Page 106 of Heartstring

33

TYLER

NOW

Seymour hugs me from behind.“I’m so sorry.”

“When are you going to stop saying that?” I say, staring out at the fresh layer of snow that fell overnight.

“When you stop looking so sad. I know I put that sadness on your face, and I hate myself for it.”

“It’s okay, Seymour. If he wanted to know the truth, he could be an adult and call me.”

He sighs. “Do you think he’s never coming back?”

“I don’t know. The entertainment news hasn’t stopped speculating about his daughter, so I’m thinking if he comes back, it won’t be in the near future.”

And if he does, it’ll probably be to put his house on the market and move somewhere else.That’s what I don’t say because Seymour would only try to make me feel better and say that won’t happen.

But just like Mik couldn’t keep his promise, I’m not letting Seymour make one he’ll have to break, even through no fault of his own.

I wish I could at least talk to him about what happened after the show, but he’s not taking my calls.

God, it feels like a decade has passed, but it was only three days ago that we played together on that stage. The emotion that traveled between us was so palpable it may as well have been a physical entity.

But we weren’t the only ones who felt it. Seymour felt it too.

As soon as I was off the stage, he came to me with tears in his eyes, saying he saw Porter. The way I played with Mik had touched some part of him too, and he’d felt his brother’s presence.

My heart ripped in two, and I cried until I couldn’t see anything in front of me but Seymour. For a moment, I was looking into Porter’s eyes, and he was giving me permission to be happy.

I didn’t think because my head and emotions were all over the place, so I held on to Seymour like he was Porter, but really, I was letting him go. Seymour’s kiss after that couldn’t even be called a kiss for how brief it was.

When he pulled away, he looked so horrified that I laughed because he’d done the same thing the last time we were on stage together. Okay, so there were a bunch of people around us who would probably get the wrong idea, but I could nip that in the bud and talk to Mik as soon as he came backstage.

We laughed about it until Liv came over, looking for the first aid box because someone had accidentally stabbed themselves with the plastic fork Julius gave out with his cakes.

Julius was as white as a sheet when we got out to the hall, and I was unsure who needed more help, him or the man who looked like he was about to faint at the sight of his own blood.

The wound was superficial, and it took us only a minute to clean it up and wrap it with some gauze, but then some people that hadn’t left the hall started coming over, saying how amazing the gig was and asking about my performance.

A while later, Darius came out with his band, which caused some chaos since the press wanted to take pictures and ask them how it was performing with Hall of Fame.

I went to the back as soon as I could, but when I got there, everyone but Daisy was gone. Daisy was balancing her phone on one shoulder while making notes on her tablet.

Finding out Mik had left without saying anything was okay. His priority is Kay, and I get that. But I had to find out from someone else that he went to Vermont, and he hasn’t taken any of my calls.

Dammit, I just need to know they’re okay. Both of them.

“I’m going to head to my room to work. Knock if you want company, okay?” He kisses my cheek and goes up the stairs. Stan follows him.

I guess my mood is too low, even for Stan. Or maybe Seymour has a secret stash of dirty socks in his room.

After cleaning up the mess from lunch and getting ahead on the dinner prep, I sit at the kitchen table to do some work. I’m all caught up on the deliveries I have scheduled for people needing help, so it’s time to go through all the applications I received for the soup kitchen food delivery assistant and narrow down those for interviews. With the money we raised, I may actually have enough budget for two drivers.

I lose myself in my work and almost forget how much I miss Mik, even though I’m confused and upset.

The doorbell rings. I want to ignore it, but Stan barks from upstairs. He’ll keep barking, so I open the door before they can ring the bell again.