Half Empty

by Catherine Bybee

  The next time he came to the table, he didn’t ask if she wanted another glass of wine. “I get off at six.”

  Damn it . . .

  She needed to get back on the highway. There was still so much to do at Trina’s house. This was a job. One she was actually going to get paid to do.

  Norman, the booty call, wasn’t on the schedule.

  “I’m going to have to pass.” Adulting sucked! “Work.”

  “What if I gave you my number?”

  She smiled. “I don’t live in town, but I do visit often.”

  “Sounds perfect to me.”

  Avery waltzed out of Bergdorf Goodman with an energy she didn’t have walking in. She’d spent the morning conducting business. Real business. Had a little mostly liquid lunch that resulted in a phone number and a promise. Apparently she could be a proper adult and pick up a hottie, even if his name was Norman.

  She buzzed through a portion of Central Park in an effort to work off any of the liquor she’d consumed. She hadn’t finished that last glass of wine, even though she’d been tempted to do so.

  Adulting.

  She was adulting, damn it.

  The hour to hit the freeway and avoid the bulk of traffic fast approached, so she made her way to the parking garage. As she did, she checked her phone for messages.

  Nothing.

  Which had started to bug her. With all of the male attention she found, there wasn’t anyone who took the effort to check on her just to see if she was okay. Even her parents didn’t bother with any real consistency. Only her new friends filled that void. Lori would call when she was in town, or stop by for a glass of wine. Avery knew she was the one to most often sneak up on Lori and Reed and invite herself over for a drink or dinner. The advantage of living in the same building.

  Shannon had started calling her on occasion, although the two of them didn’t hang out as much as they probably should. Maybe the conservative nature of Shannon would rub off on Avery if she spent more time with the woman. If anyone knew how to adult, it was Shannon. The woman still played the part of political wife several years after the marriage was over.

  But Trina was Avery’s go-to. They were alike in so many ways.

  She clicked on her messages and pulled up Trina’s name.

  I know you’re in the middle of the big party, just dropping a note to say that everything in NY went well. Fedor liked really expensive things.

  She glanced up, saw her car, and fished for the keys in the bottom of her mom bag while she texted with one thumb.

  En route to the house so call if you need to talk. Texting and driving in NY is just asking for trouble.

  Avery pressed send at the same time something huge smashed into her side and threw her onto the pavement.

  Her first thought was that she’d walked into something, or because she was on her phone, she’d become one of those YouTube videos of distracted people walking into a pond. But then she saw a boot coming toward her face, and she realized this wasn’t an accident.

  She tried to move, covered her head.

  Never in her life had Avery been kicked. The pain was unimaginable. She tasted warm salt in her mouth as she cowered on the ground.

  Roll away!

  Do something!

  She tried, only her body was a heavy, solid mass that needed to lose a hundred pounds. When the next hit came, she lost the ability to think about anything.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “There you are.” Finding his way back to Trina’s side was like swimming through a sea of fans that found the exit door from the stage to his limo. Even his friends didn’t understand that he wanted his attention somewhere else.

  As for Jordyn, the woman didn’t understand the words we’re over.

  “There is someone here with me,” he’d told her.

  “I heard,” Jordyn had said, looking over his shoulder.

  Wade attempted to block her gaze in case Trina felt it.

  Jordyn leaned in close . . . too close. “It’s okay, baby. We all have to have our diversions.”

  “That’s not how it is.”

  At that point, his mother joined the conversation to discuss how Jordyn was talking with a record label of her own, and wasn’t that exciting?

  Wade stood there for a solid five minutes, trying to keep things nice, and when he turned around, Trina was out of his sight.

  It took thirty minutes and a dozen conversations before he found her. At that point, he beelined in her direction to find her sitting on a straw bale, talking to Jeb.

  He waved off a distant cousin and sat on the straw beside her.

  “Hey,” she said with a genuine smile.

  “Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk across this yard with this many people?” he asked.

  Trina shook her head. “Wasn’t hard for me . . . Jeb?”

  “Never an issue.”

  Wade reached over and took the beer Trina was holding and tilted it back.

  She smiled but didn’t comment.

  He realized two things at the same time. First, he liked that they had the comfort of sharing a coffee, or a beer, and second . . . the beer was nearly full and kinda warm. Trina had grabbed the beer to blend but had no intention of actually drinking it.

  Somehow, that made him grin even more.

  He scooted closer and didn’t bother handing the beer back.

  “How did that go?” Jeb nodded toward the direction of Jordyn and his mother.

  “Fine . . . it went fine.”

  Trina lowered her chin and didn’t blink.

  Wade coughed up the truth. “She’s having a hard time letting go.”

  “Not surprising,” Jeb offered.

  “Why is that?” Trina asked.

  “She’s a singer wanting a record deal. Wade has a reputation with plenty of influence. There’s a lot of people wanting something out of him.”

  “Like Jerry?”

  Wade turned toward Trina.

  “Sorry,” she retracted.

  He sat up taller, narrowed his attention.

  “He’s my agent, he’s invested.”

  “Of course.”

  Yeah, there was something in her eyes that told him there was more to her statement.

