Chapter 24
ADELINE
Iwas up at seven like usual, but not because I wanted to be. Jennifer’s voice broke into my subconscious like a sledgehammer, instantly yanking me out of a particularly pleasant dream with the last news I wanted to hear.
“Mommy,” she whispered loudly, right beside my face. “Lu is missing.”
I bolted upright instantly, blinking hard as my eyes adjusted to the light, but still seeing a completely serious, worried expression on her face. “What do you mean she’s missing?”
“She’s gone,” Jennifer replied gravely. “Her bed is empty and I can’t find her anywhere.”
I swung my legs sideways so fast that I got twisted up in the sheets. Jennifer scrambled back on the massive bed. Distant birdsong drifted in through the windows, the sky outside already bright blue.
For just a second before I stood, I looked around, hoping Lu might just walk out of the bathroom or something, but when she didn’t, I hurried out of bed and crossed the hall.
Jennifer trailed behind me, dramatically narrating her view of this whole scene like she was hosting a podcast on missing children.
“She could be anywhere,” she said. “I looked upstairs and downstairs, but she’s not watching TV and she’s not reading in the library either.”
“There’s a library?” I shook my head. “You know what, never mind. She’s probably just hiding under a bed.”
That would be classic Lu behavior, five years old and completely committed to turning all my hair gray before I turned thirty-five.
I strode into the bedroom where she’d been sleeping first, but as advertised, it was empty, the blankets on the bed kicked halfway to the floor and no one hiding underneath it.
I checked the bathroom too, but she wasn’t there.
“Lu?” I called.
A flicker of panic raced through me when there was no answer. The house was enormous and I didn’t even know how far the property itself actually stretched. If she had gone outside or was wandering around, I had absolutely no idea where to even start looking.
As Jennifer and I strode out of the bedroom, however, I noticed that Bear was missing too. He’d insisted on sleeping in the hallway between the girls’ rooms last night, but he wasn’t on the bed Zach had put there for him anymore.
My eyes narrowed in thought. I turned sharply, walking down the hall to knock on Zach’s door. I waited for a second, but when he didn’t respond, I gave it a light push and it opened. His bed was empty too and relief swept through me at the sight.
My nerves were still buzzing, but with Zach and Bear missing as well, there was a good chance Lu was with them. I glanced at Jennifer, who’d glued herself to my side. I tipped my head toward the stairs.
“Come on. Let’s check the kitchen.”
“I already did,” she said. “There was no one there.”
I nodded but headed in that direction anyway. “Maybe Zach was just showing her something and they’re back there now.”
Jennifer didn’t seem convinced, but she followed me anyway, sighing deeply when we walked into the kitchen to find it was still empty. “Told you.”
“Yeah.”
I walked in further anyway, checking the locks on the sliding doors that led out to the pool. Lu could swim, but it was still a massive relief that none of them were open. As I turned to continue the search, I caught sight of a note on the counter next to the coffee machine.
I raced over and picked it up, quickly scanning the short message and exhaling deeply at what it said.
Taking Lu on my run with me.
See you later.
-Z
My head bowed under the crushing relief that took hold deep inside. I would have preferred if he’d texted so I would have seen the message as soon as I’d woken up, but she was fine and he’d left word. That was more important than anything else.
“Lu is out with Zach,” I said to Jennifer, setting the note back down and studying the coffee machine. “I’m not sure when they’re going to be back, but would you like something to eat?”
She shook her head and climbed onto one of the barstools. “I’m just thirsty. It’s hot here.”
“Very,” I agreed, pouring her a glass of water before reaching into the cabinet right above the coffee machine and striking gold.
I’d found the mugs. I slid one out, still a little uneasy about Lu, but she was safe with Zach. I reminded myself of that at least four times as I made coffee and then turned toward the fridge.
Within twenty minutes, I had breakfast started using the meager groceries we’d picked up before arriving yesterday. Eggs, fruit, pancake mix, and yogurt. Jennifer sipped her water as she watched me work, quiet but not unhappy.
She just kept looking around like she was afraid to touch anything, and frankly, I felt the same. The house barely even felt real to me.
The place looked like something from a magazine spread, sunlight pouring across marble countertops, every scatter cushion and throw perfectly straight, and every piece of furniture fitting like it had been designed specifically for the spot where it had been placed. It was incredible.
Eventually, Jennifer went to find a coloring book and some pencils, setting herself up at the island while I flipped pancakes. A little while later, she suddenly gasped. “They’re back!”
Before I could stop her, she bolted toward the patio doors and I grabbed my coffee, unlocking one of the doors for her before I followed her out onto the back terrace. As soon as I caught sight of them, however, I promptly forgot every coherent thought in my head.
Zach jogged along the path leading up to the house shirtless and flushed from running, sunlight glinting off damp skin and broad shoulders while Bear trotted beside him.
Sweat darkened the waistband of his running shorts and his chest rose steadily, as if somehow, he wasn’t even out of breath despite how long they’d been gone.
Lu rolled slowly up the path behind him on her scooter, looking absolutely exhausted but happy.
Seriously happy. I blinked hard at the sight, then turned back to Zach, intending on asking him what he’d done to ease the permanent frown off her little face, but the second I looked at him again, words were the last thing on my mind.
It had been eight years since I’d last seen Zach shirtless, and the years had been good to him.
He’d gotten even more delicious. On the rare occasion that I’d spent any time with Amber’s friends, I’d heard them refer to some men as thirst-traps and dear Lord, Zachary Westwood fit that description perfectly.
My gaze slid down the sharp lines of his stomach and the flush beneath his skin, tracing the sweat sliding down his chest. Thankfully, I was snapped out of my blatant ogling when Jennifer raced toward them.
