Abby shook her head 'no' from across the room.
Mom took a deep breath and began to explain. "I left around ten this morning to run a few errands and go to the grocery store. I asked your father if he was coming with me, but he was tired and wanted to stay home. I had to go because we were out of some of our essentials. Long story short, I said I'd be back around noon and would prepare his lunch when I returned."
"What happened after that?"
"When I got back to the house, I noticed the door to our mailbox was wide open, so I walked over to close it. That's when I saw his house keys sitting on top of the mailbox. The keys were sitting there just as plain as day, and I thought to myself, maybe he came out here to get the mail and got distracted by something."
"That's odd."
Abby stood cheek to cheek, trying to hear what Mom was saying. I guess the old phone was good for aesthetics but useless at the moment without the speaker option.
"I went into the house to look for your father and couldn't find him anywhere. The front door was locked. The bed was made. Everything is in order, but he's nowhere to be found."
Abby took over the phone.
"Mom, can you tell if Dad took his cell phone or his wallet with him?"
I stood, waiting to hear her response. It was unlike Dad to just take off without communicating with Mom.
"It's all right here on his nightstand."
"Okay, stay calm and try not to panic," Abby said.
I thought to pick up my cell phone and call our youngest sister, Rebecca. I knew she was at work, but perhaps she knew something that we didn't.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Becks, it's Payton. Have you heard from Dad this morning?"
"No. What's wrong?"
"Mom called us at the store. She can't seem to find Dad anywhere. The last time she saw him was before she left to run errands. When she got home, she found his keys on the mailbox, and there's no sign of Dad anywhere."
"What?"
"I know. It doesn't sound good, but I'm hoping there's some quirky explanation for it all. Maybe he's at the next-door neighbor’s or somewhere close by and just forgot about his keys. Clearly, he intended to get the mail. Look, Abby and I are going to head over to the house. I'll call you with any updates."
"You don't have to. I'm leaving now."
"Okay, see you there."
Abby was already grabbing her bag when I got off the phone with Rebecca.
"Let's go, we can take my car," Abby said.
I grabbed my things, set the alarm, and locked everything up.
"Did Mom say anything else that might be helpful?" Abby continued to brainstorm.
"Not really. You can tell she's all out of sorts. I didn't want to press her much further. I figure when we get there, we can just split up and see if we can find him. Rebecca is meeting us at the house, so that's an extra pair of eyes."
"Or maybe she can stay with Mom to help keep her calm. Either way, I pray we can find him quickly."
"Abby?" My voice was a bit rattled.
"Payton, don't do it. Don't let your mind go there. Just think positive."
Everybody knew Dad was showing early signs of dementia. It seemed to be growing increasingly worse since my parents retired. But Abby was right. There was no point in letting my mind run wild with negative thoughts.
"I'm sure by the time we get there, Dad will be back in the house, safe and sound. He'll probably think we're the crazy ones for getting ourselves all worked up,” she said.
"If he's not back, maybe we should circle around the neighborhood. I mean, how far could he really be on foot anyway?"
"Good point."
It didn't take long for us to make our way to our parents' house. As we pulled up, we could see Mom standing out front talking to the next-door neighbor. Abby put the car in park, and Rebecca pulled in behind us.
"Mom, any word from Dad yet?" I asked her.
She made her way across the front yard.
"No word. I'm so worried. I wonder if we should call the police. Your father has never pulled a stunt like this before."
"Try to stay calm, Mom." Rebecca tried to console her as best as she could.
"It's hard to stay calm. I just want to know where he is,” she said.
"Okay, before we escalate things, why don't we split up and see if we can find him." Abby laid out a game plan that involved Rebecca staying by the house with Mom, while the two of us split up to search the surrounding area.
"Abby, do you have your cell phone on you?" I double-checked to be sure.
"Yes, fully charged. Call me right away if you find him."
Abby started heading down the street, so I figured I'd start with the beach. I was still living with my parents in their cottage, which was situated conveniently on Pelican Beach. There was only but so many places Dad could be in this small town. One of us had to find him.
I started calling out his name.
"Daaad. William Matthews, can you hear me?"
No response. There was nothing in sight except the entrance to the beach and the rear view of a few homes.
"Daaaad."
My phone buzzed in my hand. It was Cole.
"Hey, Cole."
"There you are. I missed you today. Did you make it back, alright?"
"I made it back fine."
"Lexi told me you were in a hurry because of the storm coming in."
"I wasn't exactly in a hurry, but I'm fine. We can talk about that later. Right now, I have an even bigger problem on my hands."
"What's the matter?"
"Abby and I are out searching for Dad. The last time my Mom saw him was before she left to run errands. When she returned, he was nowhere to be found."
"You're kidding me.”
"I
