Chapter 10 #2
“C’mon, kiddo. Time for bed,” he said, doing his best to sound like his entire world wasn’t crashing down around him.
“I’m not…” She yawned. “Tired yet.” Another yawn. “Can’t I stay up a little longer with Grandma and Grandpa?” And still another yawn. “We were gonna read…”
He ruffled her hair even as he gently pulled her to her feet. “You’ll see them tomorrow after school. Say goodnight, Annabeth.”
She grumbled, but she did as she was told and went to her room, closing the door almost all the way.
Connor let out a long breath before facing his parents. He figured they’d call it a night too, but he was wrong.
“Annabeth said Lexi and her child were going to move in with you,” his mother stated. “Do you think that’s wise?”
This definitely wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with them right now, especially since it probably wasn’t going to happen.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but Lexi and I are in love, and…yes. The plan is for her and Jonah to move in with us.”
“She’s not a very good influence for Annabeth,” she said. “What kind of woman moves in with a man before they’re married?”
“The same kind of woman who preys on a wealthy single dad so he’ll take care of her and her bastard child,” his father replied.
For a moment, Connor could only stare. “What is wrong with the two of you? Lexi is divorced, just like I am! And she’s been a fantastic influence on Annabeth! Hell, she’s been more of a mother to her than Rachel ever was! Rachel, the woman the two of you chose! Remember that!”
“There’s no need to raise your voice, Connor,” his father reprimanded.
“But maybe it would be best if Annabeth came back to Boston with us. She’ll be in a better school and living in an actual home and not this…
” He motioned to the cabin. “This tiny, rustic space. This is fine for a vacation, but not to live in full time. She needs a room with proper furniture and space to move around. This cabin is already ridiculously small, and now you want to move that woman and her son in? This place is not suitable! For either of you! Have you lost your mind?”
“No, have you?” he countered. “We’ve been over this. You promised to back out of my life.”
“Not where our granddaughter is concerned,” his mother said. “We know you’re trying very hard to do what you want with your life, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of your daughter. Your father and I can guarantee her a good life with everything she could need to make her happy.”
He saw red. In that moment, he was ready to toss them both out on their asses.
So he did.
“Get out,” he said between clenched teeth.
“Get out now. I suggest you pack up and leave the resort altogether. You can’t come here and threaten to take my daughter away from me just because you don’t like Lexi.
You don’t know anything about her! Hell, you don’t know anything about me, and I’m your son!
So go back up to the lodge and get your shit and go home. We’re done here.”
They both stood but didn’t look the least bit offended by what he said. If anything, they had polite smiles on their faces.
That can’t be good…
“We’ll leave, but we’ll be contacting our attorney. This isn’t over. If you won’t do what’s best for Annabeth, we will.”
“Having two parents who love her—me and Lexi—is what’s best for her,” he told them. “Not two toxic grandparents. Now leave.”
“All of this will go away if you stop dating Lexi, dear. She’s not right for you. She wasn’t right when you were teenagers, and she’s not right now. And especially not for Annabeth. She’s a Winslowe and needs to be raised by a woman with class and good breeding.”
They still weren’t getting it, but they turned and walked out without another word.
Good riddance…
Connor locked the door and looked in on his daughter before heading to his bedroom and crashing on the bed. He must have been more tired than he thought because he fell asleep fully dressed.
When he woke up the next morning, he was disoriented and realized he had never set the alarm. Luckily, he hadn’t overslept, and he wondered if Annabeth was already up. He stood and stretched and sleepily stumbled across the cabin to her room.
“Annabeth, sweetie? Are you up?”
No answer.
He laughed softly because he figured she was probably still exhausted from their vacation. He gently knocked on her door as he opened it. “Come on, baby girl. It’s time to get up.”
But she wasn’t in her bed.
Glancing around frantically, he walked over to the bathroom, but she wasn’t in there, and she wasn’t in the third bedroom either. His heart was hammering so hard he swore he was going to be sick.
“Annabeth!” he called out, but there was no answer.
He had no idea what to do first. All he knew was that his daughter was gone and…
His parents.
“Son of a bitch,” he murmured as he stormed out the door.
Jonah was still exhausted when the alarm went off, but they needed to jump back into their routines.
He needed to go to preschool, and Lexi needed to get up to her office.
