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SADIE
“Idon’t think he’ll go on until he talks to you,” Kobie said.
She’d hunted me down by the axe-throwing booth.
“Can it wait until after the ceremony? I’m kind of busy here,” I lied.
“Please, please, please,” she pressed her hands together, “don’t let me be this close to putting together a successful event just to watch it fall apart because our Valor King got stage fright and the one person who could calm him down wouldn’t pitch in.” She raised an eyebrow at me.
“Okay.” She was right. This was a huge step for him, and I should support him if he wanted me there.
Even if it was only going to be fleeting, and I knew he wished things had turned out different. Wished it was Gwen there with him.
I tucked my camera away in my bag and followed Kobie back toward the opposite end of the fairgrounds where the stage and grandstands were located. We were the focus of lots of curious stares and whispers as she hustled me along the main thoroughfare. A couple of people pointed. The attention made me uncomfortable, but then I reminded myself it was nothing compared to what Drew was dealing with today.
I picked up my pace.
When we reached the backstage area, the atmosphere was chilly. People kept giving me disgusted looks or shaking their heads and turning away.
Kobie was too busy to notice. “Thank goodness. He didn’t bail.” She pointed across the staging area to where Drew sat in a folding chair, looking like he wanted to puke. “Go talk to him. He looks kind of green around the gills. I have to find Eloise. She’s been suggesting all week that we add candelabras next to the throne, but I keep telling her she can’t light them because it’s against fire code.” Kobie scampered off.
I pulled in a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, and headed toward him. Don’t be a coward, I told myself. Be there to support him, even if you’re not the person he wishes was here.
One of the two guys standing next to him tapped Drew on the shoulder as I approached. I recognized them from the newspaper article in the diner, but their names escaped me at the moment.
Drew looked up, and it took a minute for him to register that I was approaching. Once he did, he stood, and his expression turned downright murderous.
My feet slowed at the look of cold fury churning in his eyes.
The two guys melted away into the background, giving him some space for whatever was about to go down. Everyone else already kept their distance from him, like he was a wild predator that could strike at any moment.
My fear of rejection finally took a back seat. I wanted to fix whatever had him so riled up. But I’d also never seen him like this, so I approached with caution.
I stopped once I was about two feet away from him. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“What’s going on?” His voice started at a whisper, but then raised to a shout. “What’s going on? That’s rich.”
I stared at him. His clenched fists. The vein throbbing on his forehead. His bulging eyes.
“What has you so upset?” I kept my tone low. I reached out to touch his arm, but he flinched away.
“You,” he roared.
The single word knocked the wind out of me. “Me?”
People around us no longer pretended to be busy as they stopped what they were doing and watched our drama unfold.
He took a step closer. Gnashed his teeth. His voice filled with menace. “How stupid are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You think you can do what you did and come waltzing in here like everything is okay?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You think I’m weak? That I’m so pathetic that I’d just let this fly?”
“What are you talking about?”
