Chapter 24
Rob
“Rob!”
Danny’s cry of alarm rocketed through me and I was sitting up in just a fraction of a second. My addled, sleep-filled brain said I should worry about Danny being in the bed, but I was alone. He probably snuck out before the kids woke up. I rubbed my face, cut a quick glance to the clock radio, and nearly had a heart attack.
Ten o’clock.
How was that even possible? Thomas was up at six-thirty every morning. Train conductors could set their rides to his schedule. Panic seized me. I bolted from the room and stumbled down the hallway. Danny stood at the door as soon as he saw me, he ran out, slamming it behind him. Something he never did.
I located Hallie standing, clearly bewildered, in the middle of the room. “Where’s Thomas?” My brain just really wouldn’t kick into gear.
“Drizella’s lost.”
I blinked, then shook my head, trying to dislodge the cobwebs. “Thomas?”
She pointed to the playpen.
Where Thomas sat, playing with his train. Apparently oblivious to everything around him.
Lucky him.
Despite needing to take a piss super badly, I blinked at Hallie. “How did you get Thomas out of bed?”
“Danny.”
“Right.” That made sense. Then Hallie’s words sank in. “Where is Drizella?”
“Gone.”
“Gone? You mean like Danny took her for a walk?” I hadn’t seen the dog, but maybe she was outside already and that was his hurry. Except we had a fenced-in backyard. If her need to go had been urgent, she could’ve gone back there.
Hallie shook her head. “No. Drizella gone.”
“Okay.”
Thomas, without warning, started fussing.
I knew that fuss. I darted into the kitchen, grabbed a frozen rubber teething ring, and brought it back to him.
He gave me that look. But he took it.
That felt like a monumental victory.
Still fuzzy, I yanked out my phone and texted Danny, asking him where he was. I tried for casual, but was wasting my time as his phone, on the coffee table, buzzed.
Well, shit.
My bladder was about to explode. All that water he’d convinced me to drink. He was always taking care of me and now…I didn’t even know where he was.
“Hallie?”
“Yes, Papa?”
“Can you watch Thomas? Just for a moment?” He was in his playpen, and I wasn’t putting Hallie in charge, but I needed to pee.
She rolled her eyes.
I was so stunned that I just stood there for a moment. My daughter had never rolled her eyes at me before. Which had sort of worried me…but I couldn’t take a moment to savor this moment. “Be right back.” I ran to the bathroom, emptied my bladder, splashed cold water on my face, washed then went into my room. I’d worn sweatpants and a T-shirt to bed last night, but those felt…too casual?
Right, because that’s what really matters right now.
This time, I was the one rolling my eyes. I yanked down my sweats, then pulled on my jeans. After I’d done them up, I swapped for a fresh T-shirt. As I sprinted back to the living room, I lamented not having time to put on deodorant, but…priorities.
I returned to the living room where Thomas had pulled himself up and clearly wanted out. I hefted him out and put him on a blanket on the floor with his action-hero toy made for kids his age.
“Papa?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
She just stared at me.
“Have you eaten?” Now I was getting my bearings, I needed to figure out what had and had not been done. I rubbed my face. “What happened exactly?”
“Danny said someone’s coming and he’d get the door quick quick so the doorbell wouldn’t wake you.” Hallie frowned. Grammatical mistakes were rarer these days—except when she was upset. “He opened the door and Drizella ran away.”
Slowly, the pieces were coming together. I noticed the abandoned package on the ground. I couldn’t even remember what I might’ve ordered. Even as I had the thought, a burst of lightning rent the sky. I hadn’t noticed the day getting darker. Or maybe it had always been darker. “Okay, so Danny ran after Drizella?”
“After you came out.”
Ah. That makes more sense. He’d woken me, of course. And as soon as he’d been certain I was up, he’d bolted.
“And he said he’d be back?” I hadn’t heard anything in my befuddled state, but maybe Hallie had.
She nodded emphatically. “Right back.” She said the words with certainty. Then met my gaze. “But he’s not.”
I thought of the times Gerard promised to be home and then just never made it. I’d always covered, and told myself Hallie was too young to understand. Now I wondered if I’d been wrong. I crouched before her. “If he said he’d be right back, then he meant it. And if he’s not here, that means he’s looking for Drizella. That means we have faith in him.” I doubted she knew what faith meant…but I did. And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, he’d be back.
