It’s better that I leave now before he has a chance to realize. Before anyone does.
“I just…I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to go.”
Without another word, I walk out the front door and get into my car. I start the engine and drive away, tears I refuse to shed blurring my vision, and the road ahead of me a long stretch of emptiness and uncertainty, with no one waiting for me on the other end.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Emma
Icheck my phone for the millionth time as I walk up the front steps to my house after two hours of trick or treating. It’s barely six o’clock but it’s already dark, the Halloween night breeze sending fallen leaves dancing along the sidewalk and a chill down my spine.
Jeremy should have been in touch by now.
The thought nags at me as I listen with half an ear to Maddy chatting with my friends about how much candy she’s eating tonight and debating the merits of peanut over peanut butter M&M’s—normally a conversation I would happily join in on, but tonight I’m just too preoccupied.
Even if he was going to stay in Maryland longer, he would have texted to tell me. There’s no way he would have missed trick or treating without letting me know. I try to stay calm, thinking of the note I found on my nightstand late last night when I went to sleep. The one he must have left there right before he headed home to pack his overnight bag for Maryland.
Dear Ems,
I love you.
I love you so damn much.
You and Maddy are my whole entire world. I can’t believe I get to call you both mine.
Love,
Jeremy
The love-soaked words play over and over in my mind. I want to go take it out of the box where Jeremy’s notes live and read it again. See the words he wrote. I haven’t heard from him since before he met his brother, and every instinct in my body is screaming that something is wrong.
“You okay, Em?” Molly hangs back while everyone else piles into my living room. “You’re being quiet, even for you.”
I let out a slow breath, trying to keep my uncharacteristic catastrophizing to a minimum. Jeremy hasn’t told anyone yet about his brother, and I want to keep his secret.
“Sorry.” I peek into the living room, where Julie and Hallie are sprawled on the floor with Maddy, surrounded by a giant pile of candy. “Do you think she noticed?”
Molly laughs a little. “Definitely not. There’s candy and costumes and three other adults giving her undivided attention. She’s fine. I’m more concerned about you. We can all tell something isn’t right.”
“Thank you for being here,” I say in a low voice. It’s the first thing I can think of to say. “I don’t think I could have done tonight without you.”
Molly wraps me in a tight hug. “You don’t have to thank us. I might not be a parent, but I know enough to know that no one is meant to do it alone. It takes a village, and we’re yours, always and no matter what. But I have to ask, Em, and you can tell me if I should mind my own business, but where’s Jeremy? I’ve seenhim over the last couple of months with Maddy. I assumed he would be here.”
Molly’s question has me making a split-second decision, hoping my habitually good instincts aren’t failing me now.
“Can you guys do me a favor?”
“Of course. Anything.”
“Can you hang here with Maddy? I need to go check on Jeremy. I’m sorry I can’t tell you everything, but something isn’t right, and I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“You mean, can we hang with the coolest seven-year-old in the world, eat all the candy, and have ourselves a little Halloween girls’ night? You bet we can.”
Molly takes her phone out of her bag and navigates to her music app, tapping a few times before “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”comes blasting out of the speaker.
“It’s GIRLS’ NIGHT,” she yells into the living room, and Maddy lets out an excited squeal. Hallie and Julie both look at us, and all it takes is one look from Molly before they’re jumping up to dance with Maddy.
“Go,” Molly whispers. “We’ve got this.”
