But they were all about goodbye.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Taryn’s phone vibrated on the side table, pulling her out of the fitful sleep she’d fallen into in the middle of the night.
Shaw groaned from beside her. “Tell them to go away.”
But her phone didn’t stop. She extracted herself from his hold and sat up to grab her glasses and reach for it. The name on the screen made her cringe. Her mother.
She still hadn’t managed to get over there to visit, but she doubted her mom would resort to early-morning calls to ask her about that. Something could be wrong. She put the phone to her ear and tried to ignore the fact that she was taking this call half-dressed in a man’s bed. “Uh, good morning.”
“Good morning, yourself,” her mother said. “Where are you?”
Taryn quickly glanced at Shaw who had rolled onto his back, his chest bare and his sleepy eyes looking her way. God, she was going to miss that look. “I’m…in the city.”
“In the city?” her mother repeated, as if she’d never heard of the word city before. “At this hour?”
“Yes. I had…an early appointment. Did you need something?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even. If there was no emergency, she needed to get off this call before her mother sniffed out the lie like a bloodhound. Plus, no one wanted to have a conversation with their mother when they were half-naked in bed next to a guy.
“I’m in your driveway,” her mother said impatiently. “We’re supposed to go to breakfast before we go to the cemetery.”
“The…” The room flipped over in Taryn’s vision for a second, and she put her hand on Shaw’s arm as if she might tip over. It was the thirteenth. Nia’s birthday. A day she always took off from work. A day she always spent with her family. A day she spent making sure her mother didn’t fall apart.
She put her fingers to her temple. She’d forgotten. How the hell had she forgotten? Tears jumped to her eyes.
“Baby, are you okay?” Shaw asked, lifting up on his elbows, the concern on his face instant.
She tried to hush him but not quick enough.
“Who is that?” her mother asked, too sharp to miss the intrusion.
Taryn tried to find her voice even though her heart had crawled up her throat and lodged there. “Just a colleague, Momma. I needed to…meet with him about something this morning.” About something? What the hell kind of lie was that? Awful. She could see her mother’s eyes narrowing already. “I’m about to head back to town. I can meet you and Daddy at the cemetery. I’m sorry I forgot to mention I couldn’t make it to breakfast.”
“Your colleagues call you baby?” she asked in that mom tone, that you-better-rethink-what-you-just-said-young-lady tone Taryn remembered from her childhood.
The reprimand wasn’t necessary. There was nothing her mother could say that would make Taryn feel worse than she already did. She’d forgotten her baby sister’s birthday. Instead of being with her family, she was in bed with a guy—no, with Shaw Miller—worrying about her own petty dramas. Poor Taryn, she’s fallen for a guy she can’t be with. Wah-wah. Boo-hoo. She’d never felt more selfish.
“I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I lost track of what day it was and slept at a friend’s place in the city. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Slept?” Her mother sucked in a breath. “What friend?”
“No one you know.”
“You slept at some strange man’s house?” She made it sound as if Taryn had walked into a dangerous part of town wearing diamond earrings and a sign that read Rob Me. “Taryn, do you know how many young women are murdered going home with men they don’t know? Body parts found strewn somewhere months later! I cannot believe you would put yourself in that position. Is this what you’ve been doing when you’ve been ig—”
“Momma, I’m fine. You don’t know him, but I do,” Taryn said, feeling tired and terrible at the same time. “Look, I’ll be there soon, okay?”
Her mom made a perturbed sound but didn’t lecture her further. That would no doubt come later. “Remember to pick up flowers and eat something because now you won’t make it in time for breakfast.”
Taryn ended the call with her mom and put her face in her hands, the reality of what she’d forgotten pouring over her in a flood.
Shaw shifted to sit up and put his arm around her. “Hey, what’s going on? You okay?”
“No, not really,” she admitted. “But it’s fine. I have to go. I’m sorry.”
“What happened?”