Slater was leaving on his mini vacation today, so she had to make sure she was up to date on anything that happened while she was away.
The two of them got ready, even though neither had much energy, and she still needed to go and get Annabeth. Today was her carpool day, and even though she wasn’t prepared to see Connor just yet, there was no way she was going to take that out on his daughter.
“Come on, buddy,” she said, trying to sound cheery. “Let’s go get Annabeth.”
“Okay!” It was adorable how just the mention of his friend perked him up.
Grabbing her keys and purse, they stepped out of the cabin and began walking along the path to Connor’s. But when she got there, no one answered. She glanced in the windows but didn’t see either of them.
“That’s weird,” she murmured, but then figured Connor must have driven his daughter himself.
And that just ticked her off because it was petty.
“Where’s Annabeth?” Jonah asked.
“I guess Connor forgot it was our day to drive and took her himself,” she said softly, making sure her son didn’t sense her mood. “That’s okay, though. We can go ourselves.” But when she made it to the parking lot, Connor’s SUV was exactly where they’d parked it last night.
She was about to get concerned and then figured that maybe they had decided to meet his parents for breakfast before school. That made the most sense.
At her car, she was helping Jonah in when she heard someone shouting her name. Turning, she saw Slater running toward her.
“Hey,” she said cheerily, but the closer he got, the more she realized this wasn’t a friendly greeting. “What’s going on?”
“Have you seen Annabeth?” he asked breathlessly.
“I haven’t,” she replied, worry creeping up her spine. “What’s going on?”
“Connor woke up this morning and she was gone. He thought she was with his parents, but they haven’t seen her either.
” He let out a long breath. “We’re searching the lodge now and getting everyone together to search the property.
The police are on their way, but I have a couple of drones that I’m going to use in hopes of spotting her. ”
“Oh my God…” Turning, she carefully pulled Jonah from the car with shaking hands. “Okay, okay, where do you need us? Where should we start?”
This was her biggest fear—something happening to her child. Connor must be completely distraught right now.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him come running out of the lodge looking positively frantic. Her heart kicked hard in her chest as she quickly made her way toward him. The moment she reached him, he took her in his arms, and she could feel him trembling.
“I don’t know where she is,” he said, burying his face in her neck. “I don’t know when she left or why or…or if it was her own choice…”
She felt his tears on her skin as she held him tight. “We’re going to find her, Connor. I promise.” Pulling back, she cupped his face in her hands. “It’s going to be okay.”
But he was shaking his head. “I thought my parents took her. They threatened to last night, and…and…”
That was a conversation for another time because that one statement filled her with rage. How dare they even try to break up their son and granddaughter! What kind of controlling monsters were they?
Again, a conversation for another time.
“She’s not in the lodge!” Walker called out as he jogged toward them. “We had a complete room search. Housekeeping is checking all the closets and storage rooms.”
“The storage room!” Connor said loudly. “The old one! The one with all the old stuff in it!”
“I’m on it!” Walker said, running off.
“Go with him!” Lexi urged. “Slater and I will start out here!”
He murmured a thank you before taking off after Walker.
“Okay, so what are you thinking?” she asked Slater as they walked quickly down toward the boathouse.
“I honestly don’t know. We have over fifteen hundred acres here. She could be hiding anywhere,” he said distractedly. They were both scanning the path as they walked. “The drones can do a lot of the work for us, but I wish I knew where to even begin.”
“Is Annabeth hiding?” Jonah asked as he jogged to keep up.
Oh God…
That’s when an idea hit her. “Slater? Hang back for a second!” Crouching down in front of her son, she said, “Annabeth is hiding. Do you know any of her favorite hiding spots?”
He studied her for a moment and then glanced up at Slater. “They’re secret,” he whispered loudly.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay to share this secret. It’s very important. Annabeth’s hiding, but it’s not a game,” she gently urged. “Connor’s very sad because he doesn’t know where she is, and everyone’s very worried.”
He stole another glance at Slater.
“It’s okay, buddy,” he said, mimicking Lexi’s pose. “I swear I won’t tell Annabeth that you told us.”
He seemed to consider that for a moment before he reluctantly grumbled, “Okay.”
“Where is her favorite spot?” Lexi asked as she grasped his shoulders. “Please, Jonah.”