‘If only I’d got that blasted lock fixed instead of waiting for the landlord to do it,’ she muttered. And if only Mister Pickles hadn’t gone walkabout. She’d promised Ethan they’d look for him tomorrow, hoping the ginger tabby would turn up in the meantime. Then she’d nodded off on the sofa. When she’d woken, the kitchen door was ajar, Ethan gone.
She rubbed her temples with her fingertips, fighting to keep the panic at bay. ‘Okay,’ she relented. ‘I’ll stay.’
Then she took a deep breath, went in search of her phone, and made the call she dreaded making.
* * *
An hour later, Annah felt ready to crawl out of her skin. Pacing the floor of her flat while others were out there combing the fields and woods was driving her crazy.
‘I’ve put some pork pies in the kitchen, dear,’ said Dot from behind her. ‘Can I make you a cup of tea?’
‘No, thank you,’ Annah said, continuing to stare out the window. The light had faded and the woods behind the flat were dark. Every now and again, a beam of light from a searcher’s torch cut through the trees.
Turning away from the living-room window, she glanced down at her phone clutched in her hand. It’d been horribly silent
. Had Luca picked up her message?
She paced again. He was going to be furious. She’d lost their son! Their beautiful, precious boy.
‘Annah?’
Chloe’s voice tugged her from her miserable thoughts. She looked to where Chloe stood in the kitchen, having paused in the act of drying a cup, her gaze directed out the window.
Chloe gave a little gasp. ‘Is that...?’
Annah’s skin prickled even before she turned to the window and saw Luca bounding up the steps two at a time. She blinked, barely able to believe her eyes.
How on earth...?
He burst through the door, and Dot and Chloe both gaped, wide-eyed, as he slammed to a halt and looked around. The instant his eyes found her, he stalked over, stopping close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off him.
Annah stared, confused. ‘You got my message?’ she croaked.
‘Yes.’ Under a day’s worth of dark stubble, his jaw muscles worked. ‘I was already in England—on my way here. My phone was off. I only listened to your message ten minutes ago.’
On his way here?
But he gave her no time to puzzle over that. ‘He’s still missing?’ he said, his tone sharp with urgency and concern.
‘Yes.’ Fear and misery welled, and she blinked rapidly, afraid she’d succumb to tears and he’d see how weak and needy she felt just then. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, straightening her shoulders, bracing for his anger. ‘It’s all my fault.’
A rough sound came from Luca’s throat, and then his arms suddenly wrapped around her. For a second she stiffened in surprise, but then she fell against him, choking back a sob, burying her face against his wonderfully broad chest.
This doesn’t change anything, a small voice cautioned. But he felt so good—warm and strong and solid—she didn’t care about anything in that moment except the fact that he was here.
He drew back, set his hands on either side of her face. ‘We will find him,’ he said. ‘Together, yes?’
Annah nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
Then she pulled herself together and introduced him to Chloe, Dot, and George—Ben’s colleague, who stood in the dining room updating grid search areas on the map spread across the table.
‘This is Ethan’s father,’ she said, and Dot’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
George shook Luca’s hand, then offered a quick overview of the searchers’ progress. He glanced at Annah. ‘We thought it best that Annah stay back so she’s here when he’s found.’
Luca’s eyes narrowed on her face, and she stiffened, waiting for him to agree with everyone else. To tell her she should sit here twiddling her thumbs, going slowly insane.
‘Is that what you want?’ he asked.