Choosing Henley(54)

I don’t know when I started to cry, but I watch as my tear drops hit the linoleum floor of the salon. “Wouldn’t someone see him?” I ask her even though I know I’m grasping at straws.

“You know how he is, Lennon. He’s so adventurous. He told Jay he was trying out another one of those out-of-bounds runs on the mountain and it’s making it harder for them to locate him.”

My vision starts to blur, sobs violently ripping through my body. “I didn’t tell him.” I choke on another cry.

“You didn’t tell him what, Len?” Hannah asks softly, wrapping her arms tighter around me.

“I didn’t tell him that I love him,” I whisper barely over a hush.

We sit like this for a few minutes—Hannah’s small body is folded around mine on the floor of my work—before Hannah’s phone rings. She pulls it from her pocket before clicking connect. “Hello,” she says before someone starts talking on the other end. “Yes. I’m with her now.”

I’m staring at the floor while she continues to talk. I waited too long. I was so scared to tell him that I love him, that I have for so long, and now, I might never get the chance.

“I’ll bring her over. Yes, I’m okay to drive. We will be there soon. Bye.” She’s speaking softly to the person on the phone, the same way she’s been talking to me since she came in here. Then Hannah stands and I hear her talking to someone before she comes back to me. “Lennon?”

I don’t answer. I don’t think I can. The tears have stopped, only to be replaced by shock.

“Lennon, I have your things. We need to go.” She hooks her arms underneath mine, pulling me up until I stand on shaky feet.

Wrapping an arm around my waist, she helps me out into the parking lot. Once we reach my SUV, she leans me up against the side, fumbling around in my purse for the keys. When she finally finds them, she deposits me in the front seat before turning on the car.

“Do you have a key for Jami’s house?” she asks me, and I nod, pressing my forehead against the cool glass.

Before long, we’re pulling up outside Jami’s house. Another round of sobs rack through me when she opens the door and I’m surrounded by him. His guitars on the walls, his smell, his muffins on the counter. What really does me in is seeing Martha. She runs down the hall to greet us and I fall to my knees again, wrapping her strong, black body in a hug. She seems to know that something is wrong because she doesn’t pull away to greet Hannah. She simply sits there, letting me cry into her neck as I hug her.

I hear Hannah moving around the house, but I don’t move from my spot by the door with Martha until someone picks me up. Strong arms pry mine off the dog and cradle me as they walk us to the couch. I’m crying so hard that my vision is blurry. I can’t even see who it is, but I recognize the voice when he speaks.

“He’ll be okay, Lennon. Our boy will be okay. I’ve got you,” John Henley says into my hair before laying me down on the couch and pulling a blanket over my body. “Shhh, sweetheart. Try to breathe for me, okay?” he coos, stroking my hair affectionately.

I feel the couch dip and Hannah curl in behind me, molding her body around me. “They’ll find him, Len,” she whispers into my ear as Martha jumps up, lying to rest at my feet.

“I’m going to make a few calls, okay, girls?” Jami’s dad tells us, kissing me on the forehead.

“Patti,” I whisper to him, my eyes closed tight.

“She just flew up to see her sister yesterday. She’s on the next flight home. I’ll pick her up soon,” he explains, referring to his wife.

My heart breaks for her. I couldn’t imagine finding out something like this while away from my family, away from my husband. I already feel stronger in John’s presence, and I wish she had that right now.

“I’m so sorry,” I gasp out, finally looking at him for the first time. He looks so much like Jami. He has dark hair and chocolate eyes—although, now, I’m able to see the worry etched around them.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart. They will find him,” he says before walking into the kitchen to speak on the phone.

I turn around to face Hannah on the couch. “I know they’ll find him, Han. I just...” I stop, blinking back tears. “It’s what they’ll find that scares me.”

A tear falls down her cheek before she hugs me again. “I know.”

We’ve both lived here all our lives. We know the kind of accidents that happen on our mountain ever year. People go missing, and they always find them—they just don’t always find them alive.