He shook his head. “As far as I know he was planning on chilling out at home. He didn’t feel like working so asked Keira to take over the train.”
“I know. I’ve just spoken to her. I went to Kit’s place but he didn’t seem to be there. He didn’t answer his phone either.”
“He’s probably with Mum.”
“Maybe.” Seren pulled her phone out to call Mirren, then let out a low growl when she didn’t answer either. Almost immediately a message came through to say she was at the hairdresser and wouldn’t be able to hear anything over the noise of the hairdryer but asked if everything was okay. Seren replied that she was fine and would see her at dinner.
“Kit’s not with your mum,” Seren said to Noah. “I’m worried about him.”
“He’ll be fine. Maybe he’s with Holly.” He frowned. “Except I guess she works on Saturdays.”
“She works at the tourist information on Porthcressa Road?”
“Yeah.”
That seemed the obvious place to check next. If Kit was with Holly, Seren really didn’t want to know, but she at least needed to know he was okay.
“I’ll see you later,” she said to Noah, before going outside again. If nothing else, traipsing around the town was good exercise.
Holly was easy to spot with her bouncy blonde curls and bright eyes. She stood behind a desk chatting to a middle-aged couple about the ferry crossings to the off islands. Seren shifted her weight from foot to foot and tried to catch Holly’s eye to no avail. It felt like ages before the couple finally left.
“How can I help you?” Holly asked, smiling at Seren.
“I’m looking for Kit.”
Her smile remained but frown lines appeared on Holly’s brow. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re friends with Kit, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” She blinked a couple of times. “You work in the pub, right?”
“Yes. I’m Seren.” She felt a pang of sadness that Kit had clearly never spoken about her to Holly. “I’m friends with Kit. With all the Trenearys… I can’t seem to track him down and I’m a bit worried about him. I wondered if you knew where he might be?”
She leaned across the desk and lowered her voice, which seemed a bit dramatic considering they were the only ones in the room. “It’s his dad’s birthday today. You know his dad died, I suppose?”
“Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “That’s why I’m worried about Kit. It’ll be a hard day for him.”
Holly nodded. “I spoke to him this morning. He didn’t feel like working, so he’d got someone to cover for him.”
“Do you know what he was planning on doing for the day?”
“It sounded as though he was going to stay at home. He said he didn’t feel like being around people. He’s going to his mum’s house for dinner later. Have you tried calling him?”
It was an effort for Seren not to snap at the annoyingly smiley woman. Of course she’d tried calling him. What kind of an idiot did she think she was?
“He’s not answering,” she said calmly.
“I’ll bet he’s fallen asleep. They say grief is exhausting, don’t they? Try calling him again later.”
Seren forced a smile. “I’ll do that. Thanks.”
Back outside, she let out a frustrated sigh, but realised she had one last place left to look for him. Just because Mirren wasn’t at home didn’t mean Kit wasn’t there. It was only a fifteen-minute walk, but she went back home for her car and drove over there.
Finding the backdoor locked wasn’t a good sign. If someone was at home the backdoor was always unlocked. Nevertheless, she used her key to let herself in, calling out to Kit as she did a sweep of the quiet house. Feeling defeated, she wandered back to the car.
Gazing out over the turquoise water, she racked her brain, thinking of where Kit might be. All she could come up with was that he was alone at home, missing his dad and shutting out the world. The thought brought tears to her eyes, and she blinked them away as she looked at her phone again.
The messages she’d sent Kit were still marked as unread. She hit dial and held the phone to her ear to listen to it ring. As she was about to give up, a noise from the garage drew her attention, just a small bang which she could have imagined.