I answer on the first ring. “Hey, I thought we were going to FaceTime?”
“I figured we’d better wait for that until after Charlie is in bed. I need some visual alone time with you…if you know what I mean.”
My core tightens and I snort a laugh. “Good call. Charlie is just finishing up in the bath. Then bed, then we can Facetime.”
“Hi, West,” Charlie hollers into the phone from where she plays with a whale in the bubbles.
I put the speaker on.
“Hey, how’s my big girl?”
“Me and Mama had the best pizza for dinner. When you come visit, we will take you there. You’ll love it.”
I draw in a breath, my heart hitting against my chest.
“Visit? What are you talking about, silly girl?” he replies.
I shoot to my feet and clutch my phone, punching off the speaker and stepping to the open doorway. “Hey, I should get her out of the tub and in bed. I’ll call you back.”
“Sweetie, what’s Charlie talking about—when I visit?”
I stare at my girl in the bath, scooping up handfuls of bubbles. “Well, apparently Dottie had her house fixed up so Charlie and I could move into it.”
“What?” he says, chuckling. “That doesn’t make sense. She knew you and I were engaged. And my life is here, in Seattle.Yourlife is here. And so is Charlie’s.”
“I know, I know. Don’t worry. For now, it’s just an assumption. I’ll let you know what I find out after I meet with her lawyer.”
He sighs into the phone. “Oh, okay, good. You had me worried you two were scheming some big plan to get away from me.”
“Ha, ha.” My heart beats faster. “Of course not. Okay, well, I should get her out. She’s turning into a prune.”
“All right, sweetie. Tell Charlie good night for me. Then slip into something sexy. I’ll be waiting for your FaceTime.”
I end the call, a humming in my depths. “Okay, bath time is over,” I sing to Charlie.
Once she’s dried off and dressed in her pajamas, I tuck her underneath the covers and sit on the edge of the bed. She’s got a stack of books that have quickly become her favorites of Grandma Dottie’s. I pick the two off the top of the stack to let her choose which one she wants me to read.
“Okay, which one?” I hold them up, but Charlie is distracted. She’s wiggling this way and that, frantically rummaging around her in the bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Mama!” she screams, and throws her covers off her.
“What? What is it?” I shoot up off the bed and clutch my palm to my lower stomach, my eyes darting around the room,unaware of the magnitude of what I’m searching for. Is it a spider or an intruder?
“My mermaid,” she says on an instant sob. “I can’t find her.”
My stomach plummets, but a little out of relief. While I’m sad for her, a missing stuffie is something the two of us might be able handle, but an intruder—I’d say Charlie and I would be in serious trouble. “Okay, calm down. I’m sure she’s here somewhere, let me help you look.”
“No, she’s nowhere.” She’s throwing back the covers all the way now, scrambling on her hands and knees.
“Where did you last see it?”
“I don’t know. Mama, I lost her. Daddy is gonna be mad.” She collapses and I feel the plunge inside my own body.
“No, baby girl, he’s not. We’ll find her.”
She curls herself into a ball and sobs and I take it back—an intruder would’ve been better than this. Seeing my baby like this wrecks my heart.
“Maybe you left her in the bathroom when you went for your bath. Or maybe downstairs.” I rush into the bathroom, frantically searching. Nothing. I hurry down the stairs as fast as my legs will allow and search by the back door. Still nothing. Charlie is right. She’s not here.
