“We think that maybe she’s trying to get to you because Flynn checked her room and her knitting’s also missing.”
“Would she know how to get here?” asked Natalie.
“Shane called the airport and no one matching her description has boarded any flights, but we thought you should be on alert just in case she found another way, maybe by car or bus.”
Her baby all alone. She wiped her eyes.
“Shane’s putting out an alert, but if she does make her way to you could you give us a call immediately?
“I will, and will you let me know if she shows up?”
“You’ll be the first person we call.”
“Okay, take care, Lacey.”
“You too.”
Natalie pressed the end call button.
“Something wrong?” asked her client.
“My daughter’s gone missing.”
First time she’d said the words my daughter, and it felt so wonderful.
“Then I won’t keep you. This matter can wait. Family should always come first.”
He stood and put his hand out for Natalie to shake. As she watched him walk away she realized he was right.
Even if Flynn didn’t like it, even if he got Shane to arrest her, she was heading back to Montana to find her baby.
Chapter Thirteen
Flynn raised his head, not realizing that he’d slept with it resting on the kitchen table. He sat up, every bone in his body aching from obviously suddenly falling asleep while he’d been sitting in the kitchen. He grimaced when he tried to stand. Today he felt every one of his forty- three years. He’d come home beaten and defeated at not finding Emily when the search party had set out early yesterday morning.
“It’s important we find this teenager,” he recalled Shane telling everyone as he held up a photo of Emily beaming from ear to ear as she did in every snapshot. He couldn’t help it any longer. He began to cry. She’d been his whole world for the last thirteen years. She’d given him a reason to exist when Jill had walked out on him and their marriage.
Flynn managed to stand and hobbled into the bathroom to splash his face and brush his teeth. He took off his clothes and ran the water in the shower. He stepped into the tub, letting the water make its way down his back.
They’d checked all leads. She’d left her cell phone behind so they couldn’t trace her through that. She didn’t have credit cards they could check…
Shane had told him to get a good night’s sleep, and they’d start afresh this morning. But it was cold and snowing, and his baby girl could be anywhere out there. Hurt, lost, frozen…
If only the phone would ring and it would be Natalie telling him that Emily was with her.
Natalie. He missed her like crazy.
This was all his fault. He should never have sent her away. Not only for Emily’s sake but for his own too. Rory was right. He was pissed with her because he loved her. Only strong emotions like this surfaced when you loved someone. Only people you loved could hurt you.
Now he might have lost both of them. He wouldn’t have the strength to go on. Just thinking about how lonely his life would be made him sob again. He got out of the shower and wrapped the towel around his waist. Coffee is what he needed.
He headed to the kitchen.
A car… there was a car approaching the house. Maybe it was Shane, maybe it was his brother with good news, maybe even Emily…
He rushed to the window. It was a car he hadn’t seen before. He continued to watch and then his heart beat faster as Natalie stepped out of it. She ran toward the door with her coat pulled over her head to protect her head from the falling snow.
Flynn rushed to the door and opened it. They stood looking at one another, neither of them saying a word for what seemed like forever. Then finally he couldn’t resist it any longer, he pulled her inside, pulled her close to his body and kissed her.
Natalie put her arms around his neck and tickled the nape of it as his tongue slid across her lips. He had the mother of all hard-ons. He knew it was a terrible time to be thinking about making love, but he couldn’t help it. It felt like the thing to do.
They still hadn’t said anything, and he simply picked her up in his arms and shut the front door with his foot and carried her toward his bedroom. The small distance from the car to the house had obviously made her feel so cold, but no problem, he’d warm her up.
He set her down on the bed, taking off her shoes and throwing them across the room. He tugged at the belt of her coat until it opened.
“I’m sorry for sending you away, baby.”
She ran her hand down the side of his face.
“I’m sorry I lied about who I was.”
He kissed the palm of her hand.