Page 13 of Keeping Collette

Today, after work, she was going to go to the office and see if they had something new. Something concrete that could tell her what was happening with her sister.

Deal had been good in emailing her daily, but the messages were all the same. “Following leads, when we have something, we’ll let you know.” Straight to the point, but with no real information in them.

Would they keep whatever they’d found from her?

No, she didn’t think they would. It wouldn’t be good for their business if they did that.

Given what Astrid had told her about things in the past, how Cass had been able to locate her, as well as the other women who’d been taken within a day or two of them disappearing, the fact that after four days they had nothing concrete about her sister, didn’t sit right.

The thoughts went round and round her mind as she got ready for work. She should be focusing on what was coming up for Astrid. She’d cut back on her television show because of her twin boys. She wanted to be more present with them as a mother, but she also still wanted to be there for the people who’d supported her from the very first cooking video she’d put up for a bit of fun.

At least today they would be meeting at Astrid’s house and going over the schedule for a couple of TV specials and a truncated book tour for her latest cookbook. Penni, her publicist, would be joining them, and bringing her kids along, so it was going to be noisy and a little crazy, but Collette needed that.

An hour later, she knocked on Astrid’s front door, smiling as she heard the happy yells of the boys telling their mom someone was there.

Astrid and Callum’s sons were the sweetest—as well as the most rambunctious—kids she’d been around, and whenever she left, she was always a little sad that she didn’t have children of her own. Even with her far from stellar upbringing, she’d always wanted a family. Wanted to have a partner she could lean on, and who treated her the way Callum treated Astrid—as if she was the best thing that ever happened to him. The feeling was entirely mutual, because Collette had seen the way Astrid looked at her husband, as if he’d hung the moon especially for her.

One day.

“Hi Collette, come in.” Astrid smiled, and stepped back to allow her access.

“Hi.” She gave her boss and friend a hug before holding her palm up to give Colton and Landen high fives. Her hand stung a little from the force and enthusiasm of their greeting, but she’d take it.

“Boys, why don’t you go to your playroom. Aunt Penni will be here soon with Logan and Olivia,” Astrid instructed, and the boys whooped before dashing off.

“I don’t know how you do it, I feel exhausted already,” Collette said as she collapsed onto a bar stool. Most of their meetings took place in the kitchen because Astrid was always cooking something up. Or trying a new recipe.

“You get conditioned to it. Plus, I had no choice. When you have twins, it’s clichéd, but it is double the energy and double the mayhem. But also double the fun and double the love.” Her voice softened as she spoke about her kids. “Plus, Callum is very hands on. When we found out we were expecting twins, I freaked a little, but he assured me that everything would be fine. We’d do everything together. And we have. It’s also handy that he can carry one of them under each arm, which they love and are always asking him to do.”

“I bet. It’s good that he’s a huge help.” This was what parents should be like with their children. A partnership, and the love for their kids on show. So very different to the childhood she’d experienced.

“I think your tiredness is not due to seeing my boys running around. I think it’s more to do with everything that’s happening. Are you sleeping?”

Clearly she hadn’t done a good job with her concealer that morning, then again, the bags under her eyes had their own bags. “That obvious, huh?”

Astrid smiled. “A little, but I would be surprised if you were able to sleep. There’s a lot going on in your life. Your sister is missing. As a parent, if anything happened to Colton or Landen, or even Callum for that matter, I wouldn’t be able to function. Be kind to yourself.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she wished she could stop herself from crying, but it was impossible. They trickled down her cheek. A tissue box appeared in front of her, and she grabbed a couple and dabbed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t you apologize for being human. Cry, scream all you want. Actually, I’ll happily take you to Callum’s gym and you can bash the shit out of his punching bag.”

Collette snort laughed. “I’d probably break my hand.”

Another knock echoed through the house. “That’ll be Penni. Don’t feel like you need to disappear and compose yourself. You know Penni, she won’t blink an eye. If anything, she’ll say something inappropriate that will make you laugh.”

Collette was very familiar with Penni’s sense of humor, but beneath all of that was a fierce warrior who would run into any battle if it meant helping those she loved. She admired the way Penni went about living her life. Her husband was a Navy SEAL, and some of his badassery had passed onto his wife. Although Collette suspected Penni was like that before she’d met her man.

The boys’ excited squeals of happiness, along with Penni’s two kids screaming their excitement at seeing their friends, filled the house, soothing Collette’s melancholy.

Life went on, and no matter what the outcome was with Courtney, Collette would still go on. She’d still have to live her life, with or without her sister in it. Her preference would be for Courtney to be by her side, but the fact remained, it probably wouldn’t happen that way.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice Penni walking into the room until she was engulfed in a tight, comforting hug. It was no surprise that the woman was aware of what Collette was going through. Astrid and Penni were close friends. Callum used to be on the same SEAL team as Penni’s husband. In fact, the reason Callum and Astrid were together was because Penni had insisted Astrid needed protection when she’d seen a murder.

“You look like shit, girl,” Penni said with a wide grin.

“Thanks, appreciate that observation.” And Collette did, because what Penni said came from a place of love. It was her way of saying, she was sorry for all that she was going through.

“Has there been any news?” Penni asked, taking the stool next to her, concern shining in her eyes.