Hawk and Dove (Rock Star Romance Novel) (18 page)

“Oh, sweetheart,” she whispers, pulling me into a tight
embrace, “I’m so sorry. With everything that’s happening...You must be so
overwhelmed. You poor thing...”

I collapse against her, relief and confusion fighting for
prominence within me. Nothing about this feels right. “What’s going on?” I ask,
“Are you mad at me?”

“No, darling,” she says, smoothing down my hair, “The world
has just gone mad, is all. I wish I knew you were coming. We...We have a
situation on our hands, here.”

“Is everyone OK?” I ask, “Did something happen to Kate?”

“We’re both fine,” she says quickly, taking hold of my
shoulders, “Everything’s going to be OK. It’s just...I wish you weren’t here
for this.”

“For what?” I ask, growing annoyed with her vague answers.

“Ellie?” I hear Kate gasp from beyond the foyer. In a
heartbeat, I’m wrapped up again in my sister’s arms. I can feel her chest
heaving with suppressed sobs, even as she holds me.

“Will one of you tell me what the hell is going on?” I ask,
looking back and forth between them.

“This isn’t fair,” Kate mutters, “You shouldn’t have to deal
with this.”

“We didn’t even want you to know. It’s so...”

“Mom, Kate,” I say, “Please. What do you have to tell me?”

In their silence, I look up in surprise as another figure
emerges from within our home. I watch as a tall figure makes its way to where
we’re standing, clustered around the front door. There’s been a man here this
whole time, listening to our strange and tearful hellos. For a moment, I stare
at him dumbly, wondering who it is that has my family in such a state. But as
he takes a step into light, an eerie, nauseating sense of familiarity comes
over me.

He stands before us with his hands in his front pockets. The
clothing on his back is worn—a thin flannel shirt and corduroy slacks that have
seen better days. His scuffed-up shoes are planted firmly on the floor, as if
he has some divine right to be here among us. The mop of hair on his head is
nearly white, though I’d guess it was blonde at some point. A shaggy beard
obscures most of his features, save his big, prominent eyes. It’s his eyes that
finally usher me to a place of understanding.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he says to me, opening his arms, “Long
time no see.”

“What the hell is he doing here?” I ask, my voice just
barely above a whisper.

I haven’t seen this man in years, hardly once in the latter
half of my life. Part of me had hoped to hear one day that he’d died and
disappeared without a trace. But apparently, that was just wishful thinking.

“Hey,” he says, pouting theatrically, “Is that any way to
greet me after such a long time?”

“I think it’s pretty appropriate, yeah,” I say. I can feel
my fingers balling into fists, itching to slam into that miserable, grinning
face of his.

“I just wanted to stop by an congratulate you on all your
recent success,” he says, smiling obliviously. “I never would have thought my
little girl would be such a sensation!”

“Let’s get one thing perfectly clear,” I say, advancing
toward him, “I am not now, nor have I ever been, your little girl.”

“She’s got my stubborn streak,” the man says to my mother.

My mouth falls open in wordless anger as my father grins
dumbly around the room at the three women he abandoned so long ago. And here,
I’d been thinking that things couldn’t any worse.

Chapter Thirteen

“What do you mean, you’re leaving?” Kelly screeches.

I push past her, my clothes dripping wet. “Did I stutter?” I
growl, stomping back to my bedroom, “I’m going after her.”

“No you’re not,” Kelly says, hurrying after me, “You don’t
even know where’s she’s gone, Casanova. How the hell are you going to follow
her?”

“I’ll figure that out along the way,” I tell her, slamming
the flimsy bedroom door in her face. As fast as I can, I rip the sodden clothes
from my body. The storm is well upon us, now, drenching the entire festival.
For once, I’m glad to have the rock star treatment. I wouldn’t want to be down
in a tent during this downpour. The festivities are sure to be put on hold for
at least the duration of the storm.

I’ll have plenty of time to go and find Ellie, wherever it
is she’s gone.

“Trent,” Kelly says from beyond the door, “Trent, I’m sorry
for acting the way I did. I’m under a lot of pressure right now. I’m not sure
if you know this, but you’re not exactly the easiest person to manage. Keeping
everything in line hasn’t been easy lately, with your priorities wandering. Why
don’t you just open the door, and we can talk about all this. I just want
things to be OK between us.”

