Page 65 of An Inconvenient Plan
“Voicemail. No response to my text yet.”
“Can you call your aunt Jane’s house or the hospital? Wherever she is.”
She bit her lip. She didn’t want to lie, but the truth was going to go over really badly.
Josh stared at her for a long moment. “It’s not like my dad to go away without telling anyone where he’s going or at least get in touch later. I’m sure he’s with your mom. Please tell me where your aunt is.”
“I’m not sure. She’s moved a bunch of times. I’ll try my mom again later.” She brushed past him to go back to the kitchen, but he caught her around the waist, halting her progress. Her throat tightened. Josh was not going to let this go. This was the moment she’d been dreading ever since her mom and his dad met.
She turned to face him and confessed everything in a rush. “There is no Aunt Jane. My mom flaked on your dad, freaking out about getting married, which I knew she’d do, and I’ve just been hanging by a thread of hope that she’d return before anyone was the wiser.”
He frowned. “You didn’t turn your phone off because of me. You were avoiding talking to Mad. Why wouldn’t you just tell her the truth so she wouldn’t worry?”
She wrung her hands together. “Of course she would worry! Your dad’s probably scouring the country for my mom, wasting time and money. I know your dad’s been left before and this would hurt him terribly. I don’t know if my mom will ever go back to him. She’s always been one to flit from one relationship to another. Mad would never understand. She’d be so upset about her dad getting hurt that she’d dump me.” She swallowed hard, fighting tears. “I didn’t want to lose her. She made me feel like part of a family, the kind I never had and always wanted.”
His voice gentled. “Mad loves you. You’re the sister she always wanted. You think so little of her that you think she’d dump you for something your mom did?”
“Family first always for Mad.” She rubbed her temple at the headache forming there. “I knew my mom would screw everything up.”
“No one is going to put the blame on you.”
“It’s by association, especially because we resemble each other. I’m a constant reminder of how her dad got hurt.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“It is! You don’t understand, coming from your family. No one ever stuck for me!” Her eyes stung with unshed tears. “Nothing and no one has ever lasted!”
His arms wrapped around her. “Calm down.”
She tried to jerk away, but he held tight. “Josh, let go of me. I need to fix this. I should’ve gotten on this earlier, but I was enjoying our time together, and I was in complete denial.”
He released her. “Okay, see what you can do.”
She went to check her phone and it rang in her hand. She answered it. “Hi, Mad. I’m so sorry I didn’t get in touch earlier. I don’t know where my mom is, but I’ll call some of her friends and see if she might’ve left any clues.”
Mad sounded frantic. “I’m afraid my dad’s been in an accident. I’m this close to calling hospitals. It’s not like him not to be in touch.”
Hailey freaked, holding the phone in a death grip. If Joe had gotten into an accident searching for her mom, she didn’t know how she’d ever face any of the Campbells ever again. She forced her voice to sound normal. “I’m sure he’s fine. Probably he left his phone somewhere or turned it off. Okay? I’ll be in touch as soon as I know something.”
“Hailey, I’m so scared. He’s always been larger than life. So strong, always there. He was both dad and mom to me.” Her voice choked. “He’s everything.”
“I love him too. Let’s just stay calm and not jump to worst-case scenarios. He’s smart and savvy. I’m sure he’s okay.” She told her goodbye, hung up, and turned to Josh, who looked back at her with concern. “I need to go to my mom’s place and find her contact info for her friends. She keeps an address book.”
“You want me to go with you?”
She shook her head. “I’ll take care of everything.”
She left, terrified it was the last time she’d ever be on good terms with him or Mad or any of the Campbells again.
Monday morning came with little hope. Hailey had tried everyone she could think of to get a hint about where her mom had gone. She’d even called local hospitals, heart in her throat, in case something really bad had gone down. So far no news, which she’d told Mad. Joe still wasn’t home.
Of course, this would have to be the day when she had multiple client fires she had to put out. By eleven a.m. she was frazzled and exhausted. The chime on the front door of Ludbury House rang, and she raced to answer it, desperately hoping it would be her mom.
It was a man she’d never seen before, tall and bulky with muscle. Thick black hair on the longish side, piercing blue eyes, and a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt, jeans, and black work boots. A tattoo peeked out of one shirtsleeve over his bulging bicep. No woman with him, so probably not a potential client. Maybe he had some kind of delivery.
“Hello, can I help you?” she asked.
He offered his hand, shaking hers in a firm grip. “Dylan Rourke.” His voice was deep and grumbly. “It’s about my cousin Phillip.”
