Chapter 25 Maisey
MAISEY
“No…”
“No?” Seth questions.
I look at him, realizing I said it out loud. Shit.
My chest tightens, my lungs constricting, and I know that no matter how many deep breaths I try to remind myself to take, it’s not going to help. All the breathing techniques in the world aren’t going to make a damn bit of difference. Not now that I’m doing that math.
We'll make it work.
No. No…no, no, no…
“Maisey?” Seth steps forward, placing his hand on my arm again.
The touch shocks me back into the moment and I flinch, pulling away instantly. I don’t need his comfort—which is anything but comforting in this moment. I need air. Space. Room to think.
I don’t say anything. Simply turn on my heel and go, weaving my way through the crowd that formed around us. I don’t know where I’m heading, but it’s somewhere that doesn’t involve Seth Jennings.
Back to Grandma—that’s where I need to go. I need to sit back down and wait for Ewan to come find us with those drinks. Let myself take a moment to wrap my head around this.
Ewan is going to give up his dream so that I can have mine.
No, not give up. Destroy. He’s about to take everything he’s worked for and built and light it on fire. All so that we can be together and I can move to a country that I randomly fell in love with.
So that we can hike the volcanoes and waterfalls. Visit the Blue Lagoon. Fall asleep under the northern lights in a glass igloo. And all the other things that have held a special place inside me for so long.
Only now, the thought of all that leaves me feeling hollow.
Slipping around the outside of the tent, I rush back toward the table where I left my grandmother. Anxiety builds inside with each step, still not finding Ewan along the way. Where the hell did he disappear to?
Oh…
I stop dead in my tracks, my grandmother’s laugh cutting me off. She’s leaning forward, clutching her chest, her smile as big as I’ve ever seen it, with Ewan on one side and Hux on the other, the two of them cutting it up, keeping her laughing.
In any other moment, this scene would be perfect.
I’d pull out my phone to secretly snap a photo and send it to everyone we know.
Possibly consider printing it and framing it.
I’d for sure text Dolly to get her ass over here so we could stand here, watching our men and swooning over how absolutely adorable they are—and then giggle about all the dirty things we were going to do to them later.
Instead, all I can think to do is cry.
Because this moment really is this perfect. Our future could continue to be this perfect.
And I’m the one who is about to ruin it.
I can’t let him do this.
I also can’t walk over there right now and demand an answer. This isn’t the time or place, for a number of reasons. Still, I have to figure out a way to stop this.
“Maisey.”
The deep, jovial southern drawl treats my name like it’s the chalice that Indiana Jones went looking for. It sends a rush of warmth through me, feeling like a hug, making me realize just how much I need one of those right now. Turning toward the voice, I exhale harshly, letting my tears escape.
“Oh, darlin’…” Auggie coos, wrapping me in a massive dad hug like only he can. I let myself fall into him, knowing that this is about as safe a place as any to break down. The only safer place would be in Ewan’s arms. “What’s going on?”
“Is he really doing this?” I look up at Auggie, hoping to find some answers.
His familiar features are older now, but somehow still exactly the same as my childhood.
Ewan favors Miss Belle with his lighter hair and blue eyes, instead of Auggie’s slightly darker features, but there’s still no denying they’re father and son. “Please tell me no.”
Furrowing his brow, Auggie takes a half step back, careful not to fully let me go. Just as I did him, he silently searches me for answers, although I don’t have any more than he does.
“If you’re askin’ if he spiked your grandmother’s sweet tea, I think we can honestly believe that of all my children, Ewan would not be the culprit there.” Looking over at the group of them at the table still laughing, he smiles, then turns back to me. “Huxley, however, could go either way.”
I sputter out a laugh, wiping away my tears. Leave it to Auggie to be able to cheer me up in my moment of panic.
“There we go.” He wipes away one last tear, nodding succinctly. “I’m not great with tears. Luckily, Willa was never a crier. Her tongue can be sharper than a razor blade, but I didn’t have to deal with tears.”
“I’m a crier,” I admit. “Happy, sad, stressed…all tears.”
“So, which ones are these? Happy, sad, stressed?”
