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Vincent laughed. “Of course now I’m getting hungry. If I ever settle down—which is unlikely—I need to find myself a chef. You got lucky.”
I grinned as we reached my car and I opened the door. “I sure am. Get a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you bright and early.”
He blew out a breath. “Will do. You too. Enjoy your night. Thanks again.”
“I will.”
As was now my tradition, I sang all the way home. Tonight’s song on repeat was “Natural” by Imagine Dragons. On the way, I stopped off at the grocery store for a few essentials. The aforementioned sparkling grape juice, a pint of vanilla ice cream, some fresh strawberries, and a rather ostentatious rainbow bouquet of tulips, although I probably lost points for where I was buying them. On impulse, I grabbed some of the bath bomb thingies I knew Hannah enjoyed. Maybe we could enjoy some hot tub time after Lily was asleep.
If Hannah wasn’t too tired. And if hot tubs were okay for pregnant women. I’d have to look it up. Or she could take a regular bath, even without me. I wasn’t fussy. I just wanted her to enjoy the celebration too.
I was becoming a house husband. Kind of. I mean, not really. I would be outfitting my office to do the podcast in a professional manner, and I intended to keep my hand in at work so I wasn’t a stranger. Wainwright had a number of different interests, and just keeping up with them would occupy a chunk of my time.
Plus, there was Hannah’s delivery service. I intended to help out there too in whatever way she needed me. Or if she didn’t, I’d just keep myself busy elsewhere.
When I rolled into the driveway, I was singing a song from the Black Keys. Then I realized the house was dark.
There wasn’t a single light burning anywhere. Even the porch light was off. I hadn’t realized how I’d become so used to coming home to a well-lit house. Stepping inside to delicious scents with the music blaring and Lily’s giggles while she whaled on whatever toy she was torturing that day. Some days there was an added bonus of Hannah’s creative swearing under her breath at whatever she was cooking.
Noise and lights and life. A happy home.
Getting there anyway.
Seeing the place so dark and still made me swallow hard. It was like a flashback of my life pre-Hannah. No one to greet me, no waiting warmth. Just an empty shell of a space waiting in silence until even my footsteps sounded like echoes.
My eyes narrowed on the empty spot where Hannah usually parked. Her car was gone. Not a surprise, but still, the proof she wasn’t home struck me low in the gut.
I turned off the radio and pulled out my phone to doublecheck she hadn’t left me a message. Nothing. I checked the Google calendar we shared, just in case she’d added an appointment I’d forgotten, but that was blank too. The only thing there were my last few meetings with Vincent and some of our advertisers, advising them of the transition. That part was over now, but she didn’t know that. I’d expected them to run later. Maybe that was why she hadn’t contacted me to let me know she’d be late.
Maybe.
Quickly, I called her. My racing heart said it wasn’t the time for a text. The call went straight to voicemail.
“She’s probably just running errands,” I said aloud. “No big deal.”
I tried her phone again, knowing she wouldn’t answer. Needing to do it anyway. I got her voicemail again and told her to call as soon as she got my message. Then I called Gran.
“Hannah isn’t with you, is she?”
“No, why?”
/> “She’s not home and I don’t know where she is. Is Lily there?”
“No. Neither of them. I haven’t talked to Hannah since yesterday.”
“Let me know if you hear from her, okay?”
“Why would I hear from her? Snug, what’s going on?”
I shut my eyes and leaned back in my seat. “Nothing. Nothing’s going on, but tell that to my head. Tell me that this isn’t like when no one heard from Billy, and he was lying dead behind a house for hours without anyone knowing. Tell me that. Please.”
“Oh, Snug, it’s not like that. She’s a busy mother. You know she’s probably out doing a million things. Maybe even delivering those meals of hers. She didn’t answer when you called?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you come here and we’ll go look for her? Just drive around and see if we can track her down. That’s what family does.”
I wanted to take her up on the offer. God knows I didn’t want to be alone. As it was, my hand would’ve jangled if I hadn’t gripped the phone with all my might. But I had to do this myself.
