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Her mouth fell open. “It’s morning? Why did you let me sleep so long?”
He came to sit next to her on the bed and pressed a kiss to her cheek before digging into his own plate of food. “After a couple of hours, I dozed off too, and we both slept all night. These last few weeks have been more exhausting for both of us than we realized.”
She scooted closer to him, and together they enjoyed breakfast while the soft music filled the silence between them.
When she’d eaten her fill, she set the plate on the nightstand and laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for this,” she murmured a few minutes later. “I’m sorry for being a brat about this trip.”
Russell kissed her hair and wrapped an arm around her, sliding them both down until she was lying flat against his chest. “It’s alright, love. You’ve been under a lot of pressure.”
His phone vibrated on the dresser across the room, but he didn’t move. “I should turn that thing off.”
“Not until Matthew and Kendall get here. You should make sure that wasn’t them.”
She sat up to reach for her own phone when Russell’s went off again. Her heart hammered in her chest as she checked for missed calls but saw none.
“This is Russell.”
He immediately shoved his lounge pants off his hips and stepped out of them while he held the phone between his shoulder and ear. “I can be there in five minutes. When did you see her last.”
Gemma sat up straighter and frowned. What was going on?
“Just stay calm, Elijah. We’ll find her.”
“Elijah?” Gemma mouthed when he glanced her way as he tugged on a pair of dark jeans.
He set the phone down and pulled a pair of socks out of his bag. “I didn’t get to tell you yesterday that Elijah and Holly are here with their little girl. She’s missing.”
Gemma’s stomach twisted, and she jumped out of bed to throw on clothes of her own. “I can come sit with Holly while you and Elijah search. She’s pregnant again. This can’t be good for the baby.”
Russell put a hand on her shoulder as she passed him to head for the closet where she’d unpacked her stuff yesterday. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Nonsense. She’s my friend. Of course I have to do this.”
He stared at her for a moment then nodded before he pulled on his heavy black boots.
Gemma was dressed in jeans and a sweater with a heavy jacket and boots in minutes, and she was pulling her hair into a messy bun on top of her head as they ran out the door and headed for the resort.
When they got to the lobby, security was with Elijah and a very pale Holly.
Gemma immediately went to her and wrapped an arm around her. “Why don’t we sit down, honey? You look like you’re going to be sick. Tell me what happened.”
Holly gave her a blank stare, but let Gemma lead her to a nearby seating area in front of a fireplace.
At first, she just sat and trembled, then she cried. “I only had my back turned for a second. We were going to get breakfast at the restaurant, and Melissa wanted to see the giant snowman someone built. I dropped my phone because pregnancy turns me into a giant klutz. When I stood up from picking it up, she was just… gone. What could have happened to her?”
Gemma wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. “We’ll find her. How long has it been?”
Holly sniffed and looked at her phone. “A little over an hour. It’s so cold out there. What if she ran off and got stuck in the snow somewhere? Security has been helping us search for the last hour, but so far nothing. Elijah finally called Russell. I’m so glad we ran into him yesterday and knew he was here.”
“If she just wandered off, we’ll find her in no time. Try not to stress too much. It’s not good for the baby.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Russell took charge of the situation, despite hotel security being on site. Maybe it was rude, but at that moment, Gemma didn’t care. Russell was the most qualified person in the room, and she appreciated his willingness to break protocol for people they considered family. Especially if they already searched and came up empty.
Elijah, who was usually stoic and calm, looked like he was shaking, and Gemma was torn between pulling him away from the other men to sit with his wife and staying with Holly to comfort her.
When Elijah’s gaze met hers, she jerked her head, motioning for him to come to them.
He looked at Russell and back to his wife then walked the short distance to sit next to her.
