Page 94 of All Roads Lead to You

“Yeah, but Mrs. McKnight is really sick, so I get your apprehension.”

“I’m going to call our parents.”

I dialed home, and Mia answered. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mia. It’s Logan. I’m calling to check in before we head out today.”

“Oh, Logan! Thank god you called.”

I instantly felt something was wrong. My gut had been right. My body tensed, and my heart raced, waiting for the blow I knew was coming.

“Is Mrs. McKnight worse?”

“I’m so sorry, honey. I realize how much she means to you, but… she’s passed. Hunter’s mom suffered a stroke and died on the way to the hospital yesterday morning.”

I bent forward as the tears welled, and I gripped the receiver hard enough to break it in half. “Oh, god…”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” she said again.

The bed moved as Nick came to sit next to me. When Nick rested an arm around me, I shoved him off and stood before I hung up on Mia and tried to call Hunter again. When the answering machine picked up, I left a message.

“Pick up, Hunter! Pick up! Goddammit! I’m so fucking sorry. Please… talk to me.”

I left him the hotel number, slammed down the phone, and rushed toward our suitcase, tossing in my dirty clothes and grabbing all my toiletries.

“Logan.”

“I need to get back there. Hunter needs me. Maybe I can get a flight out there. Would Dad mind if I put the ticket on the card? Shit, but what airport, though? And how far is it? I hope I can get a flight out today.”

“Logan.”

“God, poor Hunter. His poor family. They understood she might not make it, but she seemed to be doing okay. I mean, who dies of a stroke when they were supposed to die of cancer? How could this happen? Fucking doctors…”

“Logan!”

“What?!”

Nick grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a hug. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby.”

I was stiff, angry, desperate to move, to leave, to do anything other than be held because then I’d have to feel. “Let me go!”

“No.”

“Nick… fucking let me go.”

“No.”

He just held on tighter and rested his head on my shoulder. My eyes welled and burned before the dam burst. I wrapped my arms around him and held on for dear life.

“It’s okay to get upset, Logan. She was another mom to you.”

My body shuddered from my quiet sobs, crying at yet another fucking loss. Someone else taken before their time. It was fucking unfair.

“Why, Nick? Why?”

“I don’t know, baby. Life fucking sucks sometimes.”

I lost track of time as we sat there, holding each other as I cried. What would I have done without Nick?

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