Chapter 8
Summer paced the living room, dodging around a pile of Max’s dinosaurs, and checked her phone yet again. It had been almost half an hour since Benjamin had said he would contact his brothers, and still she hadn’t heard back from him. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
She reached the wall at the end of the small living room and spun back in the other direction just in time to see the swivel of headlights turning into the driveway.
Her breath left her in a solid brick, and she rushed to the door. TJ had better have one very good explanation for scaring her half to death, or she was going to— Well, she didn’t know what she’d do, but she’d figure it out after she hugged him.
She yanked the door open. “Where in the world have—”
But that wasn’t TJ’s boxy old sedan in the driveway. It was Benjamin’s tiny Gremlin. And he was marching toward her, his face covered by the shadows of the night.
Summer let out a small sound of protest and sagged against the door frame. Benjamin wouldn’t be here if everything was fine.
“It’s all right.” His voice was as cheerful as ever, and his footsteps picked up speed as he got closer. Light from the house spilled onto his face, and he gave her his usual easy smile. “I don’t have any news yet, but Zeb and Asher are both checking.”
“So what are you . . .” Summer’s voice felt weak and shaky, and she tried again. “Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “TJ keeps bragging about this new video game he got.” He grinned and slipped through the door as if this were one of the thousands of times he’d hung out and gamed with her brother. “I figure now is my chance to get in some practice before he makes me play it with him.”
“Oh.” Summer considered pushing him for the real reason, but she was afraid she couldn’t handle the answer. “Are you hungry? We have some . . .” She actually had no idea what kind of food they had. She’d made herself and Max a box of macaroni and cheese for dinner, but other than that, the cupboards were pretty bare.
“Nah.” Benjamin grabbed the TV remote, along with two game controllers, and plopped onto the couch, setting his phone next to him. “I had dinner at the restaurant.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were working, or I wouldn’t have—”
“I wasn’t working.” Benjamin waved off her concern.
And Summer suddenly remembered what TJ had told her earlier. Benjamin had a date tonight. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Benjamin.”
He turned to her in surprise.
“I interrupted your date.”
He shrugged and turned back to the TV. “Don’t worry about it.”
She shook her head. “You should go find her.” She resisted the overwhelming urge to ask who her was. “I’ll be fine. Text me if you hear from your brothers.”
Benjamin clicked on the TV and the gaming console. “I’m not going anywhere, Summer. Now, are you going to play with me or not?”
Her laugh was half exasperated, half relieved. “When have I ever gamed with you?”
“Then it’s about time you learned.” He held out the controller to her. “Think how you can hustle TJ.”
Summer sighed and reluctantly took the remote. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.” She settled onto the couch, careful to leave a full cushion between them so she wouldn’t drop her head onto his shoulder and fall apart.
Up went his eyebrow again. “Beating you, hopefully.”
He gave her some instructions she didn’t follow at all, then turned the game on.
“So,” he said as she randomly pressed buttons on the control, “have you gotten any more requests for a prince at your parties?”
Summer’s character on the screen fell down a hole. “Uh, yeah. A couple.”
“Really?” Benjamin grinned as his character expertly dodged an obstacle. “When are they? I’ll make sure I have off.”
“Uh, well, there’s one in two weeks. But I already posted an ad for a prince.” Not that finding a prince through an ad had been successful last time.
“What?” Benjamin’s character died, and he turned to her. “Did I not prove myself worthy to be your Prince Charming?”
Summer felt her face warm, but she rolled her eyes to cover it. “I need Aladdin this time.”
“I can do Aladdin.” Benjamin grinned and crossed his arms in front of him. “You have three wishes.”
Summer laughed in spite of herself. “I think you need to review your fairy tales. Aladdin doesn’t grant wishes. He makes them.”
“I can do that too. I wish you would let me do this. Please?” He gave her the same pleading look Max had used earlier.
“I— Maybe.” It sure would be easier than finding a stranger to do it. Plus, he had already proved he was good with kids. “But only if you accept half of the payment,” she added.
Benjamin opened his mouth—to argue, she assumed—but his phone buzzed. He picked it up, read it, and frowned, his eyes going dark as he tapped an answer.
Summer’s stomach heaved. For a couple of minutes, he’d managed to distract her from why he’d really come.
“What is it?” Her breath barely made it across her vocal cords.
