Losing Faith (5 page)

“Please, Mom. I need a pen. He’s my favorite country singer ever,” Savannah pleaded. Her voice screeched in Seth’s ears like nails on a chalkboard. “Please, please, please—”

“Are you kidding me?” Seth snapped. “Your mother said that it’s time to go. You should listen to her!” Seth watched as Savannah’s mother withdrew the pen she had been about to hand him. The look on her face mirrored that of his manager, Adam, the day Seth had told him that he was no longer going to sing.

Crap. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s been a bad day. I shouldn’t take it out on you.” He remembered her phone. “How about a picture instead?”

Savannah’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “That…would…be…AWESOME!” Without waiting for permission, she drew out her phone and tossed it to her mom. She wrapped her arm around Seth and pulled him to the side. Seth snatched up his guitar and moved his backpack along with his feet. “Use the window as the background, Mom.”

Seth forced a smile and waited for the flash.

Savannah snatched the phone back from her mother. “O-M-G! I have to send this to my friends.” Her fingers flew across the touchscreen, reminding Seth of one of those court transcriptionists at a big trial.

Savannah’s mom looked down at her and smiled. She shook Seth’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Storm.” Seth decided he liked her smile a whole lot more than the look of disgust she had given him when he had yelled at Savannah.

“My pleasure.”

“Come on, Savannah. We’ve got to get going. It’s a long drive.”

Seth grabbed his stuff and turned to get back in line. Blood drained from his face, and he felt like punching a wall. The line had nearly doubled in size, and he was now at the very end of it.

*****

“This can’t be happening,” Seth murmured.

A gray haired man in a red sweater standing in front of Seth turned around and said, “Excuse me?”

“Sorry. I was talking to myself. Just one of those days.”

The man offered a friendly smile. “I’ve been there before.” He looked to be in his fifties and reminded Seth of his father-in-law, only friendlier. He had a professional look about him. Seth supposed it was his pressed Dockers and impressive posture.

The rental car line crept forward. The closer Seth got to the counter, the slower it seemed to move.

The older man turned around. “Almost there,” he said, as if feeling Seth’s tension. He stepped up to the counter, leaving only Seth to be helped.

A woman behind the counter said, “Next.”

Seth stepped up to the counter. He pulled out his wallet and removed a credit card and his driver’s license. The clerk clicked away for several seconds before looking up at him with a frown. “Sir, I’m afraid we’re all out of vehicles. The gentleman over there got the last one.” She pointed to the man in line next to Seth.

“You’re kidding me.” Seth couldn’t believe this was happening. “Listen, I can’t be stuck here. I have to get to Fort Wayne, Indiana.”

The clerk’s fingers flew over the keyboard once again. “It looks like we have a few due in tomorrow morning if you want to come back. That’s the best we can do, I’m afraid.”

Seth leaned forward, reading her nametag. “Listen, Susan.” He paused and flashed his best Seth Storm smile. “It is absolutely imperative that I get out of Nashville tonight. I was supposed to have left almost two months ago, and I’ll spare you the details, but it didn’t happen. So tonight was my second chance. But then came the blizzard. A blizzard. In Nashville! Seriously, when’s the last time that’s happened?”

Susan’s eyes blinked in response. “I’m not sure, sir.”

“As I was saying.” He flashed another smile. “It’s actually a matter of life and death that I make it out of this town tonight. So, could you take one last quick look into your computer there,” he gave the top of her monitor a tap, “and see if there’s an SUV or a scooter? Just get me something, okay?”

“I’m sorry. But there isn’t anything we can do tonight. If you’d like to come in tomorrow morning, we’d—”

“You’re not getting it, Susan.” Seth slammed his hand on the counter, causing her to jump and take a step back. “I HAVE to get out of here tonight. There has to be something!” He could feel the older man’s eyes on him now, but he was past caring if he made a scene.

Susan waved over a male attendant. Already clearly aware of the situation, he walked up to Seth. “Sir, you’re going to have to leave now.”

Realizing that his bridge with Enterprise wasn’t just in flames but had actually burnt to the ground, Seth yanked up his backpack, picked up his guitar, and walked past baggage claim and through the sliding doors that led outside. Giant flakes of snow filled the air.

