AllFreeNovel
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“So Val isn’t on the crew bus?”
She shakes her head.
“But he’s in the city… somewhere?”
She nods.
This is so frustrating.
“Why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“Because they’re still trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“And why won’t Val call me?”
“He can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated, but he loves you. No matter what happens, don’t question that for a second. All of this is for you.”
“It’s hard to believe that when he won’t even talk to me.”
Pain shadows her face as she studies me from the neighboring couch. I want to believe her. Maybe I do, I’m just so tired of people keeping me in the dark, even if it’s “for my own protection.”
My interrogation of Bruce and Steve didn’t go much better. Worse actually. If they knew the truth, they kept it hidden as well. Bruce said Val had been recruited by Lakebend for a “special project”—no way that’s true—and Steve said he never even saw Val after everyone checked out of the hotel. His bunk had already been cleared out when they returned to the bus. That part might be true but is equally unhelpful.
“Paige, please. I’m really scared.”
“He’s okay. I promise.”
“Not just for him. What am I supposed to do without him? Inviting him on this tour wasn’t just because I love him and want him with me. I can’t do our music without him.”
Her sympathetic expression doesn’t help and neither does the defiant look she offers next.
“Well, first of all, you don’t need him. It’s your music too. What you create together requires both of you, and once it’s out there, it also belongs to both of you.”
“Maybe but…”
“Not maybe. I saw it last night in Indianapolis. You own the stage when you’re out there, Larinda. You own the entire audience of thousands and thousands of people. Not a person in that room believed that wasn’t your music.”
Wow. Does she truly think that?
Paige and I have interacted plenty of times since I started working with her brother, but we’ve never been close. We’ve certainly never had a heart-to-heart. She doesn’t come across as the encouraging type, but maybe I was wrong. Someone would’ve had to drag Val out of his mental and spiritual swamps before I came along to do it.
“Things are different on stage,” I say, leaning against the backrest and staring at the ceiling like Val and I always do. “I know who I am and what I’m about up there. I live and breathe the music. The lights, the haze, the energy… the high of the moment. Things make sense when I’m performing.”
“And it’s incredible. So be that person off the stage as well.”
“Right,” I huff out.
She doesn’t respond, and I roll my head to the side to meet her earnest expression.
“Why not?”
“You say it like it’s so simple.”
“Maybe it is.”
