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I quickly dial his number, but it goes straight to voice mail. “You’ve reached Ryan Elson. Please leave a message after the beep, and I’ll call you back.”
Beep.
“Hey, Ryan, it’s me. I’m at your place, and I thought you’d be here by now. I was just checking to see how long you’d be. Let me know. ‘Kay, Bye.” I hang up and wonder how dumb that message is going to sound to his ears.
I sit another fifteen minutes, but don’t get a return call. I pull up my messages, wondering if maybe my phone is acting up. But when I’m greeted with “No New Messages” on the screen, I start to get a little worried.
Standing up, I start to pace. I walk from one end of the deck to the other. It doesn’t take long. When I finish what is probably lap number one thousand, I grab my phone again.
Nothing.
I pull up the text message screen again.
Me: Is everything ok? I thought you’d be home by now.
Send.
Five minutes later, it goes unanswered.
Panic starts to set in. What if he had an accident at work? What if he had an accident while on his way home? Who would they call in case of an emergency? Ryan doesn’t have any family around here. Would they call his family in? Or Sara?
That thought sends my stomach straight into my shoes.
I contemplate my next move. I can go over and get Mrs. Hanson, but I don’t want to worry her if he’s just working late. I could call all the hospitals, but I’m not family so they won’t give me any information. I could drive around and look for him like some crazy, stalker ex-girlfriend, but that thought just makes me feel sad and depressed.
Surely this isn’t Ryan’s way of moving on, is it? He wouldn’t drop me like this without so much as a word of goodbye, right? Everything I’ve discovered, everything I know of this man is that he is nothing–and I mean, nothing–like Gavin. Ryan has given me no reason to distrust him, so I’m not about to start now.
Pushing thoughts of Ryan leaving me high and dry as far out of my mind as possible, I focus on the theory that something is wrong. I spend another thirty minutes coming up with my game plan, which is essentially nothing. I don’t know where to look for him, and I don’t know what to do. I make several laps around the front of the house, just to check the driveway, and still come up empty.
When the clock hits eight, I’m beyond worried. I’m terrified.
Not even noticing that the sun has almost disappeared and that I’m cold in my fitted tee and capris, I grab my keys and purse. I have no idea where I’m going, I just know that I can’t stay here. If something has happened, I need to find out what. Sitting here isn’t doing anything but sending me into panic attacks.
As I slip into the driver’s seat, my phone starts to ring. My hand shakes as I pull it up and see the name. Relief sweeps through me as I fight the onslaught of tears threatening to fall.
“Ryan!” I practically yell into the device.
“Is this Jaime?” I hear my name, but the voice doesn’t register.
“Yes,” I whisper, barely audible.
“This is Danny, and I work for Ryan. We’ve got a little problem.”
