She and June hung up, and Eleanor quickly sent texts to Garrett and Jeremy explaining what had happened. They both responded almost immediately, urging her to take her time. She could meet them at the diner whenever she was done.
“This is good,” she told her reflection as she pulled out of her driveway. “This is great, actually. It will give them a chance to really connect, without me in the way. It is better, probably.”
Yes, indeed. That was her claim and she was sticking with it.
Benjamin looked a little worse for wear when she met him and June at their house, although June reassured her that she’d checked Benjamin’s blood sugar and this wasn’t a crisis, just a normal part of the ups and downs of adjusting to his diagnosis.
“My phone will be on the whole time if you need me,” June promised, giving Benjamin one last kiss on his forehead. “And I’ll be back ninety minutes.”
Both Benjamin and Eleanor assured her that they would make it through that time by cozying up in front of a movie about a boy who learned to ride a dragon. He explained every element of the plot to her in great detail, and Eleanor enjoyed getting some little kid snuggles from Benjamin as they watched. She only checked her phone about ten times, which she felt was very reasonable and not at all bonkers.
She didn’t have any texts.
When June returned, smelling pleasantly of the non-toxic cleaning solution she used and looking just a little bit more frazzled than she had when she left, Eleanor just about jumped out of her seat, even though she and Benjamin were at one of the most exciting parts of the movie.
“Benjamin, this was awesome,” she said. “Tell me how the movie ends next time I see you.”
“Oh, I’ve seen it before,” Benjamin said, barely taking his eyes from the screen. “They make friends.”
Well, Eleanor supposed that made sense, given that it was a kids’ movie.
“Perfect, now I won’t worry,” she told him, exchanging a grin with June. “Okay, going now! Bye!”
“Thank you!” June called as Eleanor beat a hasty retreat. Eleanor shot her a wave over her shoulder. Thanks were all well and good, but Eleanor was going nuts wondering what was happening between Garrett and Jeremy.
She hurried to Main Street Diner as fast as she could without breaking any laws. She was still very much aware that she was acting completely outrageous over this, but she had given up trying to rein it in. She was just running with it at this point.
She burst through the doors of the diner, drawing the curious glances from a few people, some of whom she knew from the bookstore.
“Uh, hey, Janine,” she said to a middle-aged lady who read like three thrillers a week. “Sorry, I’m just meeting my…”
Except they weren’t there. She looked at every table twice.
No Garrett. No Jeremy.
She checked her phone.
No text messages either.
She sent them both another message, then waited a few minutes to see if they would respond. When her phone remained mulishly silent, she wandered back to her car.
Where had they gone?
She headed back to the bookstore, which had a few customers and her part-time employee, but neither her boyfriend nor her son was there.
Another text. And still, no response.
She checked Juniper Café, wondering if maybe they’d needed a cup of coffee, given that Jeremy had gotten out of the house so early that morning. They weren’t there either.
By the time she decided to check Nuts and Bolts, Garrett’s hardware store, she was feeling a little bit worried. They were both adults, so it wasn’t like theyneededto answer her every message, but still. The worry was there, nagging at the back of her mind.
When she reached the store, it too seemed to be quiet and empty at first glance, but then she heard voices from the back room. She hurried in that direction, stress starting to mount in her shoulders, which were hunched up tight. She pushed the door to the back open…
“And this is where you’d use the block plane?” Jeremy was asking as they both were bent over a small part of the barn door that Garrett had been working on for the past week or so.
“Yeah, for sure. Here, want to try?” Garrett handed Jeremy a tool that, if you’d asked Eleanor, she would have said was a door stop.
Jeremy hesitated. “You want to let me do it?”
