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Panic filled Natalie. The girl was only four. So many things could have happened.
He glanced around her office as if still hoping to spot the child. “I think she overheard me talking to Elaine about arranging for her to go and live with them.”
Shock reverberated through Natalie. “What? Why would you do that?”
“Because I thought she’d be better off without me.” He sighed, raked his fingers through his hair, turning quickly to leave. “If you hear from her, call me.”
Standing, Natalie nodded. “Can I help look for her?”
He paused, his shoulders sagging, and nodded. “There are officers on their way to talk to me, get photos of her, et cetera.” His pale eyes lifted, full of pain. “Liz told Elaine that Carrie had been talking about taking a trip. I think she’s run away because she thinks I don’t want her anymore.” His voice broke, then he sucked in a deep breath. “The police are checking the airport and bus stations in case she made it that far.” His eyes bereft blue pools, he met her gaze. “What am I going to do if I don’t find her?”
Despite everything wrong between them, Natalie couldn’t help herself. She walked to the other side of her desk and wrapped her arms around him tight. “I’m so sorry, Matthew. I know they’ll find her soon and you can tell her how much you love and need her.”
He nodded, then seemed to realize he was standing still instead of looking for Carrie, and extricated himself from her hold. “I’d better go. The police are coming to the house.”
Natalie would have offered to go with him, but he left her office as quickly as he’d burst into it.
Carrie was gone. She had possibly run away. Had possibly overheard Matthew talking to his sister about letting Carrie live with her family. Had she felt the same abandonment Natalie had when she’d been shuffled from one foster home to another?
Walking around to her desk, Natalie closed out her computer program. Her brain was shot. She wasn’t going to accomplish anything until Carrie was found. The sheer terror she felt at the thought of the girl being on her own couldn’t begin to compare to what Matthew must be feeling.
Especially as he was blaming himself.
She wanted to be with him. To comfort him. To help him look for Carrie. But she had no right. He’d only come to her, asked if she’d seen the child because he’d been desperate and had thought Carrie might have reached out to her. If only.
Natalie pulled her phone from her scrubs pocket and checked it, hoping it would magically ring and Carrie be on the other end. Nothing happened, of course.
Restless, she flipped through her messages. One in particular caught her eye.
An alert from Memphis Zoo.
Heart pounding, Natalie grabbed her keys and purse.
* * *
Natalie searched the crowd in front of the giraffe exhibit at the zoo. Not an easy feat as the pending birth of Zoie had captured more than just Carrie’s heart and people were everywhere, waiting to catch their first glimpse of the giraffe. The weather was just windy enough to have folks bundled up in light jackets and hats.
Please be here, Natalie prayed. Please. Please. Please.
Continuing to make her way through the big-screen spectators, Natalie was just about to decide she’d been ridiculous to think she’d known where the girl was when a familiar voice called out.
“Natalie! I knew you’d come!” Carrie beamed, jumping up and down in her excitement. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
Finding her was the most wonderful thing ever.
Natalie collapsed to her knees and pulled the girl into her arms, being careful not to jar Carrie’s left arm, safely tucked into its sling.
“Carrie,” she breathed against the child’s head. “Never run off like that again! Thank God you’re okay.”
When she pulled back, the girl was eyeing her curiously and giggled. “I’m not the one having a baby giraffe.”
If not for the seriousness of the moment, Natalie would have smiled at the child’s logic. “Everyone is looking for you. We were scared something had happened. Your Uncle Matthew is beside himself.”
A sheepish look came over Carrie’s face. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
Still not quite believing she’d found her, Natalie nodded. “You really scared him, your family, me,” she added, pulling her phone out to call Matthew. “You shouldn’t have left without telling anyone where you were going.”
“But I wanted to see Zoie be born and I was going to go back to school before time to be picked up!”
