Page 46 of Second Dance
“By the time we get there, she’ll probably realize what a mistake she’s made,” I said. “And want to go home.”
He blinked and ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t you have classes today?”
“No, I’m done for today. My two other teachers are on the schedule instead.”
“Oh, good. I’m so freaked out I didn’t even think about that until now.” He looked out the window for a second or two, before turning back to me. “I should call Peter and let him know what’s going on.”
For the next few minutes, I listened as Alex explained to Peter what had happened and where he was headed, ending with, “Yeah, I’m with Gillian. She happened to see me at the beach. Okay, sure. I’ll call as soon as I know more. Love you, bud.”
After he hung up, he stared out the front window in silence. I could practically hear him praying.
Bella was really putting him through it. I wanted to be sympathetic, but I hated seeing Alex like this. He was clearly such a good father, so devoted and loving. He’d given up his passion to move them here for a fresh start. To be treated this way was unfair. On the other hand, she was just a child. One in mourning.
I thought back to that first year after I lost my sister. Not only was I taking care of Grace on my own, I was grieving the loss of a sister who had been more of a mother than the one we’d had. For months and months, I’d not been myself. Grief has a way of turning a person inside out, making them think and do things unfathomable to the person they’d been before the loss.
As I turned onto the road that would take us into Cliffside Bay, Alex checked his phone for the hundredth time.
“Oh no,” he whispered. “She’s turned off her phone.”
“No!” I tightened my grip on the wheel.
“Yep, she turned it off.” His voice cracked. “I can no longer see where she is.”
“Are you sure?”
“She probably saw my location and knew I’d followed her.”
My stomach clenched. Bella had just made herself invisible in a town neither of us knew.
“Okay,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. “Cliffside Bay is small. People will know him. We’ll ask around until someone points us in the right direction.”
The expression in his eyes went wild again and he shifted in his seat as if his skin were crawling with bugs. “Do people talk about one of their own?”
I realized I’d been clutching the steering wheel so hard my shoulders were starting to ache. “Yes. If he’s as troublesome as you think, we’ll find someone who’ll talk. Guys like that are infamous in towns like these. We need to go to a place in town where everyone goes. I seem to remember a bar on the main strip. The Oar, I think. I went there with my friends a few years back. Let’s start there.”
“There’s something you don’t know,” Alex said. “I never legally adopted her or Peter. We couldn’t find Darren to get him to sign papers saying he gave up parental rights.”
My stomach plummeted. Alex was a billionaire. A guy like Darren would see a great opportunity to make some quick cash. How would Alex ever get rid of him?
“I know,” Alex said. “It’s bad.”
“It’s not ideal, no.” I glanced over at him, briefly placing my hand on his knee. “But it’s all going to be all right. We’ll fix this.” Somehow.
We drove past a large resort and then into Cliffside Bay’s city center, where quaint, shingled buildings lined each side of the street. To our left, I spotted The Oar. The building had a beachy,wood-and-stone warmth, with French café lights strung across the beams, and baskets of flowers spilling color by the entrance.
“This is it,” I said.
Alex leaned forward, grasping the dashboard. “It’s packed. That’s good, right?”
“For sure.’
There was no street parking, but I remembered there was a lot in the back. Thankfully, I found a spot. I’d barely turned off the engine before Alex was out of the car and storming up the steps of the back patio. It was nearing lunch hour, with people dining under charming red umbrellas. We headed through the back door but, once inside, Alex hesitated. “What do we do?”
I scanned the place. It was as cute as I remembered. Scents of grilled fish, garlic butter, freshly baked bread, and hops would normally have tempted me, but I was too worried to enjoy the atmosphere.
“Let’s talk to the bartender,” I said. “They always know everything.”
“Yeah, okay.”
