Page 85 of Betrayal of a Billionaire

“Well, she does get her dramatic side from you,” Lydia said with a sigh. “Anyway, if you need any more help…I’ll be getting a massage, so you’ll have to wait until after five.”

The line clicked as Alicia stared at it before she raised her confused gaze to Julia. “Did she seriously think left was a direction?”

Grant slid his eyes closed as he white-knuckled his phone.

“Okay, I’m going to call the rangers with this information, see where we’re at,” Alicia said as she skirted around them to slip past Kyle at the door.

“I’ll check with the deputies,” Ethan said as he patted Julia’s shoulder on his way out.

Julia rubbed Grant’s shoulder again.

He grabbed her hand, pulling it close to his chest as he rose and faced her. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course,” she said. “They’ll find her. Alicia and Ethan do this all the time. People get lost in the park all the time.”

“During a storm?’

“That’s not ideal,” Julia admitted, “but we’ll find her.”

The worry etched into his face didn’t lift at all. Julia wished she could comfort him somehow, but she doubted anything short of finding Sierra would do that.

“Julia…”

“They’ll find her, Grant.”

He shook his head. “No, I…about this morning…”

“No,” she said, sliding a hand onto his arm, “don’t worry about that now. Sierra is what’s important, okay?”

Somehow his features registered more disappointment rather than less, though maybe the reality of Sierra being lost somewhere was hitting him.

Finally, his head bobbed up and down, his eyes still registering pain. “Well, thank you for coming.”

“Of course, Grant. This is important. It doesn’t matter what happened this morning. Sierra is more important than any of that.”

“She was so upset.”

“She must have been, if she willingly left with Lydia.”

“I’m not sure she actually wanted to leave with Lydia, I think she just didn’t want to be there anymore. I should have gone after her. I should have…” His voice faded as he shook his head, his eyes turning glassy.

She squeezed his arm again. “It’s okay. We’re going to find her. By tonight, she’ll be with you.”

He nodded, worry still clouding his eyes.

“And she’ll probably still be mad at you. And me. And Kyle.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” Kyle said.

“She’s always mad at you no matter what,” Julia said with a smile at him.

“I don’t think she’s mad at you, Julia,” Grant said, threading his fingers through hers again. “She’s mad at me. And now, she’s out there…”

“And she’s going to be fine. It’s going to be okay. I promise,” Julia said. “We’re going to find her. I told you, Ethan and Alicia deal with this all the time.”

“How many people don’t come back?”

Julia shook her head. “You can’t think that way.”