Chapter 1
Chapter one
Three Days Later
Rose
Mom’s been gone for three days.
And I miss her.
So much.
It’s almost evening on a Monday, and I’m lying on my bed, holding my phone, waiting for my cousin Maggie to call me. My black Pomeranian Juno is curled up at my feet.
I’ve barely slept, and I’m not eating. I can’t. Not until I know where my mom is.
The blades of the ceiling fan above me spin and spin as I stare at it, waiting.
I’m waiting for so much these days. It’s ridiculous.
Waiting to hear from my editor about my next book. I submitted it to her before my life went to hell.
Waiting to hear any word from the detective about my mom.
Waiting for Maggie to call from Italy.
Lots and lots of waiting.
At this stage in my life, I never imagined this would be my reality. That my mom would vanish without a trace while attending a ball as a keynote speaker for the conference she was attending.
Sighing at the thought, I rub Juno’s fur with my toes to quell my anxiety. The black fur ball’s eyes shoot up at the contact. He loves it when I rub his head. It doesn’t matter if it’s with my toes or fingers, so he leans into the touch.
The familiar booping chirp of Facetime breaks me from my thoughts.
I lift my phone. It’s Maggie.
Filling my lungs with the circulating air of the fan, I exhale it out and steady myself. I have to break the news to my cousin that her aunt, the woman who raised her, is missing.
She’s already lost her parents tragically in a house fire when we were twelve. Now this. How much trauma can one person endure in a lifetime?
Maggie has been traveling abroad for a few days, and even though we have kept in touch via text messages and phone calls, I’ve kept her in the dark.
The last thing I want to do is mess up her trip and fill her with unnecessary worry.
I intended to tell her earlier, but her flight got delayed. Of course.
But it’s been three days. She deserves to know.
I answer.
The screen blinks twice before Maggie’s face appears, slightly pixelated. She’s framed by the hotel room’s sheer white curtains fluttering behind her.
“Buongiorno!” she sing-songs, grinning. I haven’t smiled in three days, but seeing her excitement …
my lips tick upwards on their own. “Okay, that sounded cheesy.” She laughs at herself, which she has always been very good at.
“Don’t hate me, but I’ve already had gelato twice today.
Once at the airport and then on the way to the hotel. I’m addicted.”
I roll my eyes. “Sounds so amazing. I’m sorry you got in later than you wanted. What time is it over there?”
Maggie glances at her watch, and props the phone up on something.
“It’s almost eleven-thirty. It’s okay. I’m sure the jetlag will catch up with me eventually, but I think I’m going to go out until it does.
Why not? As they say, when in Rome. Or Florence,” she answers through a small laugh as she sits at a table, her big blue eyes and blonde hair adding to her allure. The woman was born with it.
Maggie Colbert is every man’s dream girl.
She’s Barbie tall mixed with Christie Brinkley from the eighties.
Her megawatt smile and bubbly personality puts anyone around her at ease.
A stark contrast to my short and curvy frame, chubby chipmunk cheeks, and sassy attitude.
Unruly dark brown curls that I got from my dad and boring brown eyes only add to the yin and yang of who we are.
We couldn’t be more different if we tried. But the love we have for each other is unmatched.
“That sounds like fun,” I reply, trying my best to sound excited.
But she’s known me for far too long and notices my mood.
“Rose, what’s going on?” she asks as she lifts the phone, carrying it with her.
I watch her through the screen, unpacking and getting ready for the adventure of a lifetime throughout Europe.
A trip my mom gifted us. Her adventures started in France, and now she’s in Florence.
We had the entire trip planned, but my deadline changed with my most recent book.
So, being the brave, independent woman that she is, she went alone.
I’ve always admired her strength. How she not only survived but thrived after losing both of her parents twenty years ago. She is incredibly inspiring. To me and everyone she meets.
She’s my best friend, my family, and the one person who can read me like a book.
Repositioning myself, I roll onto my side and rest my phone against the lamp on my bedside table. I tuck my hand under the pillow. “How do you know me so well?”
“Well, when you’re raised together and start your periods on the same day, you’re linked for life.” She gives me a sad smile.
The tears well up instantly. She notices and sits down on the bed. “Ah, Rose. What’s going on? Why are you crying?”
My fingertips brush against my cheeks as I wipe away the tears. “Mom’s missing.” It’s the first time I’ve uttered the words out loud.
And somehow, that makes it very real.
A sob lodges as a vast emptiness opens up in me.
Her eyes explode in shock. “Wait, what?” She adjusts herself on the bed, shifting as the high spirits she had minutes ago vanish. “What do you mean, missing?”
Juno immediately notices the tears and sleepily moves to get closer, snuggling up against my body. I tuck him into my stomach, rubbing his back. “Remember, she went to that conference at the Black Onyx?”
"Yeah," she confirms as her eyes soften with concern, watching me.
“Well, they had a formal event to finish the conference, and that was the last time anyone saw her. I reported her missing when she didn’t show up for brunch the next day.”
“That’s really unlike her.” Maggie hinges forward, resting her chin in her hand. Sharing this with her is oddly comforting, and the loneliness lessens.
“Which is what alarmed me. I waited at the restaurant for about an hour and tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. You know how she is, Maggie. If she’s running behind, she always texts, and hates to be late.
” She chuckles, knowing this about my mom.
Maggie has been on the tail end of my mom’s wrath when she’s been late way too many times to count.
