by Kylie Walker
“She doesn’t want you to know,” Chloe said. Her huge green eyes looked sad.
Trevor’s heart plummeted. “This is serious. I need to talk to her. Have you seen social media today?”
“I haven’t been online since this morning, remarkably. There was to much other stuff going on.” She tilted her head, her lips going firm. “So you really caused Kyle’s accident, huh?”
His nostrils flared. He really didn’t have time for this. “Not on purpose. Never on purpose. I was trying to stop the hazing.”
“Right.” Chloe adjusted her purse strap. “Campbell said he swerved to miss a deer. A deer. In the city limits of Chicago.”
“Yeah.”
“Cops told Emelia it was probably a stress reaction. Since he had no idea at the time what caused him to skid out of control, his brain just made something up. You know what else the investigator said?”
Trevor breathed hard. “What’s that?”
She cocked her head and gave a steady glance. “That if the car had gone the other way, Kyle and Campbell would have hit one of the oil tanks across the street, caused an explosion and killed them both. I guess if you need to find some good in this it’s that what you did saved Campbell Greene.”
He was going to pretend she hadn’t told him that. He didn’t have time to ponder it right now. “Where’d she go, Chloe?”
“To Chicago.”
“Why?”
Chloe looked apologetic. “I just rode an Uber with her to the airport. She doesn’t want to be here anymore. She doesn’t want to be with you.”
Trevor wanted to smash something. Regret was so deep. So strong. “Did she post all over social media that we canceled our show tonight? Was she trying to screw us over?”
Chloe made a disbelieving face. “No way! I was with her all morning, Trevor. We worked on stuff for a client. We didn’t touch Infinity Prism pages yet. I’m going to do that, actually now that I’m back.”
Trevor pondered this. If she wasn’t behind this scheduling problem, then who was? He didn’t want to accuse her falsely, to make things worse between them.
“So...she wasn’t going for revenge?” He eyed her with hope.
Chloe fervently shook her head. “Think about what you’re saying. This is Emelia, for crying out loud. Do you really think she’d do that to you?”
Trevor felt a gut-stabbing pang of guilt. How could he really assume that Emelia had been behind such a terrible scheme? He owed her more than one apology now.
His phone started to ring. It was Roman. Probably to scream at him to get his ass back to the venue for the show. Trevor glanced down at himself. He was still in regular clothes. In no way ready to perform. For all he knew, only half the stadium would fill because the ticket holders thought they were canceled.
He answered on the third ring. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
“One of our fans caught a security guard outside and asked if we knew our pages had been hacked. Someone hacked us from Singapore.”
It wasn’t Emelia. He felt like he took the first real breath in hours. Composing himself, Trevor hurried outside. “We need to post—”
“Already done. Check your phone. Thank God this fan knows what she’s doing. I’ve got her parked right here, letting her do her thing. Hopefully, the damage won’t be too severe.”
Trevor slipped into his car, told the driver to hurry to the venue. He tried to clear his mind. He had to clear his mind. But all he could think about was Emelia heading to Chicago. Alone. It took everything inside him not to speed to the airport and catch the next flight there.
The show must go on, and Trevor was going to make sure that happened, come hell or high water. Even if he felt like he was drowning.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Emelia tried not to have a lead foot behind the wheel, as she normally did when she was angry. The last thing she needed was to get pulled over for speeding. She took a deep breath and clutched the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white and she got a cramp in her hand.
Being out on the open road was somewhat therapeutic for her, but it wasn’t enough to pacify the angry swells rolling through her belly. There was little traffic, and dusk was setting in. She could go faster.
The little robotic GPS voice chimed through the speakers, connected in the car through her phone via Bluetooth. She needed to make a right turn, onto the exit ramp. She was close to her destination, but she was nowhere close to locating the answers.
She pushed her blinker and came to a stop at the four-way intersection. She glanced around, but nothing seemed familiar. She was on the edges of the rural outskirts of Chicago. The drive had only been about an hour and a half long, but she still didn’t feel like she’d gotten far enough away to escape the hauntings of her past.
The wounds Trevor caused were still fresh. Had she overreacted by hastily rushing away without even discussing it more with him? She’d been so suffocated by his admission that she couldn’t bring herself to face it.
She was still the marketing director for the band after all. Sure, there was some harbored guilt about just going AWAL and scurrying away without a word like a thief in the night. She wouldn’t disappear forever, but she needed to digest all the torment wreaking havoc on her mind.
She’d left Chloe in charge, a comfort that allowed Emelia to feel less guilty about leaving.
She made a left turn at the four-way stop and slowed her speed. Her mom’s friend had a lake house out here, a sprawling, comfortable place that had housed many gatherings when she was a kid. Her cheeks heated when she remembered how she’d listened to Trevor play here once, hired by the family to do a private show for their family reunion.
If she could just find some kind of connection at that location, then maybe everything swimming in her head would begin to make sense. She had slowed down to almost a crawl. She leaned over the steering wheel to really hunt out the window.
