Chapter 29 Cleo
cleo
. . .
It’d been a week since I’d seen Grady at the rodeo. One week since I texted him and asked him out to dinner. One week of no responses.
Looking down, I saw the text was still unanswered. I debated texting him again. Maybe it hadn’t gone through. It was late, he could’ve opened it and forgotten to respond. That was reasonable, right?
That was what I told myself to make me feel better, but it was losing its shine. Each day of no contact that passed, I felt the truth coming into focus.
Grady didn’t want me.
I didn’t know what I expected. Did I really think seeing each other once would be enough to have him knocking at my door?
He had a whole life I didn’t know about.
When I visited his mom, she avoided talking about him unless I specifically asked.
After we broke up, I did it a lot. It didn’t take me long to realize I was only torturing myself.
It wasn’t as if his mom was going to tell me he was doing miserably.
She only spoke of the good things, the success he was having without me.
While she never outright said it, that was how I felt. Without a nagging girlfriend, he was able to fully commit to the music scene, and it seemed like it was paying off.
I put those thoughts away as the familiar white house came into view. Marsha was sitting outside, holding a cup of tea between her hands. She smiled when she saw my car pull up, and I stepped outside. “Well, isn’t this a surprise!” she called out. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”
I rounded the car with a covered casserole dish filled with fresh lasagna my mom and I had made. Ever since Marsha told me about the cancer, I had been taking them dinner three times a week. Mom helped me during the school year when I had late-night events I couldn’t miss.
It wasn’t much, but it was what I knew how to do. Food was my comfort, and something Marsha and I both loved. Half of the dinners I brought were from recipes she’d taught me how to make. It seemed only fair to share them back with her.
“School has been a little busy over the past week, but I finally had a free evening, so,” I held up the dish, “feel like having some lasagna? The sauce is homemade, just like you showed me.”
“You know, they keep telling me I’ll lose my appetite with all these medications they have me on and the impending treatments, but I don’t know how that’s supposed to happen when you keep bringing me my favorite treats.
” I walked up the steps and let her pull me into a tight hug.
“Missed you, girl. You can’t be staying away like that.
I don’t care if that son of mine is home or not. He can get over it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the bluntness of her words. “Anyone ever tell you you’re too damn observant?”
She smiled over the lip of her cup. “All the damn time. Can’t help myself. Now, let’s go see what you learned from my sauce lesson.”
I followed her into the house, listening as she told me about what the last week had been like, how it’d seemed like an endless stream of doctor’s appointments and pharmacy visits. The countertop by the fridge was littered with pill bottles, both prescription and over-the-counter medications.
She took a seat while I prepared plates for us and carried them to the table. I waited as she picked up her fork and took the first bite, closing her eyes and groaning. “My god, girl. You missed your calling. You should’ve been a chef.”
I laughed, following suit and taking a bite.
She wasn’t wrong. It was damn good. Probably the best one I’d ever made.
I couldn’t imagine doing this as a job, though.
Even though I was much better at baking, being in a kitchen in general was therapeutic.
It was the only time I had to myself. It was the only reason I was halfway as sane as I was.
“Naw. Sometimes hobbies need to stay hobbies. I’ll stick to my day job.” It was silent for a few minutes before I cleared my throat and spoke again. “So, is it just you here today?”
I didn’t look up from my plate, but knew Marsha was staring at me anyway. Her gaze was remarkably like her son’s. I could always feel the weight of it when it landed on me. “Is that your way of asking if Grady is here?”
“Of course, not. It’s not my business.”
She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Well, that’s not entirely true, is it?”
“I don’t see why it would be.” I set my fork down on the plate. “I was just asking to know if I brought enough food for you guys.”
Marsha stared at me a moment longer before she broke away. “No, he’s not here anymore. Left the day after the rodeo, actually.”
He’s been gone all this time? Then why didn’t he call and tell me? Why didn’t he just tell me he didn’t want to go to dinner?
