Page 78 of The Pucking Grump

“We’ll find her, Blake.” Brit turns around and reassures me. “She’s laying low somewhere. She’s not dead.”

Oh, I know. But when I find her, she could very well be in another man’s arms, with no use for me.

I can’t even marshal enough thoughts to describe to myself how badly that terrifies me.

“Maybe we should go to Kevin’s house,” Alex suggests. “He did say Faye was living with him until recently. Maybe she has come back.”

There’s silence in the car. Letting out a deep breath, I raise my head up and nod mutely. I feel pathetic being this vulnerable in front of my sister and best friend, but I’m only just starting to realize something.

I’ll do anything for Faye.

In person, Kevin does not hide the depth of his irritation for me. “Honestly, Blake, even if I knew where she was, I wouldn’t tell you. But I don’t. So, there.”

He’s standing in his doorway, arms crossed. Stepping up, I push past him into his living room, ignoring his cry of protest. Alex and Brit are right on my heels.

“Faye?” I yell out, taking in his lime green chairs and organized kitchen. My gaze finds a door under the stairs, and I go straight for it. Kevin screams again as I yank open the door.

The bedroom is a medium-sized guestroom with a bed that hasn’t been slept in. It’s empty, but in it I find the tiniest ray of hope.

Faye’s scent lingering in the air.

“Where is she?” I storm back to Kevin, resisting the urge to grab him by his shirt.

He looks alarmed. He glances at Alex and Brit, no doubt hoping for an intervention, but they give him nothing. So, he turns back to me. “Look, I really don’t know where she is now. She spent three days here.”

“Alone?” It’s scary to ask, but I do it, anyway. I’ve got to know if she’s found someone else.

Kevin wrinkles his nose. “You think I’m going to have her shacking up here with some random stranger? Yes, alone, you fool. Then she left.”

I’m torn between relief and further frustration. “To where?” It takes everything in me to not scream.

“Don’t know.”

“You said you had creative differences,” I remind him. “What did you mean?”

Kevin lets out a frustrated breath. He stares at me evenly for a moment, before he says, “The first two days for her were rough. Heard her crying into the night on both nights. Really nice work, jackass.”

I ignore the jibe, as I’m clinging to every word he says about her. “Go on,” I spit through gritted teeth.

“But then, on the third day, we spoke. She was brutally honest. Said she fell for you, and she shouldn’t have allowed it of herself because she knew you didn’t believe in love. I told her you were the idiot, not her.”

My heart twists in my chest. I kind of agree with that one. Only a moron would let Faye go, and in that manner.

“Then she started talking about the truth. Said that she’s been living a lie to her fans, even if she came out after her wedding saying she wouldn’t do that anymore. Sounded like she was grateful for the heartbreak, you know. Like it helped her find herself, and that she was going to be brutally honest in her next songs about how much healing she’s got to do, and how she’s not come to find herself yet. That’s where we disagreed. Then she took off to organize a show.”

“A show?” For the first time, Brit sounds more concerned about watching Faye perform than helping me out. “Where?”

“Dunno. She wouldn’t tell me because I would have stopped her. Said it was going to be a little thing, you know. That might keep her father off her back, but otherwise, it’s nuts, and I don’t think it’s right . . .”

“I’ve got her father handled,” I mutter mutely. “You never have to worry about him again.”

Kevin stares in shock. He opens his mouth to ask, but Alex speaks first. “We’ll fill you in later. Do you really have no idea where she could be planning to give the show?”

He shrugs. “No. If I did, I’d stop her. I’m guessing it’s going to be soon, though. Maybe even tonight. She plans on telling the world that your relationship was a fake. All I know is that the venue is going to be small.” He gives me an almost sympathetic glance. “Damn. If I knew you’d be this sorry to see her go, maybe my pep talk would have been a little different.”

I know he’s only doing his job, but damn it, I hate him. I’m starting to hate every single person around me, especially since they are no help in getting Faye back.

I think over what he said, unsure of what to feel. Faye isn’t discarding me for someone else, the way I feared. She’s discarding me to find herself.

---