Drew stared out the window of the Uber he’d called not long after London fled his hotel room for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. He’d left soon after, moving into the furnished apartment his assistant had rented for the duration of his time in Austin. His clothes were already hanging neatly in the closet, and the fridge was fully stocked.
But he didn’t want any of the food Larissa had ordered. One whiff of spicy chipotle from a street vendor triggered a memory that his stomach refused to shake. He only hoped the hole-in-the-wall taco stand on the corner from their old place in Austin was still there.
The scenery transitioned from the skyscrapers of downtown to rows of apartment buildings that had seen better days on the city’s east side. He’d spent less than two years here, but the impact this place had on his life was unlike any other. He hated being back here, but it made him appreciate how far he’d come.
“Is this it?” the Uber driver asked.
Drew peered out at the galvanized steel roof and the paint peeling off the dingy wood siding. “Yes, it is.”
“You said you wanted me to wait for you, right?” the man asked.
“Yeah, I should only be a few minutes,” he said, getting out of the car. As he closed the door, he caught sight of the basketball court across the street. Drew rapped on the driver’s window. “You can take off,” he said. “I’m going to stick around for a bit.”
Drew went into the taco shack and ordered three chorizo and steak street tacos with extra cilantro. These tacos had been his dinner countless nights after practice, when his mom was pulling a second shift and his uncle, Elias, was either out looking for work or hooking up with some girl.
Drew brought his tacos over to the basketball court and took a seat on a bench that probably hadn’t been painted since he’d played here fifteen years ago. He mindlessly ate as he watched some teen boys battle in a three-on-three pickup game. How many afternoons had he spent doing the same?
And why did the memories leave such an uneasy feeling in his gut?
It wasn’t as if anything traumatic had happened during his time here. He’d excelled in Austin, accomplishing more than any of the teachers or counselors at his previous schools had ever encouraged him to achieve. But there was something about being back here that made his hands clammy and his chest tight.
His attitude toward Texas had undergone several metamorphoses over the years. When his mom had first moved them here during his junior year of high school, he’d been as indifferent to Austin as he’d been to any of the other places where he’d lived. He began warming up to it when he started to make a name for himself at Barbara Jordan High, but Drew had learned from an early age to never let himself to get too attached to any one place. They’d averaged fourteen months tops in all the other cities they’d lived.
There was something about Austin that was different. Something about Texas that changed the game.
His mom had fallen in love with its wide-open spaces. After he left for college, she’d moved to a small town about an hour west of here, in the foothills of the Texas Hill Country. She’d remained in that tranquil little town, with the flower baskets that hung from the streetlights on Main Street and shop owners who knew every customer by name. She told him the only way she would leave would be by hearse.
And that’s exactly the way it had happened.
Drew winced.
He wasn’t in the right mood to think about his mom right now, not when he had all these other emotions about being back in Austin to contend with.
But thinking about his mom reminded him that he owed his uncle, Elias, a call. His mother’s much younger brother had stood in as his pseudo-dad for much of Drew’s life, even though only eight years separated them. His uncle had settled in Fort Worth. Like his sister, he had developed an unexplainable love for Texas.
Drew pulled out his phone and clicked into his favorites. His uncle’s number was one of only a few saved there.
Elias picked up on the third ring.
“What’s up, old man?” Drew said in his usual greeting.
“Hey, nephew! You in Austin yet?” Elias asked.
“Yeah. Believe or not, I’m at the playground near our old place. I would shoot a few hoops if I wasn’t wearing my good shoes.”
Elias laughed. “What are you doing all the way out there? You feeling nostalgic?”
“For tacos,” Drew said. “But I’m about to head back downtown. The apartment I rented became available earlier than expected, and I need to get settled in before meeting up with the team from Trident later. Say, if you’re in the mood for an impromptu vacation, there’s a nice suite at the downtown Austin Hilton that’s fully paid for until Wednesday.”
“I would if I could,” Elias said. “Can’t afford the days away from the job.”
Drew rolled his eyes.
He’d waited until after he’d earned his first ten million before offering to buy a house and provide a stipend to both his mom and uncle so they wouldn’t have to work anymore. He’d known they would both turn him down if his net worth were less than eight figures, but had hoped they would take him up on it if they figured he was financially secure.
His net worth was nearing the nine-figure mark, yet Elias still insisted on keeping his job as a mail carrier, claiming that he’d worked too hard to earn his pension and he wasn’t letting it go.
“I may drop in on you in a few weeks, though,” E said. “Me and a few buddies are driving out to Big Bend later this month for a long-overdue fishing trip. I figured I’d leave a day early and hang out with you in Austin. That is, if you’re still here.”
“I’ll still be here,” Drew said.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” his uncle said. “But, while you are here, I think you need to take a drive out to Hye and go through Doreen’s things. You can’t leave her house sitting like that forever.”
That’s exactly what Drew had planned on doing. His mother’s home had stood untouched since she passed away last year. He wasn’t ready to face it. He wasn’t sure if he ever would be.
“I’m going to be pretty busy with the project I’m working on, but I’ll try to get out there,” Drew said noncommittally.
“Do more than try,” his uncle said. “You know Doreen would never want her house to just sit there like some kind of museum. Stop avoiding this.”
Drew’s phone dinged with a calendar reminder. Saved by the fucking bell.
“E, I need to get going.”
“Working on a Sunday?”
“It’s just a short meeting,” he said. Drew wasn’t in the mood for his uncle’s harassment over his work schedule. “Give me a couple of days’ notice before your fishing trip so that I can schedule the time off. Maybe we can hang out for a bit. Come back to this playground and shoot some hoops.”
“Oh yeah, your ass is feeling nostalgic. I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up back in Austin permanently,” Elias said.
Not a chance in hell.
“I don’t know about that,” Drew said.
“You should consider it. You told me yourself that New York has never felt like home. You need to plant some roots, Drew.”
He was not having this conversation right now.
“I have to go. I’ll catch up with you later, E.”
He ended the call and clicked into his text messages to share the address of the building where he would be staying with Elias. After sending the text, he spotted the one he’d sent to London earlier today, letting her know that she’d left her purse in his hotel room.
Drew closed his eyes and forced himself to take a cleansing breath.
He should give her a heads-up about tomorrow. He was only making it worse by not telling her that he was the one who would assist County’s governing board in deciding whether to sell the hospital to a private company.
But instead of writing the text message he knew he damn well should write, Drew switched to the Uber app and ordered a car to come pick him up.
He would deal with London tomorrow.