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“That means she must be close,” Max says with such conviction that I almost believe him too. “Is it possible for the disease to make her think she might be somewhere else?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she mistook you for your mother. Maybe she could think that she’s in some other area where you used to live.”
“Oh,” I exclaim, realizing what he’s getting at. Hope fills me anew as I brainstorm out loud, remembering her favorite places in the other cities we lived. “The church, the flower shop…. I know where the church is here, but I don’t know if there is any flower shop. There isn’t one on the main shopping street.”
Max pulls out his phone, typing on it. “There are three in the area. The closest is two blocks away.”
“Let’s go to the church first. It’s closer.”
The heavy rain has dwindled to scattered raindrops, which makes things somewhat easier. Max’s phone rings nonstop, but he doesn’t answer.
“You should go back to the office,” I insist, hating to know I’m keeping him away.
“I’ll deal with it later. Let’s focus on finding Grams now.”
When we arrive at the church, the priest tells us Grams hasn’t been there. Bile rises in my throat, my vision blurring for a split second. At my insistence, Max and I go around the building once, making sure she’s not in the vicinity, which she’s not. Next we go to the first two flower shops on Max’s list, but there is no sign of Grams.
“Where is she?” I say through tears. “Where?”
Max squeezes my hand reassuringly, but as we walk back toward the main square, he looks in the distance, lost in thought. I can’t help notice that some of the light in his eyes has faded. Then he blinks, snapping his head to me.
“Look….”
I follow his gaze to the bakery, and then I start running as fast as I can, stepping into puddle after puddle of water, and not caring one bit. Because right in front of the bakery, looking around with wide, fearful eyes, is Grams.
When I’m in front of her, I want to hug her, and then I remember I’m soaked. Thank God she isn’t.
“Grams?” I ask tentatively.
She looks up at me, smiling. “Emilia, darling. Thank God. I went out to buy bread, but forgot where the bakery was. Now I found it and want to go home, but I don’t remember the way back, so I thought it would be best to wait for you. I had to hide from the rain. What took you so long?”
I laugh, relieved to hear her stern voice again. Most of all, I’
m happy that she is safe.
“I got lost too,” I say. “Come on, Grams, let’s get you home.”
Ten short minutes later, we are home. I’ve already announced to everyone involved in the search that I’ve found her. Grams grows agitated as she starts to acknowledge the events of the day, growing confused about what she was doing at the bakery and how she got there. I manage to calm her down and convince her to go to bed. Within minutes of her head hitting the pillow, she falls asleep. I wait a while, afraid she’ll get up and disappear again, but eventually I leave her room on my tiptoes, texting Mrs. Wilson to thank her for watching Grams this weekend. Ms. Adams is about to arrive to start her shift. The last thing I want to do is leave Grams again today, but there is no way I can take more time off from the clinic.
***
I find Max in the small kitchen, talking on his phone. He’s with his back to me, in front of the window.
“What do you mean they left? Go after them. Keep them there. Do you know how much work it was to bring them to the negotiations table?”
The person at the other end of the line is yelling loud enough that even I can hear him. “You shouldn’t have left if you wanted to seal the deal.”
“I can be there in half an hour, forty minutes tops. Go after them and bring them back in the meeting room,” Max says, his voice growing hard.
I only hear snippets of what the other man is saying, but I catch the words already left and the deal fell through. You just lost your company millions.
“God damn it, Anthony, you think I didn’t want to be there instead of dealing with all this shit? I’m done now. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Go after them.” He puts his phone away, turning around. His whole body stiffens as he sees me in the doorway. One million thoughts race through my mind, overwhelming me.
“Emilia… I didn’t mean—”
“To say you didn’t want to be here and dealing with this shit? My shit?”
