Chapter 35 #2
The dispatcher picks up and I give as much information as I can.
They inform me that officers are on their way over, then I hang up and try to call Claudia myself.
But as Emma said, her phone is off and doesn’t even ring.
I walk over to the couch and throw my phone down, elbows on my knees and head in my hands as I try to think of what else to do.
I hear clattering from behind me, but I don’t turn to look. A few minutes later, Emma brings me a coffee and sets it on the table in front of me. She stands there for a few seconds before speaking up. “I’m sure there’s a good reason for all of this…”
How the fuck can she say that?
I look up into Emma’s worried eyes. “You don’t fucking know that! For all we know, she could have already left the country!” I snap, then drop my head back into my hands and pull on my hair. I hear her whimper as her steps retreat.
Minutes later, my door bursts open with Aubrey, followed by Cecilia, Morgan, and Ronnie. Aubrey quickly runs over and sits beside me, placing her arms around me in the form of a hug while I stay in the same position, unable to look at anyone without breaking down.
I feel like I’m suffocating.
Cecilia comes to kneel in front of me, placing her hand on my cheek and forcing me to look up at her. “The boys are all out roaming the streets and anywhere they can think. We’ll find her, Ford. I promise,” she says softly.
I nod my head, eyes burning with unshed tears. She quickly wraps her arms around my neck as mine reach around her waist, needing her to ground me for a few seconds as I try desperately to believe her words.
When we pull apart, I find Em to the side, staring at us with a pained expression. But I say nothing and just turn my head away. I don’t have time to deal with her insecurities right now.
The girls stay in the kitchen with Emma, while Aubrey stays at my side, rubbing my back.
A short time later, the cops finally arrive and note down any information we can give them.
They promise us that officers are already patrolling around the city.
And that an alert has gone out with a description of my daughter, telling people to call immediately if she is seen. The more he talks, the worse I feel.
He sits down on the table in front of me and places his hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly. “This happens more often than you think, and most times, it’s simply a misunderstanding. Let’s stay positive and hope that’s all this is. No need to think of the worst outcome just yet.”
It’s like he can read my mind, because in this moment, every time I close my eyes, all I see is my daughter lying in a ditch somewhere or being sold out to the highest bidder.
Emma comes to sit at my side and takes my hand, but I shake her off. I can’t do this right now. I see the hurt in her eyes and in the silent sob that breaks free as she gets up and goes back to the kitchen.
Please let my baby be okay… please…
An hour passes with still no news, and the boys are now all sitting around the living room as we wait for someone to tell us where my baby girl is. Suddenly, my phone rings on the table and all noise ceases instantly as we turn to it.
I pick it off the coffee table and quickly answer it when I see Claudia’s name flashing, standing straight from the couch. “Claudia?!” I call out her name, my heart pounding violently in my chest.
“Oh, Greyson! I’m so sorry! I know you must be going out of your mind.
My car broke down on the way back to your place, but my phone had died, so I had to wait for someone to stop to call a tow truck.
I asked the gentleman to drop us at the nearest restaurant because Gracie was hungry and getting fussy,” she begins with a panicked tone.
“I was going to ask an employee to charge my phone so I could call you or Emma, but I had left it in my car. I had to take a taxi to the garage to get my phone back, and the nice lady behind the desk let me charge it.” She stops long enough to blow her nose and take a deep breath before continuing.
“I would have called sooner or made my way over. But all your information is in my phone, and I don’t know your address by heart. I’m so terribly sorry, Greyson. Please forgive me. I have your address now. We’ll get in a taxi right away,” she rushes out, crying through the phone.
Relief washes over me, and I feel like I’m breathing for the first time since I got home. I place my hand over my racing heart and drop back to the couch, eyes closed as my head falls back against it, a deep exhale making its way out.
“No, just give me the address, I’ll come pick you up.”
I take down the shop’s address and end the call. My hands clasp around my phone, trembling from the rush of adrenaline and anxiety as I let my arms drop to my thighs, feeling drained.
“Gracie’s okay. Just one shitty situation after another. But she’s fine. I have to go get them,” I say to everyone, hearing them sigh as the tension and worry leave their bodies.
Emma lets out a cry as her face falls into her hands, shoulders shaking. Morgan quickly wraps her in her arms, whispering soothing words in her ear.
“I’ll come with you,” Sy offers, and I nod.
“We’ll stay here until you get back so that we can have visual proof and get Mrs. Teller’s statement. I’ll send another officer to join you at the auto shop as well,” the officer informs me as I get up to leave.
“Okay. Thank you,” I utter on autopilot, then give him the address as I grab my keys and head for the door, my mind solely focused on getting my girl back.
I'm coming, Buttercup. Daddy's coming.
A few hours later, I’ve put Gracie to bed after holding her in my arms for as long as I could. Everyone has left except for Aubrey, who’s stayed by an emotional Emma’s side and helped out by cooking dinner.