Emelia was glancing around, attempting to locate any signs that would lead her to a direct path on the lake. The problem with the GPS navigation was, she didn’t have a specific address to punch into its receiver. She could only rely on the general direction of the lake itself. It had been years since she’d been out here.
After a few minutes of slow driving, she spotted a sign that read Lake Access and Boat Ramp Ahead, 2 miles.
Emelia breathed a sigh of relief. That was the exact kind of sign from the universe that she had been searching for. She followed the sign and came to a parking lot. She shifted the gear into park and leaned back against the headrest.
The moon was bright tonight a huge, milky stone looking circle in the sea of darkness swelling in the sky. Thankfully, it illuminated enough light to radiate off the water, projecting a tranquil and peaceful shimmer on the lake.
Pole lights lined the driveway, glowing yellow. Insects swarmed overhead the lamps, attracted to the light and the warmth. She drove up to the house and sat there for a while.
Finally, Emelia stepped out of the car and locked it behind her. Her headlights blinked in response and the little horn made a beeping sound. The gravel crunched under her Nike tennis shoes. The world was silent. The only sound around her were the crickets and cicada’s, chirping wildly in the trees surrounding the lake.
She was alone with her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Heaving an enormous sigh, she walked to the edge of the boat ramp. There was a dock there, and several boats anchored in.
The peaceful sound of the water lapping against the wooden dock lulled her into a much more serene state of mind than she’d been in before arrival. This kind of tranquil setting was exactly the kind of thing that she had been hoping to capture. She’d made the right decision to make the journey.
Emelia had been independent nearly her entire life. She’d acquired a job at her father’s best friend’s general store at the age of fifteen. She’d been working her ass off ever since. Emelia didn’t take hand-outs from anyone, nor did she expect to receive any free rides in the proces
s of life.
She took pride in her accomplishments and tried to learn from her failures. She was always the type of girl to have the capabilities of picking herself back up and dusting the dirt off her knees and hands.
She was strong because she had to be. She could pick up the pieces when her life broke, and she could throw away the things that shattered her heart. She knew exactly how to move on. She stared at the shimmering water as if all the answers of the universe were underneath the surface.
That was impossible, of course, she knew that. A gentle breeze rolled softly through her hair and billowed loose strands around her shoulders, tickling her neck. She plucked her shoes from her feet and slipped them into the water.
The liquid was cool and refreshing against her skin. She lapped them there, swirling her feet into rhythmic circles. She stared at her feet under the water. She was disgruntled by the fact that she’d allowed two men to mess with her head in the way that they already had.
She wouldn’t permit their mistakes from taking roots and becoming anything more than seeds inside of her mind. She couldn’t bury herself in the stress of a relationship.
Then again, every time she closed her eyes she saw Trevor. His hauntingly handsome eyes burrowed inside of her mind. His laughter and his witty charm made her spine tingle with delight.
She wrapped her arms around herself squeezing delicately. She imagined that it was Trevor’s arms instead of her own. He swallowed her with protection that she craved. She breathed in deep. She smelled his cologne, and it awakened her hungry senses. She was filled with desire for him no matter how angry she was at him.
Emelia knew that Trevor cared about her. Even when he tried to talk to her about the ghosts of his past, she could see the remorse etched across his face and the sorrow lingering in his eyes. Guilt and shame already plagued him, undoubtedly. Was she making it worse by fleeing the confrontation instead of discussing it like a normal adult?
The longer she sat there, the more she began to doubt her hasty actions. Should she just give Trevor another chance? He seemed to be more level-headed than most of the celebrities she had met. He didn’t have the same interest in partying all the time. He seemed to care only about her happiness.
He’d done her a favor by telling her the truth. She didn’t want to be stuck in a dead-end relationship with someone who didn’t care about her. She’d given Grant chance after chance after they’d endured explosive fight after fight. She and Grant were like oil and water, but she continued to date him.
Trevor had made mistakes of his past, and now he was repaying them, but she believed him when he said he would never do anything intentionally to hurt her. She was still torn, and no closer to figuring out what she wanted to do. She could either choose with her head or her heart.
Both just needed time to heal, and then she could decide.
Chapter Twenty Eight
It was their last show.
Milwaukee, baby. So close to home. And to Emelia.
She still wasn’t answering his calls or his texts. Where ever she was, she didn’t want to hear from him. That was clear. He was slowly dying inside, gutted from the longing to make things right.
If she were still in Chicago, would she come tonight, to their last show?
He’d given her space, time to think. It wasn’t much, but the longer he waited, the more she may decide he wasn’t worth the trouble. If she was going to walk away from him, he wanted to at least be able to tell her that he loved her. That he understood. That he’d fight for her but that he’d let her go if that’s what she really wanted. Emelia was the only one he wanted, and he wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers.
He had to set things right with her. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate, and his performance would suffer tonight if she wasn’t back by his side, cheering for him in the audience.
Trevor knocked on Roman’s hotel room door. He was sweating with anxious energy. He ran a hand through his hair. His lips were dry. No one on earth could talk him out of his plan.
