett, I’m busy. Today I’m
Callie the Waitress
, not
Callie, Miss Fix Jett the Jackass’s Problems
. Figure it out on your own. You created the mess, find your own damn solution.” She spit out the words with disgust.

Callie shoved past me and stormed toward the bar. I couldn’t figure out why she was so pissed off at me. The issue was between me and Quinn, not between her and me.

I stood there completely blindsided by the last five minutes, then I entered the kitchen and stalked toward Jude, my chef.

He looked up and cocked an eyebrow in question. What in the hell was wrong with everyone around here?

“Did you take the message from Quinn when she called in?” I asked. The only response I received was a curt nod. “You mind telling me what she said?” I pushed.

He shrugged and turned back to his current creation. “Said she had some things to take care of. Said she wouldn’t be in the rest of the week.” He lifted the chicken breast from the pan and placed it on to the plate next to him. I watched and patiently waited for him to continue. The steamed vegetables he gently placed on the plate, one by one, were like a task being played out in slow motion. Time was ticking away at me, and I was getting more irritated with each second.

“Jude,” I said in a clipped tone.

“I asked her if she wanted to talk to you or Callie, and she told me no. Said that you two were the last people she wanted to talk to right now.” He glanced over at me with a stern look. “Mind telling me what that’s about?”

“I don’t know, but I plan on finding out,” I stated before turning around and leaving the kitchen. I made a quick stop at my office to gather my keys and wallet before walking out the front door.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Quinn

“Thank you,” I said as Avery passed the bag of chips across the driver’s seat. She crawled in, holding a jug of chocolate milk in one hand with a piece of beef jerky hanging from her mouth.

I couldn’t control the giggle that fell from my lips. “Waa,” she mumbled, only making me laughter harder, which eventually led to tears.

Avery unloaded the food and reached across the console between us. “Hey.” She hugged me close. “It’s okay, Quinny. Lean on me for a while, I’m here. It’s your turn to fall apart and let someone else pick you up.” She continued to soothe me.

This person wasn’t me. I wasn’t the girl who cried and boo-hooed about all the wrongs in her life. I was the girl who hid her problems and did whatever it took to get through them.

I took in a deep breath and sat back in the passenger seat. “I’m okay,” I assured her. “Let’s get moving.” I looked out the windshield and put on my game face. The same face I had grown accustom to using for years. The face that made everyone around me believe I was strong enough for whatever I had to face. The problem was, on the inside I was beginning to question if I truly was strong enough anymore.

Everyone had a breaking point, and I was truly worried I had finally met mine.

***

I had cried last night until I reached the level where I couldn’t any longer. I gathered myself up the best I could and called my father. He had decided to stay a day or two at a hotel in Naples to make sure my mom had everything she needed. I wasn’t sure what exactly he thought he could give her. She was in a rehabilitation center. I doubted they allowed her to bring in much more than clothes. I never questioned him, though. Instead, I treated this as a way to get out of my current situation.

I told him I was going to drive up and spend some time with him. Yeah, so I was fleeing before Jett found me. I wasn’t ready to deal with whatever may lay ahead. I wanted to avoid it, and this seemed like the easiest way.

When I called Avery to include her in my plans, she decided my car wasn’t reliable enough and insisted she would drive me. More accurately, she threw a huge Avery fit, and after about fifteen minutes of her motherly lectures, I finally agreed so she would shut up.

We were on the road for about an hour when my phone first began ringing, followed by a number of text messages. I eventually silenced it. I wasn’t ready to go there just yet.

It only took five minutes for Jett to move on to calling Avery’s number. She looked up, and her questioning stare met mine. I only shook my head in response.

I thought Jett had finally gotten the message but was proven wrong thirty silent seconds later. My phone lit up once again before he moved on once more to Avery.

“You know he’s just gonna keep calling,” Avery stated.

I knew she was right, but right now I didn’t care. My head was so jumbled, I didn’t want to add to the mess. I just needed some time to clear my thoughts.

Avery didn’t attempt to change my mind. She just dropped the subject, and we ignored the flashing lights of our vibrating phones.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jett

I had run out of options. When Quinn wouldn’t answer my calls, I drove to her house. Her car sat in the driveway, but she didn’t answer the door when I beat on it.