He took a seat on an empty concrete bench and sat with his elbows on his knees. What was he going to do now? A taxi? He’d have to call one, but he doubted anyone would venture out in this weather. The buses probably wouldn’t be running due to the mixture of ice and snow on the ground.

He massaged his forehead as he tried to think of a way out of this town. Out of this storm. He thought of the irony of it all. He had spent years trying to get into Nashville. Now all he wanted was to leave, and it seemed like the city was doing all it could to keep him here.

He gazed up into the blackness of night and watched as the large flakes of snow seemed to come from nothingness. “I know we haven’t exactly been on speaking terms these days, God. You and Lexi were always closer. But I could really use your help now. I can’t do this alone.” He dropped his gaze and watched as snowflakes piled up on his hands. He rubbed the tattoo on the back of his hand.

“Excuse me.” Seth looked up to find the older man standing in front of him once again. “I couldn’t help but hear your conversation back there.” He signaled toward the rental car checkout.

Seth winced. It had definitely not been one of his best moments. “I’m sorry about that. Just having—”

“One of those days,” the man interrupted. “I know. You mentioned that inside. And I’ve been there before.” The man gestured toward the concrete bench. Seth grabbed his backpack and moved to the side to make room for the man. The parking lot’s lights illuminated the man’s blue eyes. They held a wisdom that Seth had seen in his own father, and his smile was kind. “So you’re heading to Fort Wayne?”

Seth arched his brow.

“At least, that’s what I thought I heard you tell the girl behind the counter.”

Seth nodded and let out a sigh. “That was the plan.”

The man leaned back, resting his elbows on the back of the bench. He looked up at the sky. “Some storm we’re having. I didn’t realize Nashville got this much snow.”

“This isn’t a storm.” Seth watched the large flakes make their graceful flight to the ground.

“No?”

Seth shook his head and paused before answering. “This is fate.”

“You know, I’m from Fort Wayne.” The man paused and looked at Seth. “My flight was cancelled, too.”

Seth motioned to the set of keys in his hand. “Looks like you’re driving now.”

The man bounced them in his hand a few times. “That’s right.” He paused. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

Seth shrugged his shoulders. What the heck? It’s not as though this night could get any worse. Besides, his life had been criticized enough times in magazines and tabloids. What was one more person asking him about rehab and throwing it in his face that he had thrown away everything he had spent years building? “Shoot.”

“Why are you going to Fort Wayne? I mean, it seemed pretty urgent to me.”

Seth rubbed his frozen hands together to generate some heat and drew in a deep breath, watching as it turned to smoke when he released it. He massaged his tattoo again. “My girl’s waiting for me there. I’ve got to get her back.”

The man smiled. “Sounds like she means a lot to you.”

Seth remembered the day Faith had scored her first points in basketball. She had squealed, running over to him and leaping into his arms. He had laughed, congratulating her and reminding her that the game wasn’t over. “She’s everything to me. She’s all I’ve got now.”

The man stood up and placed his hand on Seth’s shoulder. “Looks like we better get going then.”

“Excuse me?”

“If we stay here any longer,” the man said, staring down the road that was now covered in white, “they might shut down the highways.”

Seth looked into the man’s kind eyes. “Are you saying that I can go with you?”

“Unless you have some other way of getting there?”

Seth reached for his wallet. “I can’t pay you much.”

“That won’t be necessary.” The man held out his hand. “The name’s Frank. Frank Goodman.”

Seth shook his hand. “Seth Storm. I really appreciate this.”

Frank smiled and tossed him the keys. “You can take the first shift.”

Seth stared down at the shiny keys in his hand. They were more than keys. They were the second chance at life he had hoped for, prayed for. “This is unbelievable.”

“No,” the man said, placing a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “Like you said, it’s fate.”

Chapter 6

Trista

Trista stopped at the glass doors that led out into the snowy night. She turned to find Savannah still staring at her phone with that same cheesy smile she had gotten right after Trista had taken the picture of her daughter with the country singer. “Honey, we’ve got to get going.”

“And where exactly are we going?” Savannah asked in her I’m-smarter-than-you-are-because-I’m-a-teenager tone.