“I’m sure you do,” I mutter, pulling on a dry pair of jeans.

My every muscle is tensed with pent-up anger. I’m halfway
worried that I might throw Kelly bodily from the bus if I spend more than three
seconds speaking to her. What she pulled just now was reprehensible, tasteless,
and downright mean. She purposefully tried to drive a wedge between Ellie and
I, and even worse, she may have succeeded.

If that little stunt proves to have ruined any chance of
something between me and Ellie, my turncoat manager is going to have hell to
pay.

The look on Ellie’s face as she stood outside before me will
forever be burned into my memory. The lost, bewildered hurt in her eyes was
almost too much for me to bear. And to think that I’m partially responsible for
that pain? I won’t let it stand. I can’t. I have to go find her.

But the trouble is, I have no idea where she’s gone. With
the head start she has now, she could be well on her way to just about
anywhere. Will she camp out in a Holiday Inn somewhere until the media forgets
about our little photo spread? Or maybe she’s off to find her gloomy music
partner, wherever he’s run off to?

Neither of those scenarios seems right. If I had to guess,
from what I know of Ellie, she’d want to be with people she trusts right now.
She’d want to be home. But I have no idea where “home” is, for her.

Still, I have to do something. I can’t just stay here and
continue along with the festival as if nothing’s happened.

I scramble around the room, trying to locate a clean shirt.
Frustrated, I rip the covers off the bed, hoping that some stray v neck will be
concealed among the sheets. As I toss the linens away, a little dark patch
catches my eye.

Looking closer, I realize what it is. A small leather
wallet, buried underneath the bedclothes. I grab it up and open it eagerly. A
little shout of joy escapes me as I see Ellie’s drivers license, with her home
address printed right before my eyes. That joy is chased away by the
realization that the girl I care about is careening across Kansas without any
money or ID.

All the more reason to hurry.

I finally manage to get myself dressed and burst out of the
room, nearly bowling Kelly over as I go. She’s still chattering at me, but I’ve
long since stopped listening. As I stalk through the main cabin, I hear the
grumbling of my half-sleeping band mates. Kelly’s racket has finally roused them
from their sleep. Rodney, Rodger, and Kenny stumble off their bunks, blinking
at us in the dim light.

“What the hell is all this?” Rodger mumbles, rubbing his
bloodshot eyes, “Do you guys know what time it is?”

“I thought we had a ‘no fighting before noon’ rule?” Kenny
whines, looking imploringly between Kelly and I as though we’re his parents, in
the middle of a fight.

“Sorry guys,” I say, “I need to take off for a little while,
and Kelly’s throwing a shit fit about it.”

“Take off?” Rodney says, taken aback, “What are you talking
about?”

“Something’s happened with Ellie. She left—”

“How is that your problem?” Rodger asks.

I look at the guys, at a loss. I wasn’t expecting to give
them an explanation, although they are entitled to one. Kelly crosses her arms
smugly and waits for me to say something.

“I just need to find her,” I say finally, “My best guess is
that she’s gone home, and—”

“Dude. You can’t leave,” Rodger cuts me off, “Have you
forgotten the fact that we have a show to play, here?”

“Not to mention that the only reason we’re here in the first
place is because you wanted to come,” Rodney adds.

“I don’t understand,” Kenny says, “Are you and that girl,
like, a thing now?”

“None of that is important,” I say, exasperated, “I’ll be
back in time for the show. We’re closing the festival, I have time.”

“And how are you planning to go after her?” Kelly asks
sharply.

She’s got me there. I can’t really go careening through the
rain in the tour bus, can I? “I...Um...” I splutter, “I hadn’t really gotten to
that part of the plan just yet.”

“Of course not,” Kelly scoffs, “That’s because I’ve been
holding your hand through every practical element of your life for years. That
goes for all of you. You all need me, especially you, Trent. I try to give you
some wiggle room when it comes to bullshit antics, but things have gotten out
of control. Look at us! We’re camped out here in the mud, while we could be
playing shows in New York and Paris, ordering room service and trashing hotel
rooms like real rock stars! We’ve gotten seriously off track, here. I think
we’ve all lost sight of our priorities. What we need to do is finish off this
festival, then take a serious look at what we want from this band.”

