No, no, no. A layer of sweat coated Audrey’s hands as she frantically searched her mind for where the kid could have gone. Without bothering with shoes or her hair, she darted from Piper’s bedroom to the small living space, calling the girl’s name.
Nothing.
Not even a giggle.
Her heart pounded erratically in her throat, threatening to choke the life out of her as Audrey imagined every ungodly, horrifying scenario. What if someone had come in here in the middle of the night and snatched Piper right out of her bed? What if Piper had decided to go exploring and wandered off somewhere? Gotten lost? Maybe she was roaming the neighborhood right now, lost, confused, crying?
Even as Audrey knew she was being a tad irrational with her runaway imagination, she’d still never forgive herself if something happened to Dianna’s little girl, especially after Audrey had promised to love and take care of Piper as if the child were her own.
And she had. Until this morning.
Until you lost her!
Audrey’s bare feet scuffed over the worn carpet in the living room. The front door was open, leaving the screen door to reveal the bright early morning.
There!
She’d gone outside.
Audrey exhaled a shaky breath as she damn near kicked open the screen door and yelled the child’s name.
“Piper!”
She was only greeted with silence and the occasional neighborhood sound. A car driving by. A lawn mower in the distance. A couple of dogs barking in unison.
But no six-year-old.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Cameron’s dark, shaggy head through the window as he moved around the kitchen. Maybe he’d seen her or heard something. Of course, if he had seen Piper wandering around this morning and hadn’t said anything to her, Audrey would kick his cement-hard ass into the next century.
Without thinking about manners or even announcing herself, Audrey opened the sliding glass door with too much force. She barreled into the house, bare feet and all.
“Piper!” she yelled.
Cameron spun around, obviously startled at her appearance. “Whoa, what’s with the yelling?”
Audrey didn’t have time for his stupid questions. “Have you seen Piper? I can’t find her anywhere.” And she could only imagine the sight that she made, with her wide eyes, ratty old white tank top, and too big flannel pants.
Cameron stepped aside and revealed the kid perched on the kitchen counter. “Yeah, she’s right here.”
The breath whooshed out of her lungs at the same time that tears stung the back of her eyes. Dammit, she was way too emotional over this girl. The split-second realization that something really bad could have happened to Piper had Audrey ready to do some serious bodily harm to someone. Including Cameron.
Audrey practically ran into the kitchen.
“We’re makin’ French toast,” Piper announced as her legs swung back and forth.
Audrey would never forgive herself if anything were to happen to Piper. She gripped the girl’s arms. “Do you know how freaked out I was when I woke up and you were gone?”
Piper’s smile fell as she sensed Audrey’s displeasure. “Sorry,” she muttered, even though Audrey knew she didn’t fully understand.
“The next time you leave the guesthouse, you have to let me know,” Audrey added.
Piper’s eyes grew wide. “I was hungry, and you were still asleep.”
“So then wake me up.”
Piper stared at her, then nodded. “’Kay.”
Audrey yanked the girl into a crushing hug, telling herself Piper really was fine and in one piece, but her heart was still hammering in her chest.
“Okay,” Cameron said in a soothing voice. “You’re crushing the kid.”
Audrey allowed Cameron to draw her back, drawing on the strength of his warm palms curled over her shoulders. But the tears that had been threatening for the past ten minutes, which now felt like an hour, broke through the surface. She spun around, only to save face, and tried to pull herself together.
“Hey.” Cameron’s rough palm wrapped around her upper arm.
Audrey swiped at her eyes. “I thought she was gone.” And how embarrassing was this? She lost sight of Piper for all of ten minutes, and she was reduced to a sputtering mess.
“But she’s not,” Cameron reassured her. “She was with me, and she’s fine.”
Audrey shook her head. “You don’t understand. I promised Dianna.”
Cameron turned her around and looked in her eyes. “You’re being too hard on yourself. Look at her.” He turned her toward Piper to see the kid dipping her index finger in the egg mixture. “She’s fine. She’s a normal six-year-old who’s contaminating my egg mixture with her dirty hands.”
Despite the situation, a laugh popped out of her. Then she sobered and shook her head. “You don’t know what it’s like to have someone just disappear from your life.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Audrey realized she was talking as much about her mom as she was Piper. She also realized her mistake when Cameron’s unusually soft expression hardened. “Okay, yeah, you do. Dumb thing to say.”
One of his brows lifted. “You’re forgiven.” His hands rubbed up and down her arms in a hypnotic rhythm that had her heart finally slowing down. “You okay now?”
Audrey gave a small nod, silently battling with the lingering effects of fear, mingling with mild embarrassment for her mini freak-out.
Okay, not so mini. She’d all but barged in here with her crazy morning hair and bloodshot eyes from being up too late.
At the thought of her late night, Audrey slowly took notice of the man in front of her. After all, he’d been the reason for her late-night escapade. Since she refused think about, like an all-out memory block, the kiss that had curled her toes, Audrey was left with him, in the flesh.
Literally.
As in low-slung sweatpants, and the smooth, bronzed skin and taut
