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I needed my mama.
AVA
It had been nearly two hours since I talked with Maggie, and I was beginning to regret saying anything to her at all.
After she ran out of the coffee shop, I fully believed that she’d gone straight to see Dez. But by the time I got back to his place, it was clear she hadn’t been there. He had been sitting at the kitchen table working on his laptop, full of chitchat about the yard sale and acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
I kept waiting for Maggie to show up. I paced, I cleaned, I tried to work on my new sewing projects, but I couldn’t focus. Even Molly sensed my unease, and graciously head-bumped my leg on her way to the stove to hop into her stockpot.
I kept calling Maggie’s phone, but the calls went straight to voice mail. The coffee shop’s line kept ringing.
I debated whether to continue to wait or go look for her.
Then the image of me tucked into bed, ignoring Alexander’s knock on my door, popped into my head, and I knew I had to dosomething. What if the stress of this week had been too much for Maggie’s body to handle? What if she was out there somewhere needing help and I was just sitting here, waiting? Which somehow felt a lot like I was hiding out in my comfort zone.
Full of resolve, I ran downstairs and yelled to Dez that I’d be back soon.
In a flash, I was out the front door. From one of the bays under the house, I grabbed the lime-green bike to take a quick ride to Maggie’s house. I was low on energy but adrenaline helped pedal the two blocks to her little cottage.
Since I considered breaking and entering to be the lesser of my evils today, I went inside the house through the unlocked front door and took a look around. Mac and Cheese watched me accusingly from their fishbowl as I darted from room to room.
Maggie wasn’t home.
When I walked back outside, Donovan was coming up the walkway. As soon as I saw him, tears welled.
In my mind, I kept picturing Maggie crumpled up somewhere, in dire need of medical help. Rationally, I knew this situation wasn’t even close to what had happened to Alexander, but I was worried sick. I felt helpless.
Alarm flared in his eyes. “Hey now, what’s wrong?”
“Everything.” My voice shook. “Can you help me look for Maggie? She was upset earlier. I want to make sure she’s okay.”
“Why’s she upset?”
I swallowed hard, not even caring anymore who knew. “I told her that Dez has been acting a fool lately because he’s in love. For some reason he was keeping a relationship with Carmella a secret. Maggie was pale and shaky when she left the coffee shop after I told her.”
His face turned stony and determined. “How long has she been gone?”
“Since just before three.”
He looked at his watch, winced, then pulled out his phone. “I know a few of her favorite places. I’ll give you my number, and you give me yours. Does Dez know what’s going on?”
I shook my head.
“Best you tell him. I’ll check the coffee shop first, then head toward the beach.”
We split up, and I pedaled back to Dez’s house.
He looked up as I walked in. “There you are, Sprite! I wondered where you’d gotten off to.”
Standing as tall as I could, I said, “I’ve been looking for Maggie. Long story short, she knows you’ve been keeping a secret about your love life and she’s upset.”
Swearing under his breath, he dragged a hand down his face, then his fingers wrapped around the pendant at his neck. The penny.
He hurried to the front door. “Where’ve you looked?”
I was hot on his heels, filling him in.
He said, “I’ll go see if she’s at Carmella’s. Call me if you hear anything.”
