Page 2 of Mic Drop (Passionate Beats #3)

Jenna

N ot even bothering to open the app for a car service, I race out of Bennett’s hotel room and slip into the waiting elevator. For once, I’m all alone, which gives my tears permission to stream down my cheeks unchecked.

Ma matters more than any other living human being on earth. She needs me more than the clinics, more than his groin pull, more than any fallout from Lissa’s television interview.

And he was pretty high-handed about my using UC’s PR team to mop up the mess Michelle’s making at my clinics. He doesn’t seem to think I’m capable of handling it without help. My tears slow. I’ll show him.

I need to get home to Ma and set her up with the best doctors. Not that Kara and her husband aren’t fabulous, but they’re not oncology specialists. Who Ma needs. I stifle a sob.

The elevator doors open and I cross the lobby. I’ll purchase a plane ticket while I’m on my way to the airport, price be damned.

“Jenna!”

Who could that be? Probably some reporter looking for a new angle on the fake story they’re promoting. I don’t want to talk with anyone. I keep moving.

Footsteps resound over the foyer’s granite floor. “Jenna, wait!” A masculine hand grabs my forearm. “What’s going on? Are you all right?”

I spin on my heel. Tristan’s concerned brown eyes spear into me.

Emotions beg to be let out, and I’m unable to stem the tide.

The next thing I know, the new keyboardist’s arms envelop me while I cry it out.

He whispers comforting platitudes into my ear while stroking my back.

The fact it’s Darren’s replacement giving me comfort and not UC’s lead singer just makes me cry more.

When I’m somewhat under control, I remove myself from his person. “Sorry, Tristan.” For ruining his shirt, for being a drama queen, for using him when I really want to be with Bennett. “I need to leave.”

His more than five-o’clock shadow becomes convex as he sucks in his cheeks. “I can’t let you leave like this.”

I straighten. “I’m fine. I can handle this.”

“What’s wrong?”

Ma’s dying from cancer . Bile rises and all I manage to say is, “Airport.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll get you a taxi.” Numbly, I nod and follow him rolling my suitcase to the sidewalk. The bellhop flags me down a taxi and puts my luggage into the trunk. Tristan bends down and looks deep into my eyes. “Whatever Bennett did, I’m sure running away isn’t the answer.”

I don’t have the strength to set him straight. Given that I probably won’t see him again, ever, I don’t bother to correct his wrong assumption. “I just need to get home.”

He opens the door and I slip into the seat. “You have my number, right?”

I don’t have a clue. To get rid of him, I lift my cell.

“Use it.” The door closes .

The only conversation I have with the driver is to confirm I’m going to the airport.

While he drives, I purchase my one-way ticket to NYC, adding a five grand helicopter ride out to the Hamptons.

At this point, my only concern is getting home to Ma as soon as possible.

I’ll deal with the credit card bills later.

Looking up, I tell the driver my airline and bang my head against the headrest. I’ll be home in a few short hours.

Keeping my nose down, I manage to get on the plane without anyone noticing the Black Widow in their midst. For once I don’t quibble about the extra cost, simply pay for Wi-Fi and spend the entire flight researching the best doctors and protocols and medicines for pancreatic cancer.

None of the results give a positive prognosis.

Ma will have to prove the entire field wrong.

At the airport, I retrieve my suitcase and follow the signs to the helicopter to the Hamptons. Exhausted, I arrive at the waiting room when my stomach protests its lack of food. If Bennett were here, he’d ask a roadie to get us some burgers.

Burgers.

Now all I want is a burger.

A café is located across the way, which I bet sells what I want. Seeing as there’s another hour before the helicopter departs, I cross the lounge area and place my order. My mouth opens to take my first bite when someone approaches me.

“Excuse me, are you traveling to the Hamptons?”

My long-awaited burger is lowered to the plate. “Yes. Ticket counter’s over there.” I point across the way.

The woman carrying a couple of leather suitcases nods. “Thank you. Are you excited to return home?”

What an odd question. I give a cryptic response, “It’s where I need to be.”

The traveler says, “Seems like your clinics would agree.”

What now?

I don’t have time to reply when she adds, “I mean, having black widow spiders all over would be a deterrent to anyone needing physical therapy, isn’t it?

Have you completed your mission and broken up the best band on the planet?

