Lainey opened her mouth, like she was going to protest, then seemed to decide against it and murmured, “Oh, okay.”
She and Adam shuffled toward the curtain, and she paused. “Text us if you need anything.”
“I’ll be fine.”
She sadly nodded her head once then left.
Jade gave me an awkward smile and asked, “Do you have any questions about what happens next?”
Yeah, I have a million questions, but not about my daughter.
“No.”
She nodded once like her sister just had. “You know where to find me if you think of anything.”
“I do, thank you.”
Ugh. Why am I thanking her?
Because no matter how hard I tried, I’d always be a good girl.
Chapter Seventy-Five
Alan
When I finally was somewhere I could check my personal phone, a wave of nausea hit me when I turned it on and saw I had eleven voicemails, and twenty-five text messages.
I started with my voicemails.
The minute I heard the fear in Jess’s voice as she explained Ruthie was in the emergency room, and she needed insurance information, I wanted to scream.
That was five days ago.
Was Ruthie okay?
Fuck!
I quickly moved to the next message. It was Jess again, just repeating her question. She didn’t give me an update on how Ruthie was.
Her annoyance was obvious with the third message, but the fourth one was what stopped me dead cold.
“Don’t worry about calling me back. It doesn’t matter anymore. We’ll be gone before you get home. I hope you make it back to the States safefrom your mission.”
I closed my eyes and hung my head.
The next seven texts were from my brother, giving me a play-by-play of how epically I’d fucked up.
In the first few, he explained what happened at the hospital, and how Jess had overheard Lainey and Jade.
Then he told me what had happened with Ruthie but that she was going to be okay.
Thank God.
The last ones were from three days ago. As I read them, it felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
Adam: Jess quit her job at the bakery.
Adam: And it looks like she’s gone.