Good question…
“Confusion. Panic. Guilt.”
“That’s quite the trio. Especially for a birthday party.”
No kidding.
“Auggie, I’m going to ask you something, and I need for you to please be honest with me. No matter what you might have promised Ewan or whatever business paperwork is signed, or whatever. Please.”
Auggie turns serious, once again looking over at his sons, then back at me. “I promise.”
“Is Ewan really selling The Booby Trap?”
Shock flashes in Auggie’s eyes, and he blinks quickly, maintaining his composure. But I see it.
“I must admit, this is the first I’m hearing of it. Are you sure?”
I shake my head. “No, but…I…” I heave out a sigh, trying to put my jumbled mess of emotions into coherent thoughts.
“But I also don’t want to go ask him. Which I know sounds counterintuitive, but if he really is doing it, then I think I know why, and it’s for a reason I can’t ask of him, but he’s not going to listen and… ”
Auggie hold up his hands, signaling me to stop. He’s got me. Twisting, he looks over his shoulder, his expression turning even more serious. A serious that I didn’t realize that Auggie could have.
“August!”
Oh, shit…
Gus’s head whips up, as Auggie reaches out, grabbing his arm and yanking him over to us. The oldest brother’s eyes are wide, clearly familiar with this face.
“There something you want to tell me?” Auggie asks.
Looking between his father and me, Gus swallows hard, the muscles in his neck contracting as if in slow motion. I watch the trepidation flit across his features, as he tries to figure out the right answer to the question.
“Is want the verb we’re going with?” Gus asks, careful to hold back his sass.
“Out with it.”
“I take it he didn’t talk to you then,” Gus says, looking directly at me.
My heart plummets, stomach lurching with that response.
Because no, he didn’t. I didn’t even realize that he’d talked to Gus.
I’d gone to my interview on Friday and assumed Ewan had gone to the store like every other day.
Things had been weird enough after how our dinner had gone Thursday night.
When he’d come home late that night to silently slip into bed, I’d been happy that he seemed back to his normal self.
I should have asked more questions. I should have pushed more. Should have used the tornado tactic.
Shaking my head, I fight back more tears. Ones for an emotion I can’t name. All I know is that it’s all I can think to do. Because I can’t ask him to do this.
“I told him to talk to you first,” Gus continues. “But he was adamant that this was the way he wanted to handle it.”
“So, he’s really selling it.” My voice cracks, but I manage to keep my emotions in check.
“What? No. Well, not outright. It’s a transfer of ownership, technically. Making The Booby Trap officially a part of Hayes Industries, rather than his sole proprietorship.”
My insides loosen, unraveling enough for me to be able to breathe again, while still holding tight. That’s better news than I thought. But it’s still not the answer.
Click…
Like a puzzle piece snapping into place, in an instant, I know what is the answer. The one I’ve been searching for so hard these last few days. The decision that Ewan has been so insistent that only I can make.
Well, sir, I’m making it.
“Gus, I need you to do something for me.”
“Okay…”
“And I need you to keep it a secret.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Gus mutters, throwing his hands up. “Are you two incapable of talking?”
“Gus…” Auggie warns.
“Please,” I beg.
I turn to look over at Ewan, who is still at the table with my grandmother, but facing my dad, the two of them deep in conversation about who knows what.
My heart squeezes, ready to burst as I watch them, my two favorite men, sitting back having a drink.
The sight solidifies my answers, making what was already clear even more so.
Leaving no room for wondering. Just like grandma said.
“It’s my turn to make the move. But I’m gonna need your help to pull it off.”
Gus is quiet for a second, his permanently stoic expression cracking ever so slightly.
“Okay. But you gotta move quick. He wants to sign the papers Monday before Munch.”
Munch? Damn, that is quick. But I think I can do it. Just depends on…
“You know, if we’re talking grand gestures, we do happen to have a self-proclaimed ‘expert’ with a whole library full of them in the family,” Auggie tosses out, finger quotes and all.
Gus and I look at each other, our devious grins matching each other, mind clearly going to the exact same place.
This just became a family affair.