Grandpa wanted to go home, but I wanted to stay and see Leopard Man when he was ready for visitors. So he settled on a couch in the family area and I went looking for coffee. But as I walked through the lobby, I decided to detour out the front door to get some fresh air. And found Lexie Holt sitting on a bench.
I went to sit next to her. “Nice arm, slugger.”
She smiled a little. “Thanks. I hope I don’t ever have to use it again. And thanks for unlocking the trunk.”
“Anytime. You okay?”
She nodded. “Waiting for a cab.”
“Are you leaving tomorrow?”
“I’m going to try. I still need to figure out how to get Jason home.” She looked at me. “But I was thinking about coming back to your place first.”
“My place? Why?”
She took a breath. “I want to adopt Jasmine. I feel like she’s my last link to Jason and … I hope you say yes.”
Impulsively, I leaned over and hugged her. “Of course you can adopt Jasmine. I’m sure she’ll like California.”
“Colorado,” she corrected. “I’m moving. I don’t want to be around … my old life anymore. I have family out there and, well. I just think it will help.”
“It will,” I said. “I think that’s smart, Lexie.”
“Maddie?” We both turned at Grandpa’s voice. He and Craig were in the doorway. “There you are. And there’s a message for you on my phone. I didn’t realize until just now. Lucas called me because he couldn’t get ahold of you.”
Because my phone was on the side of the road somewhere. “Excuse me,” I said to Lexie, and hurried in to take Grandpa’s phone. He was looking at me curiously.
I understood why when I heard the message. It was brief, and Lucas sounded far away, like he was already somewhere else. “Maddie. I couldn’t reach you. I hope everything’s okay out there with the storm. Listen, I’m at the airport. I have to go out of town for a few days. I probably won’t be back until after Thanksgiving.” A pause. “I’m sorry.”
And that was it.
Blinking back tears, I handed the phone back to Grandpa. “I’m going to go get coffee,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t ask me about it, because I knew I would cry. I turned to go, but Craig’s hand was on my arm.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked.