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She seemed to search his eyes, then nodded. “Thank you.”
Mitch followed her as she walked him out. He said goodbye and turned to leave, but turned back. “Zoe, I do mean it. If you need anything, please call me.”
She gave a small smile. “Thank you,” she said with a raspy voice.
He nodded then closed the door behind him, exhaling his own shuddered breath as he went down the steps and climbed into his car.
He looked back at the house, a house he thought should be filled with a large family and laughing children. Instead, it seemed like a house filled with ghosts.
Mitch turned the key in the ignition and lowered his foot on the accelerator. But as he neared the end of the driveway, his eyes kept looking in the rearview mirror. When he reached Castle Road, he pulled the car to a stop and sat for a moment. Through the trees, he could see a sliver of the front of her house.
He turned off the radio and relaxed into the seat. He didn’t know what he was waiting for, but he felt like he couldn’t leave the property either.
He looked back to the house again, but the lights were off.
CHAPTER4
ZOE
Zoe pushed the bedroom door closed with her fingertips, resting her forehead on the door as tears streamed down her cheeks, falling onto the carpet. It took her a moment to realize she’d walked into the nursery, and she fell to her knees as hot tears flooded her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Her chest heaved as she sobbed—for her parents, for her husband, for Lana, for the unborn child she’d lost the day her husband had died. How ironic that the house she’d bought had a nursery.
Why, God?
How much more was she supposed to take?
In less than two years, she’d lost everyone she loved.
She’d never felt this alone. She’d never been this alone.
She thought losing her unborn child—the last piece of her husband ripped away from her—had surely been the final straw. She even thought God might bring Lana home to help her through the pain. But instead, God had taken her last hope from her.
Her sobs echoed like pained gasps. She placed her palms on the old wooden floorboards that always seemed to be dusty no matter how many times she cleaned them.
Zoe felt like someone had reached into her chest and was strangling her heart. The floorboards shifted beneath her and she drew a deep breath.
If she dropped dead tonight, how long would it be before someone noticed?
A long time, she realized.
Stand up,she commanded herself.
She reached one hand against the door and pushed herself up to stand on two very shaky legs.
She blew out an even shakier breath and wiped the tears from her eyes.
She couldn’t be weak, not now. Not ever. She couldn’t rely on anyone, and for that reason alone she had to keep going.
Her sobs turned to violent quivers as she fought to breathe, to get enough oxygen into her lungs. She fought the battle against the rising anxiety in her chest.
She’d known the chance of finding Lana alive had faded with every passing day, but she’d refused to believe this was how it’d end. Lana had always been spirited, although she had calmed down when she’d started her nursing career. When she’d gone missing, Zoe had always believed she’d eventually come home.
Zoe squeezed her eyes shut as she sucked in another breath.
What had happened to Lana in her final days? Final moments?
She exhaled a shuddered breath, again thinking about all the ways she’d failed her sister. Zoe had been too busy drowning in her grief to be there for her. She should’ve seen something was wrong, she should’ve been the person Lana had come to if she was upset or stressed, but instead Lana had disappeared and Zoe had done nothing to find her.
She needed to see where Lana had been found.