“Anyway, when I got to her house, it was all closed up. I let myself in, and something felt off. I could tell she hadn’t been home yet.
So, I called the police. Now I’m waiting for a call from the lead detective, Richard Dennison.
I’m sure he hates me since I’ve called every day demanding updates.
He promised to call today, but I’m going to call him and let him see how crazy we Sheridan girls can be. I want answers.”
“Hell yeah! Don’t let them drag their feet on this.” She releases a long breath and then bolts off the bed. “I’m coming home.”
Grabbing the phone, I move Juno and sit upright. “Maggie, no! Absolutely not.”
She’s tossing clothes into her suitcase. “You need my help!” she snaps, then falters, her words uneven. “If anything happened to her…”
She turns from the screen, staring out in silence, her shoulders trembling.
Silence hangs on the other end. “You okay?”
She wipes away a stray tear. “Yeah. This is scary.”
“I know. It’s a lot.” Once again, we sit quietly. Her staring off, me staring at her.
“Maggie,” I plead as she returns to her phone, “I don’t want you to come home.
I mean, I would love to have you here, but Mom was so happy to send you on this trip.
She loves you so much and would be disappointed if she knew you didn’t stay.
And besides, there’s nothing to do right now, anyway.
Before you called, I was sitting here staring at the ceiling fan.
” I manage a small, unconvincing laugh, doing my best to bring things back to normal.
“Stop trying to make me feel better.”
“I always do.” And she’s right. Growing up, when Maggie would cry herself to sleep, missing her parents, I would do anything to put a smile on her face. It killed me to see her crying and grieving. Lightening her mood became my life’s mission. Sometimes it would work. Sometimes not.
But we didn’t marinate in grief. Or sadness when anything bad would happen. We are most definitely a brush-it-off-and-power-through type of family. Which probably isn’t healthy. But it’s who we are.
So if my mom doesn’t return home, I’m not so sure I’ll be able to brush it off.
I’m watching her, waiting to see what she’ll say. “Okay.” She looks at the screen and offers me a restrained smile. “I’ll stay. But you’d better keep me updated. As soon as you talk to the detective, call me. I’m serious.”
“Yes, ma’am.” As she unpacks again, I try to steer the conversation elsewhere. “Show me your room. Do you have a nice view?” I settle back onto the bed.
She throws her head back. “Unfortunately, no. Aunt Diane confirmed that she booked a room with a view of the Arno River, but this is what I got.” She moves across the room, holding the phone to her chest, blocking my view.
Next thing I see is Maggie pulling back the same thin white curtain she was in front of when she answered.
Along with a brick wall through a window. “Charming, huh?”
“Oh no! You need to complain to someone. That is not what Mom booked.”
“Nah. It’s okay. I’m only here for a few days, then it’s off to Rome!” Her change in mood and obvious enthusiasm fill me with happiness for her.
“Please be careful. You mentioned you are going out. Did you meet someone to hang out with? And please say it’s not a guy.”
“No, it’s not a guy.” We laugh because we both know that at some point, she will indeed meet a man.
“Her name is Katerina, and she’s solo traveling also, so it works out.
We are meeting in the hotel bar for drinks, and then we’ll see where the wind takes us.
” She pauses briefly. “Have you called and told Niko about your mom?”
“Niko? Why would I call him?” The question comes out sharper than I intended, and I immediately regret it, given the pained expression on Maggie’s face.
But Niko is a sore subject with me, and Maggie knows this.
He was my last serious relationship. We dated for close to a year before he dumped me.
I’m pretty positive he was cheating on me, but he wouldn’t admit it.
His parting words were that he couldn’t be with me anymore.
It was so out of left field.
I thought there was a good chance he was the one. I started dating him in the middle of researching and shadowing a cop for my newest book.
A cop with whom I had a definite connection.
A cop who was quite possibly the most handsome man I had ever met.
A cop who almost kissed me.
A cop whom I argued with for the whole three weeks after that almost kiss.
The amount of attraction and chemistry was unreal.
At the time, I was talking to Niko, and I felt something for him. But then, I got assigned to shadow the hot cop, and POOF! I was ready and willing to put Niko in the rearview mirror.
But the cop rejected me. After our ‘almost kiss,’ we had quite the push and pull. I must have misread the whole initial attraction because he ghosted me after my time was up. I dove right in with Niko.
Only to have my heart broken.
Needless to say, at thirty-two, I have been very unlucky in love.
And Maggie knows all of this. So, the fact that she is asking about Niko is strange.
I groan, mad at myself for being short. “Sorry, Maggie. That came out rude.”
A warm smile stretches. “It’s okay. You have a lot on your mind. I just thought maybe since you guys dated and since I’m not there, you might go to him for comfort.” She shrugs.
“He is the last person I want comfort from.”
A small, fleeting smile crosses her lips as she walks into the bathroom, emptying her cosmetics. The mood of the phone call switches, full of an awkward strain. I watch her, and a pain of selfishness settles in my gut.
Maybe I should have agreed to have her come home.
I want someone here with me. But she needs to be in Italy. Exploring the world.
As I’m about to end the call, the screen lights up with the words Unknown Number.
It can only mean one thing.
The detective is calling. It’s about time!
“Hey Maggie, I’ve gotta go. The detective is finally calling. Which is good. Now I don’t have to raise any hell.”
She nods and smiles. “You should anyway. Let me know what they say. I’m not meeting Katerina for another thirty minutes. Love you.”
“Love you.”
And with that, I click the green button.