  From the other side of the yard, the amplifier on the small stage let the crowd know that the music was about to begin. Up until that moment, a mix track of popular country music had been playing. Everything except Wade’s music, which was always his request when his mother planned events like this one.

  “Welcome, everybody.” Vicki stepped to the microphone and grabbed the guests’ attention. “I just wanted to give a big thank y’all for joining us. It’s seldom my famous son is home and even more rare to have his attention when he is. Where are you, Wade?”

  “Oh, geez.”

  Trina took her beer back and pushed him off the straw.

  People around them parted so that he could have a direct route to the stage.

  He stood and reached out his hand to Trina.

  She started to shake her head but he didn’t give her a chance. He took her hand and helped her to her feet. “C’mon. They won’t bite.”

  “There you are,” his mother said.

  He started up the stairs to the stage, and Trina dug her heels in. Instead of forcing her up with him, he lifted a finger, asking her to stay close, and let her go. He kissed his mother’s cheek and took the mic. “Howdy.”

  A chorus of similar greetings were shouted back at him. “It sure is nice to be home, did y’all miss me?”

  Familiar faces laughed and a couple of his older friends shouted out no.

  “I heard that, Ike.”

  Two of Wade’s stage crew patted Ike on the back.

  “I have such a blessed life to have the opportunity to go on tour and see so many places in this big, beautiful world, but coming home is always the best. Especially when I know everyone here is going to let me be myself and not try and get something out of me.”

 
“Except the free beer,” someone shouted.

  Lots of hands went up, waving bottles in agreement.

  Wade laughed.

  He caught Trina smiling up from the steps of the stage.

  “I’d like y’all to say hi to my friend Trina.”

  She offered a timid wave to the crowd.

  “She looks a little fancy for you,” someone yelled.

  “Oh, she is. Trust me. I’m the lucky one.”

  Trina’s face turned bright red. Her eyes pleaded with him to stop. His mother wasn’t as subtle. “We should probably let the band play, don’t you think?”

  Wade turned his head toward his mother. “Thank you for coming. Eat, drink, and have a good time.”

  He hopped off the stage and didn’t let anyone stop him until he was back at Trina’s side. His lips moved close to her ear again. “Now everyone will know not to hit on you.”

  “That wasn’t a problem.”

  Behind him, his mother introduced Jordyn and her band. There were several sets of eyes that moved between Jordyn and Wade expectantly. He even saw his mother holding her breath when Jordyn took the mic.

  She smiled sweetly in his direction, her gaze never drifting to Trina.

  “Let’s all welcome Wade home once again, where he belongs, with the people that know and love him.” Jordyn blew him a kiss that would have been innocent enough a year earlier.

  Used to the attention of a crowd, Wade waved and smiled and hoped that was the end of being onstage for a while.

  “C’mon, let’s find you something you actually want to drink and me something cold.”

  Wade kept to his word and stayed by her side as much as he could throughout the party. He laughed at the amount of food she managed to put away, even though he ate twice as much. When she was ready to find a rocking chair, or a bed to let the meal put her into a food coma, Wade pulled her out on the dance floor.

  “Just follow my lead,” he said in her ear. “Two fast steps, two short steps.”

  Trina felt judgmental eyes watching them. “I’m going to embarrass you.”

  “Not possible, little lady.”

  She doubted that.

  One arm wrapped around her waist as the other one took possession of her shoulder.

  Trina started to sweat.

  He shook her arm. “Relax. This is easy.”

  He started to move her on the dance floor.

  Two fast, two slow, two fast, two slow.

  Around them couples were doing the same dance, only they were pushing forward and backward, and men were dipping the women and spinning them around.

  She miscounted, and Wade corrected his step and spun her around.

  “Oh, lord.”

  “See, not hard at all.”

  Trina sucked in the beat of the music and tried not to think.

  “There ya go. You’re a natural.”

  “Yeah, right!”

  He pulled both of her hands up to his shoulders and used his hands to guide her hips.

  The smile on his face lit up the yard. “We just need to get you some boots.” He spun her around.

  She giggled like a schoolgirl. “So I can dress the part?”

  “Yup.” He winked and took one hand away, while keeping the beat, and placed his hat on her head. “Much better.”

  Trina tilted it back. “I might not give this back.”

  He looked at the hat, looked in her eyes. “I might not take it back.”

  The last time she’d worn a man’s anything had been at her high school prom. Every date after that, she’d brought her own sweater to keep warm, and using a man’s jacket hadn’t been necessary. Wade’s hat on her head took her back to a simpler time, when hand holding, dancing, and kissing were the cause of butterflies in her stomach.

  They laughed as he spun her around, and never once did he mention the times she stepped on his feet. He just kept dancing like he was born to it.

  When the music switched pace, he maneuvered them toward the back of the dance floor and paused. His finger grazed the side of her jaw, and she shivered, despite the fact it wasn’t cold.

  “You are so damn beautiful when you smile.”

  She bit her lip.

  “C’mere.” He swept in and placed his lips on hers.

  Trina tilted her head back, holding on to the hat to keep it from sliding to the ground.

