Page 86 of California Wild

An album. A new direction. Something timeless, they said. Something raw. The label wanted to send them into the desert, cut off from the world, to find “the sound.” Like isolation was some kind of cure.

All Hayley wanted was to breathe.

She flipped her phone over, and it buzzed instantly—more notifications, a flood of texts and emails and group threads and calls.

The world hadn’t paused for her.

She scrolled. Half-reading. Mostly ignoring.

Until her heart caught.

She blinked and scrolled back up, eyes scanning the names. Looking for one in particular.

Jesse.

Her chest tightened.

Nothing.

She told herself not to expect it. Not to wait. Not to hope.

He was deployed. He couldn’t just pick up a phone and call. She knew that.

But it had been over a month.

She opened her thread with Heath instead. Their messages stared back at her—short, functional, emotionless.

Her: Hey, any word?

Heath: He’s good. No return date yet.

Her: Hey, just checking in.

Heath: Can confirm he’s alive. That’s about it. Sorry, Hayley.

She hesitated, thumb hovering over the keyboard.

Then she typed:

Hey. It’s been a month. Is this normal?

She sent it. Regretted it. Waited anyway.

One minute passed.

Then another.

Then her phone buzzed.

Heath: Good timing. Just talked to him. He wants me to say—

The dots blinked.

Her heart caught.

“Keep going, Fox. See you soon.”

Hayley let out a slow, shaky breath.

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