almost four hours before going back to the Lindsey house.
Congratulations, Beth…couldn’t even date a guy for one week. Good job.
“It’s his fault. He wants more than I can give.” I threw another large crumb of bread to the sparrows on the deck.
“Elizabeth! Phone call, dear.”
“Coming.” I left the half-eaten roll on the patio table and went inside.
Maybe Jacob changed his mind?
Vivian handed me the cordless. “It’s your father.”
“Oh.” Daddy? What would he call me here for? “Hello?”
I carried the phone to my room.
“Elizabeth. I wanted to say something while your mother’s out of the house.”
“Dad, I’m fine. Perfectly safe. Ten fingers and ten toes—”
“It’s not about your trip. Look, your mother doesn’t want you to know until you come back, but she’s going in for a biopsy Monday.”
“Biopsy? O-of what?” The color drained out of my skin.
“She found a lump, honey. I think you should be here, but it’s your choice. As she keeps reminding me, you’re an adult now.” A door closed in the background.
He hung up without letting me reply.
Of all the things to guilt me with…
No, it wasn’t about guilt…he just communicated in his usual awkward fashion and let me deal with the consequences.
My legs gave out and my butt landed on the bed.
A lump.
A lump in my mom.
The phone started making that noise of a disconnected call and I turned it off.
Would they know when they looked at the…the thing? There would be tests, right, and waiting…that’s what you always heard. People frustrated by the waiting.
Vivian knocked softly on the open door. “Elizabeth, you’re white as a sheet. Is everything alright?”
I felt my head turn toward her though I hadn’t told it to. “My, uh, my mom’s having surgery Monday. He wanted me to know.”
She came and sat next to me, taking the phone from my hand. “Is it serious?”
“I don’t know. He said it’s for a biopsy.”
“Well, I’m sure it’ll turn out alright. Do you want to schedule a flight right away?”
“I…I have something to do tonight, but…can you find out what’s available tomorrow?”
“Of course.” She pulled me into her arms. “I care a great deal for your family, dear. Whatever you need.”
Tears coursed down my cheeks onto Jacob’s mother’s blouse. I stayed in the hug and closed my eyes, willing myself to be strong until I had information. Lawsons didn’t panic.
“Thanks,” I said, pulling away.
Vivian handed me a tissue. “I’ll make those calls.”
Once she left, I closed the door and changed clothes for tonight.
The band t-shirt on, I combed out the braid in my hair and brushed it up into a high ponytail. After wiggling mascara on my lashes, I took out the chubby eye pencil I’d bought on a whim and colored my lids smoky blue. Surprisingly, the dark color didn’t look scary on my image in the mirror. My glasses back in place and a swipe of gloss completed the routine.
I double-checked there was a fresh roll in the camera—digital was still too expensive—and went downstairs to wait for the cab I ordered.
My hands shook during the ride to the club. Whether from the shock about Mom, seeing Jacob, or nerves about working with Kit, I couldn’t say.
From the outside, this was a nicer venue than last Saturday’s. Inside, it was twice the size and, from my limited knowledge, pretty dang cool. Jacob’s band was setting up their instruments onstage for the sound check. He walked out of the back with Kit, discussing something. She had a tripod set up in the middle of the room with a digital Canon on top. He hopped on the stage and picked up his guitar.
“Hey,” she greeted me.
“Nice camera.”
She grinned. “Yeah. What you got?”
“My mom’s old Pentax. It’s not fancy, but she had a lot of lenses.”
“Hey, gotta start somewhere.” She put her eye to her camera, then adjusted settings. “Wait until you get up to editing software. Lots of fun. Been in a dark room, yet?”
“Practically grew up in it. My brother’s former bedroom is Mom’s image factory.”
“Awesome.” She stepped away from the tripod. “Well, until they turn on the lights, I’m in limbo, so let’s have a seat.”
“Okay.” I pulled out a chair at the nearest table.
He started singing You Got It All. He hadn’t looked at me, yet, since I walked in the door. It hurt.
Kit watched me watch him play. “How long you and Jake been somethin’?”
“Huh? Oh, we met my freshman year of high school. How long have you been friends?”
“Wouldn’t say ‘friends’. I’m a fan, and they’ve been appreciative of my work.”
“Oh.” Yet Jacob felt comfortable asking her for a favor?
“Don’t get me wrong. He’d be good for a tumble or two—look at him, but I like my men seasoned,” she said. “Boy put out his best sales pitch to get me to meet you, though. I don’t like people lookin’ over my shoulder, but it was hard to say no.”
My cheeks warmed. “He’s like that sometimes, but I don’t want to be in your way. If you’d rather e-mail me a few shots with some notes, that’s fine. I didn’t ask him to bug you.”
“Nah, it’s cool, as long as you don’t mind bein’ a gopher.”
I shook my head. “I like to keep busy.”
Anything to keep from running to a phone to talk to Mom.
The house lights dropped and the spots and colored accent lights shone on the stage. Kit got up and started snapping shots while the band played through Figured It Out.
She gave them a thumb’s up at the end and started dismantling the tripod.
“You’re done?” I asked.
“With the paid gig, yeah. I’m stickin’ around to shoot the live show.”
“Oh.” I took the collapsed tripod she handed me.
“My bag’s over there,” she said, pointing to the wall at my left.
She had a duffle by the stage door. I put the tripod inside and crossed past the stage on my way back. He crouched in front of his amp, pulling the cord out. Our eyes met, but his expression was blank.
“Break a leg,” I said. He carried his guitar offstage, ignoring me. Ouch again. “Jacob…” I went after him.
“What?” he asked in the hall.
“I have to leave tomorrow. Something’s come up.”
He kept walking past the others. “Have a safe flight.”
I caught up and touched his arm. “Can you stop being mad at me for a second? I’m serious. My dad called and I have to go. I don’t know if I’ll get to say goodbye.”
He finally turned around. “What happened?”
“My mom’s having a thing on Monday. He wanted me to know. She didn’t. I don’t want to talk about it right now, but…I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“Are you okay?”
I shrugged, not sure how to answer, or if I could. He stepped forward to give me a one-armed hug and kissed my forehead.
“I’m sorry, Bethie.”
Several things popped in my head to say, but all I did was inhale his scent. The lack of his presence at home would be a hole in my life when I could need him most and I wanted to memorize everything.
Kit instructed me on her camera through the opening act. We were working with the same terms, only the controls were different. Had to admit—seeing instant results was pretty cool. Once Jacob’s band came on, she moved through the crowd, getting shots from all sides.
I kept watch over her stuff at a table along the wall. She came back to me twice for drink refills, once to switch memory cards. “Honestly, he’s too good for ‘em,” she shouted over the music.
“Who?”
“That one and that one,” she said, pointing to the bassist and drummer. “Neither one can keep time.”
And I thought the cacophony was intentional. Learn something new every day.
Some girl in the front of the mosh pit passed Jacob a slip of paper during the interlude. He winked at her and stuck it in his pocket.
Bastard. Back to friends for mere hours and he was already flirting with new girls.
Guess that proved what he felt for me, huh? Only big, fat, lust.
Yay, me.