Page 74 of You Know You Wanna

My heart was beating so hard that it was making me feel sick. The edges of my vision even blurred as real panic set in. I knew she wasn’t a toddler who would run out in front of a car without even knowing what she was doing, but that was little comfort to me right then.

My little girl was gone. She’d run off on me in the mountains and I had no idea where to even start searching for her if she left the property. As I was running down toward the trailhead, Birdie came walking up the path in the direction of her cabin.

She was smiling contentedly until she saw me, but as soon as she did, the smile slipped off her face and she broke into a run, meeting me halfway. “Remington, what’s wrong? What happened?”

I stared into her eyes, blinking stupidly as I realized the impact of the words I was about to say. My heart cracked and the panic intensified, ensnaring my body in an icy grip I couldn’t seem to break free of.

This was one of my worst nightmares come true. It had been since the day Jacqueline had told me she was pregnant. The day I’d realized my very heart would start walking around outside my body once she came into this world.

“Laurene is gone, Birdie. She ran off and I can’t find her. She’s gone.”

38

BIRDIE

Laurene had run away and now the whole resort was on high alert. All the entrances and exits had been closed for the search, but unfortunately, that didn’t mean she hadn’t left the property before we’d shut them and it also didn’t mean she couldn’t get away at all.

There were a million different paths through the woods, some of which would eventually lead to a road while others would only take her higher and higher into the mountains. My heart had started fluttering like a nervous butterfly as soon as Remington had uttered the words, Laurene is gone, and it hadn’t stopped. I had a feeling it wouldn’t stop until we found her.

“What happened?” I asked gently, crouched down in front of him in the lounge area of the lobby.

Remington sat on the armchair in front of me, his knees bouncing and his face pale. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was going through right now, but we had people out looking for her. The staff was doing a full sweep, and right now, the only other thing that might help us find her was information.

Alan had tasked me with getting it, and as I looked up at him, I was glad I was the one here talking to him instead of some stranger. “Was she gone when you woke up?”

He blew out a long, harsh breath, his head shaking. He scrubbed his palms over his jaw. “No, she was there. She woke up while I was on the phone to Jacqueline.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, my chest tightening at the mention of his ex. “Did you two have a fight? Was Laurene upset about it?”

“She was upset, alright, but not because we had a fight.” He looked right into my eyes, the pain and worry in his so bright that just seeing it there made me feel like I’d been clobbered over the head with a bat. “Jacqueline wants her to go to England early. Apparently, she bought an apartment and she’s having a housewarming party, so she wants to cut our summer together short for Laurene to be there for it.”

My eyes slammed shut as understanding dawned. Drawing in a deep, shaky breath, I held it for five beats before blowing it out and then looking at him again. “Are you going to make her go?”

“It’s not up to me,” he snapped, exasperation tightening his features. He exhaled and grimaced. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, but those are the exact words that she used. I’m not making her do anything, but the reality is that she needs to go to England. It’s not like she and I can stay here forever.”

“Who said anything about staying here forever?” I asked softly. Of course, I desperately wanted them to stay, but my feelings hardly mattered. What I wanted was entirely irrelevant and I hadn’t said anything to him about it, so it hadn’t come from me.

“She did,” he said, staring right at me. “She wants to stay here. With me. And with you.”

“Oh.”

He nodded. “Exactly. This is my fault, Birdie. Mine alone. I told her we couldn’t stay here. I told her that she has to go.”

“Shit.” I inhaled through my nostrils and pushed to my feet. “Okay. Let me tell the others that she only left this morning. She didn’t happen to mention having any plans today, did she?”

“Nope. She was still asleep when I took the call and I hadn’t even realized she was awake until it was too late. I’ve looked everywhere I could think of.”

“Okay.” I took his hands and gave them a quick squeeze before releasing them. “It’ll be fine, Remington. We’re going to find her. She’s just upset. She’s probably hiding, but we’ll comb every inch of the property until we find her. She’s not gone. We’re going to bring her back.”

He released a shaky breath, dropping his head into his hands. I left to go speak to the others. I was so damn heartbroken for him, but I was also hurting for Laurene. I knew how vehemently opposed she was to London, and then to find out that she would be going even earlier than she’d expected had to have been devastating for her.

Depending on when her mother wanted her to go, it was possible she wouldn’t even have time to say goodbye to her friends before she left. Combining that with the fact that she was finally getting to spend some real time with her dad, I didn’t blame her for freaking out.

It sucked that she had to go at all, but it was a real double whammy that she’d have to go so soon. As I crossed the room toward Gracie, Declan, and Alan, it felt like my soul was bleeding for both Remington and Lulu.

Alan’s eyes were wide and scared when I reached them. “And? What did he say?”

“She disappeared this morning.”