Page 50 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

Timing was crucial when an item turned up missing. But what if the press came? Started flashing new pictures and asking questions about her baby? Carly would lose it for sure. Lash out at them like a crazy lady.

With a defeated sigh, Carly gave the woman a nod, pressed her hand against her chest, and set her eyes on the beige, matted floor once more. “They didn’t find it?” she asked in a whisper.

“No, ma’am, I’m sorry.”

“Can you please call in to the airport lost and found and have them be on the lookout? I don’t…I lost my baby. She died. It’s the only thing I have left of her.” Carly’s hands went to her face as she fought back the tears.

The woman rested a reassuring hand on her back. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’ll let them know. Now follow me. I’ll lead you to the bathroom so you can get yourself together, okay?”

“Thank you.” There was the gap she’d hopped over before. This time a gentleman took her elbow and helped her over. “There you are, hon. Welcome back.”

“Clear the aisle, please,” the woman’s voice came. “I need to get this gal to the back of the plane.”

Carly kept her eyes, now blurred with welling tears, on the sight of those high heels as they moved down the aisle. “Here you go. Take your time.”

She couldn’t get away from the other passengers fast enough. What must they be thinking about her outburst? But Carly couldn’t spare a thought to care anymore. Instead, she collapsed against the tiny bathroom door and let the emotion have its way with her. She’d managed to hold it back while driving from the hotel to the airport, having put up a shield of sorts. But that was gone now.

There in the quiet spot, Carly recalled what it felt like to have Gage wrap his strong arms around her. Next, she imagined holding sweet little Ava, so warm and close.

Would she ever have moments like those again? The uncertainty in that question made her wince. The truth was, after everything she’d lost today, Carly’s arms had never felt so empty.

CHAPTER 21

Gage thumped the steering wheel as he stared at the elevator doors. Just where in the world had Carly gone? His call to Mitchelle Tims had been promising. Already, the two had a plan underway to clear Carly’s name and seek a public apology. Not only that, he was pretty certain they could get the press to cooperate in leaving Carly alone while he was in Maui.

He was dying to let Carly in on his plan.

Hopefullyshe hasn’t seen the article yet.Only somehow he knew that she had. Headlights crawled slowly over the blacktop ahead, announcing the oncoming of another guest. Or more likely, someone from the valet service. But what was this? Something familiar glistened beneath the lights. A quarter-sized pendant—like the one Carly wore.

Gage gave the horn a honk, then flung open his door and rushed into the car’s path while waving his arms. “Stop, please.”

The driver laid on the horn as it screeched to a stop. “What are you doing?” came a grumpy-sounding old man. Not who Gage expected to be driving a BMW, but it explained why he’d been driving so slowly.

Gage squinted against the brightness. “I’m sorry. I dropped something important and you’re about to run over it. Can you just pull the parking brake for a moment and I’ll pick it up?”

“My foot’s on the brake, young man. That should be plenty good.”

Gage leaned over, inspecting the black tar in the headlight’s beam, but came up empty. He pulled out his phone and used the bright screen as a flashlight.

Moving slowly closer to the front passenger wheel, he shined the light around the front, then the back of the wheel. Not there.

In the same slow and thorough surveillance, Gage inspected the passenger rear, the driver’s rear tire, and walked toward the final one up front. And there it was, a millimeter away from getting flattened.

Gage reached for it, praying his hand wouldn’t get squished, and sighed as he pulled the pendant away from the tight spot. The leather string was stuck, however, beneath the tire. Gage sighed.

“It’s stuck. If you could just roll on forward, slowly, I’ll keep a grip on it and make sure it’s free.”

The man shoved his chin over the window in effort to see it. “I can’t see what you’re talking about, but whatever you say.”

The car rolled forward, and soon the string was free. Gage uttered a word of thanks to the good Lord, then gave the man a wave, holding the pendant up so he could see. “Got it.”

“Fine then.” The man drove away, leaving Gage in the parking garage, Carly’s pendant firm in his grasp. Now he just had to find Carly.

Yet as Gage strode back to his car, a thought occurred to him. A memory, actually. Of Carly grasping the pendant just last night, between her finger and thumb as she always did. It stood out to him because he’d come to recognize some of her triggers. Last night’s was a commercial for diapers that had come on theTV. The moment he’d thought to look over, Carly was already mindlessly reaching for it, stroking it to give her comfort.

“She must be distraught,” Gage mumbled as he settled behind the wheel. But the memory was an answer to a question in his head. What if Carly had already left?

It was obvious she had, seeing that she’d been wearing it inside her hotel suite just last night. If Carly caught wind of the photo leak, she’d most likely do that very thing. But where would she go? To the Royal Palm, he hoped. But wouldn’t she have taken her phone?