Page 5 of I Heart Mason Cartwright
“You mean a lot of classics?”
“Um, I guess if you consider Bob Seger classic.”
“Hell fucking yes, Bob Seger is classic.”
“Ugh, you should meet my sister. She loves all that crap. Do you like Journey? Oh, yep, there’s a ton of Journey in here.”
“Because Journey is the greatest band in the whole world,” I say.
She makes a gagging face at me with her finger in her mouth.
“Given the list you just asked me about, I’m not exactly going to trust your taste in music.”
“Oh! Oh! Rest area. Can we stop please?”
I pull off the freeway to the rest area, she’s out of the car on her way to the restroom almost before I’ve parked.
I guess she really did have to go.
Her phone rings from the passenger seat. I look over at the screen. MOM. The ringing stops and immediately starts again. MOM. I wonder if I should bring it to her? Just yell into the bathroom that her mom is calling. The third time in a row MOM calls, I answer it.
“This is AshLynn’s phone, she’s just stepped away for a second, but I can have her call you right back.”
“Who is this?”
“This is Mason. I’m—”
“Where is AshLynn?”
“She’s—”
“Are you aware you’ve caused her to miss the Southlake’s Finest Pageant? I hope whatever you’re off doing is important. Because for her to shirk her responsibilities like this is inexcusable.”
“I didn’t—”
“Oh for god’s sake, where are the two of you?”
“A rest area just outside Leavenworth.”
“Where is Leavenworth?” she asks.
“Washington. State.”
“Washington? Oh good lord.” She puts her hand over the phone to speak with someone else, but I can still hear her but not the other person. “Jonathan, she’s in Washington . . . I don’t know . . . this is just, I can’t believe she would do this . . . she is? When did Willow move to Seattle? . . .”
“Young man, how far are you from Seattle?”
“We are heading there now. We are about ninety miles out, maybe two hours.”
She covers the phone again. “They are two hours away. When is the next flight? . . . Okay.” I hear some rustling, then she comes back to the phone. “Listen,” she says to me.
I don’t hear what she says next because AshLynn is approaching the car. I hold the phone out to her. “It’s your mom.”
“My mom?” Both her mouth and eyes widen. “And you answered it?”
“I’m sorry. She called three times in a row, I thought it was an emergency. I only answered to tell her you’d call right back and then she started talking.”
AshLynn takes the phone. I can hear her mom still talking.
“Mommy?”
Her mom’s voice rises considerably. AshLynn talks over her. “Why do you need to know that . . . he’s very nice . . . you don’t need to . . . I do not . . . fine . . . Of course I did, I said I would, didn’t I? . . . fine. I’ll see you there.” She disconnects the call and screams. Loud. The couple from a neighboring car looks over. I wave and smile. They look away.
AshLynn looks at me. “Can we go now? I need to be in Seattle like yesterday.”
Whatever you say, Your Highness.
