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“I want you to text me when you get home,” I demand. Sounding a lot like I did when we were teenagers.

She gives me a stiff nod and after I’m sure she’s telling me the truth, I watch her drive off.

Hours later, with almost no conversation directed toward me, we’ve finished cleaning up The Fox Hole from the fight. I’m still wired with energy after everything tonight. Sleep won’t find me until after Remi and I’ve cleared the air.

Breaking off from the club, I head towards her street after looking up her address. It seems like a quiet neighborhood. My phone pings and I see the small cookie-cutter house with the front porch light on.

Maybe she’s happy here.

Maybe after we meet it’ll be the last time we cross paths again.

A sharp stab of pain zaps my chest at the thought, but what could I really offer her? I live, eat, and breathe Dead Road. Just as I’m about to take off towards the clubhouse here in Great Falls, several objects catch my sight and I nearly lay my bike down. At closer inspection, I make out a middle school sign along with a sports team banner next to a boy’s bike and a baseball practice tee.

Devastation hits me like a sledgehammer to my gut.

She has a kid.

By the time my eyes close, the alarm sounds to get up and make breakfast for Ryder before school. My body hates me right now from lack of sleep and the back of my head is sore. I’m so glad that I’ve got the next few days to rest up and relax before working again.

Grabbing my robe off the chair, I make my way down the hall, through the living room and into the kitchen where my favorite person in the world is hunched over the fridge getting everything he wants me to fix him for breakfast. There are eggs, bacon, and bread already sitting on the counter when I watch him swipe the milk and take a quick swig from the carton.

I clear my throat, letting him know I’ve caught him red-handed. “I see we must be short on cups today,” I lightly scold, not actually caring.

“Sorry, Mom,” he mumbles before placing it next to the food then walking over to the cabinet and getting two cups.

“Anything going on today at school?” I ask as I spray the pan with cooking spray before placing it on the stove to heat up.

“Nothing today, just the family game tomorrow.” He sits down on the stool on the opposite side of the counter across from me. “Cole’s still coming, right?”

My thoughts go back to seeing Rhett a few hours ago and I feel like my mind is playing tricks on me. I’ve been waiting for fourteen years for the day to see him and now that it’s happened, I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.

“Mom!” I hear Ryder’s voice and it brings me out of the fog.

“Sorry, kiddo, what’d you ask?”

“I asked if Cole was still coming.”

I soften my expression. “He said he would, buddy.”

“Cool.”

We eat breakfast and then I drop him off at school. He always says Fridays are his favorite day because the weekend is for sports. During the fall we make sure to go to all the home high school football games. It makes me wonder if that is how Rhett would’ve been with his little mini me.

When I pull up into the drive I see a couple of motorcycles in Cole’s driveway. At some point today, I need to make sure he remembers Ryder’s game tomorrow so that I don’t have a depressed kid if he can’t make it. As soon as I press the button to close the garage door and walk through the kitchen, my doorbell rings. I check the time on the clock. It’s eight-thirty. Peeking into the peephole all I see is the center of someone’s chest.

“Who is it?” I call out and reach for one of the many overpriced baseball bats throughout the house.

“Just me, pretty girl.” I hear the deep familiar voice and it calms my nerves for some reason. As I unlock the storm door, I see that there is more than just Rhett. “And a few friends,” he quickly says when he notices my shocked face.

“I need to change real quick. Can you give me five or so minutes?”

Even though I knew this was happening, a part of me still isn’t ready to have all the answers to the questions I’ve had for over a decade.

“Take your time, Remi. I’ll wait right here for you,” he says like a promise, and I have to steel my heart because I have more to lose this time around. He’s wearing his black leather vest with a white tee and his ballcap on backwards. His jeans look worn but fit him in all the right places. He could always fill out a pair of jeans in high school, but adult Rhett is next level hot.

I nod then close the door and spin around. Leaning my head on the back of the door, I take a deep heavy breath. After a few moments I push off and trek to my bedroom. I showered when I got home several hours ago so there isn’t much for me to do other than change into some real clothes. Pulling out some workout shorts and an oversized tee, I brush my wayward hair into a high ponytail, avoiding my goose egg, and call it a day.

Walking back down the hall, I almost expect to see Rhett sitting on the couch not actually waiting outside like I’d asked. It makes me giggle about how impatient he was when we were sixteen, or how following directions weren’t a top priority back then. It seems he’s matured.