Page 109 of Weight of Guilt

“Everything about that time is just a nightmare, isn’t it? Just like this. I never thought I’d have to relive those days.” A tear trickled down Wren’s cheek.

“I’m so sorry you’re going through this, Wren.”

She leaned into her sister, and the two of them sat there a moment with their own thoughts.

Wren had spent a lot of time mad at God. Now it all seemed silly.

The lyrics from “Softly and Tenderly” came back to her.

See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching, Watching for you and for me.

Was Jesus still watching and waiting for her?

Chapter

Fifty-Five

A few minutes later, Wren glanced across the lot again. Nora had gone back inside to help coordinate handing out water, of all things. If the situation wasn’t so dire, she might have laughed.

Wren saw Nash standing at the tailgate of a county truck with a map spread flat and four men around it. He had a pen in his hand and pointed at something.

The men around him leaned in. Then one of them nodded and peeled off toward a vehicle.

Three weeks ago, she hadn’t even known Nash. Now he felt like her rock. The logic didn’t make sense, but the feeling was unmistakable. Had God brought Nash into her life at just the right time?

Nash seemed to sense her gaze and looked up.

Across that distance, he found her, and their eyes connected. The next moment, he leaned toward one of the men he was with, said something indiscernible, and then he crossed the lot toward her.

He stopped in front of her. “Hey.”

“Anything?” She looked up at him, a touch of hope bubbling inside her.

“Not yet.” He studied her another moment. “You okay?”

“Not really.” Her voice trembled.

“No one expects you to be strong right now,” he murmured.

He opened his arms and, without thinking, Wren stepped into them as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She pressed her cheek against his collarbone and let him hold her up.

It had been a long time since she’d let herself be held. She hadn’t thought she’d wanted to be held. Mason had been the only thing that mattered—not her own comforts or desires. Only her son.

But now, somehow, a man who’d solely complained about Bo for their first several conversations was now her biggest support.

Nash was still outside when Prine crossed the lot toward him, her phone against her ear. She finished the call before she got to him. The two of them had talked earlier. She knew he was TBI and on medical leave. That seemed to earn him a new level of respect with the woman.

“I put in for CARD,” she said. “They’re coming out of both Knoxville and Atlanta.”

He nodded, glad to hear the update. CARD stood for Child Abduction Rapid Deployment. “When?”

“Knoxville should be in here in an hour. Atlanta in four.”

“Good call.”

She studied him a moment. “What are your thoughts on this situation? You met the boy. You know his mom.”

“I think this could be connected with Christian, and I think it’s been coming.”