“At this hour? Asleep in his bed, hopefully. I’m planning to grab some pastries and go wake him up. Whatever kind is his favorite thisweek.”
“That would be pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting,” Ashsaid.
“And the largest black coffee,” Caladded.
“Now that’s a hell of a way to wake up,” Ash said. “What did he do to deservethat?”
Cal swatted Ash in the stomach as he passed on his way to the bakery case. “Ashley!”
“Hey! Not likethat,” Ash said. “Mind out of the gutter,Caelan. I just meant is he feelingokay?”
“Actually,” I hesitated, but then I figured if anyone would get relationship stuff it was these two. “I fucked up yesterday.Bigtime.”
“How big?” Ash asked, eyes wide, as he put a to-go cup of coffee on the counter next to the box of muffins Cal hadprepared.
“Uh,huge?”
“How huge?” Cal folded his arms over hischest.
“Like,I called him six times last night and texted him fourteen times but he didn’t answerhuge. Like,let me bribe you with your favorite pastries to even hear my apologyhuge.”
Ash winced and Cal pursed his lips. “Better let me throw in some cupcakes, too,” he said, opening the boxagain.
I chuckled. “Thanks.”
Cal’s phone rang, and he and Ash swapped places so Ash could ring me out while Cal answeredit.
“You don’t seem too worried,” Ash said, a smile quirking one side of his mouth. “For someone who messed up thatbadly.”
I shook my head. “I’m weirdly… not. I dunno. I came to a whole bunch of realizations after I, you know, fucked up. And one of them was that Everett is it for me. He’s scared and it’ll maybe take a long while before he feels the way I feel, but…” Ishrugged.
“There’s something really freeing when you figure out what you can live with and what you can’t live without,” Ash said, nodding. “I getit.”
“Hey!” Cal said, frowning. “That was Myrna. She’s looking for Frank. Have you seen him,Si?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t been anyplace buthere.”
“Myrna said their daughter Regan came up for the weekend with her dog, since Myrna’s starting treatment next week. Frank promised them a big breakfast today. But when they woke up this morning, Frank and Banjo were both gone. Myrna and Regan don’t know if he took the dog out for a walk early or what, but he’s been gone since at least four, when Myrna gotup.”
“Four?” I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. “It’s nearlynine.”
Cal nodded, concern in his eyes. “I mean, it’s possible that he just got sidetracked or lost track oftime.”
“Not with Regan home,” I countered, frowning. “Wonder if he fell down or something? He’s gettingolder.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Ash joked, though he was clearly concerned, too. “If you want someone to help look for him, I’m game.” He looked at Cal. “You’ll befine?”
“Yeah,” Cal said. “O’Leary’s waking up slow this morning anyway. And if they get impatient, I’ll tell them to sit the fuck down and wait.” He smiledgrimly.
“That’s the customer service O’Learians have come to expect,” Ash said, kissing Cal on the mouth. “Beback.”
“I’m going to run these to Ev,” I said, taking the pastries. I needed to see him just for a second, to press a quick kiss to his lips and tell him I would be back later, to let him know that he could talk and this time I would really listen. “And then I’ll callMitch…”
But my phone was already ringing. “Hey, I was just going to call you,” I told Mitch. “I heard about Frank,and…”
“Myrna called me,” Mitch interrupted. “Constantine and I are already out at the campground. Regan Lucano's dog came back, Si, but there's no sign of Frank. And…" He hesitated, then continued in a low voice, like he didn't want to be overheard, "We found blood traces. Up in the campground where John Carpenter wasstaying.”
My own blood ran cold. “Could beanimal?”
