Did You Miss Me? (31 page)

‘Yeah.’ Clay cleared his throat. ‘Stevie woke up. I’ll be home as fast as I can.’

Joseph looked down the table at Daphne, who sat with her eyes closed, her lips soundlessly moving. Praying, he thought. Giving thanks or begging for equal mercy.

Or both.

‘On that note, we’re adjourned.’

West Virginia, Tuesday, December 3, 8.30
P.M.

Ford choked down a few bites of the old man’s beef jerky and ate a few mouthfuls of the snow, tossing the remainder to the ground before his lips touched the filthy glove he’d taken from the cabin. At least he wouldn’t get dehydrated.

He’d freeze to death first. There were no stars, just a blanket of white, falling snow. There were no lights anywhere. This was the blackest night he’d ever experienced.

Ford hunched his shoulders against the wind.
One foot in front of the other
. He had to keep walking or he’d end up dead. For the first time he entertained the notion that he might.

I don’t want to die
.
So move
.
Move your feet
.
One foot in front of the other
.

Chapter Thirteen

Baltimore, Maryland, Tuesday, December 3, 9.15
P.M.

‘
H
ome or hospital to see Stevie?’ Joseph asked when she was buckled in the front seat of his Escalade.

‘Home,’ Daphne said. ‘I think Stevie needs to rest.’

‘And so do you,’ Joseph said, waving to the car behind them. Rivera and Coppola took their place behind the Escalade, escorting her home. ‘Parents of missing kids don’t remember to take care of themselves. It’s like they believe if they slow down they’re betraying the child.’

Daphne turned in her seat to study him. Here in the quiet she could finally think. And she did not want to think. So she talked. ‘Did you slow down when your wife was missing?’

He glanced at her, surprise in his eyes. Then he shrugged and looked at the road, slick with the new snow that was still falling. ‘No.’

‘Will you tell me about her?’

He blew out a breath that puffed into a cloud. ‘Daphne, I don’t think—’

‘I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s cold and it’s snowing and my son is out there. And if I can think of anything else then maybe I won’t lose my mind. But I won’t ask about her again. I don’t mean to hurt you. How about hobbies? Sports? I’m not very good at sports, I’m afraid.’
And now I’m babbling
.

‘
You don’t hurt me by asking. It’s just I didn’t think women liked to know about the tragic love of a guy’s life.’ He said it dramatically, making fun of himself.

Daphne didn’t smile. ‘You loved her. She was part of your life, if only for a little while. I don’t need to know the details of her abduction. I guess I want to know what about her made you . . . fall.’

Another sideways glance her way. ‘You didn’t fall for Ford’s dad.’

‘No. I was a fifteen-year-old girl who’d lied on her job app about being eighteen so that I could wait tables to make money for community college. Travis was much older and polished. A lawyer from the big city, which is what I desperately wanted to be.’

‘Which, a lawyer or to live in the city?’

‘Both. I started talking to him. I just wanted to ask questions about being a lawyer. He thought I was offering myself. You know.’

His jaw had grown tight. ‘I can guess.’

‘Next thing I knew, my shift was over and it was wine and roses in his hotel room at the Greenbrier.’

His brows shot up. ‘The five star golf resort? You worked there?’

‘No, I wasn’t lucky enough to work there, but I still made better tips at a restaurant nearby than I could have made in any other town around. I thought I knew how rich people lived from watching my customers. I had no idea.’

‘You must have been swept away,’ he said quietly.

‘It was more than this country girl had ever thought to dream. I was goggle-eyed. Then I was drunk. By the time I realized what was happening, it had happened.’

His jaw had clenched. ‘And then?’

‘I woke up, Travis was long gone. His head of security, Hal, was waiting to take me home. I was so hungover. I’d never had champagne before. I’d never had a
lot
of things before. A month later, I was still praying to the porcelain God, every morning.’

‘It was your first time.’

‘Joseph, if you clench your jaw any tighter you’re gonna break your teeth,’ she said dryly. ‘It was a long time ago.’

He made a visible effort to relax. ‘So you had Ford.’

‘I did. I thought the Greenbrier was the fanciest place on earth, but I was shocked yet again when I went looking for Travis to give him the glad tidings. I was struck speechless. I’d turned to go without ringing the bell when the front doors opened and Hal came out. I tried to hide, but he saw me and remembered me. I think he took one look at me, pale and scared, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist, as they say.’

‘What did he do?’

