Page 119 of August Lane
Mavis told her what she’d heard from friends. Luke had attacked his family and run away. “I heard they’re charging him with assault. Maybe attempted murder.”
August remembered what she said to him, all that stuff about needing time and space. What did that even mean? She was sitting here eating Ragú, for fuck’s sake. He was out there, dealing with this alone.
“I have to find him.”
“Don’t!” Mavis grabbed her arm. “He could be dangerous. This isn’t the first time he’s hurt someone.”
August ignored her. She grabbed her keys and rushed out the door. Ten minutes later, she pulled into Delta Blue at high speed. It was late, and the club was still crowded, but Silas stood outside, like he was waiting for her.
“Where is he?”
“Gone,” Silas said. “Bill put him on a bus a while ago.”
“To where?” Silas didn’t answer. They faced off until her control snapped, and she shouted, “Tell me!”
“I gave him some money,” Silas said. “I don’t know what he did with it.”
She looked at the empty road as if it could tell her what her uncle wouldn’t. “Did he leave a message for me? A letter or… a notebook? Something with songs in it?” There would be new music notes alongside a city and date. He would have drawn her a map.
Silas sighed. “August…”
“Anything?” Her voice was rising again. If it was possible for someone to rip themselves apart, she’d do it. It’d feel better than this. “Did he mention me at all?”
Silas looked away, which answered her question. Luke had taken the money and run. “He would have left you something if he had time,” he said. “That boy loves you.”
“No, he doesn’t.” A sob clogged her throat, and she choked it down. She’d never cry over Luke Randall again. “If he did, he would have waited. He would have stayed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
2023
Luke prided himself on being a good cook, but desserts had never been his strong suit. No matter what he did, the three layers of devil’s food cake remained lopsided. He thought adding the icing would help, but the glossy chocolate cream cheese only highlighted his mistakes.
He should get used to that. According to the internet, he was the biggest fraud since Milli Vanilli. There was a petition to add a worst songwriter of the year category to the Golden Raspberry Awards, even though he hadn’t released anything new this year. That was how bad his career was going. They wanted to change the rules to memorialize his fuck up.
“Do I smell cake?”
August walked into the kitchen just as he added the candle. It was a red-and-white thirty-two that he’d planned to light before waking her. She stopped when she saw it, her expression unreadable, and for the first time since he found Birdie’s recipe card, he doubted his decision to surprise her. It didn’t go so well the last time he’d tried.
“It’s my birthday,” she said, in a way that sounded like both a statement and a question.
He gestured at the brown monstrosity he’d created. “It looks worse than it tastes. I used your grandmother’s recipe, so—”
“This is Birdie’s devil’s food?” She studied the cake more closely. She was wearing his T-shirt and nothing else. Her hair was a fluffy, wiry mess. She looked so sated and thoroughly loved-on that a rush of pride flowed through him, swiftly followed by the desire to do it again.
“Yeah.” He tried to focus on the cake. “It’s all the ingredients,anyway.” He grabbed the recipe card and showed it to her. “She didn’t leave any instructions on how to decorate it, though.”
August held the card carefully, as if it could crumble in her hands. “Everyone loved her cakes,” she said softly. “After a while, she couldn’t make them without help. I tried.” She shook her head. “But it wasn’t the same. She’d get so frustrated because they were never right.”
Luke put his arms around her, pulled her into him. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“You didn’t,” she said. “I miss her. I always will.” She leaned back to look at him. “But I’m also grateful. I always tried to ignore this day. But she never let me.” She glanced at the table. “It’s the perfect gift.”
Luke kissed her temple. “Don’t thank me until you taste it.”
They sat next to each other with plates of cake. Luke grabbed his fork but waited until she took the first bite. She made a soft, pleased sound. “Perfection.”
He ate some and agreed. Ugly or not, it was damn good. “I’ll make some eggs and bacon before you head to rehearsal.”
