Now That I've Found You - Kristina Forest Page 0,26

me, and she said that she had to go away for a bit to handle some things and that she needed me to take care of the cats. She said she wouldn’t be too far away, just like she wrote in her note, and then she left.”

“That’s it?” I ask. “She didn’t say where she was going? Or how long she’d be gone?”

He shakes his head. “Nah.”

“And you didn’t ask her?”

“No,” he says, surprised. “It wasn’t my business to ask.”

“My grandmother, who is arguably one of the most famous people ever, hasn’t bothered to truly take part in society for almost a decade, and when she suddenly decides to up and go, you don’t think to ask where she’s going?”

“No, because like I said, it’s wasn’t any of my business!”

“That’s ridiculous!”

We both stand there fuming at each other.

“Yelling isn’t going to solve anything,” he finally says.

“Maybe not, but it makes me feel better,” I mumble.

He lets out a short, surprised laugh and looks away, shaking his head. Before he can reply, the phone rings downstairs. Maybe it’s Gigi calling. I hope to God that it’s Gigi calling.

I run to the sound, and Milo is right on my heels.

Her answering machine picks up before I reach the phone.

“Peggy, hun, it’s Candice. I’m following up on our phone call from last night. I found what you were looking for, and I’ll have it for you tonight. Don’t worry; I promise to be discreet. It’s been so long, friend. I can’t wait to see you.”

The message ends with a loud beep.

Now she’s decided to go to the gala? I play it a second time to make sure I heard correctly. What was Gigi looking for? My wheels start turning.

“I have to go to the gala,” I say.

“What, why?” Milo follows me out of the kitchen and into the living room.

I made that statement aloud more to myself than to him, actually.

I turn around, exasperated. “What do you mean, why? Gigi is going to be there, and I need to find her and convince her to come back. The last time she did something like this, she was gone for weeks. We don’t have weeks right now. We have the ceremony on Sunday. She can’t miss that.”

“But she doesn’t want to go to the ceremony,” he says, frowning.

I ignore him and head upstairs. She doesn’t want to go to the ceremony because getting the lifetime achievement award isn’t important to her, but when I tell her how I need her to take a meeting with James, she’ll change her mind to help me.

That’s not any of Milo’s business, though.

“And how do you even plan to find her?” he asks, still following behind me. “Are you going to walk in, go up to the mic, and ask if Evelyn Conaway will please come to the stage?”

“Candice said she’d use discretion, which probably means no one else will know that Gigi will be there,” I say. “Maybe they’re going to meet in secret. I don’t know! I just know that if Gigi’s going to be there, I need to be there too.”

Milo bites his lip. “I just don’t think that will work.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not basing this plan on your opinion,” I say, and he frowns again.

We’ve reached my bedroom doorway. Now that I feel less frantic, I realize that Milo has watched me run around with my hair wrapped, wearing a big Mildred McKibben Performing Arts Academy T-shirt and plaid pajama shorts. If this were another day, I’d be embarrassed, but there’s too much going on right now to care.

Well, that’s not exactly true. I at least wish I weren’t wearing my headscarf.

I step into my room, waiting for him to take the cue to walk away. When he doesn’t, I grab my phone off my bed to Google the gala. It’s at the Brooklyn Museum at 8:00 P.M., and it’s black tie. Crap. Kerri is bringing all of my dress options on Sunday, so I don’t have any black-tie clothes. Maybe I can borrow something from Gigi’s closet.

When I look up, Milo is still standing in my doorway.

“Don’t you have to work or something?” I ask.

“I don’t clock in for another hour,” he says. Then, determined, “I’m coming with you.”

“What?”

“I’m coming with you to the gala.”

I blink. “No, you’re not.”

“There’s a better chance of finding her if two of us are looking,” he says.

I narrow my eyes at him. He has a point. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so smart to turn