Family Matters (DiCarlo Brides book 4) (The DiCarlo Brides) (29 page)

Rosemary was only able to sit in Joel’s office for ten minutes before she was going out of her mind. She turned to Harrison. “I can’t go back to work and I can’t sit here. Take me out to see if I can find her somewhere.”

He nodded, looking relieved.

“Trent said to hang around,” Joel objected. He had already sent word through the network of employees to keep an eye out for Cleo in case she showed up and he had several employees going out to check out the grounds for her.

“We’ll stay where we have a cell signal,” Harrison said, joining Rosemary. “It’s not like Cleo would have wandered outside of that area anyway. Not on her own. Maybe Rosemary will see something that will help us know where to look.” He took Rosemary’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll go get my jacket. You do the same. I’ll meet you back in the parking lot.”

Relieved she was going to actually do
something
, Rosemary exited and hurried to her office in the kitchen.

“We have a problem,” the assistant pastry chef said as Rosemary walked back into the kitchen.

“Then you’ll have to handle it. I have to go.”

“It’s a big deal,” he insisted.

“My little girl is missing and we think someone may be trying to hurt her—I think my problem is bigger than yours. Have Tate handle it or take care of it yourself. As long as you’re not stupid, I don’t care what you do today.” She snatched up her coat and strode out. The assistant stared as she walked away.

Rosemary thought she handled that pretty well considering she didn’t call him any names or scream at the top of her lungs—both of which were serious temptations.

She met Harrison at his car and slid inside.

“Where to first?” he asked.

She considered for a moment while they drove through the parking lot. “Your place. She doesn’t have a key or anything, but she likes it there, and you have that covered porch that’s out of the wind.”

“Gotcha.” He turned his car left at the intersection.

They checked every nook and cranny of his place and came up empty. They went to the park down the street from the school—Cleo had mentioned wanting to play there, but Rosemary hadn’t taken her due to the heavy snow pack. They checked the woods behind the sisters’ house and swung by a few of the stores Cleo had liked the most during their few shopping trips.

The sheriff’s office has sent out a CodeRed message to the locals’ telephones with Cleo’s description, so when they were downtown, Rosemary got stopped every few minutes by someone who recognized her and wanted to know if they’d found Cleo yet. After fifteen minutes, she was ready to head out to less popular areas.

“They’re canvassing her friend’s houses,” Harrison said when they were stumped about where to go next.

“Yeah.” Rosemary’s brain wasn’t working at top speed, but she had another idea. “Did we mention Etta Talmadge’s place?”

Harrison turned the car toward Vince’s mother’s home. “I don’t remember seeing it on the list. You think she went there?”

“It’s the only other place I can think of in walking distance that we didn’t tell the deputy about. She spent a few afternoons there with Hannah, playing in the barn. Maybe she’d hiding out there.” Hope welled in her chest, but she tried not to let herself believe it too strongly.

“We’re stretching now,” he cautioned.

“I have to keep hoping. The alternative is that Mike got to her and I can’t,” she stopped as a sob rose in her throat. “I just can’t think about that.”

“I know. Me either.” He touched her knee, then pulled into Etta’s driveway. The large Alpine cabin loomed out of the forest with a bank of south-facing windows so big the reflection could blind passing jets.

A new thought struck Rosemary. “What if we find her but Child Protection Services learns she ran away and they decide I’m not fit and take her away?”

“That won’t happen.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “They have to understand that she’d be upset—it’s been rough for her, but it’s not your fault.”

She faced him, desperate for reassurance. “How do you know that?”

Harrison took her face between his hands and turned her to look at him. “It’s going to be okay—hold on to that for now.” He kissed her forehead. “Let’s go inside.”

Rosemary felt a little better as she waited for Harrison to come around and open her door. “I hope Etta’s here.”

“All we can do is hope,” he answered when her hand was in his.

Etta greeted them at the door, a bright smile on her face. “What are you doing here today? I didn’t expect a visit.”

Harrison took the lead this time. “Cleo ditched school today. We’re trying to figure out where she went. We remembered her talking about that play area you had built into the old barn for your grandchildren and hoped you’d let us check it out.”

Her brow furrowed with worry. “Of course, just go on back. I haven’t seen her. Is everything okay?”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Rosemary made herself act certain because the alternative was unbearable. “We’re just looking around. It’s a scary world out there.”

“Don’t I know it? If you find her, bring her in for some cookies. I just pulled some out of the oven.”

“Thank you, I might do that.” Rosemary thought that Etta’s cookies could have won international cookie contests and had been trying to get the recipes from her.

She was glad Vince was so diligent about ensuring his parents’ walkways were cleared as they circled the house to the barn. The structure was ancient and rarely used except to keep vehicles for repairs, store kids’ toys and house their play area.

Harrison opened the well-oiled door into the play area and Rosemary held her breath. They had already determined that calling out her name was unlikely to get them an answer, and more likely would make her run, so they didn’t yell into the semi-darkness now.

Rosemary’s stomach dropped when they walked in and she didn’t see Cleo. She felt ready to melt into a puddle when she noticed a pile of blankets shift from the corner of her eye. She found Cleo huddled against the wall, covered in the old horse blankets and with her arms wrapped round her. She had a frown on her face, even as she breathed deeply and evenly—a sure sign she was asleep.

Relief flowed through Rosemary as she reached out to touch her daughter’s cool face, and Cleo shifted slightly in sleep. “Hey, honey. Wake up. You’ve got to be freezing.”

Cleo moved again. “Mom? Why’s it so cold?” She shivered a little, then opened her eyes. Confusion filled them for a moment before she placed where she was. “Rosemary, Harrison.” She glanced around her and then looked a little cowed. “Am I in trouble?”