This wasn’t even about the damn necklace any longer. This was much more than that.

***

It was the middle of the afternoon, but I didn’t care. I stormed from the restaurant and was just about to crawl into my car, when I felt a slap on the back of the head.

“What the fuck?” I spun around only to come face-to-face with Harper. The normal mischievous twinkle no longer filled her eyes. It had been replaced with a pissed-off glare.

“Don’t you dare ‘what the fuck’ me. What the hell are you doing? I spent the entire morning talking down my friend from stalking into your office and slitting your throat. You have Callie ready to walk out on your ass.” She took a step toward me and poked her finger into my chest. “You pulled her into your mess, and now Quinn thinks she is some sort of home-wrecking whore.”

“What are you talking about?” I threw my hands up in the air in frustration.

“Your drunk ass propositioned my best friend while your girlfriend stood in the doorway and heard it all.” She narrowed her eyes at me. Angry was an understatement for her current mood.

***

It’d been two days. Two days of unanswered calls, unanswered texts. Two days of driving by her house day and night, only to find it empty. I spoke with her boss at Spencer’s, and he too said she had taken some time off.

With each day my heart sank a little more with the thought that I had thrown away the best thing that had ever happened to me. This was on me, completely. I acted like the biggest dick when I should have just talked to her.

“Hey, numb nuts, you still pouting?” Kade shouted as he exited the French doors onto the back patio.

“I need to change my locks,” I grumbled. Resting my head back against the chair, I closed my eyes, attempting to block him out.

“Don’t blame me for your massive amount of shit. I’m just here for the pool—oh, and the free beer.” He chuckled as he pulled his shirt up and over his head, then took off and jumped, cannon-balling into the pool. “Whew,” he yelled out just before hitting the water. The cool splash flowed backward, drenching the entire patio.

All I could do was shake my head at the ass. He was doing everything possible to pull me from my slump. I picked up my phone and checked once again for any response only to come up empty.

“Give the girl some time. I know it’s driving you crazy, not being able to fix this, but you need to try to give her some space.” Kade climbed out of the pool, shaking his hair, once again spraying water in every direction. Cocky son of a bitch chuckled as I jumped from my chair and stepped back.

Giving it one last attempt, I typed out a text.

At least just let me know that you’re okay. I get that you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll give you that. Just please tell me if you’re okay.

I hit Send not expecting a response. I was pretty positive I had sent over twenty messages over the last couple days, all unanswered.

My phone vibrated in my hands, and I looked down at the response I thought would never come.

I’m okay
.

Short and simple, but a response nonetheless.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Quinn

I should have known there was something wrong the moment my father said we were going to visit my mother. I mean, come on, she was in a treatment center for alcoholics. She wasn’t at some day spa where they welcomed everyone in off the streets.

I knew how these things worked. She would be isolated from the outside world, detox, whatever. After that point she would begin counseling of sorts, getting to the root of the problem. Then maybe bringing in her family for the occasional confession of how she hurt us and how she hoped to change. The standard steps to recovery, or so I’ve heard.

My gut told me things were completely backward the moment we pulled up outside of Mystical Oaks Treatment Center. The place wasn’t what I had pictured when I envisioned a rehabilitation center.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I stared ahead at the sign just at the side of the entrance. It had symbol I had seen before but never looked at—I mean really looked at—until now.
Cancer Treatment Center
shined bright in green bold lettering against the white background.

My eyes filled almost immediately with unshed tears. My chest ached almost to the point that I couldn’t breathe. I hoped I was just seeing things that maybe the rehabilitation center was within the same clinic. I silently prayed that was true.

Avery had dropped me off at the hotel to meet my father, and now here we sat staring at the building before us.

“Is she dying?” I asked, my voice shaking uncontrollably.

“Let’s go inside.” I shook my head at his words. “Quinn, it needs to come from her. Give her this. I’m not saying any of this is right. I’m not agreeing at all with the way she has played this out, but it needs to be said. It needs to come from her.” He paused, and a single tear ran down my cheek and dripped down on to my arm. “We do this together,” he assured me.

***

“How long?” I asked. “How long have you known about this?” I held back my anger the best I could. It was boiling within me as I watched my mother’s eyes fill with emotion.