‘Sat me down in the kitchen and gave me milk and cookies. And then he took me to Nadine – that’s Travis’s mother. Talk about scared . . . She was like Cinderella’s stepmother and the Queen of England all rolled into one.’ Daphne frowned, remembering. ‘She took one look at me and turned almost as pale as I was. Hal had told her who I was and how I’d been with Travis at the Greenbrier while I was down in the kitchen. She took my chin and tilted my face to the light. Then said, “What is your name, child?” I told her it was Daphne Elizabeth. “Elizabeth is a suitable name.” I think that made me mad, because I pulled away and said, “Suitable for what?” She said, “For the mother of my grandchild.
”
’

‘She wanted the baby, then?’

‘Oh, yes. Turned out that Travis’s current wife was infertile.’

‘His current wife?’

‘I was wife number three. And too young and stupid to know any better. Not that I would have made a different choice at the time. I mean, I was pregnant and fifteen and poorer than a church mouse. The Elkharts could give my baby a life that I never could have. And I didn’t know that he was married at the beginning.’

‘Did Travis just divorce the current wife? Just like that?’

‘Pretty much. I don’t think Travis cared who he was married to. It took a few months to get his divorce from wife number two. Nadine made good use of the time. She whisked me to the family house in DC. She didn’t want me seen by society until I was more polished.’

‘And less pregnant?’

‘Absolutely. I stayed in that house until Ford was born and a little after.’

‘What did your mother have to say about that?’

‘She was kind of flattened by Nadine. That first day, the day I showed up pregnant on her doorstep, Nadine called for her limo, said she was taking me to my mother. I had to tell my mother that I was pregnant, with Nadine watching. Poor Mama. She was devastated. Nadine told Mama that I’d be moving in with the Elkharts and told me to pack my things. Like she owned us.’

‘What did your mother do?’

‘She said no. Then Nadine listed all the things the Elkharts could provide for my baby and for me – mostly education and financial stability. My mother relented, but only on the condition that Nadine’s promises be in writing and reviewed by Mama’s attorney. I was shocked – I didn’t even know Mama had an attorney. I found out later that she didn’t, that she was totally bluffing. But requiring a contract earned her Nadine’s respect. Mama’s foresight was what allowed me to go to college and get my degree when Ford was a little boy. She also made sure that Travis couldn’t just divorce me after the baby was born – the marriage could only be dissolved if I agreed to it or if there were proof that I’d been unfaithful.’

‘What did Travis say when he was confronted with you being only fifteen?’

‘Travis swore he thought I was eighteen and that was fair. I’d lied to get a job in a restaurant that served booze. Higher tips.’

‘We wouldn’t want to be unfair,’ he said dryly. ‘Was it even legal for you to marry?’

‘It was legal in Maryland if you were pregnant and you had parental approval.’

‘It must have been quite a change for you.’

‘In the beginning it was very hard. I missed my mother, I had morning sickness for weeks and Nadine was a taskmaster. There was the academic tutor and all the how-to-be-an-Elkhart lessons. How to stand, eat, sit, dress. I was a regular Eliza Doolittle. But in her own way, Nadine tried to do right by Ford and, in the beginning, by me.’

‘I have to say that I’m surprised Travis’s mother agreed to any of this. I know a lot of rich women through my parents. Most of them would die before they allowed an uneducated, penniless waitress to marry their son, much less force the issue.’

‘I always wondered about that. I asked Nadine, several times. She always said that I “fit her requirements”. I kept poking and one day one of the housemaids showed me a picture of Nadine’s daughter who’d died in a boat accident when she was about fifteen. The resemblance was very strong. I figured Nadine wanted me because I looked like her daughter.’

Joseph cringed. ‘Travis must have known that too. That he slept with you to begin with . . . Sorry, that’s just . . . Well, I have three sisters and I can’t imagine that.’

‘I worried about that for a while too, until I realized that Travis’s requirements were far less specific than his mother’s. I mentioned once to Hal that I was disturbed that Travis had even considered me and he told me that the night Travis met me he’d already had two women in his room. Apparently this was during Travis’s “Neapolitan” phase. You know, blonde, brunette, redhead. That actually made me feel better.’

‘So what finally happened to Travis?’

‘I got old. I was twenty-seven. I should have seen it coming.’

‘But you didn’t?’

‘Nope. Well, not until I walked into his office unannounced one day. Then I saw him coming. And his secretary too.’ She exaggerated a shudder. ‘Bleach for my eyes, stat.’

He laughed, long and deep, and Daphne went completely still. Serious, stern, and focused, Joseph was compelling and sexy. Dangerous, even. But laughing . . . he was beautiful. As she’d always known he would be.

He turned his head, abruptly sobering, and she wanted to sigh at the loss. ‘What?’ he asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I like it when you laugh,’ she said simply. ‘It feels nice.’

