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They searched in all the usual places. The burger hangout by The Harbor House. The beaches, not only once, but twice. Claire was nowhere to be found.
Tom pulled his truck onto the side of the road and killed the engine. “I’m all out of ideas here.”
“I’m sorry to have gotten you involved in this. It’s late. You can drop me off at my brother’s anytime.”
“Don’t worry, she’ll show up. It’s not like she’s run away from home.” He stared at her a moment. “Is it?”
“Of course not. But I do think this is Claire’s last hurrah before she gets grounded for life…and I’m just worried she’d going to do something really stupid.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Allie sighed. “You saw how Zeke reacted back there? He’s a good dad but…I know it sounds irrational but I think he’s trying to make up for the fact that our own dad was a complete slacker. It’s like he’s changed somehow. He’s always so tense and he and Mimi, well, they’re having marital problems.” She felt a moment’s disloyalty, but it was a relief to finally share it with someone.
“Is that why you didn’t tell Mimi and Zeke about the party the other night?” he asked quietly.
“I’ve never seen them this way before, Tom. It’s like one minute they’re polite strangers and the next…” She shook her head. “I think they’re having big problems. Except neither of them wants to own up to it. Teenage drama isn’t helping the situation, you know?”
“And you thought that by keeping it from them, you’d be helping?”
“I thought that Mimi a
nd Zeke were the one couple on this planet who could make it. Don’t you see? If they can’t, then no one can.”
“That’s a lot of pressure for one couple. No relationship is perfect, Allie.” She got the feeling that he wasn’t just talking about Mimi and Zeke. He started up the truck. “Don’t give up yet. There’s one more place we haven’t checked.” He eased into the driving lane, then made a sharp U turn.
“Where’s that?” Allie asked. Then she saw the direction he was taking and she didn’t need an answer. They were heading to the last place on earth Allie wanted to revisit.
*~*~*
The bridge over the Choctawhatchee Bay was under construction. At least, part of it was. Being that it was past midnight, however, the construction area was deserted. Tom drove his truck over the bridge toward the mainland. On the left side along the water a lone car sat parked among the sparse grass. Allie swallowed hard. This had been their special place. The place she and Tom used to make out. The Night of the Great Humiliation Part Two. Did he remember?
“Popular spot,” he muttered.
Of course he remembered.
He parked directly behind the car and turned on his brights. Two heads immediately popped up from the front seat. “Got ‘em.”
“Are you sure it’s Claire in there?” Allie asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Tom got out of his truck. Allie followed behind.
A tall lanky teenage boy jumped out of the driver’s side of the car. “What the hell’s going on?” It was the hipster from the Grayton Beach party that Claire had been “drinking” beer with. The boy Claire claimed she hardly knew. Ha!
“Claire,” Allie shouted, “come out of that car this instant.”
“What?” Allie heard her niece say. Claire slowly emerged from the car. Her hair, which had been up in a high ponytail was mussed. She smoothed down her cheerleader skirt and nervously licked her lips. “I can explain,” she began.
“Perfect,” Allie said. “So start explaining on the drive back to your parents’ house.”
“You don’t have to go with them, Claire,” Hipster boy said.
“Oh yes, she does!” Allie opened the truck door wide in invitation. Luckily, Claire meekly stepped up into the cab. Allie slipped in alongside her niece. She watched from inside the truck as Tom spoke to the boy. Quiet low words that Allie couldn’t make out. The kid shoved his hands into his pockets and hung his head.
“I’m sorry. I know I was supposed to come home after the game, but Mom said I could go to the party—”
“I don’t think this is what your mother had in mind when she gave you permission to go to a party.”
Claire began to sniffle. It might have worked, if Allie hadn’t already been bamboozled by it once before. “Are you going to tell my parents?”
