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But now was not one of the times for which she could win an acting award. Stress after stress piled up. She no longer had the reserves to act like everyone expected her to act.
She pulled the cell out of her pocket to stare at it again. Avoidance often helped, but still no calls. No viable excuse to transport her to somewhere else.
Why hadn’t the call come yet? What was taking so long?
“I guess you’re on the phone all the time.” Cassie let the comment sit there, but when Lila didn’t respond, Cassie rushed to fill the quiet. “Being a real estate agent, I mean. You’re usually on call, right?”
“It does feel that way.”
Shegotto work as much as she wanted.Hegave that to her... or so Aaron claimed. He went to work, taught math to hormonal high schoolers who viewed calculus as a punishment, and she stayed home.
Some women in town once cornered her while getting coffee, those who enjoyed small talk and big gossip, told her in their voices, dripping with jealousy, how lucky she was to have a husband like Aaron. As if playing the role of pretty little wife were a gift and not a life sentence of boredom.
“Do you want to come over—”
The crunching sound of tires on gravel drowned out what sounded like an unwanted invitation for coffee. Lila had never been so happy for visitors. Never been happy about guests—period—until now.
She recognized the black sedan that saidall of my self-esteem is bundled up in an inflated monthly car payment. Brent Little, Aaron’s golfing buddy, best friend, and the principal of the high school, slipped out. He wore a navy suit, looking everyinch the guy who was on the hunt to find a girlfriend to replace the wife who’d left him after sixteen bumpy years of unhappy marriage.
He’d sported that put-together, exercised-to-exhaustion, fake-tanned outer shell for the last two years. Girlfriends would come and go, impressed by the flash and then, Lila assumed, horrified by the single-digit bank balance of a man paying alimony and child support under court order for a family living two states away.
Lila smiled, this time a genuine one because Brent trumped Cassie as the preferred companion. “Shouldn’t you be sending kids to detention and hiding in the faculty lounge at this time of day?”
Despite her light tone, Brent’s expression didn’t change. Eyebrows drawn together and mouth flattened into a thin line. His usual sunny smile gone and his steps halting instead of the rushing gait that carried him down the school hallways.
Finally.This was it. She’d been waiting all morning for a visit. She hadn’t expected it to be from him, but whatever.
He stopped in front of Lila, sparing only a glance in Cassie’s direction before he spoke. “Is Aaron home?”
Lila felt something inside her fall. That wasn’t right. That’s not what he should be saying. “Why would he be home?”
“He didn’t come to work. I’ve looked everywhere. He didn’t call in sick, and when I didn’t hear from you...”
Not possible.
“Wait a second.” She took a deep breath as she tried to maneuver through the questions bombarding her brain. “I got up and he was gone, as usual. He’s at the school.”
Because that’s what they did. She stayed up at night to read or watch television. He went for a run in the early morning and fixed his breakfast, all without having to dodge her, because she only got up when he was about to walk out the door. The system worked for them. That was the schedule... until today.
“Look for his car.” She couldn’t believe she had to be so specific to get this part done, but fine.
A strangled sound escaped Brent’s throat. “I’ve been calling him for almost two hours without success.”
“His car is there.” Lilaknewthat was true.
Brent shook his head. “Where?”
By the field behind the football stadium where he coached field hockey. That’s exactly where it had to be because that’s where she put it a few hours ago while their part of the world still was plunged in darkness.
She forced her brain to stay focused. “At school.”
She understood some confusion. That was to be expected. He usually parked the SUV in an assigned spot by the school’s back door. Far right. First row. Aaron viewed the close-in spot as some sort of badge of honor. But that’s not where they’d find it today, and theyshouldhave found it by now.
“Lila, listen to me.” Brent put a hand on her forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “He’s not there. He never came to school today.”
This was ridiculous. How hard could it be to find a vehicle with a body in it?
“I don’t get it.” She choked the words out over the unexpected ball of anxiety clogging her throat.
