Page 184 of Perfect Pitch

All the hot men are hiding out since she left town. Yoo hoo, Beckett? Where are you?

—Sexy&Social, All the Scandal You Can Handle

I’ve just finished reading to Sonia what Mitch said to me the last time I tried to tell him about our baby. “How is it possible for me to still hurt because of his words?”

Her hand comes to rest on top of mine. “Because you were a mother protecting your child, Austyn. And regardless of what happened, no one can take that away from you.”

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

I remember seeing someone sign the song “Friends are Friends Forever,” when I was in high school. Next to DJ Kensington singing in French, I’ve never cried so much.

—Viego Martinez, Celebrity Blogger

I’m swept into Fallon’s arms the minute I walk through Sonia’s door. The desperation to her hug tells me more than any of the words she’s babbling in my ear. Knowing Fallon the way I do, they could be anything from curses to words of support to ancient incantations to protect my eternal soul.

Knowing I need all three, I slide my arms around her back and murmur, “I’m going to be okay.”

Eventually.

I know I’m still a work in progress.

* * *

CHAPTER NINETY

JULY

Did you see #redemption web site? #djkensington is back on the schedule!

—CuTEandRich3

As I wait to be discharged, I’m ready to give Sonia a final gift.

Appreciation.

It’s been weeks of relentless work on her part to dig down into the core of who I am, to see the hurts that were embedded in the real me, but she’s helped set part of that pain skyward—along with my unborn child.

Before I walk out the doors under my own steam when Charlie picks me up, I want to say thank you. I want to tell her I understand what she’s been trying to do all this time. She was saving me so I could live without bleeding.

When the door opens behind me, I begin to sing:

It’s a part of me

That I’ll always feel

This extra heartbeat

Will always be real.

And there’s a whispered, “Oh, Austyn.” But it’s not Dr. Laurens’s voice. It’s my mother’s.

I leap from my chair and throw myself into my mother’s open embrace. “Mama? Oh god. You’re here.”

When she’s in touching distance, she ghosts her hand over my head. “I’d have been here sooner if it would have been what you needed.”

“I’m sorry.” I try to apologize for losing her grandchild, for scaring her.

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