Falling Into Love with You (The Hate-Love Duet #2) - Lauren Rowe Page 0,67

she’s ready to go!”

“I didn’t want to worry you. I knew you were coming today. So, why worry you before then?”

“Because you promised you’d tell me when it was time for me to drop everything and come! You swore to tell me that, Sasha!”

“I’m telling you now. You both have had a busy shooting schedule for the show and I didn’t want you dropping everything for nothing. I knew Mimi was determined to hang on to see you both, in person. I knew that.”

“But I would have had more time with her, Sasha! Fuck the show! I only signed on to do the goddamned show in the first place for Mimi—so she could watch me on her favorite show while lying in bed in the master bedroom of this house.” He’s shaking. Fighting tears. “Are you telling me she won’t even make it to see the first episode?”

Sasha swallows hard. “I doubt she’ll still be here by then.”

Savage makes a garbled sound that breaks my heart. His body quaking, he pulls out his phone, pushes a button, and brings the phone to his ear. His chest heaves. His Adam’s apple bobs. And then, “Nadine Collins, please. This is Adrian Savage. It’s an emergency. Thanks.” He waits. And as he does, Sasha and I look at each other, both of our cheeks wet with tears. Savage inhales sharply before saying, “Hi, Nadine. Thanks for taking my call. Listen, I’ve got a family emergency on my hands. I’m in Chicago with my sick grandma. She’s like a mother to me. The only mother I’ve ever known. And I’ve just been told her time is a whole lot shorter than I realized. Sing Your Heart Out has been her favorite show since the beginning. She’s never missed an episode. So, I’m calling to beg you, literally, beg you, to please send me the first episode, so I can sit down and watch it with her right away. I’ll sign whatever you need and promise whatever you want. But I need this favor from you, Nadine.” His chin trembles as he listens to whatever Nadine is saying on her end of the line. His shoulders soften. His chest lurches. He whispers, “Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Bye.”

Savage hangs up and takes a deep breath. “She’s sending it now.”

“That’s good,” Sasha says. “Mimi will be so happy to share that with you.”

Savage opens his mouth, but whatever he was planning to say gets lodged in his throat. He hangs his head and breathes fitfully for a moment, while I rub his back and look at Sasha through tears.

“Ady, she’s at peace,” Sasha says. “She wants to see you and Laila together. She wants to hear you sing to her. She wants to kiss you and hug you. But then, she’s excited to get to see Jasper and my dad again. So, please, don’t make a tearful plea for her to stick around. This isn’t about you. It’s about her.”

Savage inhales a deep breath and raises his head. “I understand,” he says softly, resolve settling in his jawline. “I’ll make sure Mimi knows I’ll be okay.”

“Good. Thank you.” Sasha rises and extends her hand to her cousin. “Come on, sweetie. Maybe you can carry her around the house, so she can point out all the little nooks and crannies where she and Jasper fell in love.” She looks at me. “Did Adrian tell you this is where Mimi met her husband, Jasper—when Mimi’s mom worked here as a live-in housekeeper?”

“He told me a little bit,” I say. “But no details.”

Sasha says, “Mimi and Jasper were both sixteen when they fell in love here, in this house. She got pregnant with my father, so they ran off together to get married, against the wishes of Jasper’s family. In fact, Jasper’s family disowned him.”

“Oh, no. Did they ever come around and accept Mimi and their baby?”

Sasha shakes her head. “They never did. They acted like Jasper, and his family, were dead to them.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Even after Jasper died, way too young, they didn’t help his young widow with her two young sons—my father and Adrian’s. They pretended Mimi and her two little boys didn’t even exist.”

“That’s terrible.” I look at Savage, suddenly understanding his motivation to purchase this sprawling house for Mimi, during the last weeks of her life. He wanted revenge against Jasper’s family, obviously. He wanted Mimi to get the last laugh against her cruel in-laws. He wanted Mimi to be the mistress of