“But his parents are long dead.” Couldn’t the obsession with the Alden name, the power, and the legacy die with them. It seems to cause such unhappiness.
“But the Alden name is not.”
“Okay,” I say. “I guess that’s your business. I’m not quite sure why you’re here in Star Falls making me the third person alive to know this about you.”
“Jack’s missing,” she says. “I pressed him on his future plans a week ago and… I haven’t seen him since.”
Missing? I rub my hands over my face. “Could you repeat that, please? In English?”
“Jack’s father will never make a full recovery. Jack is now the head of the Alden family trust and overseeing all the investments and charitable endeavors. Heisthe Alden family. And I told him he needed someone to share the burden with.”
I stay silent, and Mrs. Alden shifts in her seat.
“I told Jack he needed to find a suitable wife,” she says.
The words are like a red-hot poker straight through my heart. She’s not telling me anything I didn’t already know, but hearing it from his mother makes it sound more real. The room tilts as anger rises through my body, threatening to engulf me, but I push it away. This woman is ridiculous. This entire situation is ridiculous.
“Why are you here? I get that I’m unsuitable in your eyes, and you’re desperate to maintain the precious Alden legacy over your own son’s happiness.”
“You might see that as me being hypocritical.”
“Thatisyou being hypocritical.”
She nods. “I understand that. But I was trying to do what I thought was best for my son and the family legacy.”
I roll my eyes. There’s been far too much mention of the word legacy. “And you’re here because?”
“Because after our conversation, Jack left, and I haven’t been able to contact him since. I thought he might have come here.”
I sigh. I wish he had. Even though it would have stung all my fresh wounds, I want him to run to me when he’s hurting.
“He’s not here,” I say. “I’ve not seen him since he left for New York after his dad’s stroke.”
She has the decency to look ashamed. “I’m worried about him.”
Her expression sends a shot of concern into my bloodstream. “We need to find him. Have you tried Fisher? Or any of his friends?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I thought this would be the first place he came.”
It hurts more than it should that Iwasn’tthe first person he came to. I pull out my phone and call Jack’s number. I close my eyes as the phone rings. And rings. And rings.
Panic pushes at me. I hope he’s okay. I hope he just ran from his controlling mother rather than had an accident. One of his friends is bound to know. But I don’t have anyone’s numbers. I scroll through my contacts. I have Juniper’s number. Fisher should know something.
Juniper’s number rings out. I know Byron isn’t at the Club all the time, but if he’s not up there, they must be able to reach him. I can tell them it’s an emergency.
“I just hope he’s safe,” Mrs. Alden says.
I get to my feet. Of course he’s safe. It’s completely unacceptable to think that anything would have happened to him.
“And your assistant hasn’t spoken to him?”
She shakes her head.
“Wait here. I’m going up to the Colorado Club. Byron might be there or at least they can get me a number for him. One of his friends should know where he is.”
I head out of the house, grabbing my car keys on the way. On my way up to the Club, I’ll check the falls. My head tells me Jack won’t be in Colorado. It’s far too far to come to just get some space. And he ended things between us. But I can’t shake the niggling feeling that he’s nearby.
I pullup to the falls. There’s just a gray truck parked. When Jack was here, he rented a black SUV. But they might have been out of SUVs.
