Their quick exit was probably best all the way around, or so she told herself.
Outside the cabin, the family had abandoned their meal to help Karen and Michael leave.
Rena stood off to the side, holding Karen’s muddy shoes. “Hey, Karen?”
She walked to where Rena stood and gathered them.
“I’m sorry,” Rena said under her breath.
“Don’t be.” Karen glanced around, noticed there wasn’t anyone standing close. “He just needs time, Rena. Be patient.”
She smiled with tears in her eyes. “We’re not going to see you again, are we?”
Karen shrugged, pushed back tears of her own. “Michael and I will always be friends.”
Rena hugged her then with another apology.
Judy hugged her good-bye next, told her to expect a call soon.
Hannah was practically sobbing. Karen knew there wasn’t much she could say so she encouraged her to text often, which she knew didn’t need to be said. Teenagers and texting went together like a highway and asphalt. Joe gave her a hug, and Karen kissed Susie’s little cheek and thanked Eli for saving her from the spiders.
Behind her, Michael was making his rounds of good-byes.
Janice hugged her the longest, then held her arms as she stood back. “Thank you for bringing our son back to us.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
“You’re family,” Janice said. Karen forced herself not to cringe. “You’re welcome anytime.”
“Thanks.”
When Karen turned to Sawyer, he watched her. “You know something, Karen?”
A hint of a smile met his lips.
“What’s that?”
He sized her up for a moment and said, “I think I like you.”
She remembered their first conversation and held back the huge smile she wanted to spread. “You know, Sawyer, I think I like you, too.”
When Michael’s father hugged her, she knew he was a whole lot of bark and very little bite.
Swiping tears from her eyes, she said a quick good-bye and moved toward the truck where Zach waited to take them back.
Michael continued with longer good-byes while Karen jumped into the backseat.
“No need to cry,” Zach said. “You’ll see everyone again.”
Karen looked directly at him. “No, Zach. I won’t.”
Chapter Nineteen
Karen kicked herself the minute the words escaped her lips. But there was no pulling them back. She just couldn’t lie to Zach anymore. It was as if each lie was sucking her soul deeper into an abyss.
Thankfully, Michael made his way inside the truck and Zach didn’t ask her to elaborate. Maybe like Rena, he’d figure it out all on his own. Or maybe Rena would slip?
“Thanks for driving us,” Michael told his brother.
Karen waved out the back window, thankful at least to have their good-byes behind her. She looked forward to getting home and clearing her mind.
Weren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?
“Not a problem.”
Zach looked in the rearview mirror and met Karen’s gaze. He had questions in his eyes.
“Are you booked out of LAX tomorrow?” Karen asked Michael, hoping to keep the ruse of an early departure going.
“Yeah. We have ten p.m. tickets out of St. George waiting for us tonight.”
It was only five. They had plenty of time to get to the Gardners’ home and grab their rental car to drive to the nearest airport.
“Where are you filming this time?”
“Montreal.”
“How long will you be there?”
“Couple of months.”
“Don’t you get a break? Come home?” Zach asked.
“I take a few long weekends when I can.”
Karen sat back and listened to Zach’s questions.
“Do I even want to know what they’re paying you?”
Michael slouched in his seat. “Thirty-two million.”
Zach’s jaw dropped. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, right? I’m sure you understand my need to run.”
Zach met her eyes again. “Just don’t forget about the important things on your quest for the big money, little brother.”
“That’s why we came here. Right Karen?”
“Yep.”
Karen watched the vistas as they drove the mountain in silence. When they arrived at the Gardner family home, they shoved their suitcases into the back of the rental and picked up a few remaining things from inside.
She wanted this to go quickly. Didn’t want any long-winded good-byes with Zach. Her heart couldn’t take it.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Several text messages had piled up. One number didn’t look familiar and Karen nearly disregarded it before clicking.
Call me, Petra.
Karen’s body chilled. Becky.
Karen hit redial and walked into the Gardner front yard.
“It’s Karen.”
“I thought you’d like to know,” Petra said.
“Know what?”
“Becky’s been missing for two days.”
“No.”
“I didn’t see her leave. She sat on Millie’s bench every day, then her mother came in crying asking if I’d seen her.”
“What about Nolan?”
“He’s opened Gardner’s store every day. Saw the sheriff’s car there yesterday.”
Karen ran a hand through her hair, glanced toward the house to see Michael and Zach talking. “That doesn’t make sense. Nolan wouldn’t just let her leave.”
“Another Hilton runaway.”
“Thanks for calling, Petra. I’ll be in touch.”
Karen clicked off the phone and ran over to the boys. “Becky’s gone.”
Zach’s eyes grew wide.
“The girl you think is pregnant?” Michael asked. She’d told him her suspicions about the girl when they’d first evolved.
“Yes, her. Only Nolan is still in town.”
“You think they broke up and she ran off?”
She shook her head. “I think where she goes, he goes. If he’s still in town, she’s still in town…or close by.”
Zach had his phone to his ear. “Hey, Buck…yeah, been great. No, just wondering how it’s working out with Nolan?”