Roman opened the door and stared at Trevor expectantly. “Hey man,” Roman nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “What are you doing here so early in the morning?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Trevor admitted. He didn’t have time for small talk. “I’m going to find Emelia.”
Roman’s brow furrowed with puzzlement. “Right now?” He glanced down the hallway. “We have a show tonight.”
“I’m aware.” Trevor rolled his eyes.
“But Chloe said Emelia was in Chicago...” Roman trailed off.
“It’s only a couple hours from here. I’ll be there and back before the show.”
Roman scoffed. “You’re insane. What if you don’t make it back?”
“Then you’ll have to sing.” Trevor scowled. “She means the world to me. I have to see her.”
“Jesus Christ, Trevor, you’re going to put me in an early grave.”
Trevor smiled and slapped his best friend on the shoulder. “Thanks for understanding, man.”
“Just so you know, I’m not agreeing to this!” Roman called out, but Trevor was already hustling down the hallway, and within seconds, had disappeared.
His phone buzzed as he slipped into the Escalade, alone. No driver. He let it go to voicemail. A few seconds later, a text message popped up from Asher.
We can’t hold a show tonight without our lead singer.
Great. So Roman had gotten to the rest of the band. Another text came through a minute later — this time, from Lucas.
Don’t do it, man. Girls aren’t worth the trouble.
Trevor sighed and leaned back in his seat. He was fully aware of his responsibilities and obligations. He didn’t need his fellow band members to remind him of that fact. Finding Emelia and making things right with her was just something he had to do.
It was as if some unstoppable force from the universe was pulling him like a magnet. He was a fish, swimming against the current, on his way to a brighter future that included Emelia. It was true that the show had to go on, but he couldn’t imagine how rocky it would be without her.
He sped onto the interstate and put the pedal down. He’d go as fast as he could, each mile bringing him closer to her. He dialed, then put his phone on speaker. Chloe picked up on the second ring.
“Look, I’m on the interstate and fully prepared to miss my own concert tonight for the chance to talk to her. Where is she? Where’s Emelia?”
“You’re going to miss your last show?”
“If I have to. Yes. I’ll keep looking for her. It might go a little better if you just tell me where she is.”
“She doesn’t want you to know.”
Prying information from Chloe might only make things worse. He didn’t want to throw a wrench in the spinning wheel of their future, and he wanted to make it up to her. He wanted to prove to her how much he cared about her and her happiness.
The tour was wrapping up. They were coming full circle, ending it close to where they began. It didn’t seem complete without her. All he wanted to do was talk to her and try his best to convince her that they belonged together.
Trevor cleared his throat, but he couldn’t hold back emotion welling there.
“Please, Chloe.”
She let out a breath. “Fine. She’s going to kill me, but fine. I’ll text you the address.” With that, she hung up.
His phone was already going nuts with texts from his bandmates, but he ignored them. Only when he saw Chloe’s number pop up from the corner of his eye did he pay attention. At a stoplight, he opened the message and popped the address into his GPS.
He prayed she was still there.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Trevor tried calling Emelia’s cell phone, but it cut straight to voice mail. He took a deep breath and glanced out the window. Everything was going to work out in the end. He had a good feeling about this.
If Emelia was there when he got there, that had to be a little bit of fate, right? The
farther he got out of the city, the more hopeful he became that something good would come from this. That he’d be leaving with Emelia in the passenger seat next to him where he wanted her for the rest of their lives.
“Right here,” he said to himself. The GPS spotted a little black and white checkered flag to show he’d arrived. Except that the location was the side of a road with nothing around but trees. He drove forward a bit more. A driveway appeared out of the blue on his left. It was the only sign of civilization on the road, so he’d take his chances. Pulling down the drive, he fought to keep his breathing steady.
A white-washed house perched by the lake, it’s sprawling front porch like something from a movie. It was surrounded by willow trees, the lawn perfectly manicured. A black car sat parked in the drive. He didn’t recognize it, but she may have gotten a rental. Pulling in beside it, he parked and nearly leaped from his SUV.
He raced up the porch, knocked on the door.
Nothing. No footfalls, no sign of life. He knocked again and got the same result.
Damn it. This wasn’t the place! Chloe must have gotten the address wrong. Trotting down the steps, he wandered out back. The yard sloped into a gentle hill that curved down to the lakeshore.
A long, silver dock protruded into the water. His chest squeezed. There she was, Emelia. She had her back turned to him, her hair blowing softly in the breeze. She was sitting on the edge as a few boats drifted past. Light mist billowed up from the water as the morning glow highlighted her like an angel.
Trevor slowly approached her. He didn’t want to startle her or send her diving into the water. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and there was a satisfying breeze drifting off the water that vaporized the humidity in the air.
“Emelia?” Trevor whispered.
Emelia spun around in shock. She stood up. Her bare feet left adorable water prints as she curiously took a step towards him. Her cheeks were rosy, her lips full and luscious. She had been in a daze, Trevor could tell by the muddled and surprised look on her face.