Page 4 of Rock Giant
Spook glanced at the microwave clock.“Odds aren’t in your favour.”
“Fine.I’m going to find a bush.”
“There are Portaloos.”Alle pointed towards a blue plastic box in the middle distance.
“Yeah, no thanks.”
Not even on day one of a festival.
CHAPTER 2
Jodi Castle
Breathe girl, breathe.If you don’t, you’re going to wind up hyperventilating, and then where will you be?Sitting on the damp grass breathing into a paper bag, that’s where.It’s not a look that’s going to impress anybody, especially not your future husband’s people.
Cat carrier tucked under one arm; Jodi Castle stepped off the shuttle bus into the sprawling chaos of the Equinox Festival camping zone.A canvas city of greens and blues with the odd garish eyesore filled the horizon.Behind her, to the right, stood the main festival stage.She’d got a good look at that on the way in from the comfort of her bus seat.It resembled an alien spacecraft, and honestly, if it didn’t sprout legs and tentacles by the end of the weekend, then she’d demand her ticket money back.Not that she’d paid for a ticket.She’d got in for free, which frankly, considering the cost of festival tickets these days, was the only way she could afford to be here.Knowing the right people, that was the key.And boy did she know the right people.
Speaking of; it was past time she tracked them down and presented herself.She’d meant to arrive mid-morning.Only there’d been a slight problem with her train ticket and then a delay.Mysterious leaves on the tracks, or something like that.
The three moggies imprisoned in the oversized cat carrier yowled at her, reminding her to move.“I know, I know,” she said, attempting to soothe them.“We’ll get right on with finding him so that you can stretch your legs.Look, it’s not going to be an issue.We’re going to have a fab time.”There were only five to ten thousand people here.No probs.It wasn’t as if he was going to be milling about with the masses.There’d be a band enclosure somewhere.She just needed to find it.A quick glance at the orientation board told her the area wasn’t conveniently labelled.Not really a surprise.If it was marked, every bugger would be trying to blag their way in for a chat with their favourite artist.
She fired off a text.
Jodi: I’m here.Where are you?
Nash: In a meeting.Can’t talk atm.
Yeah, great, but where are you?
Nash was her saviour in so many ways.Thoughtful.Intelligent.Handsome in exactly the way she liked her men to be, hence smallish and kinda skinny with big eyes and pouty lips, and shaggy ink-black hair that softened all his sharp-edges.Obviously, he had his faults, everybody did.Was singlemindedness a fault?It could be, when it made you unaware of everything else outside of that narrow focus.Out of sight, out of mind.She shrugged; it was just how he was.Luckily, he had her to keep on top of all the other things.
Jodi: Not asking you to meet me, just need a clue where to head…
She left the message in draft a moment, then deleted it, and trooped over to one of the hi-vis wearing officials instead.It was likely what she’d wind up doing anyway, and she didn’t want to make things difficult for Nash.Not now, when things were going so smoothly.
“Hey.Hello.”She rested the cat box by her feet, then raised a hand to shield her eyes from the afternoon sun.“I’m with one of the bands, can you point me in the right direction?”
Somehow, this was always easier when you were arm-in-arm with a musician, rather than flashing security a smile while carrying a rucksack containing all your worldly belongings and simultaneously trying to hush a carrier full of yowling moggies.
“And they’re expecting you?”The officials craggy face folded in disbelief.The guy had to be sixty and didn’t look as if he wanted to be here in a field full of predominantly twenty-somethings, listening to their awful music while they drank too much, and forked over astronomical amounts for some lungfuls of fresh air.
“Should be.”She offered him her brightest smile.Nash had promised her he’d make sure that security was notified, and his band’s manager had been present for the conversation, so fingers crossed.There’d been a few hiccups in the past.
“What did you say your name was?”
“Castle.Jodi.I’m with the Ghost Boys.”
“I’ve seen at least a dozen girls walk past with bands around their wrists that say just that in last five minutes.”
Shit, did that mean he wasn’t going to help her?What the fuck did she do then?
Not panic, that’s what.Didn’t stop her heart doing a wild gallop.
She would just have to find herself a quiet spot and hang until Nash was free to correct the oversight.
It’d get easier over time.It would.The people surrounding the band would get to know her.Would recognise her.Nash would introduce her, or one of the other guys.Finding herself fenced off from them had never been a problem before they signed with Stormland, but she’d been a part of the team then.Not so now.Now she was just their lead singer’s cuddly fiancée.The person who, just like this guy, got looked at and dismissed.
“What does he see in her?”