Zach shook his head for both her and Michael. “No. It’s good. I’ll be back in a few days. Yeah, thanks.” He hung up. “Nolan is showing up, working hard.”
Karen swung in a circle, as if looking around this suburbia in Utah was going to show her anything. “I’d bet money she’s here somewhere.”
A hand met Karen’s shoulder. “You can’t save every kid.”
She shrugged Michael’s hand off. “No. But I can help this one. I just need to find her.”
Having made up her mind, she walked to the car and removed her bags.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not leaving till I know where that girl is and that she’s OK.”
“Karen?”
She placed a hand on her hip and glared. “You have your job. I have mine.”
“It’s not your responsibility.”
“Stop. OK.” Then because he just didn’t understand, she reminded him of what she’d told him early in their vacation. “A week, Michael. I was in that house for a week, cold, tired…distraught. And I wasn’t a teenage pregnant girl. Becky needs someone looking out for her.”
His shoulders fell. “I can call Tony—”
“No. You go. I can skirt around unnoticed better than you can. If I find her, and she needs to stay hidden, I can manage that. You’ll cause attention.”
He sighed. “I feel like I’m abandoning you here.”
“This big mean city doesn’t scare me,” she joked. “But think of her alone in LA, or Salt Lake?”
“It’s hard to think of her when I’ve not met her.”
“She’s a good kid. Karen’s right…her boyfriend was all over her. She’s probably still in t
own,” Zach told his brother.
Michael rubbed his hands over his face. “You sure?”
“I’m sure. Go. Call me when you land.”
Michael held out his hands and she hugged him, felt his lips on the top of her head. He didn’t even try a kiss to her lips.
“Take care of her,” he told Zach.
She noticed Zach’s Adam’s apple bob a couple of times. “I will.”
She stood beside Zach as Michael pulled out of the driveway and down the street. They returned her bags to the house and closed the door.
“Do you know where Nolan lives?”
“Yeah. I drove him home a couple of times when he first started working for my dad. Before he started driving.”
“I think the fastest way to find Becky is to find Nolan.”
She opened her suitcase, removed a cardigan sweater, and threw it over her shoulders.
Zach was staring at her when she stood.
“Are you going to explain what you said before Mike got in the truck?”
Rena already knew about Michael and her pending break-up…the rest of them would find out soon enough. Karen didn’t want Zach to hear this from anyone else. “Michael and I are getting divorced.”
Zach held his breath. “What…when?”
“We’ll file in a few months, maybe sooner. We haven’t discussed the details.”
“Discuss the details?”
She turned her back on him, closed her suitcase. “It’s all very friendly.”
He took her arm and turned her to face him. “Why didn’t you tell me? Before I kissed you? After?”
“Because it doesn’t change anything. I’m still married to your brother and Michael has no idea of our attraction. He would hate it.”
“But you don’t love him.” She heard the relief in his voice, saw the confusion in his eyes.
“I will always love your brother…as a friend.”
Her words did something to him. Zach pulled her close and placed his palm on her cheek. Without words, he kissed her. There wasn’t any hesitation this time, just pent-up passion as he possessed her lips. Apparently, her concerns about still being married to Michael didn’t affect Zach in the least. One hand ran down her back and pulled her close while the other slipped into her hair. Her will started to slip and the need to kiss Zach deeper, feel him everywhere, crawled up her spine like tiny pinpricks.
Michael wasn’t even out of the city and she was in the arms of his brother.
With her body trembling with sensation and heat, she pulled away, and kept Zach from reaching for her again.
“Zach, please. I can’t…”
“But you want to.”
“I’d think that was obvious.”
She turned away, hoping he wouldn’t see her hesitation. “We need to find Nolan. See where he stashed his girlfriend.”
Karen didn’t ask if Zach would help. She just assumed he would and walked out the door.
They were driving to the edge of town to where Nolan lived, searching for a teenage pregnant girl, and Zach couldn’t stop smiling.
They were getting divorced.
The words were music, in Technicolor, inside his head. It’s friendly, she’d said…we’ll file in a few months, she’d said. He knew Karen and Michael weren’t right. He had questions still, but Karen wasn’t answering any of them. Fine. He could wait.
Michael would hate it.
He would but it wasn’t going to keep him from pursuing Karen. There was no use pretending otherwise.
“What’s Nolan’s last name?”
“Parker.”
They drove into the trailer park just off the freeway and crawled to Nolan’s space number.
“Why are mobile home parks always off a highway?” Karen asked.
“Cheap land.”
“Do you think Nolan would keep Becky here?”
“If I remember right, Nolan’s dad is an alcoholic. I doubt Nolan would expose Becky to that.”
“Eweh. Not good.”
Zach pulled his truck to the side of the road in front of Nolan’s childhood home and cut the engine. “Wait here. I’ll see if he’s home.” He glanced behind the truck. “I don’t see his car.”
