A blue truck sits parked feet away on the side of the road, the engine off. There were only a handful of cars that drove past as I was shouting for Ben. He’s the only one who stopped. Everyone probably saw the woman in just a t-shirt and thought I was crazy.
“My son… We’re staying at the motel. I was asleep, and when I woke up, he was gone.”
His back stiffens, and he looks around. “What room were you in?”
“Upstairs.” I point to our motel room door. It wasn’t wise to leave it open, but right now, I couldn't care less if someone wants to rob me blind. Ineedto find Ben.
“Come on.” Taking my hand, he leads the way back toward the motel at a jog that I struggle to keep up with, his legs much longer than mine. “He doesn’t know anyone in town, and Joel was saying he was interested in fire trucks. The firehouse is too far for him to find on his own, so he has to be around here. If not, I’ll call around and get more people looking for him. Wewillfind him.”
My eyes widen. “You know Joel?”
There are no yummy alpha pheromones drifting from him. Just the shower-fresh lemon scent of a man who showered not that long ago.Beta. With my brain no longer running on pure adrenaline now that I’m no longer on this desperate search for Ben on my own, I can focus. Lina said they lived together yesterday, but it must have slipped my mind.
“We’re roommates,” he confirms. His eyes have never stopped scanning our surroundings as we jog around the motel. He frowns. “I think the motel has a pool.”
“Oh, God.”
Simon was starting to teach Ben how to swim at our small town’s local pool before he died, but Ben was still mostly doggy paddling. If he got in…
Sensing my panic, Win gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “He’s okay.” He leads the way around the back of the motel, where, sitting on the ground, feet from a pool, is Ben, so distracted playing with one of his small red fire trucks that he doesn’t see us.
I have no memory of crossing over to him and dropping to my knees beside him. But his irritated yelp when I grab him and haul him against my chest is the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. My gaze meets Win’s over Ben’s head, and I squeeze my son probably harder than I should.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my eyes full of tears.
Win smiles. “Anytime.”
“Mommy,” Ben wheezes, “I can’t breathe.”
I release my tight grip on him. “Sorry, baby. Are you okay? What were you thinking, running off without me? You could have gotten hurt.”
He chews on his lip and looks away, a habit he has when he knows he’s in big trouble. “I was bored, and you were sleeping. I tried to wake you up, but you wouldn’t, so I came here.”
I want to shout at him. To shake him and warn him about all the things in the world that could hurt him. But I love him so much that I don’t want to scare him. Releasing a sigh instead, I hug him until he wiggles, then I let him go and stand up to face Win.
The urge to hug Win comes from knowing how badly this could have gone. I don’t know Win, but he steadied me, reassured me, and helped me find someone who means more to me than life. “Thank you.” I breathe in the fresh cotton linen of his shirt, and I hope he feels how much I appreciate what he did for me.
“Glad I could help,” he says, his voice husky as he hugs me back.
His mouth brushes the top of my hair, and I realize how damngoodit feels to be wrapped up in this beta’s arms. When I’m not the least bit interested in letting him go, it hits me just how bad an idea hugging him was.
Face hot, I back away, avoiding his gaze as I yank on the hem of my t-shirt, suddenly all too aware of the fact I’ve been running around the streets barely dressed and with a bird's nest for hair. I rake a hand through the dark brown strands and hope it’s good enough.
“Um, sorry about that. I don’t usually go around hugging people.” I snag Ben’s hand for something to do. “I’m Rose, and this is my son, Ben. Ben, this nice man is Win. He helped me find you.”
Ben, always happy to make new friends, beams up at him. “Hi, Win. You sing bad.”
“Ben!” I hiss and turn to Win, smiling apologetically. “Sorry. He has no filter.”
“That’s okay,” Win says to me, sinking into a crouch to put him and Ben at eye level. “Hi, Ben. I like to sing when I’m happy. I’m not very good at it, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not good at something you like, as long as you have fun doing it. Nice to meet you.”
That’s so damn sweet. An important life lesson I’d forgotten and one I’m glad Ben is learning.
With a grin, Win sticks out a hand for Ben to shake, radiating so much warmth that Ben can’t help but respond to it, and neither can I. Ben loves it when people treat him as an adult instead of a kid. They shake hands somberly.
“Um, I should go. Ben and I are leaving now. To go home.” After the heart attack Ben just gave me, it’s time to end this road trip early and go back to Memphis, though the last thing I want is to return to the place I ran from to escape my grief.
Ben snaps his head toward me. “Home?”
