A tear ran down both cheeks.
“I fell in love with her father. Oh Jon, I can’t live without either of them now.”
She sobbed into her hands. “I had to live without you because my parents didn’t think you were right for me. I had to give up our baby because they thought she’d ruin my life. I don’t want other people making decisions for me anymore. Am I ever going to find true love?”
****
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
Flynn ran his hands through his hair. He’d called Shane because he didn’t know who else to contact when he’d gone into Emily’s bedroom to wake her up and found her bed hadn’t been slept in. A phone call to Rory to see if she’d gone to his place also yielded no daughter.
“She’s not in the house, on the ranch, or at Rory’s place.”
“Does this have anything to do with Natalie leaving?”
He knew it probably did, but he didn’t want to admit to it.
Rory chose that moment to walk in the back door. He’d gone out to make another search of the ranch just in case she was hiding in a barn or the hayloft, but his brother shook his head.
“So what do we do, Shane, get a search party together or what?”
“Lacey and I will start driving around town, and maybe you and Rory can do the same thing. And whatever you do don’t tell Mom because she doesn’t need the stress in her condition.”
“And what if we don’t find Emily?”
“We’ll meet up at your place in say an hour, and if we haven’t found her then I’ll see what we do next.”
Flynn put the phone down. He just hoped Emily hadn’t gone far.
****
Lacey patted Flynn on the back. All four of them had searched the town and surrounding area for two hours, but no sign of his daughter.
“It’s going to be okay, really it is,” said Lacey.
“It’s not. It’s all my fault. I sent Natalie away, and I’ve been in a bad mood for over a month, and I’ve been a bad dad.”
“Hey buddy, that’s the last thing anyone can say about you,” said Shane. “Let’s start by calling people that Emily might run to. How about school buddies?”
“Yeah, it’s a possibility,” said Flynn walking over to his phone. He pulled out a list of numbers he had for some kids Emily hung out with from time to time.
“How about Natalie?” asked Lacey.
Flynn looked at her.
“It makes perfect sense. She misses her and she’s gone looking for her.”
“Lacey has a point,” said Rory.
“She wouldn’t even know how to get to Florida,” said Flynn.
“I don’t think that’s ever stopped Emily from trying to do something,” said Shane.
He was right. His daughter was one determined girl.
“I think I should call the airport just in case that’s where she’s at or is heading,” said Shane.
Flynn slumped down on the chair. “What if she’s hitched a ride, hitched a ride from the wrong person and…”
He put his head in his hands.
Rory patted his back. “You have to think positive, Flynn. And I think we should call Natalie and alert her just in case Emily is heading her way.”
Flynn looked up at him. “You or Shane can do it. I’m not talking to her.”
If I hear her voice again my heart will break.
****
Natalie knew she should have switched off her cell phone while she was in conference with her new client. The sound rang out in her purse that hung on the back of her chair. Probably her mother again pleading her case. Should she ignore it?
No, better to just get it over and done with.
“Would you excuse me for a minute?” she told her client.
He nodded.
She reached into her purse, dug out the phone and noticed not her mother’s number, but one she’d never seen before.
“Hello, Natalie Stevens.”
“Hi Natalie, it’s Lacey Malone.”
She swallowed. Secretly she’d hoped that Flynn would come to his senses and call her, but she hadn’t expected to hear from his sister-in-law.
“Hi Lacey, how are you doing?”
“I’m good, but we have sort of a situation here.”
Was something wrong with Flynn… or Emily?
“What’s happened?”
“It’s Emily, she’s gone missing.”
Natalie stood but then sat down again because her legs were too wobbly to hold her weight. Her baby was missing.
“When and how?” asked Natalie.
“Flynn discovered her missing this morning. We searched all of Timber Creek twice, called some of her school buddies, but no one’s seen her.”
Natalie put her hand over her mouth and wanted to throw up.