“Since right before Christmas. I didn’t want to worry you, so I just pushed it aside. Pretended that the tumor didn’t exist. I just drowned out the pain of it all. The side effects were easy enough to pass off as being drunk. I figured you were better off,” she whispered.

My anger was no longer controllable. “Better off, huh?” My outburst made her jump in surprise. “That is the most selfish excuse I’ve ever heard. What I deserved was to know, damn it. I should have been able to prepare for this.” My father stood and placed his hand on my arm, attempting to calm me. I brushed it away and locked my stare with my mother’s.

“I should have been able to spend time with my mother without her falling over drunk. Now when I think back on our last moments together, all I’ll have are trips to the fucking jail to pick up your wasted ass…or wait, we can’t forget the trip to the ER to stitch up your head.” I threw my hands up in frustration. “This is all total bullshit and you know it. You weren’t thinking of me, you never have. Because if I ever mattered to you, I would not have raised you for the last twenty years of my life. I should have had my mother. I deserved a mother. You took that from me. You took it all from me. I’ll never forgive you for that.” I fell to the floor as my legs gave out. “You took it all from me.”

Strong arms circled me from behind and lifted me from the floor.
My father
. I still struggled to wrap my head around the fact that he was now present in my life, that he now held me close. Soothingly he rubbed my back as he rocked me from side to side.

My mother was going to die. There was nothing I could do to change that. She was withering away and no one could stop it.

She felt it was easier to drink away what life she had left, hoping I would just think the alcohol was making her sick.

How is it possible to love someone so much but hate them at the same time?

***

“You okay?” Avery asked as she took the seat across from me.

I called her the moment we left the clinic. I needed her. For once I needed someone to hold me afloat. I was sinking fast, and I couldn’t hold on to the last sliver of hope.

I shook my head. “No, I’m so far from being okay right now,” I replied. “How could she hide this from me? What made her think that me not knowing was for the best?”

I looked up and met the stare of my best friend. “She should have been here right after they found the tumor. She spent the last seven months knowing that she had this. She ignored everything they told her and just went on like she hadn’t just heard she had a terminal illness.” I took in a deep breath, reining in my emotions before they took over once more. “How could she ignore this?”

Unshed tears clouded my vision, and I fought them off the best I could. “I’m okay,” I tried to reassure her, hearing the doubt in my own voice.

“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend you aren’t falling apart on the inside. Quinn, you have to let all this out or one day you’re going to combust.” Avery rubbed her hand up and down my arm. “She obviously couldn’t accept it. She ran from the reality of what could happen. Denial of the inevitable. ”

“My mom...” I paused because the entire realization of what I was about to say set in deep, bringing back the need to cry. “She’s gonna die. She hid it from me that she had something that was killing her. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, right? She’s hidden everything else over the years.”

Avery sat quietly and listened while I let out my pain.

“I have this hate in me, disgust for all the things she’s done over the years.” Our gazes locked, yet she still sat staring back without speaking a word. “I was a kid. I should have been able to be a kid. Instead I spent my life picking my mother up off the floor or dragging her out of the nearest bar.” I shook my head and rubbed at my tired eyes.

“I want to run and leave it all behind me. Maybe if I run far enough, I can find a way to forget it all.” I was speaking out of anger. It was becoming too much. I twisted my hands in my lap, shredding the Kleenex I held. “But I can’t walk away. I can’t leave her alone to suffer. She was never mean or aggressive. She was just a drunk, a happy drunk. A pitiful excuse for a mother. She was never there when I needed her to be. If she was home, she was passed out.

“Do you know I could probably count the number of times on one hand that she did something motherly in my entire lifetime?” I took in a deep, shuddering breath. “Even with all this anger in me for what she’s done, I can’t let her die alone. I have to find a way to let it go. It’s so hard. I don’t want to live with the fact that I wasted what little time we had full of angry bitterness.”

“What can I do?” Avery finally asked.

“There’s not a thing that anyone can do,” I replied. “It’s something I have to do on my own. Something she and I need to move forward from. Thanks for offering, though. Thank you for listening.”

She leaned in and hugged me close. Pulling back, she wiped away the tear that ran down my cheek. “Anytime. I’m here for you, always. You should know by now you can’t get rid of me.”