  He was smooth, pressed her frame flush against his, from knees to chest. He tasted like hops and barbeque. Just when she thought he would deepen their kiss, he pulled back enough to talk against her lips. “You’re killin’ me.”

  “You started it,” she said with her lips a breath away from his.

  He kissed her again, short, meaningful.

  Wade hummed something under his breath. She wasn’t sure if it was a song or a mating call. Either way, it made her smile. Then he broke away and grasped her hand.

  Next thing she knew they were back on the dance floor.

  The afternoon slowly drifted into dusk. Lights strung out all over the yard kept the party lit up. The band took several breaks, but that didn’t stop the music or the dancing.

  Pies of every shape and flavor were added to the banquet of food, giving Trina another reason to hold her stomach.

  At one point, Ike pulled Wade away, and she took the opportunity to find a restroom and freshen up.

  Vicki found her inside the house on the way up the stairs. “It looks like you’re having a good time,” she said.

  “I am. Your friends and family are very welcoming.”

  Vicki glanced at Wade’s hat. “My son seems to like you quite a bit.”

  Again, Trina wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, coming from her. “You’ve raised a charming son.”

  “Oh, yes, he does know how to charm the ladies. Usually women are crawling all over him at these parties. This time there seems to only be one.”

  They’d kissed twice the whole night, and certainly no one was climbing on anyone. “I can’t imagine he’d invite me here and ignore me to flirt with other women,” Trina told her.

  “He wouldn’t mean to, but sometimes his polite nature won’t let him stop a woman from trying.”

  Trina wasn’t sure what hidden message Vicki was trying to tell her. If she wasn’t high on the endorphins from dancing and Wade’s attention, Trina might have just flat-out asked her. She pointed toward the stairs. “I was going to grab a jacket.”

  “Of course. Go on. We can chat another time.”

  Trina didn’t like the sound of that.

  On the landing up the stairs to her room, Jordyn stood poised against the wall, almost as if she were waiting for someone.

  Her gaze snapped to Trina’s, and she looked behind her before she started talking. “Hello. We haven’t met.”

  “That doesn’t mean we don’t know who each other are,” Trina said without pretense. “I hope this isn’t awkward for you.”

  Jordyn flashed lots of teeth. “For me? Oh, no. I’m fine. I’ve known Wade long enough to know what he’s all about.”

  Again with the hidden messages.

  The woman was looking for a conversation that Trina didn’t want to have. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  Jordyn lifted up her hands. “Don’t let me stop you.”

  You already did.

  Once in her room, Trina took a long, deep breath. Laughter from outside reached the balcony. She walked to the door and watched the party from above. Wade was easy to spot, or maybe her radar had already dialed him in. He was laughing beside a few friends while over a hundred other people stood in small groups, socializing. It surprised her that there weren’t more people vying for his attention. A celebrity of his standing almost always had a crowd trying to interrupt. This was obviously not that group of people.

  She turned away from the open balcony door to use the bathroom before gathering her sweater from the back of a chair. She sat on the edge of her bed and removed her lip gloss from her purse. Two swipes of the tiny brush, and
she tucked it away and placed her bag back on her nightstand. As she did, she knocked her plugged-in cell phone to the floor.

  When she picked it up, the screen turned on and caught her attention. Three messages lit up.

  All of them were from Lori.

  Call me!

  It’s urgent!

  Left a message on your voicemail. I’m flying out now, call Sam.

  A chill ran down Trina’s spine. Lori never cried wolf. The woman was always calm and collected—cold, even. Trina fumbled with her phone until she found Lori’s message. She’d called six hours ago.

  “Trina, it’s Lori. Don’t panic.” Only it sounded like Lori was unnerved. “It’s Avery. She’s okay . . .” Lori cleared her throat. “Call me as soon as you get this message.”

  Trina started to shake.

  She dialed Lori, ended up on her voice mail. Without leaving a message, she called Sam. When she picked up, Trina jumped on her. “What happened?”

  “We’ve been trying to get ahold of you for hours.”

  “What happened, Sam?”

  Sam paused. “Avery was attacked . . .”

  Wade saw Trina cut through the crowd, her eyes scanning everyone. Her smile was gone, as was his hat that he’d placed on her head hours before. She had her purse tossed over her shoulder and she held a sweater like she was leaving.

  Something was wrong.

  “Excuse me.” He stopped the conversation midsentence and hustled to Trina’s side.

  She noticed him several yards out and met him halfway.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Her lip quivered. “I gotta go. I need a ride to the airport.” She was close to tears.

  He placed both hands on her shoulders. “Slow down. What happened?”

  “I need to leave now, Wade. It’s Avery. She’s in the hospital. I’m sorry. Can I borrow your truck? Or Jeb can drive me to the airport. Anything . . .”

  “Take a deep breath, baby.” He grasped her hand and started toward the house.

  Jeb intercepted them at the back door.

  “I’ll explain on the way. Get the car,” Wade told Jeb.

  He left Trina on the driveway long enough to grab his wallet and a coat, and when he returned, she was already in the car, with Jeb at the wheel. Instead of jumping in the front seat, Wade took the back with her.