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Heading into the bathroom, Keaton took his time showering, hoping that August would turn up before he left. He didn’t like the idea of hanging out in the dining hall without her. But even with a lazy shower and time to dress and brush his teeth, she still hadn’t returned.
He hunted around for his room key and headed outside. The air was crisply cool, with a thickness that told him rain was imminent. The gray clouds had multiplied in the time that he’d been getting ready, blotting out the sun and blue sky. He felt a fine mist on his skin as he walked to the breakfast hall, holding his hand up in a wave as someone greeted him with a friendlyhello.
Keaton had found himself really enjoying being out of the Wall Street concrete jungle these past few days, surrounded by trees and nature rather than glass and steel. It was a surprise, since he’d never considered himself the “outdoorsy” type, and he’d been wondering if perhaps a property upstate might be a good idea. Somewhere to get away on the weekend if work was bothering him. Maybe Molly and Leah could come for a visit, even.
But today the walk didn’t relax him. In fact, a hard knot of anxiety was tightening in his gut. Something was wrong.
You’re being dramatic, he told himself.You’re always looking for the thing that could go wrong.
August and Molly would be happily munching away on some breakfast in the hall. He could practically see it—her red hair flopping down in her face as she tore off the end of a croissant to feed to the eager dog.
But as he approached the hall, the tightening in his stomach didn’t go away. He practically burst through the doors to the hall, his eyes sweeping across the room. It was a much smaller setup now, on the last day of competition, since a good number of contestants had already gone home.
And he couldn’t see a single redhead.
But he did spot Scout, who was sitting with her and Isla’s husbands at one of the tables. He approached and they all smiled.
“Have you seen August and Molly by chance?” He tried to keep the stress out of his voice, but judging by how Scout furrowed her brow he probably hadn’t done the best job of it.
“Not this morning.” She shook her head, her blond ponytail swishing back and forth. “Is everything okay?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I’m sure it is. They just went out for a walk and she should be back by now.”
“I’m sure Molly just found something interesting to sniff,” Lane said with an easy smile. “But if you want someone to help look for them, I’ll give you a hand.”
Keaton was almost taken aback by how willing Lane was to jump in with assistance. It made him feel silly for asking—the girls were probably taking their time and enjoying themselves. He was worrying for nothing.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Keaton said with an awkward laugh. “Molly likes to get her nose on everything when she goes out for a walk. It’s probably nothing.”
“Why don’t you join us,” Theo suggested, gesturing to an empty spot at their table. “Then if they don’t turn up by the time we’ve finished breakfast, we can have a look around together.”
They were likely humoring him.
This was a side effect of losing his wife—he always assumed the worst outcome. If Leah had a stumble, he thought she’d broken a bone. If his mom was in a bad mood, he thought her mental health issues had returned. If it was spitting outside, he thought a blackout storm was coming.
But even knowing all that, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
“Where the heckarewe?” August looked around at what she was sure was the same cluster of trees that she’d been staring at not ten minutes earlier. It had felt like they were going the right way back to the main hall, but then Molly had decided it would be fun to follow a butterfly and suddenly they couldn’t find the path anymore.
Now Molly was back on the leash, so August didn’t lose track of her again.
“I swear, I thought we were going the right way...” She chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to ignore the flutter of nerves in her stomach.
Molly whined.
“It’s okay,” August said. “We’re not lost. We’re simply...directionally challenged.”
Molly snorted, throwing August an unamused expression that said,Speak for yourself, human. I’m amazing. You’re the one who can’t tell your left from your right.
August pulled her phone out of her pocket to see if they could use the GPS function, but there was no service at all out on the hiking trail. The little service icon blinked uselessly and then disappeared as it tried and failed to connect. Huffing, she shoved the phone back into her pocket.
A splatter of raindrops came down through the trees, misting August’s face and hair. That wasnota good sign. The leisurely walk through the hiking trail had taken them a good thirty minutes, and then they’d spent the last fifteen or so trying to find their way back after Molly’s detour.
Had they gotten closer or farther away from the cabins? She had no idea.
The rain started to come down more steadily and August wiped at her eyes with the back of her free hand. “It’s okay, everything is going to be okay.”
Molly looked at her as if to say,Press X to doubt, human. I don’t believe you for a minute.
