Page 9 of Mic Drop (Passionate Beats #3)

Jenna

M a’s moving a bit slowly this morning. Instead of eggs and bacon, I make us toast, which we share at the kitchen table. She drops her piece onto the plate and I jump to help her.

“I got it.” Frowning, she waves me away.

I return to my seat. “I was only trying to help,” I grumble.

“I’m fine.” To prove her point, she takes a big bite and starts coughing.

I want to smooth her back and tell her things will be all right, but we both know it’s a lie. Instead, I sit in my seat, my appetite disappearing with every wheeze. She finally calms.

“Jenna, I’ll be okay. I don’t need you hovering. I love you, but I hate how smothering you are.”

“I don’t mean to be,” I protest. She won’t let me find her doctors, inject myself into her treatment plan, or even make life easier for her in the kitchen. I want to scream but manage to maintain my composure.

“How about taking a walk? It looks nice outside.”

Is this her way of telling me to get lost?

I consider her ask. Perhaps a break from each other is what we both need.

After wiping my mouth with a napkin, I push my chair away from the table.

“Good idea. The weather’s nice enough. I’ll be back soon.

” I kiss the top of her head, trying not to notice her thinning hair.

How has Kara dealt with her while I’ve been away?

I go to my room and grab a cardigan. The weather’s nice but there’s still a breeze. I slip out the front door and notice a car parked at the end of the walk. Who can this be? I close the door and prepare to fight whomever is going to intrude on our quiet day. My chin lifts.

A tall man unfolds himself from the vehicle. I suck in all the air. It can’t be.

When green eyes come into focus, I exhale. I can’t believe he’s here. Not with the way we left things. My body wars between wanting to run into his strong arms and flee inside. Where Ma and her bad mood awaits.

While I dither, a flower-laden Bennett sends the car away and marches up the front walk. I note his gate is steady, without any noticeable problems with his groin injury. At least that’s a plus.

I bite my lip. What should I do? The closer he gets to me, the more I want to bolt. The next moment, I’m running across the yard.

Why is he here? Does he want to torment me more? Taunt me for being a “momma’s girl?” I stifle a sob at the situation. This isn’t fair.

My feet clomp over the wet grass, but I don’t care. Behind me, Bennett yells my name. I don’t stop moving. I can’t.

On the sidewalk, I make a right turn away from town. I don’t want anyone to witness this reunion, if that’s what you could call it. I enter the park and duck into a wooded area. Once there, I stop. This is as close to privacy as I can find. I focus on returning my breathing to normal.

In the distance, a couple of people walk their dogs, but no one is nearby. Good. Keeping my back to the main road, I feel the instant Bennett invades my quiet solitude. I manage to hold back my sobs. The last thing I want to do is cry in front of him. Again.

“Jenna. ”

His tenor voice makes women all over the world toss their panties onstage. Mine are firmly in place. I don’t turn around. “What are you doing here?” I wrap my arms around my midsection.

“I don’t like how we left things.”

Makes two of us. “Yeah, well, I think we said everything that needed to be said.”

“I disagree.” He walks around and stands in front of me. I have to tip my head backward a long way to stare into his eyes.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at a concert?”

He appears sheepish. “Tonight.”

“Where?”

“New Orleans.”

Hours away from here. He must’ve taken the band’s jet. I refuse to be impressed or swayed by his actions. All he had to do was talk with Luke and presto! the jet would be available. It’s not like he had to go out of his way.

My gaze drops to his thigh. “How’s the injury?”

“Needs physical therapy. Know anyone you could recommend?”

Not going to fall for his playfulness. Not when I have much bigger issues on my plate. I sigh. “Why are you here?”

He shakes the calla lilies he’s holding. “Because when you know in your bones that the only woman you’ve ever loved left you without telling you the truth about what’s going on, you do the only sensible thing and chase her around the country to find out why.”

When he says stuff like this, I can’t maintain my anger. I blink several times.

“Tell me, Jenna. I want to help.”

Smart man didn’t say he wants to fix it. Because he can’t. No one can. Not my sister the doctor. Not her doctor husband, or any of their friends. No one can make things right. The pain starts in my gut, demanding an outlet.

“Is it about the Black Widow nickname? We’ve got the UC PR team on it.”

I shake my head .

“Is it about Michelle and all the graffiti at the clinics?”

My head continues to shake.

“You can’t be mad about Lissa’s lies? That’s what they are, you know that, right? Lies.”

“No." My pain bubbles up and escapes in sobs. I ugly cry in front of him. Again.

He doesn’t hesitate. He wraps me in his arms, flowers at my back. “Shhh, Sweetheart.”

I can’t stop myself. I hug him to me, burrowing into his strength. He sways with me, whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

When the tears have dried for now, I pull myself together and step away from his warm and inviting body. He deserves to know the truth. “Bennett, Ma’s sick.”

His face registers shock, then resignation. “I’ll get her the best doctors. Switzerland has a world-renowned healthcare system. I can get her out there by tomorrow.”

