Page 49 of No More Words

He lets go of the latch. “Mom?”

“Yes. That’s why we’re here.” She pats his knee and exits the car.

Olivia lets herself in through the front. Her parents rarely lock the door. They live in a gated community and Lucas resides in the apartment above the garage. Her parents have always had a false sense of security Olivia found out of place. Granted, it was thirty years ago, but there was a murder at the end of their street.

She heads for the kitchen, following the scent of baked goods, only to stop when she rounds the corner. Her mom, arms in the air and wearing nothing but an open purple silk robe, swivels her hips. Backand forth, she dances around the kitchen. She twirls and her eyes meet Olivia’s. Charlotte shrieks, stumbling backward. She lands on her rear.

“Oh, my god.” Olivia clamps a hand over her eyes and turns away from the kitchen. She can’t unsee that. “It’s Saturday. Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for a showing?” She peeks over her shoulder only to squeeze her eyes shut. The image of her mom, rear in the air, scrambling to stand, burns onto the backs of her eyelids. “Sorry. I should have called.”

“You should have knocked.” Charlotte huffs and Olivia hears her tying the robe’s sash. She braves a look. Charlotte glares at her.

Olivia picks up the noise-canceling headphones Charlotte dropped. “You wouldn’t have heard me.” She puts the headphones on the counter.

“Lucas bought those for me.”

She knows. Lucas told her. He was tired of Charlotte’s complaints when he blasted his music or tinkered with his antique trucks in the driveway, revving their motors.

“Where is he?” she asks, wondering about the excuse he’ll give her for bailing on Josh. His truck isn’t in the drive.

“He’s on the water.”

Olivia’s gaze wanders to the shore out back where Lucas beaches his kayaks. All three are beached near the water. “I don’t think so.”

“Then I don’t know where he is. Give me that, will you?” Charlotte points behind her.

Olivia grabs the bath towel draped over the back of a kitchen chair.

“What brings you here?” Charlotte wraps up her hair.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said about Dad. Can we talk about Lily?”

“Is her son still with you?”

“He’s in the car.”

“Hmm.” Turning to the counter, Charlotte transfers freshly baked cookies into a plastic storage container. “Your father will be home in a few days.”

Olivia steals a cookie and bites into it, frowning. A thought clicks into place like a Scrabble tile that earns her enough points to win the game. But this combination sinks like lead in her stomach, leaving a heavy weight inside her. “Dad’s in San Diego.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Josh was born in San Diego.”

Charlotte seals the lid on the container. “What are you implying?”

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence.” But Olivia can’t shake the thought.

“What is?” Charlotte asks.

“Josh is here, Dad’s there, Lily’s missing. She could be dead.”

Charlotte’s complexion blanches. Hurt skates the rims of her eyes. “Olivia, please. Don’t talk like that. I’ve coped without Lily because I picture her out there alive and thriving. Don’t convince me otherwise.” Her face cracks. She retreats to the kitchen sink and flips on the faucet. Water pours into the sink. She stares at the dirty dishes, but Olivia doesn’t think she sees them.

“I don’t like it either, Mom, but we have to consider all possibilities. Josh may be with me for a while. Dad’s going to find out. Why can’t he know about Josh? Do you think he’d hurt him?” Olivia doesn’t believe so, not physically. Dwight and Lily had their disagreements, but he never laid a hand on her. He’d also get angry at Olivia, and usually because she deserved it, but he never struck her either.

“You were away at school. You didn’t see him before Lily ran. The rage in him. I’d never seen anything like it, Olivia. He was so upset about Lily’s pregnancy that she ran away. She left me. I don’t want to risk it.”

Was he upset enough to never stop looking for her all these years? A coldness seeps into Olivia like fog creeping in from the bay. Her hands turn to ice. It’s not a coincidence that he’s in San Diego. She’s positive. “He found her, didn’t he?”

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