Steam (Homecoming Hearts #4)(69)

Ashby blinked as they whistled and checked behind the sofas and underneath the front desk. When Kadie spotted him, he raised his eyebrows at her. She ran over to him awkwardly in her bulky clerk’s uniform.

“Ashby, Trent,” she gasped. “Have you seen Merlin?”

“Merlin?” Ashby repeated, immediately concerned. “No – I – I mean I left him with Darnell when…” When he first saw that terrible article full of lies about him and Trent.

Kadie clutched her chest. “Darnell thought Skye had him, but she thought Darnell had him.”

“What are you saying?” Trent asked. His gaze was darting around the room.

“Uh,” Kadie said. “Merlin is missing. And your dad is a wreck.”





28





Trent





“Where is he?” Trent demanded, immediately in crisis mode. “Where’s my dad? Who saw Merlin last?”

“Darnell,” Kadie said, wringing her hands. “He’s so upset, poor love. He threw that hideous reporter man out the front door. Then by the time he came back to the bar, Skye was already looking for him.”

“Merlin’s probably just in the kitchen or something,” Ashby said, reaching out to rub her arm. It was only then Trent realized he and Ashby were still holding hands. Well, fuck it. He wasn’t letting go now. He needed his boyfriend’s strength.

If Merlin was missing because of the shithead paparazzi Trent had brought to the resort, he’d never forgive himself.

“He normally turns up by now,” Kadie insisted, shaking her head. “Maeve got us checking all the usual places. I think she’s with your dad now at the bar. He’s worried someone walked off with him or something.”

“Dez didn’t take him?” Trent asked, already marching toward the bar with Ashby right next to him.

Kadie scuttled along beside them. “No, definitely not,” she said. “Darnell put that guy in a cab and told him if he came back Darnell would call the cops.” She sounded proud of him.

Trent glanced at her pushing her short blonde bob back again and again behind her ears as they walked. She was clearly upset. He had no idea Merlin meant so much to her or anyone else. Or that his dad did, for that matter. His heart ached.

“He’s somewhere,” Ashby said resolutely. “He’s small and fat, he won’t have gotten far.”

Trent nodded. If he was honest, he was stunned his dad was upset enough to whip the whole resort into a frenzy. Even guests were joining in whistling for Merlin. As they entered the bar, Trent spotted the little girl with the hazel eyes from the gift store and her family, the grandparents with their bespectacled grandkid, and the three middle-aged cosmo-drinking women, all in their own little search parties.

Trent’s dad was sitting in the deserted restaurant with Maeve the housekeeper rubbing his back. A woman with curly chestnut hair in a beautician’s blouse and Darnell, the bartender, were sitting at the same table. Trent stopped walking when his dad looked up at him.

He was crying.

Trent thought he was going to be the only Charles man to break down today. He’d been wrong.

“Dad,” Trent said. Ashby naturally let his hand go as Trent dashed over to pull his dad in for a hug. To his astonishment, his dad hugged him back, just as fiercely. “Hey, it’s okay, what’s going on?”

“Merlin ran off in all the upset,” his dad grunted.

He was trying his best to keep it together. His voice was reasonably steady, but tears were streaming down his leathery face from under his glasses. He never looked so old as he did in that moment.

“Is it true they’re demolishing the resort?” the beautician asked. Beneath her heavy makeup, she looked very pale.

“One thing at a time,” Trent said firmly. “You guys last saw Merlin here?”

They nodded. Trent felt Ashby come stand beside him as Kadie positioned herself standing between where Darnell and Maeve were sitting. Trent noticed that when his dad sat again, his shoulders hunched in defeat, Maeve began rubbing his back once more.

“I’m so sorry,” Darnell said shaking his head. “I thought Skye had him. It’s my fault. I should have made sure.”

“I should have had him,” Skye, the beautician insisted.

“No, no, it’s no one’s fault,” Kadie said. She went to awkwardly touch Darnell’s arm, then apparently thought the better of it.

Trent scowled. “It’s my fault,” he said. “Dez was here because of me, and Kiefer is punishing the resort to get back at me.”

“Oh bugger them both sideways,” snapped Ashby, quivering with rage. “We’ll deal with those little scumbags after we’ve found our puppy. Maeve, you said you’ve checked his usual hiding places?” The older woman nodded, her eyes wide behind her colorful glasses. “Right. You and Mr. Charles check the ground floor. Knock on every door if you have to. Darnell, you and Kadie double-check with the kitchen staff. He could very well be searching for food. Then you can go through the lobby again. Skye, can you go through the spa and make sure he’s not asleep in a nice warm cupboard of towels?”

The faces around the table were a little taken aback, but they all nodded. Trent’s heart swelled with pride as he turned to Ashby. “Where do you want us to look?”