She stopped in the middle of the hall and put a hand to her head. “Whoa! Wait. What are you talking about?” She hadn’t agreed to get back with Axel. “Why would he make you cancel the show?”

“We can’t go onstage without him!”

“But…he’ll be there. He’s leaving tomorrow, right?” She’d asked Axel if he needed a ride to LA, had offered to drive him. He’d been so congenial today that she’d wanted to show she was willing to bend over backward to be nice, too. But when he’d said that wouldn’t be necessary, she’d assumed he’d hired a limo.

“That’s what he told you?” Rory said.

“Yes.”

“Well, he called me last night and said he wasn’t coming back at all. That his family is falling apart, and he needs to stay and put it back together.”

Oh, shit. Had Axel decided to stay? If so, why hadn’t he told her?

Just after they’d finished unwrapping presents, when she was thanking him for the gifts he’d given her, and he was thanking her for the scrapbook she’d made him, he’d pulled her aside to say how much he’d missed her. That was when she’d cut him off and asked him to save all of that for after Christmas.

Had he been about to tell her that he wasn’t going back?

“Give me a few minutes,” she told Rory and disconnected.

After slipping into her room and shutting the door, she called Axel’s cell.

“Hello?” He sounded groggy, as though she’d dragged him out of a dead sleep.

“Did I wake you?”

“Yeah. The tour kicked my ass to begin with. Jet lag and all the…you know…emotional bullshit we’ve been going through did the rest. I could hardly keep my eyes open when I left tonight.”

She was about to say she’d let him go back to sleep, but caught herself. “This will only take a second. Rory called. He said…” She swallowed hard. “He said you aren’t going back to finish the tour. Is that true?”

There was a brief hesitation before he replied. “Yeah. I was going to tell you, but I didn’t want to get into it today. You were so focused on the kids and the meal and all the festivities. I figured I’d let you know in the morning.”

“But…that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Of course it makes sense. I’m here to fight for my family. I made a mistake before, Harper. I want you back.”

“Axel…”

“What?”

“I’ve already told you—I’m not coming back.”

“You can’t make the decision right now. All you have to go on is how it’s been for the last few years. But I’m willing to change, put you first.”