Page 102 of Culinary Chaos
She sighed heavily. “I just need to think, because this version of you that I’ve never seen before… I don’t like him.”
She reached for the door handle and froze. The bathroom was steamed up with water way too hot for what Eva would like to shower with. She furrowed her brow and pushed the bathroom door all the way open and stepped inside.
“Eva?”
No response.
“Eva, turn the temp down. That’s too…” she trailed off, pausing. The shower was running, but Eva wasn’t in it. “Rex! Is Eva out there?”
“No?” he asked as he stepped around the corner to look in the bathroom with her. “Shit.”
“Eva!” Hope said louder. She ignored the shower and pushed past Rex toward the bedroom area. She looked around, finding no sign of Eva. When the hell had she left? Where had she gone? “I’m going to look for her.”
Hope didn’t even look at him. She snagged her phone and walked right out of the room. She was still so mad at him.
“Eva! Come out from where you’re hiding. This isn’t funny!” Hope called it down the hallway loudly, but she wasn’t greeted with any kind of response. Not that she expected any. This wasn’t the first time Eva had run away, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. The problem was they were in a strange city and Hope honestly had no idea just how long it had been since Eva had run off.
Was it at the beginning of the argument?
The middle?
The end?
God, she hoped it was the end. Then Eva couldn’t have gotten that far. She pulled up the nanny’s cellphone number but paused just before she was about to call. There was a group text that flashed through with her and Rex.
Well, at least he was doing one thing right today.
Then again, if he’d just done it right in the first place they probably wouldn’t be in this situation. Because there wouldn’t have been an argument, and there wouldn’t have been a problem between them that scared Eva into running away in the first place. Hope hated that this was her go-to lately.
“Eva!” Hope called again, turning down the hallway and dodging in and out of every nook and cranny she could think to find. But Eva was nowhere.
The nerves in the pit of her stomach took over, and she could barely think straight. Stepping into an elevator, Hope nervously chewed on her lip as she waited to arrive at the main floor. Where the hell would Eva have gone? Hopefully not out of the building itself. But Hope wouldn’t put it past her. She breathed slowly, trying to keep herself steady and calm. Because the last thing she needed was to be the frantic parent.
The elevator door opened, and Angelica stood on the other side. Completely drenched, head to toe. Her hair hung past her shoulders, clinging to her cheeks and neck. Hope stared at her wide-mouthed and confused.
“What’s wrong?” Angelica asked.
Hope shook her head, words not forming.
“Hope. What’s wrong?”
“Eva ran off.” Her voice broke on the word. “I-I can’t find her.”
“When?”
“Just like ten minutes ago maybe?” Hope couldn’t drag her gaze away from Angelica’s face, from her wet clothes. “Did you see her outside?”
Angelica pursed her lips. “No. Did you check the cameras?”
“Cameras…” Hope sighed. She hadn’t even thought of that. Hotels had cameras everywhere.
“Come on.” Angelica took Hope’s hand and led her straight to reception and the small back room there. She immediately sat down and started to pull up the cameras for the lobby. “Where did she leave from?”
“Our room.” Hope shivered.
“We’ll find her.” Angelica reached over and pulled Hope into the seat next to her, squeezing her hand. “Does she do this often?”
“Lately, yeah.” Hope’s cheeks heated. She felt like such a shitty parent. This was why they were so strict with where Eva went and who she was with—because she had this bad habit of slipping out of sight when she got upset or when she sensed Rex and Hope were upset.
