Page 106 of This Love
“Extra clothes. Some treats we planned to sneak in—a drink, chocolate. Some ibuprofen. Toiletries.”
“Does the notebook talk about her father?”
“Yes, she’ll know they found each other.”
“Can she go to him?”
“Not with the information in it. There are no addresses.”
As if Marcus could sense we were talking about him, he buzzed my phone. He had to be nearly here. The last time he checked in, I told him Tad had arrived, and Ava was in surgery. Things happened so fast after that, and I hadn’t thought to update him.
He was going to be so upset. My stomach clenched as I unlocked my phone.
Marcus: How is Ava?
Gram glanced at the screen. “What are you going to tell him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Just give it to him straight. It’s not the first time you’ve had to find her together.”
She was right.
Me: Ava is missing.
I could practically feel Marcus hitting the brakes. I wondered if he would pull over to text or just call.
But he must have been at a stoplight because he texted again.
Marcus: How long ago?
Me: About an hour now. I was in the nursery with Tad.
Marcus: What set her off?
Me: She woke up alone. Took the bag and notebook.
Marcus: Can she make it home with that?
Me: No. We removed all addresses from it.
Marcus: I’m in the city. Be there in half an hour.
I dropped the phone onto the bed.
“Anything else in the bag?” Gram asked.
“I think she put her keys in it. I’m pretty sure.”
“Could she find her way home with them?”
“No. But there’s a keychain for Big Harry’s Diner. It has an address.”
Gram stood up, patting the baby’s back. “Call over there. Now. She might have made her way to the restaurant.”
I couldn’t see how. The restaurant was a good ten miles from the hospital. And Ava just had a baby. She had to be in pain walking. She wouldn’t have any money for a bus or her phone to call a ride.
But Gram was still right. I should give Harry the heads-up. He was one of the few people Ava trusted no matter how she came out of a reset.
