Chapter Twenty-Eight
One heel broken, the hem of her dress tattered and torn, and her hair hanging down limp and lifeless, Ryane used Nash’s glass walking stick to help drag herself back to the cottage to face everyone with her failure.
Belinda rushed to her first and attempted to brush off her dress. Followed by Bobbie and Bernadette who simply stood there with pity in their eyes.
She waved her assistants away and Patrick came over.
“I take it this isn’t going how you planned.” He shook his head.
Honestly, she didn’t have any tears left, all she had was the people in front of her, and she needed to let them go get some sleep and live their lives while she tried to put hers back together again. Right before she went to give her state of the union address, one of her father’s assistants raised his hand.
“Miss Windsome.” Holding his cell phone up in the air, he came forward. “Your father would like to speak to you.”
She swallowed, smoothed her hair down and prepared herself to hear how disappointed her father was in her yet again. After taking a breath, she took the phone. “Hello, Daddy.”
“Do you know what I walked in to today in my office?” His commanding voice vibrated through her.
“No, Daddy.” She turned her back to her audience.
“Pink file folders.” He told her. “Do you know what that means?”
Rather than answer, she shrugged and waited for him to continue.
“It means you saw it through.” At last, he sounded like her father.
“Thank you, Daddy.” Her voice cracked.
“Are you still searching for Nash Cinder or have you given up?”
With a huff, she glanced around the forest, the trees, off in the distance was the lake. How could she and Knight have shared the connection they had and he just walked away? She needed to at least talk to him in order to move on. “No, Daddy. I love him and he may not love me, but I need for him to say it to my face and I’m going to keep looking."
“That’s my girl,” her father crooned into the phone. “Then you tell those assistants of yours I’m sending over a couple of addresses he may be at. Go to the one in the Hollywood Hills first, and I’ll meet you there to help. We will find this man if I have to pick up Los Angeles personally and shake him out of it.”
“Daddy.” Her heart swelled, and more tears streamed down her face. “One more thing.” She had one chance to say her peace.
“Yes, Princess.”
“I’m not going to just get married because you want it. I’ll get married when it’s right. In the meantime, may I suggest you hire Patrick and groom him? He can do great things even if we are not a couple.” There would be no better person to help with the business than Patrick.
“Princess, I am quite proud of the woman you are turning out to be,” her father said. “I think we can do some grooming with you as well.”
“I’ll see you at the next stop. I love you, Daddy.” She handed the phone back to the assistant. “If you are all still with me, I’m going to keep trying.”
Her gathered team applauded and they all got into their respective cars.
Patrick resumed his position in the driver’s seat and elbowed her. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” Nash’s glass walking stick in her hand she turned on the music and Spectre’s tunes filled the air, another song she knew by heart. How would he ever believe she never truly placed him? No wonder he didn’t believe her.
They drove back to the city and into the Hollywood Hills, and had she had not recognized her father’s limousine and known they were looking for a little private drive, they would have missed the turn off completely.
She and Patrick led the caravan up the small road that would lead her to Upton Mandeville, Spectre’s drummer.
They stopped at a looming iron gate with nothing but a speaker and some video cameras.
Patrick rolled down the window and hit the button.
“Whatever you’re selling be it products, religion or good will, we don’t want any, and we demand you get off this property.” A low male voice spoke to them.
Patrick opened his mouth, but she stopped him. “I’m not selling anything. My name is Ryane Windsome. I’m looking for someone. Is there anyway Mr. Hadaway can help me, please.”
Silence met her, and right before she was ready to get out of the damn car and hop the gate, a different voice spoke.
“All right sugar, I’ll bite, who are you looking for?”
“Please help me, I am looking for Nash Cinder. I have reason to believe he might be here.” She leaned down and watched one of the video cameras tracking her and waved.
“Is that your fiancé sitting next to you?” the man asked.
Fiancé? Why would this man ask that? “No.” Did Nash find out about Patrick’s proposal?
Patrick turned to her and winced.
“I’m not engaged, I’m in love with Knight, I mean Nash. Is he there please?” Instead of facing the speaker, she made her plea right to the camera.
“Sorry sweetness, you missed him, maybe it’s better, maybe it’s not, but if you want to find him, you’ll have to look for a different band member,” the man told her. “I’ll give you five minutes to get off my property. Consider it a gift.”
The speaker clicked off.
Her father came over to her side of the car and she rolled down the window.
“That man was rude.” He shook his head.
“Daddy, he said to go to another band member.” She picked up her tablet computer. There was only one more left.
Her father held up his phone. “Erik Renevant, he lives in a theatre not far from here.”
Patrick typed the address into the navigation system, and once more they were on the road.
As they drove through the streets of Hollywood and closer to her destination, she trembled. The pieces of the night before came together. Nash believed she got engaged, no wonder he left. Maybe, just maybe they did have a future. She had to find him and tell him she loved him. She would do whatever it took to get to him.
Again, the caravan stopped, this time outside a gorgeous renovated art deco theatre.
Her stomach in knots, and praying this was her last stop, she got out of the car and walked to the theatre, where she turned back and held her hand up to stop everyone else before knocking on the door.
After quite a wait, the door shot open and a tall man answered the door, but remained mostly in the shadows. “May I help you?”
She held up Nash’s glass walking stick. “I am looking for the man this belongs to.”
“Petals, I presume.” The man stepped forward, revealing a mask that covered half his face.
“Erik Renevant.” She gasped his name. “You’re married to the singer and you know me.” Nash had to have been here in order for this man to know her name.
“Some would say Christine was married to the singer.” He chuckled.
“Listen.” She stepped closer. “I’m not engaged, I’m in love with Nash, please tell me where he is.”
“I believe he once said if you ever needed him you would know where to find him.” Erik told her.
“I was there, he wasn’t.” Her chest constricted. “I’m not going back.”
Erik shrugged. “The choice is yours.”
A baby began crying in the background.
“I have to go, but you know everything.” He bowed to her and closed the door.
She hugged the walking stick. She had to give Nash once last chance to keep his promise. It would be the last time.