“Love you,” Vic said.
“Love you,” Matt replied. “And don’tforget my roses. I want to show Roxie exactly what the hoopla’s allabout.”
* * * *
At ten minutes to twelve, Matt put away theinvoices he was working on and checked his e-mail. The only newmessage was from Roxie, sent to every employee in the gym: Thebox of chocolates on my desk will be GONE in TEN MINUTES ifwhosever it is doesn’t get their lazy AIG and TAKE itAWAY!!!
With a smirk, Matt deleted the message. Hecouldn’t wait to see what she’d have to say to Vic. As if shewould say anything. Vic was an intimidating guy, and eventhough Roxie could hold her own, she had a soft spot for Matt’slover. A dozen red roses wouldn’t make her mad so much as theywould make her jealous. And that would make Matt’s day.
He had some time to kill before Vic arrived,but Matt was finished with invoices for the moment. He glanced outthe window in front of his desk, from which he could see the entirelength of the Olympic-sized swimming pool he managed at the gym.Currently, a dozen elderly women in bathing caps were following theaquatic yoga instructor’s slow movements as Kenny G wailed on asaxophone from someone’s iPod. A bored lifeguard at the far end ofthe pool read her Kindle and barely spared the yoga class a glance.In less than ten minutes, Matt would feel Vic’s familiar presencewash over him as his lover pulled into the parking lot outside, andthen he could duck out for a romantic lunch. And flowers. And a fewstolen kisses before he had to be back to work.
Which would only be a prelude to therest of the romantic evening Matt had planned.
Turning back to his computer, he opened hisbrowser and navigated to a local news website. Anything to pass thetime. The biggest headline was dedicated to Valentine’s Day,naturally. Ways to win her heart. Matt scrolled down,uninterested. He already had the heart of the only person he’d everwant. And there was no her involved.
Unfortunately, the rest of the headlinesweren’t very attention-grabbing, either. One article declared thata loose bear had been spotted in the Fan district, close to VCU…andMaymont Park. It had probably escaped, Matt suspected. Good thingthey didn’t live down there. Another article listed the top tenrestaurants for V-Day in RVA. A little late for that, Matt thought.When he called the Iron Horse in Ashland for a reservation earlierin the week, he was told he literally got the last table open. Theonly places to eat that wouldn’t be packed later in the eveningwould be fast food joints. And any man who took his significantother out for a romantic meal at McDonald’s deserved whateversilent treatment or cold shoulder he got in return.
Speaking of Ashland…
Matt saw the town’s name in a headlinefurther down the page and stopped. Autistic boy, 6, stillmissing in Ashland. The brief synopsis beneath the headlinetold of a young boy who had wandered away from a campground wherehe’d been staying with his family. He was last seen Wednesdaymorning. Search and rescue teams were scouring wooded acres andfields all over Hanover County; helicopters flew low overhead toscout from above. Hundreds of area law enforcement personnel andconcerned citizens had volunteered to help out. But so far, the boyhadn’t been found.
The very next headline underscored thedanger. Temps to drop into single digits this weekend. Snowlikely.
Matt shook his head, concerned. How did asmall child that young get away on his own? But he knew theanswer—his sister had kids, and if someone didn’t keep an eye onthem constantly, they could simply disappear. That had happened tohim once, before he met Vic. He’d been out with his cousin Anna andher daughter Emmy, who was only three or four at the time. They’dbeen doing a little clearance shopping after Christmas, and hisonly duty was to watch Emmy while Anna racked up on holiday cardsand wrapping paper. How hard could that be, really?
But as they passed one of the toy aisles inTarget, the little hand in his slipped free. Matt didn’t notice atfirst, but when he did, he circled back. He glanced down eachaisle, lingering specifically over the Barbies, because what littlegirl didn’t like dolls? But Emmy wasn’t there. He went a littlefarther down, found himself in automotives, and turned around. Thistime he went up and down every aisle, his heart beginning toquicken.
Where had she gone?
Finally he admitted he had lost her. Thethought was sobering, and his hands shook with nervous anxiety. Asmuch as he hated to do it, he hurried to the clearance section ofthe store to tell Anna he’d lost her little girl. Maybe Emmy hadn’tgone too far. Maybe they could still find her…
As he turned the corner, he spied Emmyclutching her mother’s coat hem, a Barbie in one hand. Anna barelypaid her any attention as she rummaged through a bin of marked-downChristmas ornaments. “No toys,” she said sharply, without evenlooking at Emmy. “Santa brought you a Barbie, didn’t he?”
“Anna!” Matt had cried, relieved. God! Howhad the little girl gotten away from him so damn fast?
With an annoyed glance over her shoulder,Anna snapped, “Matt! You’re supposed to be watching her.”
“I know—”
“What’d I tell you?” she added, cutting himoff. “No more toys.”
So yeah, Matt knew kids could be quick. Youlooked away for a moment and bam! They were gone. He hopedthe little boy lost in the woods would be found safe…and soon. Withsnow on the way, any search parties would be hampered by theweather. And the longer he was missing, the less likely his chancesof being found alive.
Matt clicked on the headline to read the fullarticle, but before the page could load, he felt Vic’s familiarpresence ease into his mind. ::Hey, sexy. I’m outside.::
Quickly Matt closed down his browser, thenlocked his computer. ::And you’re coming inside to get me,::he reminded Vic. ::Roxie has to see those flowers. They betterbe beautiful.::
::To show my undying love? Or to rub it inher face?:: Vic teased.
Matt laughed out loud as he hurried from hisoffice to meet Vic at the front desk. ::A little bit
