She nodded.
Brecken glanced at Garrett. “You’re a lawyer, right?”
Garrett nodded.
“Are you sure they won’t arrest me for corporate spying or something?”
“I’m sure,” he replied.
“You’re safe,” she said firmly. “Nothing will happen to you. But I wish Nick would have to pay for what he’s done.”
“I’m sorry, Taryn.” Brecken’s shoulders shook. “So, so sorry.”
She tried to comfort him. “I know you are.”
“Everyone makes mistakes.” Empathy oozed from Garrett in waves. “I did when I was in college. All you can do is learn your lesson and move on from there.”
“My dad tells me that, but he also taught me to take responsibility for my mistakes. I need this job badly. My family can’t cover the rent without my paycheck, and I want you to trust me again.” His voice trembled. “I’ll fix this, Boss. I’ll make it better. I promise.”
Brecken took off running through the park in the opposite direction of First Avenue.
Taryn wiped her eyes. “It’s not his fault.”
Garrett blew out a breath. “I know.”
She had to make this right. “What do we do now?”
Chapter Sixteen
Sunday night, noone had heard from Brecken. Garrett sat in the bakery that was now closed. The staff cleaned up in the kitchen while Taryn spoke to Brecken’s mother on the phone.
Garrett hated the toll this was taking on Taryn. Worry etched into lines on her forehead and around her mouth. She kept moving as if stopping would mean something terrible would happen. The nervous energy had intensified the past two hours.
His family, Brandt’s family, and Callie’s and Margot’s employees were searching Silver Falls both in their cars and on foot for the missing teen. Not everyone had met Brecken, but a tall kid dressed in his white uniform shouldn’t be hard to spot.
But so far, no one had seen him.
Not good.
Garrett dragged his hand through his hair.
Taryn continued to pace in front of the display case. “Okay, thanks… I appreciate that, and I’ll do the same… Talk to you soon. Bye.”
She disconnected from the call, lowered her phone, and slumped.
He stood. Jayden, Carl, and Finley came out of the kitchen. All three had changed out of their uniforms and wore shorts and T-shirts.
“Any word?” Jayden’s worry was apparent in those two words.
“None. His family has been reaching out to his friends, but no one has talked to Brecken.” Taryn rubbed her eyes. “It’s as if he’s disappeared. He wants to fix this, but I have no idea what he meant by that. Neither do his parents. I hope he’s okay.”
Jayden hugged her.
That should be Garrett’s job, but he was the outsider here. These people had worked with Brecken for two years and cared about him. While Garrett had seen him around the bakery, he’d only met the teenager today.
“Someone will find him.” Jayden raised Taryn’s chin with his finger. “I spoke to Rachelle. She’s getting the word out to first responders in Silver Falls and the surrounding areas. People are out looking for him.”
“Brecken’s a good kid,” Carl said. “He can get tunnel vision, whether that’s icing cupcakes or fixing what he did wrong. And he won’t come up for air until he’s finished.”
