Page 18

CHAPTER 18

ZANDER

“Sienna?”

“Zander.” She blubbers my name, curling her fingers into my hoodie… and I follow my gut. Pulling her into a hug, I rest her head against my shoulder, rubbing circles on her back while Wily stands beside me looking comically confused.

“Who’s this?” he mouths, and I give him a desperate not now.

Thankfully, he nods while I try to work out how I’m going to help Sienna.

She’s seriously distraught right now.

“No, no, no.” She shoves me away, brushing hair off her wet face with shaking hands. “I can’t find Zoey.”

“What?” I’m immediately alert, scanning the store around me. “What happened?”

“I was looking for yogurt and she was standing right beside me, and then she was just… she was gone! And I can’t find her!”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re gonna find her. ”

“How old is she?” Wily asks.

“Um, she’s, um…” Sienna closes her eyes like she can’t even think straight, so I answer for her.

“She’s two. Blonde curls. Blue eyes. What’s she wearing?”

“Uh… blue overalls with a… a pink T-shirt and purple shoes.” Sienna blinks, like she’s slowly coming back online.

I rub her arm and keep assuring her. “It’s all right. We’ll find her.”

“I’ll check outside.” Wily darts away from me, calling Zoey’s name, and I wince as the shop bell dings, torturing myself with images of Zoey dashing out into the road and getting hit by a car.

“Oh my G—” Sienna’s obviously thinking the same thing, and I quickly snap us out of it.

“Look at me.” I lightly shake her. “Whatever it is you’re picturing, stop. Now. That’s not going to help us.”

Sienna’s head starts to bob. “Okay. Okay, okay.”

“You go let the workers at the front know and then start checking the aisles to the left, and I’m gonna take the right?”

“Okay,” she squeaks, her voice pitching.

“We’ll find her.” Kissing her forehead, I dart away from Sienna and try to keep my panic in check as I walk down every aisle, calling my daughter’s name—shit, my daughter—and praying we’ll find her quickly.

I barely know the girl, and I’m fighting a meltdown. I can only imagine what Sienna’s going through right now.

But it’s all going to be okay.

It has to be.

I used to play hide-and-seek in grocery stores all the time. Apparently, my mom lost me for a good twenty minutes once when I decided that hiding behind a pile of rolled-up rugs in Target was a brilliant idea.

“Zoey, come on, kid. Mom’s freaking out,” I call down the next aisle, walking along at a fast clip until I hear a little giggle by my left foot.

Stopping, I tip my head and crouch down, spotting a pair of cute blue eyes sparkling back at me from behind a stack of large tin cans.

“How did you get back there?” I can’t help laughing.

She giggles again and shows me by crawling out of her hiding spot, her butt nearly getting wedged by the shelf above until she does a little shimmy and makes it through.

“Wow.” I nod. “That’s kind of impressive, you little Houdini.”

With a playful grin, she bobs on her toes, all proud of herself, and I swear my insides are turning to putty.

“Hi, Foobawl.” She brushes her sticky fingers across my cheek.

“Hey.” I smile and hold out my hands. “Let’s go find your mom.”

To my surprise, she steps into my arms without hesitation, and I lift her up and call across the store, “Found her!”