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"Do it. "
Lauren did as she was told.
"I want you to picture your mother. "
She formed the image in her mind. Mom, platinum-haired, her once beautiful face beginning to tighten and go thin; she was sprawled on the broken-down sofa, wearing a frayed denim miniskirt and a cropped T-shirt. There was a cigarette in her right hand. Smoke spiraled up from it. "Okay. "
"Thats what running away does to a woman. "
Lauren slowly opened her eyes and looked at Mrs. Mauk.
"I watched you bust your ass for a chance in life, Lauren. You carried home backpacks full of books and worked two jobs and got yourself a scholarship to Fir-crest. You came up with the rent when your loser mother spent it all at the Tides. I had hope for you, Lauren. Do you know how rare that is in this building?"
Hope.
Lauren closed her eyes again, this time picturing Angie. She saw her standing on the porch, looking out to sea, with her dark hair fluttering in the breeze. Angie turned, saw Lauren, and smiled. There you are. How did you sleep?
It was a nothing little memory; just an image of an ordinary day.
"You have someplace to go, dont you?" Mrs. Mauk said.
"Im afraid. "
"Thats no way to go through life, Lauren. Trust me on this. I know where the road ends if it starts with fear. You know where it ends, too. In an apartment upstairs and a mound of unpaid bills. "
"What if she cant forgive me?"
"Come on, Lauren. Youre smarter than that," Mrs. Mauk said. "What if she can?"
"YOURE A REPORTER, DAMN IT. FIND HER. "
"Angie, weve had this conversation a dozen times. I dont even know where to start. David spoke to all of her friends. No one has heard from her. The guy at the bus station doesnt remember selling her a ticket. Her old apartment has been re-rented; the landlady practically hung up on me when I asked about Lauren. The admissions director at USC said she canceled her scholarship. I have no idea where shed go. "
Angie hit the button on the food processor. The whirring sound filled the kitchen. She stared down into the crumbly mixture, trying to think of something new to say.
There was nothing. In the past twenty-four hours she and Conlan had said everything that could be said on the subject. Lauren had simply vanished. It wasnt difficult to do in this busy, overcrowded world.
Angie unlocked the bowl and poured the topping over the blueberry mixture. Her sisters swore that cooking was therapeutic. This was her third blueberry cobbler. Any more therapy and shed probably scream.
He came up behind her, put his arm around her, and kissed the curve of her neck. She sighed and leaned back against him.
"I cant stand the thought of her alone. And dont tell me shes not alone. Shes a kid. She needs someone to take care of her. "
"Shes a mother now," he said gently. "The kid part gets lost in all that. "
She turned into his arms, put her hands on his chest. His heart beat beneath her palm, nice and steady and even. Whenever in the past few hours shed felt dizzy or lost or unsteady, shed gone to him, touched him, and let him be her anchor.
He kissed her. With his lips against hers, he whispered, "She knows you love her. Shell be back. "
Angie could hear in his voice how much he wanted to believe that. "No," she said. "She wont be back. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Shes going to think I could never forgive her. Her mother didnt teach her the things that matter. She doesnt realize shes forgiven her mom--or would the second she showed up. She doesnt know how durable love can be, only how easily it gets broken. "
"You know whats amazing? You never mention the baby. "
"A part of me knew she couldnt do it. " She sighed. "I wish Id told her that. Maybe then she wouldnt have run off in the middle of the night. "