“Where did you go?” she asked excitedly.
Zach bent slightly, bracing his hands on his hips for the first time since stepping into view. He was barely out of breath, but it was obvious he’d been working hard.
“I had to make sure he was actually running and not fibbing about being fast,” Lu said, like she was the authority on speed.
Zach looked over at me, amusement flickering across his face. “She made it about five miles on the scooter before getting tired and grumpy.”
“I wasn’t tired,” Lu protested immediately. “I just thought you might need a break.”
He glanced back at her. “You said your legs were broken.”
“They felt broken.”
As I watched them, I wrapped both hands around my coffee cup and lifted it closer to my face to hide my smile. God, he looks so happy, standing there beside my daughters.
Lu rolled the scooter the last few feet to the house, but honestly, I was a little distracted by the look of him as he straightened up again and came toward me.
For one fleeting second I thought he was going to walk right over like he used to.
I suddenly remembered with painful clarity what it had felt like to touch him after workouts when we were younger, when he had pressed that hard body right up against mine and laid a kiss on me that would always leave me breathless.
There was this smug, stupid, sexy grin he used to give me whenever he caught me staring. The things that grin used to do to me.
Meanwhile, I was standing there in yesterday’s leggings and without even having brushed my teeth yet. Jennifer narrowed her eyes at me. “Mommy?”
“Hmm.”
“What are you staring at?”
I blinked hard and averted my gaze, swinging it toward her instead. “Nothing. Just making sure your sister is still in one piece.”
Zach coughed suspiciously into his hand, clearly hiding a laugh. I ushered everyone back inside before I embarrassed myself further. I distracted the girls with breakfast and the promise of the swimming pool afterward. At least that worked.
Lu studied me as she sat at the counter, precisely where she’d been told, without any argument at all. “Can we swim right after we eat?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?” she asked.
I shot her a smile as I lifted the plate of pancakes out of the warming drawer. “Until one of you turns blue.”
The girls started arguing over their pancakes about who would turn blue first while Bear hovered close enough to be remembered in the event that someone wanted to feed him a bite. Zach drank two enormous glasses of water, looking annoyingly good for someone who’d apparently run several miles.
“How are you not tired?” I finally asked.
He shrugged. “Endurance, or have you forgotten that I’m naturally athletic?”
I snorted before I could stop the sound from coming out.
Zach pumped his eyebrows at me. “I was wondering if you’d still laugh at my bad jokes.”
Heat crept into my cheeks.
Thankfully, Amber walked in, drawing everyone’s attention to her. She said hi and turned to look at the girls. “I know it’s a long shot, but I’m driving back to Milwaukee today to explore. Would you like to come with me?”
“There’s a water slide at the pool,” Jennifer said slowly. “Why don’t you come swimming with us?”
She sighed. “Okay, I see how it is. Thank you for the invitation, but I’m going to stick to exploring. I found the most awesome looking shops online last night. Maybe I’ll swim with you tomorrow?”
Lu’s entire face twisted like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want to go shopping when there’s a water slide?”
“Yes, Lauren,” Amber said, emphasizing her name with a slight smile before coming over to ruffle her hair. “I’m going shopping over playing in the billionaire’s private water park. Such a waste.”
“Shopping or the water park?” Zach asked. “Because if you’re talking about shopping, I agree.”
“I was referring to the fact that you have a water park and you probably haven’t even thought about opening it up to local kids to enjoy.”
She backed out of the kitchen then, wiggling her fingers in a wave on her way out the door. Zach stared after her, his head shaking before he glanced at me. “She’s never going to come around, is she?”
“Her wounds are deep,” I said quietly, glad that the girls had already gotten back to loudly trying to decide who was going down the slide first. “I am sorry, though.”
“No need.” He shook his head again before grinning at the girls. “I’m going to beat you both to the pool.”
They shrieked their protests in unison, both of them bolting off the stools and thundering upstairs while he laughed and took off in their wake. I followed after them, my coffee now cold but still in my hand.
Jennifer bounced around excitedly in the room while Lu demanded I tie and retie the straps on her suit four times before they were comfortable. Once they were finally ready, they tore back downstairs to wait for me impatiently by the patio doors.
I stayed behind for a moment after changing into my suit, just staring at myself in the bathroom mirror and suddenly not convinced I should’ve put this thing on at all.
My body was different now than back when Zach and I used to sneak away to beaches, pools, and lakes during those summers that had felt endless.
Back then, I’d never thought twice about swimsuits around him. He used to look at me like I was appearing in a Playboy spread regardless of what I wore, but years with Louis had slowly stripped away my confidence, and I’d had two kids on top of that.
For the last few years of my marriage, I’d felt invisible. Pregnancy had softened parts of me, leaving my hips wider and faint stretch marks low on my stomach.
This is ridiculous. It doesn’t matter what Zach thinks of you now. He’s already signed the contract and that’s all this is, an arrangement.
Still, I reached for the lightweight swim cover hanging over the chair and tied it firmly around my waist. Maybe I’ll just keep this on for today.
When I finally got downstairs and went outside, the girls were already waiting near the pool fence. Jennifer grinned when she saw me. “There you are. Hurry up, Mommy!”
“You’re slow,” Lu informed me.
“I literally carried both of you for nine months each,” I said. “That should buy me a little leeway.”
I opened the pool gate to let them through, looking around for Zach, but he was nowhere to be found.
A stab of disappointment speared my gut, but I shook my head at myself.
He’d brought us here, giving us our first trip away in over a year.
I couldn’t expect him to spend every minute with us too, and frankly, at least this way, I didn’t have to worry so much about what I looked like.
He and I might’ve been stitched together at the hip back in the day, but that was in the past. It was about time that I got over it and focused on the present instead.