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“Did you guys have fun?” I run my fingers through Natalie’s hair, trying to smooth it out before the tangles tighten into knots.
“That was awesome!” Sammy’s eyes are as wild as his sister’s locks.
I smile. Only my uber tame trio would get off from riding the swings with the same thrill in their eyes as someone who just got off the world’s fastest roller coaster.
“What’s next?” Natalie’s normally calm, honey-sweet voice is rushed and scratchy as she looks to her big sister for guidance.
“Well, that depends.” Phoebe relishes being the oldest when Jessie is off on her own and not able to undermine Phoebe’s wisdom. “If you want to stick to slower, calmer rides, we can go to the kiddie ride section. Which I’m fine with. But I may be too tall for some of them. Or, if you want to try something a little more exciting, we could go to the Fun Slide or the Crazy Cabs over there.”
After a brief deliberation, they run away from me and get in line at the Crazy Cabs. I watch them climb onto the platform and climb into two of the bright yellow cars. I walk back to my bench to watch them from where I can sit. You’d think after the training I’ve been doing for the last six months that I could stand around without my legs starting to cramp and my hips get tight, but you’d be wrong. Apparently standing requires a completely different set of muscles from the ones use in martial arts, because I am not feeling like I’m in shape at all right now.
As I sit, I take out a map guest services gave me and make a simple fan out of it. Jake and Jessie check in on me and then continue their circuit while I watch the other three make their own rounds of the rides they prefer. The sun has noticeably shifted its position in the sky before everyone meets up and decides to head over to the Fun Slide. I take my place by the metal fence once again, waiting for the perfect shots of my family coming down the slides together. While I wait, I watch Jake joking with Jessie, tickling Phoebe and Natalie, mussing Sam’s hair. I smile to myself as I remember the time in college when our friend told him he’s more maternal than most of the girls she knew. He has always been the best dad. Even Jessie looks to be enjoying herself. When we have disagreements or I get frustrated because of how often he has to travel, I always know that he is an amazing dad. I love this man with all my heart.
They pop up at the top of the slide waving to me. Jessie, Phoebe, and Sammy all get situated on their burlap sacks and push off in sync. I take a few live photos so I don’t miss a moment. Next Jake carefully puts down Natalie’s sack and helps her to sit on it. But before he is fully on his she pushes off, starting down with a laugh. I watch on my phone screen as Jake throws his head back in a deep guffaw and calls to her.
“You’re such a cheater!” But he can barely catch his breath for his laughing before he pushes off as well.
While I wait for them to dust off and hand back in their sacks, I kill some time by looking through the pictures I took.
As I unlock my phone, I see the small moon icon. My phone is still in do-not-disturb mode from when I texted George, hours ago. My stomach drops. How could I be so irresponsible? I have too many people depending on me to allow myself to become unreachable, even if just for a few hours. My hands shake as I go through the taps necessary to reawaken my alerts.
I start breathing again when I check my text messages and see that I have none from Eliza or George. But I do have missed texts from Rory, which makes me furrow my brows and scratch my cheek. We don’t talk much. I saved his number only for emergencies. I read the string of texts he sent over the last hour or so.
Hey Miranda. It’s Rory. Is Eliza still with you? I tried calling her to ask her a diaper question and she didn’t answer.
Hi again. If you’re with Eliza, can you have her give me a call?
I’m officially nervous. Her phone goes straight to vm. Do you have any idea where she is???
I tap over to my voicemail and see six messages from him. I don’t bother listening to them before I call him back.
He answers immediately. “Miranda? Is she with you?” His spits his words out faster than a lotto machine. In the background, I can hear his footsteps echoing on the hardwood floors as he paces back and forth.
“No, Sweetie she’s not. She left us to head back to the house at about two thirty. She didn’t come home yet?” It is now five o’clock. She was only ten minutes away from the house when she left us. My heart feels like it’s stuck between the bumper cars. Even Jessie hates the jostling on the bumper cars. I look up to find my family and everything is a blur. I can’t see anything. All I hear is the roaring of the rides. No, that’s my blood rushing to my head. The screams no longer sound fun. They are screams of terror. But I need to breathe. I need to be there for Rory.
Rory’s voice shakes on the other end of the phone as he replies, “No. She’s not here. I’m really freaking out, Miranda. Can you come back? I’m going to call the police, but with Tabby here…”
“Of course. Let me just talk to Jake, and then I’ll be right there.” I swallow hard.
My family is almost to me by the time I hang up, and Jake and I lock eyes. He must see the tears in my eyes or way I keep running my hands through my hair because he tells Jessie something and then leaves her with our other three kids as he comes running over to me. Not wanting to draw attention to us, I drop the volume of my voice. “Eliza’s missing. I need to go back to the house to help Rory with Tabby so he can talk to the police.”
The smile on Jake’s face shuts off as if I just flicked the dimmer switch. “What do you mean Eliza’s missing?”
I try to stay calm and business-like; otherwise, I’m going to collapse in a heap right here. “She never made it home when she left after minigolf. I need to go, okay? Just tell the kids Rory and Eliza needed help with something at the house. Can you take them to dinner?”
He nods along with everything I ask. I stand on my tiptoes and give him a hug and a peck on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“She’ll be okay, Miranda.” He breathes his words into my ear. “She’ll be okay. How many women have an honest-to-God superhero for a best friend?”
A small, nervous laugh makes its way out of me, and I wipe my eyes quickly as I pull away from our hug. After one last scared smile, I turn and run back to the house. As I approach the walkway to the deck, I see red and blue blinking lights pull into the driveway on the opposite side of the house.
Chapter 16
George
“Sir,areyouplanningto buy anything?” The saleswoman’s bored voice distracts me from my quest.
I open my eyes and glance at the clerk over the glass rim of the candle jar. “Yes, I’m sorry. I just have to find the perfect scent.”
