Beck served before I could argue further, the ball slicing low over the net. Dalton darted in front of me to return it, his shoulder nearly brushing mine as he stepped back into place. We fell into a rhythm, though, as the match went on—him covering the deep shots, me guarding the kitchen line. When I missed one by inches, Dalton leaned closer again, grinning. “Good hustle, DD.”
I stiffened at his soft voice in my ear, and I caught Nellie watching us from across the net. Though herexpression was pretty neutral, Beck’s lips were the ones that were twisted downward. “He ever learn about personal space?” I heard him ask Nellie.
I craned my neck to one side, then the other. It was the first time I truly wished Dalton weren’t here, and it was strange. My heart hadn’t skipped a beat at the sight of him. I glanced at the cobblestoned path that led back to the building, where Jamie would come from when he got here. He’d find me playing with Dalton. After the biggest fight of our friendship, he’d find me cozying up to his enemy. Unease fluttered through me.
Nellie’s next serve came in fast, snapping me into focus. Before Dalton could step in, I darted forward, planting myself at the line and snapping my wrist in a clean volley that split Nellie and Beck right down the middle. The ball smacked the pavement, untouched by their rackets.
“Heck yeah!” Dalton hooted, holding his palm up to me. “Our point!”
Hesitantly, I high-fived him, but Dalton’s hand wrapped around mine and jostled me closer. My sneakers skidded a little as something in me recoiled. I was too aware of Nellie’s calculating eye, too aware that Jamie could come around the corner at any second, and too aware of Theo, who could blab to the kids when we got home.Daisy held hands with Dalton.
I glanced over to the table where Theo had been sitting.
The table that was now empty.
Theo’s small green water bottle was still on the table, but he was nowhere to be seen.
My racket clattered from my slack grip as I started forward, and I could physically feel my stomach drop to my toes. Nellie looked over her shoulder as I got closer, stiffening. “Where did Theo go?” Her voice was high, alarmed. “Beck, did you see?—”
“I didn’t.” He sounded equally stressed.
“He wouldn’t have gone far,” I said, but my heartbeat had picked up, nearly drowning out any other sound. “He—he knows not to go anywhere.”So why would he get up without saying anything?
“I’ll go check the garden,” Beck said, dropping his racket and rushing off in the direction further down the path.
Nellie grabbed my wrist and gave it a sharp squeeze before letting go. “I’ll check down by the pool. You look inside.”
I didn’t even think I nodded. Instead, I broke into a run, frantically scanning as I went. Theo wasn’t at any of the other tennis courts, and I didn’t see a red-haired little boy wandering the path, either. I hurried down the cobblestoned walkway, head on a swivel as I searched the rosebushes for a crouching child. Nothing. Nowhere.
I shouldered through the double doors that led inside, a blast of air conditioning nothing compared to the ice that had frozen my heart. “Theo!” My voice echoed off the halls, drowning out the calming music eking out of the speakers. “Theo! Where are you?”
I didn’t realize Dalton had followed me until I heardhis voice. “Daisy, calm down,” he tried to reason, hustling after me. “This is Alderton-Du Ponte, not a Quick-and-Quirky Mart parking lot. Nobody snatched him?—”
“You don’t know that.” Gosh, just the idea made me feel like I was going to be sick. All because I let Dalton weasel his way into our doubles game. What had I been thinking? I shouldn’t have even brought Theo along when I knew I’d be distracted.What had I been thinking?“And even if someone didn’t snatch him, he could be hurt—could’ve snuck into a room he wasn’t supposed to?—"
“Worst-case scenario thinking isn’t going to do you any favors,” Dalton said, his voice too loud and grating in my ear. “Think about it logically, not emotionally?—”
“Shut up. Justshut up.” I came to a stop as I doubled back on him, and I would’ve shoved at him if he’d been closer. He seemed to know to keep just out of reach. “You don’t even get it. He’s six. He doesn’t know what’s safe here and what’s not. He’s not a freaking root, Dalton, he’s mylittle brother, and if you’re not going to help, thenget lost.”
It was the harshest I’d ever spoken to him before; that much was evident by the way his blue eyes widened in surprise. “I’m helping,” Dalton insisted. “I’m helpingyoucalm down.”
“I don’t need to be calm!” Now I stepped up to him, ready to swing. “My little brother ismissing, and you’re telling me to becalm?”
Dalton caught at my wrist before I could so much as pull my arm back. “He’s not missing,” he murmured, and he was trying to sound soothing, but I was ready to kickhim in the shins. Or between the legs. “You just don’t know where he is.”
“Are you kidding? That’s what missing means, you?—”
“See!” Theo’s little voice rang out. “I told you I knew it was this hallway.”
I whirled, finding Theo standing at the mouth of the hallway, probably fifty feet away, holding Jamie’s hand. Theo was grinning like nothing was wrong, like hehadn’tjust disappeared without saying anything. Jamie was looking down at Theo, and then he lifted his chin, and our gazes locked.
Then he looked at where Dalton held my wrist, something in his expression flickering.
Every single muscle in my body loosened at the sight of Theo with his hand in Jamie’s, so much so that my knees nearly gave out in relief. All the scary what-ifs and horror scenarios that’d been playing in my mind vanished, the panic-induced fog lifting as I crossed the hallway to them. My throat felt impossibly tight as I crouched down in front of Theo and all but dragged him into my arms.
As soon as I crushed his little body to my chest, I started to cry.
“See, I told you,” Jamie said from above us, his voice soft and scolding. “I told you that your sister would worry. What do you say, Theo?”
