Page 26 of The Ex Next Door (Charming, Texas #8)

A t first, Amy wasn’t hugely alarmed.

The words didn’t seem to hit her, but instead they sort of flew right past her like a random arrow missing their intended target.

“What do you mean he’s missing?”

She met Declan’s eyes, and his own suddenly narrowed. He immediately started up the truck and backed out of the parking lot.

“We can’t find him.” Naomi began to whimper. “We were at the park with Daddy’s friend. I was on the swings, and I thought David and Daddy were playing catch. Then Daddy came over by himself and asked us where David was. And now we can’t find him.”

Amy had a lot of questions, such as why her daughter had phoned instead of her ex-husband.

Hopefully, he was using his time wisely and looking for their son.

The son he’d lost. But no, David couldn’t be lost. There was some misunderstanding.

He must have said something to Rob, and as usual, he didn’t listen.

“He probably just wandered off and even though he told Daddy, he doesn’t remember it. I’m coming, honey. Don’t worry.”

“But we’ve been looking for a long time and Daddy’s friend wants to call the police. But Daddy said no, that David’s just hiding. We have to keep looking.”

“Where am I headed?” Declan said at the light.

“Houston,” Amy said and watched as he made the turn to head toward the interstate. “What’s the name of the park, Naomi?”

“Um, I think…um, Miss Shannon? What’s the name of this park?”

“Is that your mommy? Can I talk to her?” a woman’s voice said, taking the phone. “We’re at Donovan Park. I’m so sorry about this. Rob is searching every nook and cranny of this park, but honestly, I don’t know why if he’s here David won’t answer us calling his name.”

It had been a long time since she’d seen him do this, but at one time, David used to hide from her.

“Sometimes he hides when he’s mad.”

“Oh dear.”

Rob probably remembered that, too, which explained why he wasn’t willing to call the police.

He must realize he’d said something to upset David.

But he’d never pulled a stunt like this before, hiding in a public place, making them all panic.

They’d talked to him so many times about the importance of safety.

What if David wasn’t hiding? Maybe he was truly missing.

Amy’s mind rejected the thought at the same time as she couldn’t get it out of her mind.

What if someone horrible had taken her little boy?

What if she never saw him again? She didn’t want to allow the ugly thought, resisted, but it kept reappearing, terrorizing her.

Okay, more than likely David was mad at Rob.

Plus, stranger abductions were rare. Everybody said that.

It was a fact . She repeated this to herself over and over to calm her racing heart.

“We’re headed your way,” Amy said. “We’ll help you look.”

It wasn’t until Amy hung up that she allowed herself to fall apart. Declan was here and he was her rock. He was her security and safety.

“What if he… I can’t think…” She might literally be sick to her stomach as the awful thoughts pressed in.

Declan took her hand and wouldn’t let go of it. “Amy, don’t go there. We’re going to find him and he’s going to be fine.”

“Yes, yes. We are going to find him. I know. But I’m scared.”

“No wonder.”

“Did I tell you he used to hide when he was little and mad at me? But, of course, I could always find him. He’d be pouting in his closet because I wouldn’t let him have a fourth cookie.

And when I found him, he always looked so surprised.

Like, ‘How did you find me in the closet? I was hiding so good.’” She chuckled at the memory, but tears came out instead.

Finally, they arrived, despite the annoying traffic that had slowed them down. Amy almost didn’t wait for the truck to stop before she was flying out the door.

Declan caught up to her. “Where should we start?”

Amy saw Naomi running toward the entrance by the wrought iron gate.

“Mommy! I’m scared.” She ran into Amy’s arms and held tight to her waist.

Shannon came up behind Naomi. “I’m Shannon. Don’t you think we should call the police?”

“Give me a few minutes to find him. If I can’t find him in ten minutes, I’m calling the police,” Amy said. “I don’t care what Rob says.”

“Now that you’re here, I’m going to go find Rob and help him look.”

“You go this way, I’ll head the other direction,” Declan shouted and took off at a run, calling David’s name.

Amy grabbed Naomi’s hand and they started walking. “Let’s try the train structures first.”

“Why is David scaring me like this?” Naomi wanted to know.

“Honey, he must be really mad about something. Remember how he used to hide when he was mad?”

“I don’t know what I did to make him mad!”

“Nothing. I bet he’s mad at your father.” She paused every few seconds to call out David’s name.

They went winding through the park, checking inside the play structures, calling out his name. Only a few minutes into this routine, Amy heard the most wonderful sound on earth.

“Mom? You came.”

It was him. David. Her beautiful, beautiful boy. He stood in the fading last rays of sunlight, one hand still holding his baseball glove.

It was Naomi who ran first and threw her arms around him.

Though they’d always been the same size, in the past year David had begun the long stretch of growth that would eventually take him into manhood.

He stood about two inches taller than her now, and as Naomi clutched him, he lowered his head to her shoulder and patted her back with his free hand.

Naomi pulled back to frame his face. “I was looking for you.”

Then all three of them were hugging, Amy coming to her knees to hold her babies tight. Yes, thank you, God, they were all together. No one hurt or injured or lost. She could breathe again. It wasn’t time for anger and harsh words and Amy just didn’t have it in her anyway.

But this needed to be addressed.

“David, you really scared your sister. You scared me, too.”

“I’m sorry.” He looked chastised, lowering his gaze, then turning it on Amy. “How did you know?”

“Naomi called me on your dad’s phone.”

David frowned. “ He didn’t call you?”

An utterly sinking sensation hit Amy. Had David actually orchestrated this to bring her and Rob together somehow?

Did he think maybe working together to find their son would bring about a reconciliation?

He hadn’t done anything like this before, but then again he also hadn’t seen his father with another woman until today.

