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.Finally, Carlee rose and reached for Matthew’s hand, and the group was ready to head backstage.~ ~ ~Backstage, there was much excitement, talk, and laughter as the group joined the band backstage.As she reached Andy, she told him how excited Kyliejo was.“She’s tired, but she loved all of it! She was so happy, Papa.Johanna too! Thank you for all of this!”“And you shoulda seen Hatchet and Tamara!” Matthew said.“They had a blast!”“Hey y’all! I wanted to wait until everyone was here,” Addy shouted, “Have you met my fiancé?”Everyone looked around.“Chester’s here?” Carlee asked.“Chester who?” she said with a wicked laugh.“Chester wasn’t the right one, and I didn’t know that Mr.Right for me was right there all along.Andy looked around but only saw Marco, and as he looked, he saw a big grin creep across his face.“What?” Andy laughed, “Get out!”“No way!” Carlee shouted.“Yes, way,” Marco laughed.“While the boss was away… We’ve shared so many conversations over the years but timing was never right, I guess.When she came in telling me she cut Chester loose, we went out to dinner – one thing led to another, and well, we realized that what we felt was more than friendship.”Everyone was sharing in the joy of the moment, and Andy realized that he’d been distracted.He noticed that Geni hadn’t returned with Carlee and Matthew.“Where’s Geni?” he asked.“She was back here with you,” Matthew said looking around to Dina, and suddenly the room was quiet.“She left backstage a while ago; I thought she went to the suite to join you,” Dina replied.Andy dialed her number, and it went to voicemail.“Where are you? Call me.”He dialed again a minute later.No answer.“I gotta go!” he said abruptly and turned away from the others.“Wait, Papa.I’ll go with you,” Carlee said.Matthew followed, as Andy led them to a waiting car.He made a call and shouted back to the others, “There’s another car arriving in about ten minutes.I gotta go.”There was quiet, wonder, and worry among the others as they walked away.Finally, Kimmy said.“We should give them a few minutes to find out what’s going on before we invade their space.Let’s go to the bar at the hotel and have a drink and give them some time.”~ ~ ~When they reached the flat, no one was there.Andy went to the bedroom and saw the imprint of a bag on the bed.He jerked the drawer to the dresser open and found her passport missing.He whipped the phone out again and dialed her number.Carlee heard him shout, “Where in the hell are you?!” He walked to the living room where Carlee and Matthew waited, yelling, “Her passport is gone!”“What? Why, Papa?” Carlee asked, bewildered.“I have no fucking idea!” He dialed her number once more, and when there was no answer, dialed Thomas.He didn’t care what time it was.“Where’s your mother?” he demanded.“She probably just left the tarmac at Heathrow for home.What in the hell is going on?” Thomas responded in the same tone.“I have no friggin’ clue.She was there and then she wasn’t.Just vanished.No one knew,” Andy replied in short barks.Matthew and Carlee sat on the sofa, anxiously waiting to find out what was going on.“Did you quarrel?” Thomas asked.“No! We didn’t talk.I told you, she was there and then she wasn’t.Came home and her goddamn passport was gone.What in the hell did she say when she called you?”“That she’d land around five and for me to pick her up.That’s all.I didn’t ask; she didn’t sound like she was ready to talk.”~ ~ ~After he hung up, he paced, dragging his hand through his hair, his face reddened, and finally he went to the other room.Carlee heard him on the phone but couldn’t make out what he was saying.“Matthew, what is going on?” she asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.“I don’t know.”Andy exited the room with a bag.“I gotta go.The driver will be here in about ten minutes.“Where are you going?” Carlee asked standing in front of him sobbing.“I’ll call you later.I love you.”“But…”“Carlee, I gotta go.I have to clear my head.I’ll call you,” he said and was out the door.And she knew.He was going to the cottage.~ ~ ~Matthew locked up, and they made the way to their flat as the car arrived with their friends and family.They all went to the flat, and it was quiet for a while, none of them quite knowing what to say.Finally it was Carlee who broke the ice.“Here’s the thing - I don’t want this to be uncomfortable, so let’s just get this over with.This is what I know – Geni is on her way to the U.S.– we’re not sure why.Papa has gone off to clear his head - I suspect the island, but I’m not sure.That’s it.That’s all I know.”Matthew poured wine for everyone and made an attempt to lighten the mood by talking about the concert.~ ~ ~Finally, exhausted, Carlee told everyone she was ready for bed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]