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My throat was tight, my eyes burning. The alternative was too much to even think about. What if Kendall got hurt? What if someone took her? I wouldn’t rest until she was safely at home.
I hated that she’d pulled Drew into this, too. Ellie and her father must be out of their minds with worry.
“You have any other ideas on where to check for them?” Colton was in full cop mode now. He wasn’t my friend.
“I don’t think she left,” I found myself saying, relying on the intuition Sophie had talked about.
“I hope you’re right,” Colton said before turning to one of his deputies.
How had I fucked everything up? Kendall running away with Drew. Involving two families in my mess. Now, Melanie was on her way here.
Dread filled my stomach for all the things that could go wrong.
One of Colton’s deputies guided me inside. I’d never felt so useless in my life. I sat on the couch with my elbows resting on my thighs and hung my head. Then I paced in front of the living room windows that faced the street.
I wanted to be the first to know if they found them. What if they found Drew but not Kendall? What if Drew couldn’t convince Kendall to stay?
I never considered myself a religious person, but I prayed hard that the kids were unharmed. That we’d find them.
It was getting dark, which brought up a whole host of other worries. Where were they? Did they have shelter? Or were they hiding in the woods? It was fall, and it got cooler at night. It didn’t look like it was anywhere close to freezing, but I still wanted Kendall safely tucked into her bed tonight under my roof.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to let her out of my sight for a long time. A car stopped in front of the house. I ran outside.
Could it be Kendall?
The back door opened, and Melanie stepped out. Her eyes were puffy, her cheeks tear-stained.
She rushed up to me. “I got the first flight out of Florida I could.”
“Why were you in Florida?” My skin drew tight over my jaw.
Her face screwed up in disgust. “I’m not sure how that’s important right now.”
“It is when our daughter runs away from home.”
Melanie sighed. “I followed a guy out there. I thought it was my chance to have my happy ending. You don’t know how hard it was as a single mother to meet guys.”
“So what, you go after a guy who doesn’t like the fact that you’re a mother?” I wasn’t positive that was what had happened, but looking back, she’d erased any trace of her relationship with Kendall. She’d sold the house. She didn’t tell us where she went, so we couldn’t follow her.
Melanie winced. “It wasn’t like that.”
It was exactly like that.
Melanie slowly shook her head. “We shouldn’t be arguing. Not when Kendall is missing. Where is she?”
A muscle ticked in my jaw. It wasn’t the right time to attack Melanie for leaving. “We don’t know. We’re trying to find her.”
Melanie pounded her fists on my chest. “How could you lose her? How could you let her walk away?”
The words reverberated through my head in time with her fists on my chest.
“I didn’t—I don’t—” I couldn’t form words; the guilt pressed heavily on my chest, making it difficult to breathe.
An officer pulled her gently away. “You need to calm down.”
Melanie was hysterical, and it wasn’t helping. She was making everything worse. I felt everything at once—guilt, regret, pain. So much pain.
I thought quitting the military would be the best thing I could have done. Like it would instantly repair my relationship with Kendall, but it hadn’t. I’d screwed everything up.
