Body Shot (Last Shot)(85)

She booted up the computer, smiling at the ancient monitor, and they spent some time perusing various possibilities. They narrowed it down to a few choices that they’d like to go see and Hayden said she’d make some calls and get things set up, maybe for next weekend.

Now that she didn’t have anything else taking up her weekends, it would be easier.

But why did that make her feel like her chest was hollow and she had no energy to even move?

She drove home later that afternoon, looking forward to her empty condo and the work she had to do as much as she’d look forward to giving a speech in front of ten thousand people, naked. Or jumping out of a plane. Normally, her work excited her. It had been her only passion…until Beck showed her what real passion was like. She still loved her work, but now it didn’t seem quite enough to fill her life. The laughter and thrill, sparkle and color he’d brought to her life was missing, leaving her feeling dull and empty. Bleak.

He’d somehow convinced Uncle Colin to step up and do more. And he’d made Uncle Colin realize that leaving the house had to be done—it was the unselfish thing, for Aunt Gina, knowing she wasn’t going to fully recover from her broken hip, knowing now how much work it was to keep the house in order, knowing that for his wife he had to give up something. And maybe even for her, Hayden.

What had Beck said to him?

Damn. She owed him for that. She owed him huge for that. She wished she could talk to him and tell him so.

She had to quit thinking about Beck.

She stopped at EVO to get something for dinner. She didn’t feel like cooking. As she picked up her Thai tofu salad wrap and a smoothie made of orange and pineapple juice and coconut milk, she turned around and came face-to-face with Marco.

“Oh!” She blinked. “Um, hi, Marco.”

“Hayden.” His smile was warm. Apparently, he didn’t hate her for breaking up with his friend. “How are you?”

“Um, okay. I guess.” She shifted her smoothie and bag to one hand and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You?”

“Not bad. Busy, trying to look after things while Beck’s gone.”

Her eyes widened. Beck was gone? Gone where? She bit her lip. She didn’t want to ask, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Where’d he go?”

Marco’s forehead puckered. “Back to Boston. Because of his dad. Didn’t you know?”

She shook her head slowly. “What happened to his dad?”

“He had a heart attack.”

“Oh my God!”

“He’s okay. Seriously, how did you not know this? Didn’t Beck tell you he was going?”

“No.” She dropped her gaze to her smoothie cup. “We, ah, basically parted ways last week.”

“What?”

The shock in Marco’s tone had her gaze flying up to meet his. “You didn’t know that?”

“Hell no.” Marco scowled. “What the fuck? He broke up with you?”

“No.” She sucked briefly on her bottom lip. “I broke up with him.”

Marco’s eyes bugged out. “Why?”

She bent her head again and sighed. She was kind of tired of telling this story. “I just don’t have time for a relationship. My work was suffering.”

“Jesus. Really?”

“Yes.”

“When did that happen?”

“Wednesday night.”

“Fuck. That was the night his dad had the heart attack. He left Thursday morning.”

“Is his dad okay?” Worry for Beck and his family made her stomach squeeze. She pressed her hand there.

“Yeah. Beck texted us yesterday. They did an angioplasty and put a stent in. His dad’s doing well.”

“Oh good.” She let out a breath. “And Beck? Is he okay?” She knew the strained relationship between him and his parents. This probably wasn’t easy for him. Shit, it was probably hard as hell for him.

“Hell if I know. I thought he was.” Marco narrowed his eyes at her. “He hasn’t said a word about you breaking up with him.”

She dropped her gaze again and shuffled her feet. “I’m sure he’s fine with it.”

Marco snorted. “Yeah, right. And snakes have hips.”

She blinked rapidly at that.

“He says his parents want him to stay there and take over running the family business from his dad.”

Her heart squeezed painfully. “They’ve wanted that for a while.”

Marco tilted his head. “He told you that?”

“Yes. But he said he has no interest in going back to that lifestyle.”

“Yeah, well, maybe the fact that his dad is sick is changing his mind.”

She stared at Marco. “You really think he’s considering staying there?”