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Jay chuckled. “That would be the shading. Hang in there. You’re doin’ great.”
A few minutes later, a familiar hand slid across the small of Nora’s back, his fingers coming to a stop once they were curled around her side. Nora turned her head and smiled up at her man just in time for him to descend for a kiss.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey, yourself. I know someone who will be happy to see you. Evie, look…”
Nora’s voice trailed off as she shifted her gaze down at the spot next to her only to find that Evie wasn’t there. A slight frown tugged at her brow as she twisted out of Lawson’s hold and looked all around where she stood.
“Evie? Evie, baby, where’d you go?”
Jay’s tattoo gun stopped as she spoke. “She wasjusthere.”
“Evie!” Nora’s voice was louder now. “Evie!”
“Hey, don’t panic. She can’t have gone far,” insisted Lawson, gently squeezing the back of her neck.
“Uh, yeah. Well, she was askin’ where you were. She thought she saw you. I told her to stay next to me, but maybe she wandered off lookin’ for you anyway.”
“Okay. Let’s split up. I’ll go right, you go left.”
“I’ll help,” piped in Steele. “You good?” he asked Mitzi, letting go of her hand.
“Of course. Go find my goddaughter.”
They split up, each of them calling Evie’s name as they went. The further away from Jay’s booth Nora traveled, the higher her heart rate climbed. It didn’t make sense. Evie was not prone to running off on her own or disobeying Nora’s direction. One second, she was right by Nora’s side—then, suddenly, she wasn’t.
“Evelyn Belle!” Nora called, panic crawling from the pit of her stomach and into the tone of her voice.
Upon reaching the end of the row of booths, she pulled her phone from her pocket with shaking hands and dialed Lawson. He picked up almost instantly.
“I can’t find her,” she blurted out before he could say a word. “Is she with you?”
“No. I haven’t found her, either. Listen—head back to Jay’s booth. I’m gonna make a call.”
He hung up before she could speak an affirmation, but she barely noticed. She quickly made her way through the throngs of people, all the while keeping her gaze low in hopes of spotting her daughter’s honey-brown hair. By the time she made it back to where she’d started, her panic had morphed into fear.
“Hey, no Evie?” asked Mitzi, worry wrinkling her brow.
“Oh my god, what is happening? Where’s my baby?”
“Shit,” muttered Jay.
She set aside her gun and made quick work of covering Mitzi’s half-finished tattoo.
“We’re gonna find her. Just, try to stay calm, okay?” insisted Mitzi, reaching for Nora’s hand.
“We’ll help. We’re all here to help,” said Jay, discarding her gloves as Steele approached—no Evie in sight.
“Nothing?” muttered Mitzi, sliding off the chair. He shook his head.
“I’m gonna go check the bathroom. Has anyone been there?”
“If she had to go to the bathroom, she’d tell me,” insisted Nora.
“Right, well, I’m gonna check anyway.” Jay gave Nora’s shoulder a squeeze then disappeared into the crowd.
“How about you stay here, in case she comes back. Atticus and I will keep lookin’,” suggested Mitzi.
