Page 85 of Child of Mine

Moments later, he’s back. “She’s not in her room. Or the bathroom.”

Our apartment is small, so it doesn’t take long to determine that she’s not in it.

“Has she ever run away before?” Henry asks.

“No.” After a quick scan of Lilah’s room, I say, “But I bet that’s what she did. Her backpack isn’t here, nor is her favorite pillow or her teddy bear.”

One look at my face, and Henry has me in his arms. “It’ll be okay, Bel. She can’t have gone far.”

Letting him give me one more squeeze, I nod and step out of his embrace. “Thanks. We should, um, split up and, I guess, search the neighborhood.”

Gripping my upper arms, he dips his head to make eye contact. “Do you want to call the police?”

“My gut says she’s not far. Let’s just— Oh, wait. We haven’t checked the shop.”

“But the door was locked.”

“She knows where we keep the key.” Seconds later, the empty hook tells me that my instinct was right. “She ran away to the bookstore. Poor thing.”

“Maybe she’s trying to protect it from us.”

“Or spend as much time as possible there. Whatever it is, we need to make sure.” Running back up the stairs, I call out to my mom.

After we find her and fill her in, she grabs the spare key. “Should we go to the front door?”

“I don’t want to scare her, but I also don’t want her to get out and really run away.”

“How about we all go in through the back stairs, then fan out to cover the doors?” Henry suggests. “I’ll take the front.”

“I’ll take the back,” my mom says.

“And I’ll take the middle, I guess.”

Moving quietly so as not to scare her, we creep down the stairs, unlock the door, and enter the shop. A soft glow—probably from a flashlight—tells me someone’s here. Henry’s palm rests on my shoulder briefly before he moves quietly toward the front door. After I nod at my mom, I walk softly toward the sitting area, where I’m both relieved and heartbroken to find a little tent set up between two chairs, both stripped of their cushions. Easing onto the floor nearby, I whisper, “Knock, knock.”

A gasp of breath and some furtive rustling have me thinking that she really didn’t expect to be discovered.

“Lilah, honey.”

“Go away!”

“Sweetie, I get that you’re upset.”

“I hate you! And I’m not leaving. I’m going to stay here forever.”

My mom emerges from the shadows. “I’m so sorry, Lilah. This is all my fault. Grandma made mistakes. I’m sad too, and I don’t want to sell the store. I hate that it makes you so sad. But sometimes life just takes a turn that you don’t expect.”

I let this sit for a few moments and then chance a peek under the blanket. When Lilah’s hand swats at me, I let it drop.

“You can’t make me leave!”

Soft footsteps sound behind me, and then Henry settles onto the floor next to me. With a sigh, I lean against him for a moment and absorb the quiet strength of him, appreciating that there’s someone else to share this with, even if neither of us really knows what to do.

Sensing that this’ll take some time, I whisper to my mom, “You can go on to bed. I’ve got this.”

“We’vegot this,” Henry’s voice rumbles beside me.

* * *

---