He jogged up the short steps of the singlewide and knocked on the door. It wasn’t quite dusk, but the sun was low enough on the horizon for the lights of the TV set to flicker through the windows. When no one answered the door, he knocked longer and harder.
“Coming. Damn!”
Zach backed up and waited.
The man Zach assumed was Nolan’s father swung the door wide and glared with glossy eyes at him. “Yeah?”
The man reeked of whiskey and stale cigarettes.
“I’m looking for Nolan.”
“You and everyone else. He’s not here.” Instead of offering anything else, the man attempted to close the door.
Zach stopped him by putting his hand on the door. “When did you see him last?”
Mr. Parker glared at Zach’s hand and wobbled on his feet. “You a cop?”
“I’m his boss.”
“Tell you the same thing I told the pigs. He comes and goes as he pleases. And there ain’t no girl here.”
“Do you expect him back?”
“What about comes and goes as he pleases did you misunderstand, boss-man?”
Zach figured that Nolan’s dad didn’t know if he’d be back.
“Thanks.” Zach noticed Karen’s anxious gaze as he rounded the front of the truck. He shook his head as he climbed back into the cab.
“He’s not here.”
“Where do you think he is?”
He shrugged. “We could wait until morning and see if he shows up for work. Talk to him then.”
Karen squeezed the bridge of her nose. “But if I’m wrong and Nolan stayed in town, and Becky ran off…the longer we go without that information the farther away she’ll get. Who knows what will happen to her.”
Zach shifted in his seat and looked at Karen full on. “If you’re right and Nolan is keeping her safe, we’ll find out in the morning.”
“I could be wrong.”
He didn’t think she was. Instead of arguing, he asked, “Where would he stash her then? Not here.” He noticed the streetlight blinking on and a few teenage kids starting to eye his truck.
“Where’s the nearest hotel?”
“Monroe, but I’d think the police would have looked there.”
“Then the next-closest hotel?”
Instead of answering, he pulled his truck away from the Parker home, drove to the freeway, and headed north. He bypassed his job site and drove into Bell ten minutes later. “There are a few motels. Nothing fancy.”
“I’d think Nolan would have to avoid using a credit card.”
“I doubt he has one.”
They drove to every motel, each one seedier than the last. They were told that no one had checked in matching the descriptions of Nolan or Becky.
It was completely dark, but they continued to drive around Bell on the off chance they’d find Nolan’s car parked somewhere. The outskirts stretched for miles, however. Nolan could have Becky anywhere.
“Do you think they could have gone farther?” Karen asked as she looked up the highway.
“The next real town is thirty miles away.”
“That doesn’t feel right.”
“Buck assured me Nolan is showing up for work. If he knows where Becky is, I don’t think he’d stick her miles away.”
“I think we’re going about this all wrong,” Karen said. “If you were eighteen and your girl was knocked up and in need of running away, where would you take her?”
If he’d knocked up a girl at eighteen, he’d have moved her in with his parents, but that obviously wasn’t what Nolan would do.
“If I was Nolan, I’d hold on to my job until I had enough money to split. I wouldn’t spend it at a motel.”
“And if the girl’s parents thought you were hiding her, they’d be watching to s
ee if you left town.” Karen scratched her head. “Is there a back room at the hardware store?”
Zach shook his head. “The storage room is crammed full. But you might be on to something.”
He pulled back onto the freeway and turned off several exits before Hilton. If Nolan was in need of shelter…why not hide in front of everyone?
“Where are we going?”
“Nolan shows up for work, early. The question is how early? Or does he even leave?” The small housing development was dark and quiet as he pulled into the gravel, past the nearly complete houses.
“This is your project?” Karen asked.
“Yeah.”
“Nice. How big are the houses?”
“Smallest model is twenty-three hundred square feet, the largest is twenty-seven-fifty.”
Karen smiled as she looked up at a passing house. “You do nice work, Zach.”
A strange sense of pride filled him. He hadn’t brought her there to show off his skills, but the fact that she’d taken a moment to compliment him made him smile.
He drove beyond the first phase of houses and parked the truck. “If Nolan’s here, he wouldn’t leave his car in plain sight. There are several finished garages to hide a car.”
“He probably saw us driving in if he’s here.”
“Or Becky did.”
They jumped out of the truck and walked around the back of the first row of houses. The moon helped light the way. When Karen tripped over an exposed drainage pipe, Zach took her arm and kept her upright. After she almost fell a second time, he just kept her arm in his hand. He liked it there anyway, he decided.
“We should see a light, or something?” Karen whispered.
“I’d cut the light if I were Nolan.”
Karen stopped walking. “Listen.”
Zach held his breath and closed his eyes. The trickling of water brought his attention to the houses on the other side of the street.
They stayed close to the shadows of a house and peered into the darkness for several minutes. Then he saw a shadow in an upstairs window of the third home in. He pointed for Karen’s benefit. She watched and the shadow reappeared.
“How many doors lead into the house?” she asked.
“Front, back, and garage.”
“I’ll go in the front, since I don’t know my way around. You watch the back door in case they try and run off.”
The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday Page 18
