The pang of concern became a knife in Charley’s heart. She was speechless. She sucked in a breath, and her stomach rolled as she glanced at Trish’s flat abdomen. Sully’s words echoed in her head:I always wear a condom. What kind of woman drank knowing she was pregnant? From across the room, Chloe caught Charley’s eye and smiled. Seeing that Charley was talking to Trish, Chloe rolled her blue eyes as if to convey:pay no attention to herorsorry she’s here.
“Does Sully know?” Charley asked barely above a whisper.
“Bingo!” Trish said in a snotty voice, glaring at the name on Charley’s collar. “He knows as of tonight. Why do you think he ditched you, leaving you standing by the door all alone?” Trish snickered as if Charley was completely naïve and utterly stupid. “He’s excited about our baby and agrees you need to go.” With that, Trish swung her arm into the air, flinging black trails of fabric on her sleeve in Charley’s face. “Vamoose, bitch!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Have you seen Charley?” Sully asked Cash, who was herding his group of dude ranchers across the wide, front porch where Sully was standing under the festive orange lights. It had rained during the party and was sprinkling again. The night was dark due to the heavy rain clouds covering the moon.
“No, not since Tracy and I were talking to you two earlier,” Cash said and turned in the direction of the cars and the hay wagon. “Tracy, do you know where Charley is?”
“No,” she said as Sully walked down the porch steps. Tracy was in the passenger’s seat of Kellie’s car as she replied, “The last time I saw Charley was when she and Carly were eating pizza mummies together.”
“I love Charley and pizza mummies,” Carly called from the back seat.
“Thanks,” Sully said, and then the ladies left with a wave at Cash who was headed toward the hay wagon.
Sully loved Charley, too, and wondered where she was. His dad was out on the driveway and had just said goodbye to Chase and family. At that moment, the headlights from Chase’s SUV lit up the darkness where Sully had parked Charley’s Mini Cooperearlier. Her little red car was gone. He remembered giving the car keys back to her. Charley had left without telling him?
“Where’s Charley?” his dad asked, walking to him.
“I don’t know,” Sully replied. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“Ten minutes or so,” Owen said, with a wave goodbye at the hay wagon.
“Derek, did you see Charley before she left?” Sully asked as Derek came toward them with twins, Austin and Abilene, in tow.
“No. Last time I saw her, she was talking to a friend of Chloe’s,” Derek replied.
Waving goodbye to Chase and family, Chloe and Cooper joined them in the driveway near the porch. Then the three Brevard children said good night and hurried inside to their candy.
“Friend is a loose term,” Chloe said. “Trish wormed one invitation out of me years ago, but never again. She showed up tonight totally uninvited. Why?”
“Charley’s gone,” Sully said. “We came together, and I’m confused as to why she would leave without me.”
“The last person I saw Charley talking to was Trish,” Chloe said. “I thought Charley looked trapped and was about to go intervene, but when I looked back, they were both gone.”
“Okay, thanks,” Sully said. “I’ll call Charley and find out what’s going on.”
“I hope it’s not something to do with another murder in her neighborhood,” Derek said.
“Right,” Owen agreed. Then to Sully, he said, “I’ll give you a ride home, son.”
“Thanks for having us tonight,” Sully said and shook Derek’s hand.
As it started to rain harder, headlights at the end of the driveway suddenly flashed.
“Maybe this is Charley,” Chloe said as a car came toward them in the darkness.
“Need a ride, Sully?” Trish asked as she came to a stop in front of them.
Sully took a couple of steps closer to Trish’s car as his dad made his way to his own vehicle. Chloe and Derek gave them privacy by going into their house but left the porch light on out of courtesy. Sully’s dad got in out of the rain but waited.
“Trish, did you happen to see Charley leave tonight?” Sully asked.
“Who?” Trish asked.
“Charley, the Coopers’ cousin,” Sully said patiently. “You met her at my house.”
