Page 47 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

We were told to go back to the inn and wait there in case she showed up, but we all knew what it really meant.Each hour that passed made it even less likely that they would find her or Joel.They could be anywhere at this point, and I had no way of knowing if she was okay.

My eyes hurt from crying and my head throbbed from a combination of things.

But none of that mattered.

My daughter was missing, and I only had myself to blame.

Thirty-One

Gage

“Hey,” I said softlyas I sat in front of Julie and held her hands in mine.“Baby, you need to eat something.”

She shook her head and looked away, her eyes reflecting the sadness that filled all of our hearts.

“I know that you don’t want to.None of us want to do anything but find Daisy.But you have to take care of yourself.You have to stay strong for Daisy.”

“I can’t,” she said, sniffling as she sucked in a sob.Her face fell as fresh tears trailed down her cheeks.“I can’t live without her, Gage.I can’t.There’s no way I can survive living without my daughter.She’s all that I have left.She’s my baby.”

I leaned forward and pulled her into my arms, placing her on my lap as I wrapped her in a tight hug.Tears slid down my cheeks as I felt my heart break right alongside hers.

“I know, baby.I know.We’re going to find her,” I assured her, but even I didn’t believe the words I said.I wanted to with every fiber of my being, but I also couldn’t trust that Joel wouldn’t do something stupid, just to hurt Julie.

The living room was filled with the bags of stuff we had bought for Daisy after she went missing.Once they saw the footage of Daisy leaving the store with Joel, the search inside the store was finished, and everyone went about their business.Since we couldn’t leave until Julie was finished talking to the police, Patrick and I decided to pay for everything Daisy had picked out, including the baby doll.It wouldn’t bring Daisy back, but it at least gave us some inkling of happiness to cling to, knowing thatifshe came back, she would be so excited to see all of the stuff we bought.

“We’re going to go for a walk,” Patrick said, standing in front of us.I could tell something was up with him from how he was acting, but I didn’t want to question it in front of Julie.She had more than enough to deal with right now.

His eyes lingered on how I was holding her, but I didn’t give a fuck.We had far bigger issues right now than me being in love with his sister.

“Can I take Duke with me?”he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah.That’s a great idea.The blanket Daisy’s been using is on the couch.Have him sniff it and tell himsearch.He should be able to use the scent to help look for her.”

“Take one of her shirts,” Julie said, pulling away slightly to look at her brother.“The one she wore to bed last night is still in the bedroom.I didn’t get a chance to put her dirty clothes in the hamper this morning.”

“Will do.”Patrick leaned down and kissed the top of his sister’s head before giving me a nod.“We’ll be back in a bit.”