It occurred to Amy that she should let someone know they’d found David, so she texted Declan. He’d let everyone else know where to meet.

She took both Naomi’s and David’s hands and together they walked to a bench and sat. “What’s wrong, honey? Why are you so mad?”

“Mom, Daddy’s friend is his girlfriend.” He looked at the ground, scowling and kicking with one foot. “I don’t understand. You’re so much prettier, Mommy. Why does he need a girlfriend when he could be with you?”

Despite everything she’d read and learned about divorce with children, despite the therapy she’d had after the divorce, Amy had nothing. She was hollow. Empty. Everything she had to say was too grown-up for them to understand and she didn’t know how to make it simpler.

We grew apart. He doesn’t love me anymore. I thought he didn’t want to be married but what he didn’t want was me. And now, I don’t love him anymore. It’s too late for us.

“He’s right, Mommy,” Naomi said. “You are prettier.”

“Thanks, sweetie. Listen, you two. You both know that looks aren’t everything. Anyway, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“I don’t know what that means,” David said.

“It means that while you and Naomi think I’m pretty, you’re sort of looking at me through a special lens. You know, like one of those filters on the phone apps. I’m your mother and you love me so to you, I’m pretty.”

“I think Dec thinks you’re pretty, too,” David said.

“Okay, maybe he does. But see, to Daddy, I’m not as pretty as his new girlfriend.”

That didn’t sound right, either. She was failing here.

Sinking fast. Her son didn’t like the idea that his father and mother were no longer together.

And she wasn’t going to be able to make this better for him.

Since he’d been born, she’d protected and guided him and Naomi.

Cribs with slats the right width apart, car seats tested for accident safety, nursing for optimal health, reading daily, healthy snacks.

But when it came to this, possibly the most important part of their lives, she couldn’t fix it.

“I don’t like this,” David said. “I don’t need a new mom. Why is she even here? We were supposed to play catch. And all Daddy does is hold her hand and kiss her. It’s disgusting .”

“What? I don’t need a new mom, either!” Naomi crossed her arms. “I didn’t think about that!”

“No, look, neither one of you are getting a new mom. Or a new dad. Ever. Okay?”

Rob chose that moment to run up to them. He took one long look at the three of them setting on a bench together and his face went nuclear.

“David Robert Holloway!”

“Daddy, don’t be mad at him!” Naomi yelled.

“I’m sorry!” David said, swinging his legs and not moving from his spot on the bench.

Rob took several steps until he was nearly in David’s face. “You scared everybody ! You scared your mother! Shannon wanted to call the police!”

“The police ?” David snorted. “Stupid. I was just mad at you because we didn’t play catch enough. I can’t get good if you won’t let me practice.”

“We’ve talked about this, young man. You cannot hide when you’re mad. It’s not safe .” Rob pointed at the air in emphasis, punctuating every word.

Shannon came running up, right behind Declan.

If nothing else, Amy hoped the presence of his girlfriend might cool Rob down.

He was still in that early stage of the relationship where he would want to make a good impression.

But Rob had never been violent with the children.

He’d been stern, and too in your face at times, but he’d never hurt them.

“Rob, it’s an emotional time,” Shannon said. “Maybe you could excuse it just this once.”

It was official. Amy really liked Shannon. She liked her a lot and maybe someday, somehow, David would, too. First, he had to give up on the hope that his parents would get back together. Second, he had to understand he would always only have one mother.

Rob deflated like a balloon left out too long in the sun. “Yeah.”

“Sorry, Dad. I won’t ever do it again.” David lowered his head.

Rob finally reached for David and hugged him.

“Okay, let’s all go home and talk about this. I’m sorry you’re so upset. We’re going to fix this, you’ll see.” He glanced in Amy’s direction. “I’ll take it from here, Ames. Thanks for your help finding him. You, too, Declan. Sorry, really, to scare you like that.”

“It’s okay, I was happy to help. Naomi called me,” Amy said.

“And Naomi and I will talk about that later, too.” He gave her the side-eye.

“I was scared!” Naomi said.

“Okay, but Mommy doesn’t have to come running every time you and I have a problem,” Rob said. “We can solve problems on our own by talking about it.”

“No, we can’t.” With that, David got up and slumped away, Naomi following him after giving Amy another quick hug.

She understood what he meant. Words wouldn’t fix this for him.

“Well, we better go,” Rob said. “By the way, this is Shannon. Shannon, this is my ex-wife, Amy. And Declan, her um, her—”

“Boyfriend,” Declan interrupted.

“I’m sorry to meet under these circumstances,” Shannon said with a small smile.

“Same here,” Amy said. “But it’s nice to meet you anyway.”

“See you Sunday.” Rob turned and held up his arm for a backward wave.

Amy stood there watching them all walk away, intent on seeing Rob catch up to the kids.

“C’mere.” From behind her, Declan pulled her into his arms, his head lowering to the crook in her shoulder and neck.

She wanted to collapse. All the emotions sapped from her in the past few minutes ranging from horrific fear, swinging to rising hope and then crashing into despair had taken every ounce of her energy. She turned in Declan’s arms, burying her face in his chest.

“Have I ruined him?” She hiccupped back a sob.

“What? No, baby. You haven’t ruined anyone. You never could. What you did is fix this. You found your son.”

Amy wished it were that simple.

“He’s mad because his dad has a new girlfriend. I can’t fix this for him, and it hurts.”

“Of course it does. You would fix the whole world if you could.”

Declan just held her as she cried, his hand sliding up and down her back in slow strokes. They stood there until the sun made its final dip beyond the horizon and the park lights switched on.

The park would be closing soon.

“Tell me you’re okay, Tinks,” Declan said, tipping her chin to meet his eyes.

“Just take me home.”