“Oh,” she said with a quick glance at her reflection in the window again. Wow. She must have had a restless night because she wasn’t even sure that she could pull a brush through her hair.
“Can I…” She began. “I just…rolled out of bed,” she finished lamely.
He chuckled. “No rush. Teague’s in town as well, so I’ll head over there first and say hello. But if you have time for a coffee, after that would be great.”
“Sounds good,” Sabrina replied.
Blinking rapidly, she was surprised to see that it was eight o’clock and her place was as silent as a grave. The kids were usually up by seven, but she decided to let them sleep and headed to the bathroom. The hot water worked wonders and half an hour later, she was showered and changed, pulling on old denim cut-offs and a pale blue tank top. She slipped on her favorite flip flops and pulled her still-damp hair into a ponytail.
Her eyes were a tad puffy from tears and lack of sleep, but there was nothing she could do about that.
“Whatever,” she muttered. It’s not as if she was out to impress anyone. Teague Simon didn’t like her all that much anyway so why should she care what she looked like?
The fact that Teague came to mind should have made her pause, and maybe it would have, if she hadn’t pushed open the kids’ bedroom door only to find their beds empty.
Thinking that they’d woken up while she was in the shower, she headed back to the main room of the cottage but it too was empty. The throw she’d slept in was on the floor where she’d left it, her sandals by the sofa as well. Where the hell were they? And where was that damn dog?
&n
bsp; The cottage wasn’t all that big and Sabrina quickly checked every room. The sound of a motorboat in the distance drove her into action, and, heart hammering against her ribs like a jackhammer, she darted for the door. Sabrina ran down the steps that led to the water, and was damn lucky she didn’t trip and break her neck considering the flip flops on her feet.
It was Friday morning and the lake was already busy with early weekenders. Eyes scanning the water, Sabrina shouted their names before checking her boathouse and then the Simon boathouse. Nothing. They were nowhere.
“Oh, God,” she said brokenly, dashing back onto the dock. Had they gone in the water? She shouted their names again. This can ’t be happening.
Again nothing.
Running up the Simon steps, she didn’t bother to knock but slammed into the house like a hurricane hitting the coast. She managed to stub her toe on the corner of a kitchen cabinet before banging her hip into the counter.
It should have hurt like hell. In fact it probably did. But the sight that greeted her took all of that away and left her standing in the middle of the kitchen, hopping on one foot, feeling pretty much like an idiot and decidedly…pissed.
She swore—said something that would have emptied her entire purse into the swear jar—and didn’t bat an eye at the horrified look Morgan gave her.
Her children were sitting at the kitchen table as if everything was right in their world. In front of them was a plate of what looked to be steak and eggs, as well as several boxes of sugared cereal that Sabrina would never allow into her house, a bowl of blueberries, and a half eaten banana.
The other half had just been stuffed into Harry’s mouth.
Bingo was happily gnawing on a bone or something while Teague and Josiah stood near the island, watching her warily as she took a moment. She could not lose it. Would not lose it.
“No one thought I might like to know where my children are?” Her voice was icy but she didn’t give either man a chance to reply. Instead she turned her focus back to said children.
“Since when do you two get up and leave the house without letting me know where you’re going? Since when?”
Her voice was calm and that was a bloody miracle. Still, the twins—or at least Harry—knew that he was in trouble. His eyes slid from hers as he tried to swallow the banana in his mouth and once he accomplished that, he stared at the table in silence.
“Sabrina,” Teague said. Her hand shot up to stop him before he got started, and she cocked her head at her daughter. Morgan met her gaze full-on and at any other time she would have taken a moment to admire her daughter’s spunk. But right now she was furious.
“We wanted to let you sleep because you were crying a lot last night.”
Like a balloon stuck with a pin her anger deflated. Oh God. They’d heard her? It was like a punch to the gut.
“And you looked like a princess, like sleeping beauty.” Those words came from Harry and Sabrina fought to keep her shit together. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.
Sabrina’s mouth tightened and, ignoring the men, she took a step forward, wincing once more as pain spread out from her big toe. “I’m going to make this perfectly clear. Never. Never leave the cottage without telling me. Understand? The lake is right out there and it can be dangerous. You both know this.”
Harry nodded, his precious bottom lip trembling, while Morgan reached for another blueberry.
“Do you understand?” Sabrina asked again, her words directed at her daughter. “You know the rules, Morgan. If you can’t follow them, then we’ll have to pack up and go back to the city.”