Page 43 of No More Words

Olivia yelps. Josh’s spiral-bound notebook flies from her hands, the memory of Lily leaving her shaken. She presses a palm against her sternum and catches her breath. “You scared me, Ethan.”

“Sorry. Came to check on you. Thought you’d forgotten me.”

She momentarily had.

He picks a dingy white envelope off the floor. “You dropped this.”

“What is it?” She takes the envelope and reads the handwriting on the front. Her heart seizes. “It’s from Lily.” But it’s addressed to Olivia. The envelope must have fallen from Josh’s notebook. It’s old, crinkled and worn; the ink faded. Whatever Lily sealed inside, she did so some time ago. Why didn’t she send it? Why does Josh have it? Did Lily give it to him to give to her? If so, why hadn’t he passed it along?

“Are you going to open it?”

“Absolutely,” she says, impatient for answers about Lily and why Josh is here. She grabs the letter opener and slides the blade under the sealed flap.

Inside are two documents, a power of attorney and Josh’s birth certificate. Her gaze dives to the father’s name field. It’s blank. She shows Ethan.

“Maybe she doesn’t know who it is.”

“Did you see her with anyone? Did she ever mention a name to you?”

He shakes his head. “There’s another possibility.”

“What’s that?”

“She doesn’t want anyone to know who he is.”

He’s right. If Lily were protective enough of Josh to run away before he was born, she would be protective of the father. “Why so secretive? What was she afraid of?”

“I wish I knew.”

Olivia skims the birth certificate. “Well, I know now why Josh is a Padres fan. He was born in San Diego.” She flips to the power of attorney and a heavy feeling that can only be described as responsibility settles in her belly. “She appointed me as Josh’s guardian in the event of her death.” The first thought that crosses her mind is that Lily is, in fact, deceased. Then she reads the next line. Lily granted Olivia short-term guardianship in the event she goes missing. “Who puts that in a POA?”

“I haven’t seen that before.”

Olivia ponders the possibilities and each one is no less concerning than the last. Did Lily have a stalker? Is that why she’s missing now, or did she run away at sixteen for reasons other than wanting to keep Josh? The document is old, notarized only a few months after Josh’s date of birth. Her gaze snags on the attorney’s phone number in the letterhead. Finally, someone she can call.

She refolds the documents and slides the envelope in her back pocket. Ethan opens the sketchbook Josh left on the table and Olivia is anxious for him to leave so that she can follow up with the law firm.

Ethan flips to the next page, the beach scene Josh sketched that morning. He put a lot of work into the drawing, the detail on par with the townhouse he drew yesterday. Since then, he’s added a shadowy figure by the right margin. “Who’s that?” she murmurs, peering closer. She thinks about Lily’s “if I go missing” clause.

Olivia stills, moistening her lips. “I went to the police this morning to file a missing persons report. The officer told me Lily will probably show up in a few days.”

“I bet they say that about everyone who goes missing.”

“She said most missing adults do eventually show up,” she conveys, fixated on the shadowy figure in Josh’s drawing. She can’t take her eyes off it. “I don’t think Lily is going to. She would have been here by now.”

She packs up Josh’s backpack with shaky hands. It takes her three attempts to zip closed the largest pocket. “Is there anything else you can think of that might help?”

He shakes his head. “I’ll let you know if I remember something.”

She nods slowly. Ethan wasn’t that much of a help, but his visit wasn’t exactly a waste of time. Without him, she might not have found the envelope in Josh’s bag. She no longer has to wonder what would have happened to them if she didn’t break up with him. They wouldn’t have lasted that long after college graduation. Their love wasn’t deep enough, she sees that now. She probably would have ditched him somewhere between Australia and Asia during their trek around the globe.

“Do you mind calling it a night then? It’s late and I want to look up that law firm.”

“Sure. Call if you need anything from me.”

She nods, distracted, and walks with him to the front. When she opens the door, it occurs to her he has a long drive home. “Do you want a coffee or something?”

He shakes his head. “I’m just down the road. I’m staying at Caroline’s rental in Pismo.” His sister. “Been there all week working on an article.”

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