You are the brightest parts of me, and so much more.
Hold onto your light, my love. It’s sacred.
My gut churns, the paper warming in my grip.
Why does it feel like a goodbye? No, it can’t be. Mom wouldn’t do that. She’s never left without at least making sure I knew ahead of time.
Grabbing the phone, I call her again. And again, it goes straight to voicemail.
“I got your note.” I follow the yellow edges with a fingernail. “What’s going on, Mom? Where are you?”
I jolt when a door slams downstairs. Tucking the note and my phone in my back pocket, I make my way down the steps. My brows knit at the sight of Rebecca. She’s supposed to be teaching, not slipping her purse off her shoulder and hurrying to the kitchen.
Following, I quietly walk through the living room. I don’t know why it feels like I’m snooping.
“You can’t be sure though. Can you?” It’s Rebecca’s voice, muted from the wall dividing us. I can’t understand my dad’s low response.
When I step into the kitchen, they’re both seated at the table. Silence hits my ears, and two pairs of eyes land on me. Dad has a steaming mug of coffee in front of him, but it doesn’t look like he’s touched it.
“Hey.” I glance between the two of them.
My dad’s suddenly thirsty, and Rebecca smiles a little too widely. “Hi, hun. Everything okay?”
“I was going to ask you guys the same thing.”
Setting down the mug, Dad asks, “Think you can try calling your mom for me?”
“I have a few times, actually. It goes straight to voicemail.”
He nods. “Yeah. I’m getting that too. What was the last thing you guys talked about?”
“Dad, this is getting weird. What’s going on?”
“I know. I’m sorry.” He lets out a sigh, his eyes softening. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but if you could just try to remember, please, it’d be really helpful.”
I rub my arm, trying to soothe the unease stiffening my limbs. “Um, we were talking about the egg on my ceiling, I think.”
Rebecca tilts her head. “There’s an egg on your ceiling?”
“It’s supposed to be a sun, but—oh, yeah, I should probably tell you we painted the ceiling.” I wrinkle my nose. “I’m sorry. I hope that’s okay. Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t notice when you were—”
My dad shakes his head. “It’s fine. That’s the last you heard from her?”
“That ... and this.” I pull the note out of my pocket, handing it to him. “I just found it on my pillow.”
His frown deepens as he reads it to himself. When he finishes, I watch his eyes go back to the top, scanning the words again. Then his fingers squeeze so hard the paper wrinkles.
Rebecca doesn’t say anything when she tugs the note out of his grip, reading it silently. She finds my gaze, trying to smile, but her lips wobble at the corners.
“Okay, you guys are really starting to freak me out. Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”For once.
Rebecca looks at my dad.
“Blue ...” Dad’s elbows are on the table as he rubs his temples with his fingers. “Do you and Susie have any favorite spots? Places you frequent when it’s just the two of you?”
I let out a half-laugh. “It’s always just the two of us.” When he stares at me seriously, I clear my throat, shift my feet. “I don’t know. The woods behind our house, and the river there too—Husk River. Other than that, um ... I mean, there are some amazing waterfalls twenty miles east. We used to hike there a lot when I was younger, but it’s been a few years.”
Something flashes through Dad’s eyes. He grabs his cell phone from beside his mug and pushes his chair back. He’s about to leave when he stops, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Then he disappears into the living room.