Untamed Coaster was getting everything together, but you had to go and ruin it for all of us, didn’t you? ”

Leaping to my feet, I abandon my meal and leave the awful woman standing next to my table. The café, which I thought was quaint with its seating open to the terminal, has nowhere to hide, not even a bathroom.

Add hungry to my long list of wretched emotions.

Thankfully, the woman with the leather bags doesn’t come to the helicopter check in. With dragging feet, I wait to board, keeping as low of a profile as possible. Luck is with me because no one else approaches, and the ride is uneventful.

Yet another taxi takes me to Ma’s dark house. I’m sure she’s asleep—after all, only rock stars and vampires are up at this time of the morning. Leaving my luggage, I proceed to the back and lift up the birdhouse to retrieve the spare key.

Within minutes, I’m inside and absorbing the familiar smells.

Now that I’m here, I find myself unable to rush to her side and get the details.

Instead, I stop in front of framed photos from when I was a child on the beach.

Building a snowman. Walking across the stage getting my physical therapy degree.

Kara’s in other pictures, including the ones from her own graduation from med school plus her wedding and with her kids.

Everyone’s smiling and happy. It’s too soon for Ma to leave us.

Too soon.

Armed with wonderful childhood memories—and forbidding any more recent ones to surface—I decide to check in on Ma. Make sure she’s sleeping. Then I can pass out in the guest bedroom.

I walk to the far end of the house, to her bedroom. The door’s ajar, so I push it open to get a better look into the room. Ma appears comfortable, her face relaxed in sleep. Maybe a quick kiss on the forehead won’t be amiss? I’m confident I won’t wake her, since she’s always slept like the dead.

My feet pause at the awful turn of phrase .

I continue my silent trip to her bed. I whisper, “I’m here, Ma. Sleep well.” I kiss her, my heart thudding in my chest.

Gray eyes open and she struggles backward on the bed.

In the most soothing voice I can muster, I say, “Sorry, Ma, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Jenna?”

“It’s me.”

Her hand lands on top of the left side of her chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Does she also have heart issues? Kara didn’t mention any. “Should I get you cardiac medicine?”

She frowns. “What? No.”

I exhale the breath fighting to come out. “Good.”

Ma rearranges the pillows behind her and pats the side of the bed. “Aren’t you having the time of your life with Bennett, touring with Untamed Coaster?”

How much should I share with her? She’s probably not too caught up with gossip, considering her health issues. “It was fun. It’s over. I’m here now.”

“What do you mean ‘it’s over’? Last I heard, you were visiting Graceland.”

My stomach falls to the floor. “I did.” I clear my throat. “It was amazing to see where Elvis lived.” And died. I don’t add that part.

“Sweet Pea. Why are you here?”

Anyone who thinks I’m stubborn has yet to meet my mother. “It’s late. Well, it’s early and I’m tired. Why don’t we talk in the morning?” When I can deal with the truth about what Kara told me without bursting into tears.

For once, I catch a break as Ma yawns. “You’re probably right. I am tired, and I’ll need all my wits about me to get to the bottom of this.”

I can’t stop myself and give her another kiss. Then I help her become horizontal and tuck her in, like she used to do for me. “Sleep well, Ma. I’ll see you in the morning.” Only a few hours away .

Slinking out of her bedroom, I wheel my suitcase to the guest bedroom. I’m able to do nothing more than take off my shoes before passing out.

The smell of bacon tickles my nose. I toss my head on the pillow, but the delightful odor lingers. One eye opens, then the other. I inhale, letting the delicious smell waft over me. Ma’s making breakfast.

I sit up, taking stock of the clothes that have been on my body for the past what? Twenty-nine hours? More? Better take a shower before devouring the promised breakfast of champions.

Opening my suitcase, another odor bombards me.

Like I’m outside in the woods. Bennett. I stare into my luggage, trying to figure out how his scent took it over.

One of his T-shirts smiles up at me. The one I wore to bed after he had it on his body.

I rip it out of the luggage and ball it up, ready to toss it into the trash.

And freeze. Despite everything, I still love him. I miss him, and the way he held me tight.

After everything that went down, what must he think of me?

The last words he hurled at me make a repeat performance.

“Go home to your mommy!” I never was able to bring myself to utter the words that Kara texted me, so he had no idea how hurtful he was being.

Ma needs me more than he does. After all, he has the vaunted PR team that will tear Lissa from limb to limb.