Page 88 of Now or Never

“I don’t know,” Vincent said. “All I know is that bastard was trying to stop her from leaving.”

“He wouldn’t let her leave?”

“No,” Vincent said. “I think she felt something was seriously wrong with the boy. I remember when my kids were young, my wife always seemed to know when something wasn’t right. I told her to go, and she just left,” Vincent said, gesturing up the driveway.

Adam nodded and walked to his truck, breathing deep as he fought back hyperventilation. He got in, sat for a moment, convincing himself that she’d be back soon, since the school was only down the road.

Should he wait in her driveway for her to come back? Probably not. She’d want to look after Ben, not have a shitty conversation with him about how he was emotionally unavailable.

But he’d feel better if he stuck around to make sure the little guy was okay. He could arrange to come back later, when Ben was feeling better and Chelsea was ready to talk.

He sat in the driveway, the minutes ticking by, wondering why she wasn’t back yet. He waited a total of fifteen minutes before the feeling that something was seriously wrong settled into his gut, and he pulled out his phone to call her.

Maybe she needed his help. Maybe she’d tell him to go fuck himself. It was hard to tell.

The phone rang and rang, but there was no answer. He texted, waited. Tried calling again. Finally, he decided it couldn’t hurt to drive to the school and see whether she was there.

He arrived in under a minute, but he didn’t see her red car anywhere.

He knew he was overreacting by going there. Knew he was way, way, way overstepping his boundaries with her, but he decided Vincent was worried enough that he would just pop inside and check in. His cousin was the vice principal, and his close friend. She wouldn’t tell anyone he’d come looking for Chelsea. Besides, they would often meet up for lunch or to hang out. He could pass it off as if he were there to see her.

It was shitty, but he had to know whether Ben was okay.

He pulled up out front, rang the buzzer, and the door unlocked. His cousin came around the corner from her office.

“Adam?” she said.

“Hey, Mia, how’s it going?” he asked, glancing through the glass doors to the office. He knew the space well. It hadn’t changed at all since he used to sit there as a kid whenever he’d get in trouble.

But Ben was nowhere to be seen.

Mia blew a breath up her face that made her bangs puff out. “It’s okay. There was just a boy in here, and I’m worried about him . . . but I can’t really talk about it. Did you want to grab lunch?”

Adam’s shoulders started tensing up. She looked as worried as Vincent had, and he knew something was seriously wrong.

“Was it Ben?” he asked, ignoring the fear in his voice. “Ben Davenport?”

Mia’s head jerked back. “You know him?”

Adam nodded. “Yeah, his mom . . . she and I . . . Is he okay?”

Mia’s face slipped into a professional mask. “I can’t talk about children except to their parents or guardians. And Iknowyou and his mom can’t be serious. You’re never serious with anyone.”

“Did they go to the hospital?” he asked.

“Wait, did you come here for lunch or because of Ben?”

He had no time to explain their friendship-nonfriendship-situationship mess. He took this as a confirmation that Chelsea had taken Ben to the hospital and gave Mia a kiss on the cheek.

“Let’s have lunch next week. I’ll text you,” he called as he headed for the door.

He got into his truck and peeled out of the parking lot toward the hospital. He’d just swing by the emergency room and check up on them, make sure they didn’t need him. If she told him to get the fuck out, he’d leave. But he couldn’tnotbe there for her.

It was probably nothing.

But what if it wasn’t nothing?

What if it was something?

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