Page 105 of Dissonance

“Things with Tyler are the best they’ve been in months, and even if something happens, Olive has him. Your inbox is quiet, the contracts are signed, the chaos has settled for a bit. And I can hold everything else until you get back.” She turns, heading for the door. “You want to know why he shut down and left? Go and ask him. Like the badass I know you are.” Her hand curls around the doorframe, and she glances back, raising an eyebrow. “Or stay here, being all miserable, and wait for him to come back with the right words. Your call.”

Taking off my glasses, I run my hands down my face, rubbing my temples.

Go and ask him.

Why the hell not?

I push my chair back and stand. Mae’s not even pretending she wasn’t waiting, chin resting in her hand, to-go cup in the other, a smug smile firmly in place.

“Book me the redeye,” I say. “Tonight.”

She wiggles her eyebrows, turning her screen to face me. “Already pulled it up. Go get your man, Thea.”

I’m halfway to the door when I stop. “Actually, call Dr. Bryan’s office first.”

Mae’s fingers pause over her keyboard. “Everything okay?”

“I want to make sure there’s no issues to fly.”

She nods, already reaching for the phone. It takes forty minutes to get an appointment for tomorrow morning, missing the last flight out tonight. One more day. That’s fine. I’ve waited longer than this for things that mattered less. I can wait one more day.

Chapter Forty-Two

Lockie

“Everything get sorted?” I ask, phone pressed to my ear, looking out at the yard from the kitchen window.

“All done, Highlander,” Gunner says. “Took a couple of hours, but we got there.”

“Cooper pull his weight?”

“When he said he needed to go to LA to help his manager get ready for her baby, I thought he’d actually help. The man doesn’t know the difference between a Phillips head and a flathead screwdriver, so it was quicker doing it myself.” He chuckles, the deep sound vibrating through the speaker. “Besides, Thea came back while we were halfway through, and he basically downed tools the second she walked in.”

I go still. “You saw her?”

“Yeah. The pair of them spent the rest of the afternoon going through baby stuff. Clothes, I think.”

“How was she?” I ask, mouth going dry.

“Wasn’t too happy to be, as she said, babysat while you were away.” He snorts. “Other than that, she seemed okay. Tired. Could see it on her when she came home, but it looked like she was having a good time with Cooper.”

Tired. Because of me. Because I walked out and left her alone.

The guilt sits heavy in my gut as I rub at the back of my neck. “Aye. He’s good like that.”

Gunner’s quiet for a beat before asking, “You good, man?”

“Getting there,” I say, heading for the fridge and pulling out two beers.

“Alright.” He doesn’t push for more. “You need anything else, just say the word.”

“I appreciate it, Gunner. Really.”

And I do. The second Cooper heard I was coming up here and offered to go to LA to keep Thea company, how could I say no? He might not be who she needs right now, but at least she has someone there I trust when I can’t be.

I hadn’t planned on asking anyone to help with the furniture, though—the nursery stuff was mine to sort, mine to assemble—but I’m not there, and I’m sure as shit not letting it sit there for her to deal with.

“Any time, boss. That’s what I’m here for.”