Sometime later, she had woken up, still somewhat groggy. The two or three hours of solid nap time wasn’t nearly enough to make up for an all-nighter on Col-alert, or even to fully rebound from a pretty traumatic evening.
Holy hell. Rey was dead. She was free. She didn’t have to run any more. It wasn’t a dream.
She punched her pillow and placed her head back down, closed her eyes. But all she could think about was that bunch of Calla lilies that were on the floor of the lingerie shop, right near where Col had been standing.
The little she had seen of him from where she’d been sitting — when he had filled up the doorway, all dressed up for their dinner date, carrying that large bouquet. He lookedgood. He was already handsome in anything he wore—or wasn’t wearing—but in a dark suit and tie, he was positively devastating. And that hunk of handsome had rushed there to be with her.
But then had probably run away, just as fast.
Nope. She definitely was wide awake now. It was probably a good thing that Simon had given her the option to take the afternoon off. Feeling the way she did, she might as well take him up on it. Maybe Miller had a quart of Ben and Jerry’s downstairs, or at this rate, a full tub of it was probably needed to blunt the edge of pain. Or two.
Sounded like a plan. She’d go downstairs, use the housephone to call up Rika’s office and confirm that she was taking the afternoon off, then self-medicate with ice cream and lots of baking.
And then go into hibernation for the rest of the evening. Or the rest of her life. Yep, it was a good plan.
Nobody else seemed to be in the house as she went downstairs, but then again, she wouldn’t really be able to hear Simon in his office, or any of the boys in their wing of the house.
She had the kitchen all to herself, and she wandered over to the industrial sized Sub-Zero, worthy of a five star restaurant. All she cared about was its contents, andyes! Thank you, Miller. Cartons of ice cream from a local dairy farm, in various flavors. She wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Simon also made a point of supporting local businesses, and she fixed herself a large bowl with scoops of each flavor. Doing her bit for the local economy. It wasn’t exactly her original plan of just eating out the quart, but she wasn’t opposed to raising standards for wallowing in self-pity.
Standards. Oops. She forgot she should make a call first. She used her hip to close the freezer door shut, and walked over to where the house phone was, with the bowl in one hand, spoon in the other. She was ready to make some damage. To her waistline.
But first, she’d talk to Rika.
And whatdyaknow. Right by the house phone, there was a pretty cell phone plugged in and charging, with a little sticky note on it proclaiming it hers. It was the phone that Simon had promised, a model that put anything that she had before to shame. Images of the phone that Rey had smashed flashed through her mind. She shook off the thought of Rey, because it made her anxious and queasy. A new phone, for a new start. It was fitting.
She’d have to put some time in learning to use it, since it probably had more features than the basic model that she had been accustomed to. And she couldn’t wait to call Lucie, and learn how to take photos, and use the web browser, and--- it was another point in favor of taking the afternoon off, after calling Rika and then demolishing her body weight in frozen dairy products.
Just as she set down the bowl of ice cream on the counter, the house phone rang, startling her.
Surprisingly, for all the high tech in the house, Simon had a very standard phone and receiver unit in the kitchen, probably as backup, or maybe that was Miller’s doing. Well, she wasn’t going to worry about IT mysteries, not when there was an actual phone that was ringing insistently.
Maybe it was for her, anyway. She’d pick it up, and if it wasn’t, she could just ask them to call back and leave a message on voicemail. She was full of such good ideas today!
She lifted it up, and to her surprise, Rika’s voice came clearly over the phone.
“Rika! I was just about to call you!”
The HR Director was calm. Maybe too controlled. “I was calling to see if there was any chance that you had someone else pick up Brady and Clover around noon?”
Lily’s heart plummeted. “They’re gone?” Way to state the obvious, Lil.
“It’s only been a few minutes. Luna was by herself minding the kids, while TraceyAnn took a short break to go to the Staff Caff. When TraceyAnn came back, that’s when they noticed that Brady and Clover were gone.”
“Oh, good Lord.” Lily’s mind raced. “Brady and Clover have been playing hide and seek lately so I’m praying that it’s something like that.”
“Yes, apparently this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. However, we’ve got to find them fast, or I’ll need to call the police.”
“I’ll help you guys look for them. I’m going to leave the house right now, I’m at Simon’s.” Well, duh. Rika just called her there on the house phone. “Oh, sorry. Of course, you already knew that. I’ll head there as fast as I can. Call me on my cell phone if you find the kids before then, okay? Do you have the number?”
“It’ll be in the system, since it’s a staff-issued phone. Simon’s already entered it. In the meantime I’ll get ahold of Puma and make sure he’s aware of the situation. If the kids are hiding on the Fairegrounds, he’ll need to let his people know so they can be on the lookout. If we don’t find the kids very soon, I’ll call the police.”
“Understood,” Lily put the phone down in the receiver. There wasn’t a moment to waste. She had to get her wallet and car keys and get moving, fast.
Damn it. If only she didn’t allow Barric and Merek to play hide and seek with them, no doubt spurring them to possibly more dangerous areas to lodge their little bodies into.
She left behind the large bowl of ice cream scoops melting on the kitchen counter, as she jumped into her red Subaru and sped off in the direction of the Faire.