Trista dropped her luggage and looked around the airport. The mood was somber. People milled around her, their shoulders slumped as they decided what to do now that their flights were cancelled. Trista shared their concern but for a different reason. She looked through the glass doors for any sign of Tuck, knowing that he would surely be heading this way to look for her within the next hour or so. She had no idea how long it would take before the tranquilizers wore off. It had been her first time drugging a human. It’s not exactly like she could’ve practiced it.

“Let’s just go home,” Savannah said, still staring at her phone.

“No!” Trista replied, a little louder than she wanted. “Grandma is expecting us.”

“Why now? I thought you guys weren’t getting along again.”

Trista hadn’t exactly left New Haven on good terms sixteen years earlier. She had been pregnant and in love. And seventeen years old. Trista and her mother hadn’t seen eye-to-eye when she told her that she was following Anthony to Nashville. In fact, she had locked Trista in her room while she gave Anthony a piece of her mind. After all, finding out that her daughter was knocked up and
oh, by the way, I’m moving to Nashville with the guy who did it
hadn’t gone over too well. “Things have been…complicated between us.”

“I’ll say they have. Especially when your mom doesn’t give a shit about you or her granddaughter.”

Trista turned to Savannah and grabbed her phone. “Listen to me, little girl. You don’t ever talk that way. And you don’t know half the story when it comes to me and Grandma. I wasn’t exactly a perfect little princess either.”

“Well,” Savannah said, snatching back her phone. “At least now I know where I get all of my faults.”

Trista’s jaw tightened. Her blood pressure rose as she tried hard not to break the electronic distraction in Savannah’s hands. She put a fist on her hip and held out her other hand. “You’ve got five seconds to hand that phone over to me, or it will be the last time you ever see it.”

Savannah continued pushing buttons on the touchscreen.

“Five.”

Nothing.

“Four.”

Nothing.

“Two.”

This time Savannah’s eyes shot up to Trista. “What about three? Can’t you count? Gosh.”

“ONE!”

Savannah glared as she handed Trista the phone. If lasers could shoot from her daughter’s eyes, Trista knew she’d be instantly vaporized. “What is your problem anyway?”

Trista pocketed the phone and took a deep breath. “I just wanted you to focus. We need to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“Look around, Mom. It’s a frickin’ blizzard. We can’t go anywhere. We especially can’t go to Grandma’s right now.” Savannah paused and looked Trista in the eye as if reading her mind. “What’s going on? Did something happen with Tuck?”

Trista turned back to the doors and saw only her reflection in the glass. Where had she gone wrong? What had been the turning point? How had she ended up here? Trapped in a storm in an airport, putting herself and her daughter in this dangerous position. Her head dropped as she fought to keep her tears at bay.

“We’re not just visiting Grandma, are we? Are we coming back?”

Trista turned to Savannah. Her daughter’s long, straight brown hair and olive skin were a mini version of her. Everyone always said how much Savannah looked like her, but all Trista could see were her father’s bright blue eyes. Anthony might not have been the smartest man she’d ever known. But he had been a good one. And a wonderful father. She missed him now. Nine years after his death, and she still missed him. It was his death that had set her on a path of one bad decision after another. Seeing his bright blue eyes staring back at her now reminded her of how badly she’d let him down. “We have to go, honey.”

Savannah’s eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. “No. No. I refuse. I’m not leaving.”

Trista could no longer hold back the tears. She reached out for Savannah, but her daughter pushed her hand away and took off for the glass doors.

“Savannah!” Trista shouted. “Savannah, stop!” She grabbed her suitcase and went running after Savannah. People froze when they saw her coming as if unsure which way to move to get out of her path. “Savannah!” Trista stopped and looked around, but she couldn’t find her. Please don’t let Tuck have gotten to her already. “Savannah!” she yelled again. Her tears froze on her cheeks as she turned from side to side in the darkness, looking for her daughter. A flash of silver caught her eye. Savannah’s coat. Trista wiped the tears from her eyes to get a better look and found her daughter sitting on a curb just a few feet from the doors. She had almost run right past her. “Savannah!” she yelled, but Savannah kept staring down at the ground.