Page 30 of The Liar's Wife
When I pulled away, I looked at her, shaking my head. How could I even put into words what had happened? “Dani, they’re…they’re just gone.”
She stared at me, one brow lifting slightly. “Who’s gone? Gone where?” She brushed a piece of hair from my eyes.
“Ben and Gray. They’re missing. I don’t know.” My shoulders fell. “I don’t know anything. Ben never came home yesterday. I can’t get a hold of him. He has Gray, and they’re just…gone.”
Her jaw dropped, and she reached for my arms again. “Palmer…oh…oh my god, I’m so sorry. What can I do? What areyoudoing? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m still processing, I think. And I just keep worrying that I’ll tell people, and maybe that makes it real somehow. Like, if I just keep it to myself, maybe he’ll just walk through the door.”
She cocked her head to the side with sympathy. “Do you really think that’s going to happen? It has to, right? Where else would he be? I don’t…” She trailed off, running a finger over her lips.
“I have to believe it could. Otherwise, what am I saying? They’re just gone? Both of them? I can’t give up on Ben. He’ll do the right thing. He’ll come home. He has to come home. He has to bring Gray back to me, right? He has to.” I blinked back tears at the possibilities swirling through my head. He had to bring him home.
“Yes, he does. He will. I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding. Ben loves you. We aren’t giving up.” Her expression was fierce as she shook her head, nudging me toward the couch. “Come on. Let’s make a plan. When did they go missing, exactly? We can figure this out.”
“Yesterday around noon…” I hesitated. Dannika had been there for me during my last breakup. She’d taken care of me, comforted me, encouraged me to get back out there. How would she feel if she knew that I’d managed to mess this new relationship up too? Would she start to see a pattern? Wonder if I’m worthy of any kind of love?
“Palmer, was Ben who you were talking about when you told Ty your friend’s husband was having an affair?” she asked, her lips pressed together.
I sucked in a breath and held it, breaking eye contact. Iknew she knew, but it didn’t make it any easier. When I looked back at her, I’d given my answer.
“Son of a bitch,” she said, slapping her knee. “Who is she? Do I know her?”
“She’s a food blogger from Crestview. Katie something.”
She wrinkled her nose. “A food blogger? Is that a real job?”
I smiled sadly. “Apparently.”
“Are you okay?” She shook her head as she asked. “Of course you aren’t.” She paused. “And Crestview, really? She’s small town? Ben always seemed so sophisticated and…you know,worldly,I guess,” she said, shoving a shoulder forward. “He loved the city too much. I can’t believe he’d be interested in anyone from Crestview.”
She was trying to make me feel better, but it didn’t work. What she was really saying was that Ben went against his type to cheat on me with her…that’s how unhappy I made him. Just like Nate.
“So, have you checked with her? I mean, could he be with her? Do you have a way to contact her? I’ll do it for you, if you want. Actually, scratch that, you are a strong, beautiful, confident woman. You should do it. You deserve the chance to confront her.” She rambled more and more the angrier she got, and I loved her for it. Confrontation was not what I wanted. Truth be told, I didn’t care about Kat. I just wanted Gray home and safe. It was as if someone had launched me forward, then suspended me in midair without warning. I was waiting, my breath caught, my arms and legs ready to move with no direction or inclination when they would again. I wanted to take action, but there was no action to take. I had no idea where my family was, and I couldn’t imagine any worse feeling than that.
“I don’t want to confront her,” I said, shaking my head solemnly. “I just want to get them both home. I don’t even care what he’s done now, I just want to know they’re okay. I need to see my son. I need to.”
“I know, sweetie,” she whispered, brushing a strand of hair from my eyes again and tucking it behind my ear. “I know. I do. I get it. And we will find them. We’re going to figure out what’s going on, okay? Do you think it’s a possibility he’s with her? That’d be the first place I’d look.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head. “I followed him to her house yesterday, but he left. I went back there later when I couldn’t find him, and her husband was home.”
“She has ahusband?” She clicked her tongue. “Wow. Okay. Well…have you called the police yet? I know it seems like a big step—”
“I did,” I confirmed. “They’re working on it, but I don’t know when I’ll hear. Or if.”
“Okay, so what can we do? What canIdo?” She clasped her hands together in front of her.
“I don’t know if there’s anything any of us can do. The police say we should just wait to hear back.”
She pursed her lips, giving me a look that clearly saidno way in hell.“Mmkay, we’re going to call that afriendly suggestion,and then we’re going to get our asses out there and find your baby. We know Ben better than anyone. We know how he thinks, what he likes. We have to go, Palmer. Where should we start?”
My heart filled with hope, though I desperately didn’t want it to be. The last thing I needed right then was hope. It made things so much more difficult. I needed anger and determination and fear. I needed to keep moving, to keep searching, to not give up. Hope was a fruitless emotion withno action behind it. Hope was waiting for something good to happen, making a birthday wish; action required so much more. I couldn’t allow myself to be filled with anything that wasn’t propelling me forward, finding me solutions.
“I want to talk to her, but if she’s not behind this, it seems pointless.”
“Well, let’s go over there and just see what she has to say. Maybe, even if she doesn’t know where he is, maybe she can give us a few places to look. I know it’ll be hard, but we need to turn over every stone.”
An hour later,we’d pulled into Crestview. Dannika drove, and I directed, my eyes too filled with tears to be of much use behind the wheel.