Page 5

CHAPTER FIVE

TATE

Eight Days Before Disappearance

Celine is already home by the time I get there. Inside, the house is quiet and smells of dinner. I make my way through the house, half expecting them to be hiding or pretending to be asleep so they can jump up and scare me as they so often do whenever I enter the house at the end of the day.

Instead, I find my plate of chicken and rice casserole waiting on the counter and no sign of my family. The food smells delicious, and my stomach growls on sight. I skipped lunch today, and I’m feeling the results of that. Celine likes to sneak broccoli into this particular casserole and coat it with enough cheese the kids don’t notice. Leaning down over the plate, I take a small bite and notice it’s cool, but not yet cold. She recently set it out.

The casserole dish is still waiting on the stovetop, and I can feel the heat from it before my hand touches the surface. The time on the stove tells me it’s just after seven, so not quite bedtime.

“Guys?” I call, spinning around. Are they planning to try and scare me?

I make my way down the hallway toward the bedrooms when I spot the light on in the bathroom. As I get closer, I can hear the water running, and my chest floods with a warm relief.

I push the door open cautiously. “Anyone home?”

“Dad!” Finley calls, leaning his little blond head out of the bathtub and waving at me, his arm coated and dripping with bubbles. Ryker is in front of the bathtub with a towel wrapped around his waist the way I showed him, running a comb methodically through his hair. There’s a new girl at school he’s been talking about a lot lately—Asha. Since he started talking about her, I’ve noticed he’s been spending a lot more time getting ready.

My chest goes warm at the thought. I can’t believe we’re already here. I know everyone says it goes by fast, but until you live it, those words don’t do the experience justice.

Celine is sitting on the toilet lid across from the bathtub, grinning broadly at me. Her long, dark curls are everywhere, sticking to her neck from the humidity of the room, the front pieces brushed back out of her face without care. She’s as beautiful and unconcerned with that beauty as ever.

“Hey, baby,” she says, grinning as she tilts her mouth up for me to press a kiss to her lips when I approach her.

“Hey there.”

“Finley has something to tell you.” She nods her head toward our son, who is waiting anxiously for me to make my way across the bathroom toward him. He grins up as I approach, and I see the news he has before he says the words.

“I lost another tooth!” Proudly, he pushes his tongue through the hole next to his newly grown-in front teeth.

“I see that.” With a chuckle, I pat his head and squat down next to the bathtub for a better look. I squint, leaning in, then pull back and pin him with a look of concern. “Who said you were allowed to do that?”

“No one,” he says, clearly confused. “It just happened.”

“You’re supposed to stop growing so fast, remember?”

Catching onto my joke, his head cocks to the side, and he gives me a patronizing look. “ Daaad .”

I laugh, rubbing my hand over his hair again. “Just kidding, bud. Guess that means the tooth fairy is finally going to bring you the money you owe me for that candy at the store the other day, right?”

He hesitates. “Well…”

“He’s kidding, Fin,” Celine tells him with a playful eye roll.

I approach Ryker from behind, staring at him in the mirror. “How was your day, kiddo?”

“Fine,” he grumbles, mouth full of toothpaste. After spitting it out, he turns to face me. “I need your help with my math homework.”

“You’ve got it. Let me take a quick shower, and I’ll meet you in your room after, okay?”

“Yep.” He turns back toward the mirror while I face Celine.

“I’ll be right back.”

She grins. “No problem. I left your dinner out, too.”

“I saw it, thanks. I’ll heat it back up after I help him with homework.” I squeeze her shoulder gently as I pass her and head for our bedroom. In our bathroom, I strip out of my clothes and turn the shower on, peeing while I wait for the shower to heat up.

I’m exhausted, my body sore and my mind overworked. Work has been brutal lately, and then I’ve had all the recent extra stress on top of it. I just can’t seem to catch a break.

Once my shower is done, I step out, wrapping the towel around my waist before combing my hair. In the bedroom, I’m dressing when the door opens and Celine walks in.

She lies down on the bed with a sigh, running her hands over her eyes. I pull my shirt over my head and lie down next to her, massaging her thigh gently.

“Rough day?”

She turns her head to look at me with that same deliriously happy look that’s almost always on her face. It never gets old when she looks at me that way, when I know I’ve caused it. “No, I’m just exhausted. How was your day?”

“Fine.” I run my hand up her leg, over her hip, and up her side, stopping at her shoulder to twist one of her dark curls around my finger. “Sorry I was late.”

“It’s fine. Gave me just enough time to send my boyfriend home.” She winks, and I drop my jaw in feigned shock, digging my fingers into her waist to tickle her.

“What did I tell you would happen if I saw him around here again?” I tease as she squeals.

Fighting for breath, she wrenches my hand away. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell him to stay away for good this time.”

“You’d better.” I run my nose over hers, brushing her mouth with my lips.

“Anyway, better late than never.” She leans into my lips, letting her mouth linger on mine for a moment longer than necessary. I put a hand on the back of her head and tug her flush against me in a single move. Pressing a hand against my chest, she pulls back. “Easy there, tiger. Ryker still needs your help with his homework, and I need to do the dishes and read a few more chapters of The Wild Robot with Finley.”

“Ah, right. Life still exists out there. How could I forget?” I chuckle, running a hand over my face before adjusting my pants. I prop up on one elbow. “I can do the dishes,” I tell her.

She stifles a yawn and rolls onto her back, looking over at me. “Are you sure?”

“You look exhausted.”

A snort escapes her. “Gee, thanks.”

“Beautiful.” I lean over and kiss her forehead before standing up from the bed. “But exhausted. Go read to Finley while I help Ryker, then I’ll eat and finish the dishes. You should get some rest.”

She looks like she might argue but decides against it. “Okay. Thanks.”

With that, I squeeze her knee gently and leave the room.

Ryker and I are nearly done with his math homework when the door opens and Celine peeks inside. She crosses her arms with a grin, but it’s different. Distant. Tired, maybe, but still unsettling. “How’s it going in here?”

“Almost done,” Ryker says.

“Multiplying and dividing fractions,” I explain. “If I never have to look at another fraction, I’ll be okay with that.”

“Me too,” Ryker agrees.

“Well, I’m afraid you have a few more years of ’em, bud,” I say, pointing at the page to tell him to continue.

Celine’s smile is stiff, her eyes staring off into the room at nothing at all.

“Everything okay?” I ask gently.

She senses the change in my tone and looks up, her bright, brown eyes searching mine. “Of course. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah.” I hop up, a stone sinking in my stomach. Has something happened to Finley? Or the house? The car? “I’ll be right back, Ryk. Keep working.”

He nods without looking up from his paper, the eraser of his pencil stuck between his teeth as he chomps down on it in thought. Celine pushes the bedroom door open, disappearing out of it without needing to instruct me to follow her. She leads the way toward our bedroom, and when I step inside, she spins around, arms folded across her chest.

“Is something wrong?” I venture a guess.

“I don’t know,” she says, her harsh tone foreign. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

“Um…” I search my brain. There’s no way she knows about anything, so I have no idea what she’s talking about or why I seem to be in trouble. “I don’t think so.” I force a soft, breathy laugh.

She reaches behind her, and I spot my phone lying on the edge of the bed moments before she picks it up. My chest goes icy as I try to remember if I might’ve left anything on it that would make her mad at me. It’s not like Celine to go through my phone. I can’t remember the last time I touched hers.

“I was trying to go to bed, and your phone lit up. I thought it might be a client or something important, so I checked it.” She nudges the phone toward me, a text message lighting up the screen.

The message is from a number I don’t recognize, but the message tells me who it is without needing to think about it.

You need to tell her.