He stretched his arm over the center console, palm up, silently waiting. She slid her fingers through his, almost wincing when he closed his hand, hard and tight. When she lifted their joined hands to her cheek, brushing his skin against hers, his exhale was audible. She pressed her lips to his knuckles before lowering their hands back to the console. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

‘For what?’ he asked, his voice rough, raspy.

‘For helping me get through this awful day.’ Her eyes stung and she blinked to clear them. He said nothing in response, just brought her hand to his lips as she’d done his. Kissed her knuckles. As she’d done his.

But when he lifted her hand to his face, he turned his head so that he nuzzled her palm like it was a soft blanket while keeping his eyes on the road.

‘You smell so good,’ he murmured and she remembered breathing his scent from her own hands and how it had calmed her.

‘So do you.’

He kissed her palm again, then rested their joined hands on the console, not letting her go. Minutes went by, the two of them in a quiet, warm cocoon.

But it’s cold outside
.
Ford is out there
. The thought snuck through her relaxed defenses and she was about to start talking again to banish it.

Except he started talking first.

‘Her name was Jo Carter,’ he said.

‘Jo Carter?’ That made her smile. ‘Really?’

His mouth curved. ‘That’s how we met. Her name was Joella Priscilla Carter. I got a package addressed to Jo Carter, USS
Theodore Roosevelt
. A lot of people called me Joe when I was younger, so I figured it was a typo. Until I opened it. It was a care package from her best friend with . . . feminine things. The Girl Scout cookies were cool, but the rest . . .’ The face he made was comical. ‘Makeup and panty hose and . . . hygiene things. And, um, other things. Rather unexpectedly naughty things.’

Daphne laughed softly. ‘Oh dear. I imagine that was a bit of a . . . jolt.’

He coughed. ‘Oh yeah. Especially when my buddies saw me frowning into the box. They had a lot of fun ribbing me about that . . .’

‘Pocket rocket?’ Daphne supplied helpfully.

Another rich laugh burst from him. ‘I prefer the term “personal massager”.’

‘Tomato, to-mah-to. So what did you do?’

‘Well, I ate the Girl Scout cookies, and then—’

She laughed again. ‘Joseph! You ate her cookies?’

‘They were Thin Mints,’ he said, like that explained everything. ‘Plus, she owed me for all the shit I got for that . . . pocket device. I looked her up and hand-delivered the box, just to see her blush. But she didn’t blush at all. She said, “Hot damn, my bunk’s gonna rock tonight.
”
’ He grinned at the memory. ‘She made me laugh that night and every time I saw her after that. And . . . and I knew she was the one.’ His grin faded. ‘She was . . . everything.’

Daphne’s eyes started to sting again. ‘She sounds wonderful.’

‘She was. She was a helicopter pilot, damn smart.’

‘What were you?’

‘Pilot. Flew a Prowler.’

‘You were a fighter pilot? Really? I’m surprised you went into the navy and not the family business. You’re an engineer, right?’

‘Yes. My dad wanted me in the business, never entered his mind I wouldn’t want the same thing. He had my future all planned out, from the day I was born. When I was a kid, I hated that. It chafed, you know? Feeling like you had no control of your destiny.’

‘I do know,’ she said. ‘Although mine came from the opposite end of the socio-economic scale. My mama cleaned rooms at one of the hotels in town. She wanted more for me. That’s why she was so upset when I got pregnant.’

‘Understandable,’ he said. ‘My struggle with my dad must seem petulant to you.’

‘Different,’ she said, and he gave her a disbelieving glance. ‘Okay, petulant works.’

‘It’s just that I wanted to be someone other than Jack Carter’s boy. My dad is a great guy, a great dad. But . . . he throws a really long shadow and I’d lived in it my whole life.’

‘You wanted to throw your own shadow,’ she said and he squeezed her hand.

‘I wanted it so much that I applied to the Naval Academy without Dad’s knowledge. Or any of his connections. I got in on my own. It was one of the best days of my life.’

‘And your dad?’

‘He was so hurt.’ Joseph shook his head. ‘And then I explained. And because he’s a great dad, he listened and remembered pulling himself up by his own bootstraps. After that, he bragged to anyone who would listen.’

‘He’s so proud of you.’ Daphne watched his chest expand. ‘As he should be.’

‘Thank you. That means a lot.’

They finished the ride to her house in silence, Daphne not able to stop herself from wondering what it would feel like to mean everything to someone. To him.

And then the respite was over, reality intruding in the form of the new snowflakes falling from the sky to the windshield.
Please don’t let him be cold
.
Or in pain
.
Or afraid
.