“Oh,” I said in surprise. “Did something happen? He seemed pretty set in staying here for a little while.”
“He was at first, but he said he got a call that night from some big recording label. Apparently, they want to sign him,” she said, shrugging. “I don’t know how it all works, but it seemed pretty important. He called me last night to tell me it was a done deal.”
Of course, it had to do with music. Everything did when it came to Grady.
“Well, that’s good,” I said, injecting fake cheer into my tone. “He’ll be great.”
“He will,” she confirmed. “I just hope he isn’t making a mistake, selling his soul to the highest bidder just for a moment of fame. He’s such a talented boy.”
“I’m sure he knows what he’s doing,” I said, trying to offer some kind of platitude. “You raised a smart boy. Have faith in him.”
“Well, he lost you. I don’t know how smart he was for that,” she grumbled, taking the last bite of her dinner.
I laughed. “You can’t hold it against him forever. It’s been years. Ya gotta move on.”
“You haven’t,” she said, pointing a finger my direction. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you haven’t brought anyone home.”
“You don’t know that. I could be bringing home lots of men.”
Marsha rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck that way. “Oh, please, don’t give me that shit. If that was the case, you’d look a hell of a lot happier than you do now.”
“Alright, fine,” I muttered, standing from the table.
I grabbed her plate and mine and took them to the sink to clean, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later.
She kept telling me not to worry about it, that she had been sitting too long and needed to get up and move her weary bones, but I didn’t let her.
“Wanna stay for dessert?” she asked, raising her brows. “I had Robert pick up stuff for chocolate chip cookies. Care to help?”
I pretended to think about it for a minute, even though it was a no-brainer. Marsha’s cookies were a cure-all. I didn’t know what it was about them that tasted so much better than when I did, but I wasn’t going to pass up on the offer. “Do I get to take some home?”
“You know I am a firm believer in sharing the wealth,” she said. “Now grab an apron and get my Pyrex mixing bowl from the top shelf. Let’s get started.”
I was stuffed by the time I made it home. Not that it mattered. I still grabbed one of the cookies from the bag and brought it to bed with me. The bag was nearly sealed when I thought better of it and grabbed two. I would need it for what I was about to do.
Ever since Marsha told me about Grady’s deal, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the reason he never texted back. There was no way in hell he would turn down that kind of deal. He would’ve been stupid to. This was all he ever wanted, and now it was coming to life.
Maybe his lack of contact stemmed from a place of growth. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to hurt me by following through with a dinner plan, only to back out at the last minute because Nashville was calling. On some level, I could applaud that kind of growth. I certainly wasn’t that mature.
I stared at my phone. There were a million questions I wanted the answers to, and most of them could be found if I just picked the damn thing up and did some digging.
Even though I didn’t follow Grady on social media anymore, there was sure to be something on there, right?
I mean, this was a huge thing. It wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Without thinking any further, I pulled up his profile and began to scroll.
The first image had a countdown attached to it, but it ended tonight.
Most of his other posts were pictures of the band on tour.
There were a few from the recording studio, but most of his pictures featured the same people.
His timeline was uneventful for such an up-and-coming star.
But amidst the handful of faces, there was one that stood out over all of them.
She was gorgeous with incredibly long blonde hair.
Her wide smile were always bright, and she had this incredible way of looking poised in every photo.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t her beauty that caught my attention, although it was hard to miss.
It was the way she was in the background of most shots, but all her attention was still fixed on him.
That was how I used to look at him. Full of love and adoration.
My stomach twisted as I went further back, seeing how much things had changed.
There were pictures of them going back for years.
Sometimes they were casual, the two of them standing together for a posed photo.
Others were silly and goofy—there was one with his arm around her shoulder, both of them smiling, their tongues sticking out.
I recognized the background. It was an ice cream parlor we used to go to in Austin.
And then I looked at the date. It was taken only two weeks after we broke up.