He knocked on the first door, feeling bad that he was probably scaring some elementary school kid inside. Of course, no one answered. This wasn’t going to work. What kid would open up to a stranger, even if Bridger was with him?
Back in his car, he prayed—something he didn’t do often enough—and stared at the bus route again. If Bridger made it on the bus, he had to have jumped off before his regular stop. There were three stops before his.
He went back to the front door of the house he was parked in front of and called out, “Bridger? I’m looking for my nephew. He might have walked home with a friend. If he’s not here, sorry to bother you. Don’t open up. I’ll keep looking.”
Three houses later, he felt like an idiot, but also that it was as good a plan as any. He hadn’t heard from Shannon or Rebecca.
A lady came through the gate of the house next door, wearing gardening gloves. She peered up at Jay as he stood on her neighbor’s porch, probably trying to gauge if he was serious or just trying to case the neighborhood. “You’re looking for your nephew? Is that what you were yelling?”
“Yes.” Jay held up his phone with a picture of him. “He just turned seven. Blond with ears that stick out.”
“Well, I didn’t see him well enough to know from a picture, but the boy who lives there and another boy rode scooters down the street that-a-way about ten minutes ago.”
“Thank you, thank you.” Jay ran back to his car and slowly drove down the street, watching for them, hoping it really was Bridger and not mere coincidence. He reached the end of the street and peered left and right. And there they were, to his left. When he saw them laughing on the sidewalk together, Bridger and this friend of his, he felt like his heart was going to break in two, so much relief, but also fierce anger. Bridger was having a good time while his mother was sobbing, causing countless people to look for him instead of going home after school. How could he do that when Shannon so faithfully waited for him to get off the bus every day? She’d specifically chosen to go work as an early morning baker so she’d be off in time to spend her afternoons with him.
He thought of Rebecca’s warning. How did she know? How did she know he’d feel this intense anger along with the relief?
He put the car in park and got out. When Bridger saw him, his little face turned twelve shades of guilty.
***
Being in Jay’s house alone was weird. He’d never mentioned that Shannon and Bridger lived with him, even when she’d been here, commenting on the picture on the fridge. Rebecca rubbed her eyes, trying to unravel the mystery that was Jay, and trying not to worry. The longer they went without finding his nephew, the more serious this situation would become.
There wasn’t even anything to clean. No dishes in the sink. The counters and table were spotless. She was pretty sure it wasn’t because of Jay. He hadn’t been a slob in college, but he wasn’t neat-as-a-pin like this either. Who knew? There were so many things about Jay now that were different than before. Maybe he’d become meticulous as well.
The front door opened, and Rebecca ran to it, all the air inside of her releasing at the sight of Bridger in Jay’s arms. It was a weird way to meet the kid. He was clinging to Jay, but he looked grumpy to the tenth power, like he’d found out his trip to Disneyland had been canceled.
Jay set him down, and they both stared at Rebecca.
“Found him at a friend’s house. Shannon’s on her way.”
“Then I should probably go.”
Jay took an immediate step toward her. “Please stay. I mean, only if you want to. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have demanded that you come with me. I just mean, I’m okay with you staying … if you want.”
She hid a smile. It wasn’t right to find his vulnerability so endearing, but she did. “I can stay.”
Bridger made a run for the stairs, but Jay scooped him up. “Nope, you stay here, too. You have to tell your mom what you did.”
Bridger’s face scrunched up. “No. She’ll be so mad.”
“She’ll still love you, just like I love you. But yeah, she’ll be mad at you, and that’s okay.” He sat him down at the table and got him a bowl of crackers to munch on. Bridger acted like he wasn’t going to eat them, but after a thirty-second pout, he picked one up and nibbled on its corner. The front door clicked open again, and he looked at Rebecca. “Will you stay here with him while I go talk Shannon off the ledge? She still thinks he got lost and this was all a misunderstanding.”
Rebecca and Bridger eyed each other. “Yep, we’ll be fine right here.”
For a seven-year-old, he was awfully small, but his eyes shown with intelligence and mischief. She sat down across from the kid and leaned on her elbows. “Can I have a cracker?”
Bridger nodded and handed one over with his grubby little fingers. She’d eaten grosser things. After the sound of their crunching ended, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Are there kids to play with in this neighborhood?”
Bridger shook his head. “No. Mrs. White is nice. She gives me cookies when I come over. But she’s too old to have any kids. And my mom says I can’t play with Nick. He lives over there.” He pointed, but then, getting confused, pointed in the other direction. “He says too many bad words and he stole my birthday money out of my money jar. Then there’s Stephanie, but she’s a third grader and she usually tells me to go away.”
“So, what do you do after school?”
He eyed Rebecca, and she knew he was too smart not to see the direction she was taking these questions. It was time to change the subject.
“What’s Uncle Jay like?”
Bridger’s face lit up. “He’s super fun. Well, not right now. Cause he’s mad at me. But after he gets home from weddings we go work on my fort in the backyard, or we throw dirt clods as high in the air as we can and let them smash down. He makes up goofy songs. And last week we had a lemonade stand. I drank most of the cups ‘cause only three people came.”