I get back down to the kitchen where the girls are situated and head to the cabinet above the fridge, needing a drink. Normally, I’d have a glass of wine at this hour, but right now, the need for something stronger is extreme.
I take down the bourbon and pour a hefty amount into my glass, draining it in one go and pouring another. I turn around to face Emma and Aubrey, resting my backside against the counter with the glass in one hand, the other clutching the edge of the counter beside me.
Em and I haven’t talked since, we were both too distraught to communicate properly.
All evening, I’ve been going through everything that happened in my mind, trying to come up with a good reason why she would have left my daughter with someone else.
My worries about the situation quickly turned to anger once I got Gracie back.
“Greyson… I’m so—” Em starts, but I cut her off.
“I don’t want to hear how fucking sorry you are. Do you realize how badly today could have gone?! You left my daughter with a complete stranger!” My voice rises the more I speak. I’m angry with her. She never should have put my daughter in that situation.
“She wasn’t with a stranger. She was with her grandmother,” she counters with narrowed eyes.
“A grandmother she’s met all of two times, including today! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I shout back.
“Grey…” my sister rebukes.
“No! You stay out of this!” I growl with the point of a finger, then drain my glass once more.
“I was doing it for her! I thought it was a good way for them to bond properly,” Emma retorts quickly, as if that’s a good enough excuse for the shit show she caused today. It’s not.
I drop my glass to the counter with a big bang. “DOING IT FOR HER?!” I roar as I take a step forward, pressing both my hands into the kitchen island. My mind quickly fogs as I lose sense of rationality, and my wrath takes over.
“You put my daughter’s life in danger! Who the fuck do you think you are to make decisions like that? You didn’t even bother to notify me, you just decided to take matters into your own hands when you had no fucking right!” I slap my hand on the countertop before pointing a finger at my chest.
“I’m her father, I’m her parent! Not you!
I make those decisions, not you! You don’t get to choose what my daughter needs in her life.
” I turn my pointed finger to her. “All you’re supposed to do is watch over her and take care of her, because that’s your fucking job!
Not ship her off to someone else whenever you feel like it!
” I breathe heavily through my nose, that fog in my mind getting thicker and thicker by the second.
“Tell me, Emma? Were you really doing it for her? Or did you need some time alone because you’d had enough, like dear old Mommy?” I know I’m out of line, but there’s no stopping the fury running through my veins right now.
“FUCK YOU!” she yells.
My sister stares at us with wide eyes, unsure what to do. She hates conflict more than anyone and avoids it at all costs.
Gracie begins to wail through the baby monitor, clearly having gotten woken up by our loud argument. “Great! You woke her up!”
“I didn’t wake her up! You’re the one who’s been screaming at me since you came down here!” Emma calls out loudly.
“Because you fucking deserve it!!!”
Aubrey stands from her seat quickly. “I’ll check on Gracie,” she says before hightailing out of the room.
My body vibrates with rage, and I feel the need to break something. I pass my fingers through my hair furiously and pull on the ends, closing my eyes and breathing heavily through my nose as I try to control my temper. But it’s no use, nothing is working.
“Fuck… fuck… FUCK!”
My hands leave my hair, and I grab the first thing in reach, pulling my arm back and sending it sailing across the room with all my strength. It smashes against the wall and shatters into a million pieces.
It isn’t until I see the shards lying on the ground and hear Emma’s desperate cry that I realize what I’ve just done. What exactly I just threw.
In my fog induced rage, I grabbed Emma’s coffee mug…
Her sunflower mug.
Em rises from her stool slowly, eyes fixed on her broken mug. She takes cautious steps toward it as tears run freely. She drops to the floor in front of the pieces, not caring about the splinters surrounding her, and reaches into the pile, picking up a single piece, bigger than the others.
The sunflower.
Oh, no… fuck… shit, shit, SHIT! What have I done?!
Somehow it survived the crash. An earth-shattering sob bursts from her lips before she covers her mouth with her hand to silence it. Her body shakes violently as she kneels there crying.
“Oh fuck… Em… I-I didn’t mean to… shit… I’m so sorry…” I stare with wide eyes, unsure what to do or say.
At the sound of my voice, her whole figure freezes up. She straightens her back, lifting her head high as she rises from the ground. With the piece still in hand, she walks over to the island and stops on the opposite side, facing me.
Her eyes are locked on mine, but what I see looking back at me isn’t the Emma I know. I see it. All her walls I’ve broken down over the last six months have built themselves back up and solidified instantly.
She’s shut me out. Locked herself in her castle and thrown away the key.
My heart shatters as I realize the damage I’ve done. As every word I’ve spat at her out of fury comes back to me.
In the calmest voice I’ve ever heard leave her lips, she says, “I’ll stay on as Gracie’s nanny until you either find someone else to work full-time or hockey season is over. Then I’m done.” With that, she turns on her heels and walks away.
“Wait, no, Em. Please, I… I’m sorry, okay? I’ll fix it… Bunny… I didn’t mean to!” I spurt out after her, panic lacing my voice.
But she’s already gone.