“Jackson wouldnotrun away.”
“No, I didn’t think so.” Caleb unzipped his jacket. “He seems like a well-adjusted young man.”
Wendy stared out the window. “Maybe I should go out there and look for him.”
“Where would you look?”
“On the beach?”
“In the dark? In this storm? Plus, it’s high tide right now. Pretty soon we’d be looking for you. And by then Jackson would probably be sitting by that fire all warm and dry. No, you just need to stay put and let the sheriff’s department handle this.”
“Where will they look?”
“Jim said they’ll check out the typical places, around the school, and the arcade and burger joint—wherever kids hang out.”
“Taylor said he stayed in town to work with you this afternoon,” Wendy told him again. “Are you absolutely certain he didn’t show up? Maybe you’d stepped out or—”
“I was in my woodshop all day. Jackson never came.”
“Maybe Crystal saw him,” she tried. “Was she there this afternoon? Did you ask her if she’d seen him?”
“She’d already gone home by the time you called me.” He pulled out his phone. “But I’ll call and ask her.” Wendy listened anxiously as Caleb explained the situation and how worried they were. “He came into the store?”Caleb locked eyes with Wendy as he listened. “Why didn’t you send him back to my woodshop?” His mouth grew firm as he waited. “What did you say to him, Crystal?Tell me right now!” He listened a bit longer, then without saying goodbye, he hung up.
“What is it?” Wendy demanded.
“A pretty important piece of the puzzle.” He pursed his lips, rubbing his chin.
“What is it, Caleb? Tell me!”
“Crystal was making small talk with Jackson, and she let it slip that you were selling the cottage and you guys were moving back to Ohio.”
Wendy felt a surge of rage well up in her. “How on earth did Crystal know about that? Did you tell her?”
“No. She admitted that she overheard us in the woodshop this morning. In other words, she waseavesdropping.” He pounded a fist into his palm. “And interfering. Believe me, Crystal will be unemployed tomorrow.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “The good news is that he hasn’t been kidnapped, Wendy.”
“That’s true.” She nodded, still feeling shaky. “Did Crystal say how Jackson reacted to this news?”
“She said he didn’t believe her at first. And then, he was pretty upset. I think she actually felt a little guilty.”
“I’m the one who should feel guilty.” Wendy made her way to the sofa, sinking into it with trembling knees. “This is all my fault. I should’ve made it perfectly clear instead of allowing him to hope there was a chance we could stay. I’m such a coward. Such a lousy mom.”
He sat next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “You’re a good mom, Wendy.”
“I’m a dishonest mom.” She turned to look at him. “But I thought it was for his own good. I really did.” And like a cork popped off a bottle, she spilled out the whole story—how Jackson had been so down after Edward died, how he’d changed and been hurt by his peers and started to hate school. “But when he thought we were moving here, he completely perked up. It was like a miracle. He was so happy ... I just hated to burst his balloon.” She wiped her tears on her sleeve. “And now this.” She stared down at her phone. “Jackson, where are you?”She texted him again. This time she told him she was sorry she hadn’t been more definite about selling the cottage, begging him to call so they could talk and telling him that she loved him.
“Okay,” Caleb said calmly. “Let’s assume thisisa runaway situation. Jackson was obviously upset ... perhaps he was very angry at you ... he didn’t want to go home ... So where would he go?”
“Taylor was my first guess, but she hadn’t seen him since earlier.”
Caleb continued to question her, trying to dig out any clues there were—but there just weren’t any. Then he called his sheriff friend, explaining that it might be a runaway situation after all. He was just hanging up when Wendy’s phone jangled. It was Kara on the other end. “Taylor just confessed to me that she’s been hiding Jackson in our shed, Wendy.”
“Is he okay?”
“Hungry and cold, but he’s fine. And Taylor said to tell you she’s very sorry. Jackson swore her to secrecy. But she said you’ve been such a good friend to us that she felt too guilty.”
“I’m on my way!” Wendy thanked her and hung up.
“I’ll drive you,” Caleb offered. “Unless you’d rather I didn’t. I don’t want to force my way into your family business.”