“Not until I get you warmed up. We can discuss everything else later.” Rosemary reached for her hand while Harrison shouldered Cleo’s backpack. “Why didn’t you go to class today?” Rosemary asked.

It took a long moment before Cleo answered. “I didn’t want to. I was mad and I didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I thought about this place and decided to skip school.” She turned her face down, but looked up at Rosemary, as if she expected to be in big trouble.

“Did you skip school in DC?” Rosemary wondered if she was in for eight years of fighting Cleo’s truancy.

“No.” She frowned and kicked at the pile of blankets she’d been huddled under a moment ago. “But things were easier there.”

Rosemary glanced at Harrison, who was on the phone with someone, telling them to call off the search. She considered their new theory about who was behind everything and decided she needed to take the rest of the day off and spend it with her daughter. “I think we need to go home so you can tell me all about it.”

“Home? You’re not making me go back to school?” Cleo asked, confused.

“No. We’re going to spend the afternoon together—just you and me, but you’re going to bring home all of the work you missed today and you’ll have to catch back up before you can go skiing with Jonquil again.” Since they had talked about going out that weekend, Rosemary had the feeling Cleo would get to her work pretty quickly.

“Okay.” Cleo grumbled a little under her breath as they reached Etta’s front porch.

“I’m just going to let Etta know we found you, so she doesn’t worry,” Rosemary explained.

Etta was sorry they wouldn’t stay for cookies, but plated up almost a dozen and sent them home with the trio. Harrison delivered Cleo and Rosemary to the house, walking them inside. He hesitated for a moment, watching the mother and daughter absorbed in each other. Rosemary glanced up and saw his pursed lips and furrowed brow. He scooped Cleo into a big hug, picking her up. “I was worried about you, sweetie. Don’t scare me like that again, okay?”

Cleo looked a little shame faced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

“We always worry about you because we love you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and set her down again before turning to Rosemary.

“Thanks for helping me search.” She felt oddly awkward.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.” He slid his hands onto her waist and pulled her to him, laying his lips on hers. “You two are so important to me; I always want to be here for you.”

“I’m starting to get that.” Warmth filled her chest as she realized he was straight-up serious.

“Good.” He looked torn, but finally released her. “I ought to get back to the office and leave you two to work things out. Don’t have too much fun without me. And make something yummy for dinner—I’ll need a consolation prize if I have to work while you two play hooky.”

“Play hooky?” Cleo got a confused expression on her face.

“Skip school and work,” he explained and added to Rosemary, “Double-check the locks and call me if you need anything.”

“We will.” Rosemary leaned in and gave him a kiss goodbye before watching him return to his car. There was a pensiveness about him she didn’t understand. Something she needed to figure out. Later. Apparently some quiet time with her daughter was on the menu. Now to get her to open up and talk.

The first order of business was a change of clothes to something warm and snuggly and a cup of hot cocoa for Cleo, who was shivering from her morning in the barn. Rosemary made herself a cup of Sage’s calming tea mix and then whipped together some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Rosemary kept up a steady stream of chatter about going to the Markhams’ sometimes after school when she was a kid and the cozy afternoons she shared with Cecelia when things were bad at home or she was frustrated with people at school. She didn’t ask about that day, though. That would wait until Cleo was warm and full.

She nearly skipped the sandwich for herself, but Cleo piped up, “Did you already eat lunch? Where’s your sandwich?”

She debated for a few seconds—cheese was pretty fattening, and she was for sure eating one of Etta’s cookies. Still, she had a weakness for grilled cheese and she could always stick to veggies at dinnertime. She had the feeling this afternoon was going to be difficult, so she probably better do it on a full stomach. “Nope, I’ll have a sandwich with you.” When she saw the relieved expression on Cleo’s face, she was confused. “Were you worried?”

“You’re too skinny, it makes you look sick and I don’t want you to be sick.”

Rosemary was floored—Cleo thought she looked too skinny too? “Did Harrison put you up to saying that?”

Her brow wrinkled. “No. But you don’t eat very much. You tell
me
to eat healthy, but you don’t.”

Rosemary hadn’t realized she was so obvious that Cleo noticed it. Had she taken the diet too far? Harrison had commented that she was too thin. She’d thought he was just being difficult—he was the one who had said she was too fat during the cruise where they first met. But a couple of her sisters had made comments about her thinness too. She would think about it. “Maybe I worry about my weight too much. Have you seen pictures of me when I was in high school?” She sliced some more cheese for her sandwich, trying to get some perspective on the situation.

“No. You never showed them to me.”

That was probably true. Rosemary wasn’t sure she had any with her, either. “When we finish talking this afternoon, we can dig through some of my things and see if I’ve got one hiding out somewhere. I was... not skinny back then. Not at all.” She’d been on the chunky side even before she became pregnant. When she’d met Harrison it had only been a month or so since the birth and she was heavier than ever.

“No you weren’t.”

“No, really. I was a
chunky monkey
.” Rosemary tried to lighten the mood by laughing off her body size, which had been so painful for her.

This made Cleo giggle a little. “You’re making that up.”

Rosemary pulled out her cell phone and dialed the spa. When someone answered, Rosemary asked if Sage was available. A moment later, she put it on speaker phone. She buttered two more slices of bread while she asked, “Hey, Sage. You remember when you met me on the cruise?” She was pretty sure Sage would.

“Of course. You and Harrison sparked off of each other immediately.”

“That’s a nice way of saying I offended you both within seconds of meeting,” Rosemary said, still feeling a little guilty about it, even after all of these years.