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His gaze fell down to his legs and Brielle’s did, too, finally looking at his bare legs for the first time. They were skinny—skinnier than she imagined even through his pants—at odds with his torso. There were some bruises along one shin and the other thigh, and Brielle worried that she’d hurt him.
His eyes flittered away from her and she wondered if he could read her face. She hadn’t meant to be surprised, hadn’t meant to think anything negative, but there was no explaining that, not when she hadn’t said anything anyway. “I can manage,” he said, clearing his throat. He finally looked at his screen. “I should probably…”
She jumped up, grabbing her panties, bra, and shirt from off the floor. “I’ll give you some privacy,” she said and instead of heading to the master bathroom, she went for the guest one to put more distance between them.
* * *
It tookBrielle a second after she stepped out of the bathroom, freshened up best she could without a shower, to remember where her pants and sweater were.
Somehow, in their haste, they’d left a bit of a trail from the front door to the bedroom. She stepped over Archer’s braces to snatch up her jeans, sliding them on while searching for her sweater. Archer’s voice carried down the hallway, although he was speaking in hushed tones and she couldn’t make out what he said clearly.
She was pretty sure he mentioned his mother, which was reason enough to not strain to hear more, after what she’d just done with the woman’s son.
After a moment, she heard her own phone buzzing and retrieved it from where she’d left it in her purse. Her sweater was nearby and she slid it on awkwardly one arm at a time, shifting the phone from one hand to the other. She saw a message from Pembroke first and she took in the words “I’m sorry,” but her notifications disappeared when she saw her mom calling.
Oh. Lovely. Nothing like a couple of young adults chatting with their moms right after they’ve had sex.
The incessant buzzing of the phone in her hand made it tempting to ignore the call. But when it went to voice mail and her mom called back seconds later, she figured she’d have to answer and just pretend she’d spent the day in the library scouring the classifieds for job listings in a different environment to reenergize her job search. It was sort of how she’d originally seen this day going, which is why she’d felt okay about putting off doing much during the week. She was hopeful about Archer’s mom’s contact at the museum but practical enough to know it promised little more than nothing.Maybe this is about Archer’s mom firing us. Mom probably wants to know if I know any reason why.“Hey, Mom.”
“Finally!” exclaimed her mom, even though there were no signs Brielle had missed more calls from her. “Is Nora with you?”
“No,” said Brielle, almost sucker-punched by how different a turn this conversation was taking than she’d expected. “What’s wrong?”
The sound of her mom taking a deep breath almost said it all. “She left. She was gone before I got up this morning. She isn’t answering her phone, either. I just thought… Maybe she went somewhere with you? Or told you where she was going? I didn’t want to panic when I got back at lunch, but some of her things are missing.”
“No.” Brielle felt her palm holding the phone getting clammy. “I haven’t even talked to her in days.”
“She was here last night…” She never had asked Brielle where she’d been, but Brielle supposed it was a good thing she hadn’t been too nosy.
Brielle felt her blood run cold. “Does this have something to do with that language camp?”
A moment of silence hung over the line. “Do you think she went to see your grandmother?”
“With what?” asked Brielle. “Lita doesn’t have a ton of money to spare, whatever Nora thinks.”
There was audible rifling going on on the other side of the call. “I can’t find my debit card.”
“She knows the pin?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Yes, probably. She’s seen me use it.”
Nora, are you freaking serious?“Let me see if there are any flights to Puerto Rico out of O’Hare today.” She brought up the browser.
“What if she already left?” It was the first time in a long time Brielle had heard that twinge of hurt in her mom’s voice without it being drowned in anger.
“Can you call the police?” asked Brielle. There were two flights to Puerto Rico from Chicago today. One left at 5 in the morning. But the other wasn’t going to fly out until 7 p.m.
“It hasn’t been twenty-four hours since she left.” Always practical, even when her teenage daughter was off doing something stupid. “And she’s almost eighteen, I don’t know what they’d say…”
“They’d say she’s not an adult yet, and you have every right to deny letting her leave the continental U.S. without permission.” Brielle took a deep breath. “She could have left at 5 this morning…”
“I don’t think so. I don’t sleep well these days and she was still here at 6 when I got up. I’m sure of it.”
That was a relief. Leave it to Nora’s laziness to make sure she didn’t catch an early morning flight. “Then there’s a chance she’s aiming for a 7 p.m. one. I’ll send you the details. Can you call the airline and see if they’ll release information on whether or not she bought a ticket?” Naturally, she wouldn’t have stolen her mom’s credit cards. Then they could have checked a statement to see if it matched the airline. As it was, the best evidence they would find was a withdrawal of no doubt hundreds of dollars in cash.
“If they can find her, I’ll make them take her aside,” her mom said. “Then head there to get her.”
“No,” said Brielle, having a moment of clarity. “Just ask if they’ll subtly deny her boarding? Don’t let her know you know what’s up. She might bolt or resent everyone making a scene.”