“They found TJ’s car at the head of the Draco Ridge trail.” His voice was strained. “It doesn’t look like he ever came back to it.”
“Oh no.” Summer couldn’t say anything else. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.
“There could be a lot of reasons.” Benjamin scooted onto the empty couch cushion and scooped her hands into his. She stared at the cocoon his fingers made around hers, but she couldn’t feel anything.
“He might have twisted an ankle or gotten turned around,” Benjamin continued. “Asher said they’re setting up a search party. They’ll find him.” He gave her hands a little shake, and she lifted her head to him. “They’ll find him,” he said firmly.
She nodded, but her heart refused to beat. “I don’t— I think I need—” She tried to stand, but her legs refused to support her, and Benjamin eased her back to the couch.
“What do you need?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
“I know.” Benjamin wrapped his hands around hers again. “Please be with TJ, Lord. Please watch over him, wherever he is at this moment.”
It took Summer a moment to realize that Benjamin was praying. She clung to his hands and to his words.
“Please protect him,” Benjamin continued. “Please help the search crews find him quickly and get him whatever help he needs. Please bring him home safely. And please give us strength and comfort and trust in you as we wait. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
Summer tried to murmur Amen too, but the word got stuck in her chest.
“Now what?” she whispered instead.
“It’s up to you.” Benjamin’s fingers were still wrapped around hers, and his thumbs painted little circles onto the back of her hands. “We can just sit here. We can watch TV. We can play that game. You can go to sleep, and I’ll wake you when I hear something. Whatever you need.”
She shook her head. She had no idea what she needed. Except for him to stop being so sweet and so supportive and so wonderful. That was only going to make her lose the thin grasp she currently had on her emotions.
She pulled her hands out of his. “You should have gone with him.” The words weren’t loud, but she could see their effect on Benjamin instantly.
His face paled, his mouth dropped, and his eyes flooded with guilt. “I know.”
She pressed a hand to her lips. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m just—”
“I know,” he said again. “It’s okay. I wish I had gone.”
They sat in silence a while longer, and eventually Benjamin picked up the gaming controls again. He held one out to her, but she shook her head.
He set it down and began playing by himself, although even as inexperienced as she was with video games, she could tell he was doing horribly.
Minutes passed into an hour. And then two. She stared at the TV screen blindly, unable to think, unable to pray. The only thing she could do was remember. Remember how TJ used to play pranks on her when they were kids, and she would get so mad. Remember the way he would stand up for her to Mama. Remember the way he had always taken care of her, always guarded and protected her. And now he was missing, maybe hurt, maybe—
She gulped down the sob rising in her chest and pushed to her feet.
“Summer, where are you—”
Benjamin’s phone rang, making them both nearly hit the ceiling.
Benjamin grabbed at the phone, but not before Summer saw Asher’s name on the screen. She sank woozily back onto the couch.
He was calling to say they’d found TJ and he was okay and Summer could ream him out when he got home—that had to be it.
But she could tell from the way Benjamin turned away from her and dropped his head to his hand that it wasn’t.
“Thanks,” he said finally. He hung up the phone but didn’t turn to her.
She was too weak to ask what he’d learned. She didn’t want to know. If she didn’t know, she could go on telling herself that everything would be fine, that TJ would—
She choked on her breath as Benjamin finally turned to her, his eyes red-rimmed and serious.
“No.” She shook her head. “No. Don’t say it.”
He slid closer to her and reached his arms around her, pulling her against him. “They found him on the trail.” His voice cracked. “He’s gone, Summer.”
“No.” She shook her head harder, trying to shove him away, but he held on tighter, pressing her head into his shoulder.
“They’ll have to do an autopsy, but he was on the right trail and had no obvious injuries. They think it might have been his heart.”
“It can’t be.” Summer torqued her body sharply so that Benjamin would have to let go. “He’s twenty-six. They have the wrong person, that’s all. Call them back and tell them it’s not—” Her voice broke as a sob shook her whole body. “Tell them it’s not him,” she insisted through the tears.
“Zeb’s on his way with a picture for you to ID.” Benjamin reached for her again, but she lurched off the couch. He kept talking. “But Asher and Zeb both recognized him.”
She shook her head wildly, stumbling around the room like a mad woman, barely noticing when she kicked one of Max’s blocks and almost fell over.
She tried to keep going—where she didn’t know—but Benjamin’s arms wrapped around her, and this time she let him pull her close as they cried together.