“I’m glad you didn’t run away, Dawn.”
“Me too.”
I sighed into his chest and we stood like that until time was wearing thin.
“You go get your friend and bring her back here,” he said, pulling away from me. “I want to meet her.”
“And she wants to meet you,” I grinned. I turned and skipped out of the bus.
It wasn’t until I was outside and in the golden hazy Texas afternoon that I remembered what I had planned. I had to protect Mel at all costs and I was already thinking of bringing her back to meet the band. One round in the sack with Sage and my mind was all over the place.
I decided a quick meeting wouldn’t hurt. Then she and I would do our own thing during the night. I focused on that and scampered across the parking lot toward the main security gates.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I heard Mel before I even saw her, giving sass to the security guard. I spied her through the chain link fence, my heart beating loud in my chest, and waved her pass at the guard.
“She’s legit,” I told him. “This is her pass.”
He sighed, unfolded his bulky arms, and opened the gate. Mel ran toward me like a tiny little rocketship made of boobs and butt.
“Dawn!” she cried out, throwing her arms around my waist. I reached for her, squeezing her hard.
I broke down. I started bawling right there, holding Mel to me as tightly as I could.
“Dawn, whoa, what’s going?” she exclaimed into my chest. She tried to pull back but I wouldn’t let her. The tears wouldn’t stop coming and I didn’t care who saw. I felt like I didn’t even have the strength to stand anymore.
“Holy shizz, child.” She patted my back. “It’s okay. Let it out.”
I probably cried for ten minutes straight. Without me even realizing it, she had moved us over away from the guard and the hopefuls and placed us on the other side of a station wagon. I fell onto my ass and stayed there until the sobs dried up.
When I was done I felt as dry and empty as a husk.
“I’d ask if you are okay but you’re obviously not okay,” she remarked, folding her legs on the hot asphalt. “I’ve never seen you cry before.”
I nodded and wiped underneath my nose and eyes. I was a mess through and through.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” she asked carefully. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
To borrow a phrase from Jimmy Page (who borrowed a phrase from Jake Holmes), I felt dazed and confused. I shrugged. “I don’t even know anymore.”
“Okay, don’t freak, man. Relax. I’ll talk. I’ll let you know about the stinky pervert I had to sit next to on the plane. But first…”
She reached into her flower-dotted purse and pulled out a joint.
I gave her a wry look and leaned back against the car door. “How did you smuggle that on the plane?”
She beamed cheekily. “I’m good at distraction.”
She brought the joint to her lips and lit it up. She took a hit then passed it to me.
“I’m sure you’re up to your eyeballs in this,” she said through a cough.
I took it and puffed back, shaking my head. “I’ve had too much to deal with.”
“Dude, grass makes your problems easier to handle.”
“Not my problems.”
She sighed and took the joint back. “Okay, well let me tell you about how things are back in Ellensburg.”
She told me about her new man and how good he was in the sack. She said she thought she was in love and wanted to have his babies one day. She said she was debating about going back into nursing for another year, but decided to stick it through. She told me that her brother crashed the Gremlin one night and it’s totaled. He’s okay though and he said he’s going to get a sexy muscle car next but Mel’s not allowed to borrow it. It felt good to listen.
“What about Eric and my dad?”
“Eric’s okay. He looks happier. He told me this chick he likes that turned him down before has been calling him and wanting to do homework together when school starts. So who knows what that’s about. But he’s happy. And your dad is great. Really. Eric said he stopped drinking cold turkey.”
“What?” I cried out, nearly choking.
“Totally legit. I saw him a few times. Sober as a nail. He threw out all the booze and your house looks clean for once. I mean, really clean. Grass is mowed.”
“He never told me any of that,” I said absently.
“Well, you know how it is for alcoholics. He probably thinks you wouldn’t believe him. But so far, he’s doing good. I like it. I bet he’ll be like that when you get home. Oh, and Moonglow is fine. Eric’s actually been riding her. Just in the field though.”
The news felt so good that the feeling was surprising. Like I had forgotten that things had the ability to get better. Maybe not for me, but for my family. I nearly started crying again but the pot was at work in my system and helping me distance myself from the situation.
“So, you wanna tell me what’s going on with you? I mean, you said some stuff on the phone and it sounds all heavy but…what’s really happening, Dawn?”
I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out.
“Okay,” she drew out. “Let me rephrase that. Did you sleep with Sage yet?”
I blushed furiously.
She smacked my leg and exclaimed, “I knew it! I could smell it on you.”
“You can smell it on me?”
She grinned. “When I was hugging you, yeah. Your chest smelled like cologne and man tongue.”
“Oh come on.”
“Truth. Anyway, tell me how he was!”