Well, even if just to get his phone.
Shut up.
I silenced my inner voice. Or tried to. Danny wasn’t Gerard. Danny was the opposite of Gerard. If he wasn’t here, then there was a damn good?—
Scratching at the door pulled my attention. I gave a fraction of a second’s thought to the paint as I flew over and opened the door.
A very soaked Drizella launched herself at me.
I’d never been so happy to see a wet dog.
“Drizella!” Hallie barreled over.
I put out a hand to stop her. “Close the front door and grab a towel.”
Thomas, who’d been abnormally silent, playing with his toy, had spotted the open door and was heading straight for it.
Hallie, wonderful child she was, got to the door first and closed it.
My darling son wailed.
After retrieving the old towel we always used for Drizella, Hallie came over and wrapped the dog in it.
Drizella gave Hallie plenty of licks.
So where’s Danny?
Even as I had the thought, rain lashed the window.
Then I did something I’d never done before I’d met Danny and his family—I called and asked for help.
And within twelve minutes, help arrived.
James stepped inside, deftly avoiding the wet dog determined to greet him. He offered a sheepish smile. “Sorry, just me. Colin’s dead asleep. He had a rough night, and?—”
I held up my hand. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m glad he’s sleeping. If you want to tell me later about his bad night—or not—that works.”
“Sometimes he has dreams of waking up from the anesthetic and being on the operating table. It’s…weird.”
“Yeah.” I winced. “Danny’s never said he has that. Anyway.” I swallowed. “I have to go find your stubborn brother.”
James eyed the rain. “I’m assuming you called him…”
I pointed to his phone. “He went chasing after Trouble?—”
“Drizella,” Hallie insisted.
“Uh, right.” I thought of all the mischief the husky had managed to get into in the past few weeks. Trouble suited her. “Drizella.” I said the name with extra emphasis.
Hallie beamed.
“So I’ll get in my car and go find him.” James cocked his head. “You still don’t have a license, right?”
“No. Even if I did, I couldn’t drive on my own.”
James nodded in acknowledgement. “So I go and?—”
“I need to be the one to do it, James.”
“Okay…”
“He needs to know everything’s okay.”
“I can?—”
“He needs to hear it from me. I have an idea where he’s gone, so I’ll try there. If I can’t find him, I promise I’ll come back. He won’t…” I swallowed. “He’d never abandon his phone.”
James advanced on me—clearly mindful of his height. He didn’t have Danny’s bulk, but he topped six feet by a bit. “He’d never abandon you or the children.” He glanced down to find Hallie watching use intently. “Just—” He met my gaze. “—he feels…forever about you.”
I wanted to argue. Danny was just twenty-one. And I was an immature twenty-four. Neither of us should be making decisions like that. But I couldn’t. Because I’d been married at eighteen—and that might’ve been a mistake, but I’d had Hallie by the time I was twenty and had exactly zero regrets. Danny had already donated part of his liver and found a serious course of study that would take him years to complete—but he was determined.
So…was it possible we did know? That what I felt might be more than infatuation and gratitude?
I couldn’t tell right now.
“Let me take my phone.” I tucked it in the back of my jeans and frantically tried to think of anything else I might need.
James now had Thomas in his arms.
Thomas was yanking my friend’s beard.
Said friend was laughing.
Friend.
Suddenly I had people I could call. If Scott or Oscar hadn’t been working, they would’ve taken the kids. If Anthony wasn’t working a critical case, he might’ve come over. And I’d met other people. That nice couple…Joe and Alec. With their son Kevin. I’d seen them a few times. A lovely older woman lived across the street. If Nai wasn’t in school, she would’ve come.
A warm glow settled inside me, even as I donned my raincoat. That would do nothing to keep out the driving rain.
But I had to pretend.
I gave Hallie a kiss. “You be good.”
“I’m always good.”
“Yes, sweetheart, you are. You can show Thomas how to be good.”
“It’s handled.” James managed to rescue his glasses before Thomas nabbed them as well. “I’ve done this a hundred times before.” He considered. “Probably more. Just go.”
And so I did.