“You keep saying ‘we’,” I say through gritted teeth, “But I
don’t think you understand, Kelly. You’re not part of any ‘we’. And if we’re
off track as a band, it’s because you’ve been pushing us to sell out from the
very beginning. If there’s a problem here, I assure you that it’s not us. It’s
all you. You’ve been manipulating me from the start, and now you’ve got us all
between your teeth!”

“I doubt that the rest of the band feels that way,” Kelly
huffs, turning toward the guys, “Isn’t that right, gentlemen?”

My friends stare at us, slack-jawed. A heavy, awkward
silence descends upon the cabin.

For the first time, we can all clearly see exactly how
distant we’ve become from each other. When we started out as a band, the four
of us guys were inseparable. Writing music, we were practically of a single
mind. Our first album was something that we were proud of, an equal effort
between the four of us with no meddling from Kelly.

But now? We’ve put out three records in three years, and
none of them have come close to the raw, unique power of our first. Something
has been wrong here for a very long time, and I think I’m starting to realize
what it is.

“I know it’s rude to speak for the group,” I begin, glaring
across the space at our manipulative manager, “But I’d like to float a
suggestion, here.”

“What is it, Trent?” asks Kenny.

“I don’t think there’s a place for Kelly in the structure of
this band anymore,” I continue, “And I move that we let her go, effective
immediately.”

Kelly lets out sharp laugh. “You can’t fire me, Trent,” she
says, “I’m the only reason you have a career in the first place. Let alone the
fact that I have a contract, if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be tending bar in
the valley, playing for tips.”

“That may be true,” I say, “But I think you’ve let personal
feelings cloud your judgment as a professional. I no longer feel that—HEY!”

I duck as Kelly snatches up a glass bottle and lets it fly
at my face. The projectile just misses me and shatters against the wall. She’s
just about to grab another missile when Kenny gets a hold of her and restrains
her with some difficulty. 

“Christ!” Rodney yells, “Get it together, people!”

“I second Trent’s motion,” Rodger puts in, “We need to get
her out of here.”

“Fine!” Kelly screams, elbowing Kenny in the gut. “I’ll go!
I’ll watch from my cushy apartment while you idiots run this entire business
into the ground.”

“It’s not a business,” I snarl, “It’s a band. A band that
you no longer have a hand in ruining.”

“No,” Kelly says, “I’m sure you’ll be able to do that
perfectly well all on your own.”

She turns on her heel and stalks off into the back of the
bus, hopefully to pack her bags. I look around the cabin at the faces of my
three band mates. Everyone is more than a little disoriented.

“So...Now what?” Kenny asks, holding his stomach.

“Now, I need to go,” I tell them, “I know it sounds crazy,
but I can’t let her just disappear. I have to make things right between us.”

“But you’ll be back for our show, right?” Rodger asks
nervously.

“Of course,” I tell him, “No matter what, there’s no way
I’ll miss our show.”

“Well, let me just put this out there,” Rodney says,
crossing his arms, “If you’re not back in time, I’m walking. Things have been
bat shit crazy around here for way too long for me to put up with any more
bullshit. We’re down a manager, our fans are turning on us, and we’re stuck out
here on a hill in the middle of a thunderstorm. If you blow us off, that’s it.”

“I understand,” I tell him, “I do. And it’s not going to
happen. I’ll be here for you guys. I just...have to be there for Ellie first.”

“But, Trent,” Kenny says, “How are you going to go after
her?”

“Ah. Right. It keeps coming back to that...” I say.

“We can’t take the bus,” Rodger says, “It’s not fast
enough.”

“I think you’re forgetting something pretty crucial,” Rodney
says.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“Dude,” he groans, “You’re a rock star. You happen to have
about ten drivers and a private jet. You do the math.”

I run to Rodney and throw my arms around him, bear hug
style. “You’re a genius!” I shout.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“Now get a move on, would you? We’ll get Kelly out of here if you hurry up.”

I whip out my cell and start making frantic calls to my
drivers. I have a good idea of where Ellie’s gone off to, and the means to go
after her. In the darkness of our predicament, a tiny little light of
possibility is flaring. There’s the smallest chance that I can make everything
right, here. All I have to do is ignore the staggering futility of it all and
go full speed ahead.

No matter what the odds happen to be, I have to at least try.
I am a rock star, after all.

Destiny is
my
bitch.