“She’s already seen the best doctors around here. There’s nothing they can do.” My sentence ends on another sob, but I keep myself in check this time.

“What does she have?”

I take a deep breath. “Stage four pancreatic cancer.”

“Oh, Jenna.” He pulls me to him again, holding tight. “I’m so sorry. Tell me, what can I do?”

With my forehead plastered against his hard chest, I pour out Ma’s situation to him. More tears soak his front, but he doesn’t flinch.

“Sweetheart.” He brushes his palm against my cheek.

“I can’t lose her.” When did I become such a watering pot?

Using his thumbs, he swipes the tears away from my eyes. “Have you run out of doctors around here?”

“Yes.”

“How about this. I’ll have Luke arrange for a Zoom meeting with a world-renowned doctor. We can attend the meeting alone. Your mother need not know. ”

“I do have access to all her medical records. She gave them to me before our last appointment.”

“That’s good,” he praises me.

I lay my cheek against him, letting his slow and steady heartbeat calm my thoughts. We stand like this for a long while. “Sweetheart, if you want me to arrange this meeting, I better text Luke. Will you be okay if I let you go?”

Am I so fragile he thinks I can’t stand on my own two feet? “I got this.” I shuffle backward, shocked when my balance isn’t normal. Must be the uneven ground.

He presents me with the flower bouquet. “This is for you. I thought of you when I saw them, thinking they would complement your gorgeous gray eyes.”

I accept the gorgeous white calla lilies. “Thanks.”

“May I kiss you.”

This man, the cocky lead singer of a world-famous rock band, is asking for permission to kiss me? I love him so much. That never will change. “Yes.”

He holds up a phone. “I better text Luke first. Once my lips touch yours, there’s no telling how long they’ll linger.”

“Better hurry.”

“With the text, not the other,” he quips. I watch his talented fingers dance over his screen.

“New phone?”

“Yeah. My old one had a problem.” He glances up when the text is sent.

“What happened?”

“It hit a concrete wall.”

Oh. OH. I don’t have time to ask him if I was the cause for the flying cell before he wraps me in his arms.

“This is what I’ve needed ever since you walked out of my hotel room.”

I can’t talk because his lips cover mine in a delicious reunion.

He molds my mouth to his, our tongues tangling like star-crossed lovers.

My fingers rake through his hair as he pulls me tighter against his hardening body.

I keep hold of the flowers by sheer will. All I want to do is explore his body.

The ping of an incoming text is the only thing that could drive us apart. Bennett checks. “Luke came through. He’s setting up a video call for us this afternoon. He’ll get back to me with the exact time.”

“Thanks.” I need to tell him that my feelings for him never changed.

Despite being mad at him for distracting me from talking with Ma while I’ve been away, the truth is it doesn’t matter.

Her cancer was here since I’ve been in Aroostook opening up my clinics.

None of us noticed her symptoms. We’re all at fault. He was an easy scapegoat.

“Bennett,” I begin. “I need you to know something. When I left your hotel, Kara had just told me about Ma’s diagnosis.

I thought this was new, but it turns out she’s been ignoring symptoms for a long time.

Years, even. I was scared and mad and wanted to lash out.

I’m sorry I took my feelings out on you. ”

“Sweetheart, I understand now. I was confused, thinking you were upset about my suggesting you let UC’s PR team help out with the media surrounding the clinics. I couldn’t bring myself to believe you were mad about the whole Lissa debacle, because you’ve been with me about that from the beginning.”

“Well, not back in high school,” I point out. Then I remember the call from his own mother. “I forgot. Your mother called when you were in the shower at the hotel. She said some nasty things to me about Lissa and the whole Black Widow thing.”

“She’s the reason I had to get a new phone.”

I give him what I’m sure is a sorry excuse for a grin. “Makes sense.”

“Why on earth did you pick up my phone? I don’t answer half of her calls.”

I shrug. “I thought I could talk with her, woman to woman. Tell her what an awesome son she has.”

“You think I’m awesome? ”

The way he twists my words only endears me to him more. I lay the bouquet down on a bench. With both arms now free, I wrap them around his waist. “I guess you could say you’re an anomaly.”

He kisses me, then pulls back. “Because I’m a rock star with a heart?”

“Well, true.” I kiss him with a bit more passion than is permissible in public, but I figure the dog walkers can mind their own business. “More so because you’re a wonderful man who turned into a rock star in spite of your mother.”

“I’ll take it.”

Our talk about his mother makes my heart hurt for my own. I hug him, grateful he’s in my life. “I guess we should be getting back to Ma. She’s not having a very good morning, though, so be warned. She’s a bit grumpy.”

“Grumpy I can handle. Have you seen the guys I tour with?”

He has a point. Yet, Bennett now has to win Ma’s approval when all of her focus should be on staying healthy. I hope it isn’t a big mistake to bring Bennett home.

“C’mon Sweetheart. I need to be on the jet by midafternoon to get to New Orleans for tonight’s concert. It seems like I’m going to be flying alone.” His lips turn downward.

I guess my touring days are now officially over.