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Those millions of people saw that, the world saw that, and I was left in the aftermath of the ashes. A cello player who couldn’t play cello.
My hands shook for some reason like they had that day, and I put them together. Closing my eyes, I physically tried to keep my heart from racing, but of course, I couldn’t. I kept remembering that night and…
“Well, you’re wonderfully talented, and I hope the world gets to hear that again soon. You too. I hope you get to hear that.”
I opened my eyes after what the woman said. She was up on her feet now. Her sparkling gown touched the dingy Jax’s Burgers floor, and she really was beautifully stunning. Her face also reminded me of someone’s. Like I knew her too in some way, but I didn’t of course.
Her bright eyes managed to warm even more when I didn’t say anything. “I really hope you get to hear it. You’re the most important ear, after all.”
No one had ever said that to me before. That I was the most important ear, but she was right. I suppose I forgot.
My smile was completely genuine in front of this woman. “Thank you.”
I was thankful she said that, grateful. I did forget sometimes. That what I thought, what I felt mattered.
The woman nodded, and I noticed she didn’t have any food on the table, not empty wrappings or anything like that. Even still, she turned back as if she was going to grab something from the table, but when she spotted it empty, her expression changed. She blinked.
“Well, that’s unusual,” she said, then placed a hand on her head. “Very unusual.”
“What is?”
“I…” She stopped, then backed up into the table a bit. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t remember why I’m here. I came for my son. I…” She touched her dark hair, shaking her head.
I got up. “Are you okay, ma’am?” She didn’t look okay. She looked kind of panicked. “Can I help you?”
“Oh, no, I…” she started, but then her expression shifted again. Her face screwed up. Like she was confused, and when she sat down, I came over.
“Let me help you, ma’am,” I said, then noticed her purse on her arm. I pointed at it. “Do you have a cell phone? We can call someone for you.”
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Thatcher
My sister was crying, panicking.
I didn’t blame her.
“Thatcher, what are we going to do? If we can’t find her, I…”
Bow hiccupped with her tears, damn near hyperventilating, and I got her shoulder. My sister and I looked a lot alike in some ways. We had similar features since my father’s were so strong, as well as his dark hair, but other than that, we were yin and yang. She was sweet whereas I was an asshole, but I had my moments when my sister was fucking crying. I had her look at me. “Breathe, okay? We’re going to find her. Everything is going to be okay.”
I could be lying to my sister, but there were no other options as far as I was concerned. I entertained no others because shit would be okay.
I’d make it okay.
I’d been hesitant to call my parents when my sister told me what had happened this afternoon. My mom had finally gotten a day off, a spa day, and my dad was working. They were finally getting to not think about stuff at home because my sister and I were in town to take over. Bow had gotten to our parents’ home first since she left before me, and I’d arrived only mere moments from Pembroke University before I came across my sister, panicked and ripping through the house. She told me she’d only gone to the kitchen for a few moments, seconds.
But sometimes that was all it took.
My chest locking, I resisted my own panic. I resisted the fear that came with the not knowing that something truly could be the worst fucking thing ever, but you couldn’t freak because you had to be there for someone else. Bow had looked on the cusp of vomiting when I’d come home. If fact, she wasn’t able to talk she was crying so much.
“Thatcher...” Bow gasped, pointing behind me. It’d been the most focused she’d been since she told me the news that had made me nearly throw up. I thought there couldn’t be anything worse than losing one of the most important people in your life in every way but the physical. I thought there could be nothing more terrible than the actual death of someone, actual loss. But my gram going missing…
That cut just as harsh, and even though Bow and I scoured the neighborhood, we couldn’t find her. We’d searched for almost an hour, and I was about to call my parents.
But it turned out we didn’t have to.
