I waited impatiently, walking in circles outside the school, just needing to know she was okay. The play had meant a lot to her and having Dixie bully her away must have been devastating. I needed to find her.
“She’s not responding.”
“Fuck.” I shook my head. “I’m going to go out looking for her.”
“I’ll keep trying her, but you let me know if you find her, all right?” Nic asked.
“Will do.”
I hopped in my rental and sped out of the parking lot. She was probably fine, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to find her, to see her with my own eyes and be sure. Then, she could tell me to fuck off if she wanted to. I just knew I wouldn’t be able to sit still until I made sure she was all right.
Harrison City wasn’t very big, which was nice when it came to searching for a wayward loved one. I checked Tipsy’s first, thinking she might be drinking away her sorrows. Her car wasn’t out front, but I ran in anyway, just in case. No one had seen her.
I tried the diner next with no luck. Then the theater where she used to work. There was nothing out front, so I decided to check around back. Sure enough, there was her piece of shit car, kept alive with prayers and her mechanic brother’s generosity.
I had never been happier to see a rusted-out beater than in that moment.
I parked beside it and went in through the back door of the theater. The smell of dust and old wood wrapped around me. Itwas like I could feel the history of the place. The door led to a hallway that led to the backstage area.
Light from the stage gave barely enough illumination for me to see back there, and I somehow managed not to trip on anything while I made my way toward the light. Then, there she was.
Clara sat at the edge of the stage, a single spotlight shining down on her. She slouched forward with her elbows on her knees, staring out at the empty seats like she could see the ghosts of past audiences.
She looked quite a bit different from the last woman I had seen under the spotlight on a stage. Unlike Dixie, Clara didn’t have a song in her heart anymore, and it was all my fault.
“Clara,” I said gently, not wanting to scare her. “Are you okay?”
CHAPTER 36
CLARA
Inearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden interruption of my brooding session. Had it been anyone’s voice but Luke, I would have screamed. For the briefest flicker of a second, I wanted to jump up and run into his arms, letting his strong embrace shoulder some of my pain.
Then I remembered I couldn’t, and I rememberedwhyI couldn’t, and I got pissed off at him all over again. His stupid lie had stolen that from us.
Luke stood in the shadows to the side of the stage, looking like a spirit with only one foot in my world, begging for me to let him in all the way.
“Go away,” I said, feeling too exhausted to fight. The idea of arguing with him just made me tired and sad.
He remained, unmoving. “I know what happened with Dixie, and I’m so fucking sorry. It’s all my fault.”
I let out a long sigh from the deepest hollows of my chest. “Not everything is about you, Luke. She’s just a shithead. The world is full of them.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, this time I think it reallyisabout me.”
“Why?” I couldn’t summon the energy to ask more than that.
“So, I was out drinking with your brother last night.”
I snorted and didn’t look at him. “I’m glad you two have patched things up.”
“Now that you mention it, we did and he told me to try talking to you again.” Luke shrugged. “But that’s not important right now. We were out in Tipsy’s parking lot, talking things out, and we heard Dixie telling her friend she got this theater shut down so you couldn’t put on yourNutcrackershow.”
I twisted around, no longer feeling like a deflated balloon. “Wait, Dixie was behind that?”
Luke nodded grimly and took a step toward me. “She’s fucking the mayor, first of all.”
“Oh, I know,” I said, almost smiling at the absurdity of it. “Mrs. Fletcher told me. Can you believe it?”
