As they were about to turn the corner of the house, Hank stopped and drew her into his arms. “Don’t forget this afternoon, Annie. Don’t let it slip away.”
Puzzled by the intensity in his voice, she touched his lips. “Why would you say that? Of course I won’t forget.”
“I saw that look in your eyes just now. I just don’t want you to start analyzing it to death and come up with some crazy idea that it didn’t mean anything. It was important, for both of us.”
“I know that. Really.”
He nodded finally. “Then let’s go see what we’ve missed.”
On the patio they found Liz and Todd sprawled contentedly on chaise longues. Melissa was curled up at Liz’s side, her thumb in her mouth, her blanket dragging on the red tiles.
Liz grinned up at them. “She conked out about an hour ago.”
Ann immediately felt guilty. “She wasn’t upset, was she?”
“No, she was not upset,” Liz said firmly. “Don’t you dare start feeling guilty for taking a little time off. The kids hardly noticed you were gone.”
Hank groaned. “Wrong thing to say,” he said. “Now she’ll never let them out of her sight, for fear they’ll forget all about her.”
“I will not,” Ann protested, though there was this tiny twinge of guilt in the pit of her stomach that suggested there might be some truth in what he said.
“Can I get you two something to drink?” Todd said.
Hank grinned at him. “Thought you were sleeping there for a minute, pal. Did the kids wear you out?”
“Do you have any idea how much energy is in that pool right this minute? If we could harness it, we could run a power plant,” he said with weary admiration.
“You just stay where you are,” Hank said sympathetically. “I’ll get the drinks.”
As Hank went into the house, Ann walked over to the edge of the pool. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the fact that the kids hadn’t even seemed to notice her return, much less her absence. With the force of habit, she began counting heads.
Tracy was clinging to the wall at the deep end, kicking lazily. Paul, David and Todd’s son, Kevin, were playing water polo, splashing exuberantly. Tommy was trying desperately to keep pace with them, but his movements were slightly hampered by his injured leg and by the water wings Todd had insisted he wear. Jason? She glanced around again. There was no sign of him. She turned back to Liz, an uneasy feeling stirring in the pit of her stomach.
“Liz? Where’s Jason?” She forced herself to keep her voice calm.
“Isn’t he in the pool?”
She shook her head as her heart began to beat wildly.
“He went into the house an hour or so ago,” Todd said before panic could set in. “He’s probably in Kevin’s room playing video games.”
The tension abated slightly, but didn’t vanish. “I’ll just go in and tell him we’re back,” she said casually, not wanting to admit her need to account for every one of her chicks.
“Ann…” Liz began, but Hank silenced her.
“Let her go, Liz. She won’t be happy until she’s made certain that they’re all here and healthy.”
She glared at him, but his remark didn’t prevent her from going inside. She checked Kevin’s room first. It was dark and deserted. Her panic returning, she dashed through the rest of the house, frantically flipping on lights, moving more and more quickly as she found each room empty.
“Hank,” she called out finally, her voice trembling. “Oh, my God, Hank!”
He met her at the patio door. He took one look at her face and gathered her close, but not even the solid comfort he offered could counter the hysteria that seemed to be rising in her.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked up into troubled eyes and felt tears welling up in her own as she clung to him. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as an awful emptiness crept through her.
“Annie?”
“I can’t find him,” she finally whispered in a voice filled with raw, unbearable pain. “Jason’s gone.”
Chapter 12
“If anything has happened to him, I will never forgive myself,” Ann said over and over as Hank led her to the kitchen table. She felt dazed and the ache that had settled in the region of her heart was worse than anything she had ever experienced. It didn’t matter that Jason was sixteen and in many ways able to take care of himself. He was still just a lost and lonely kid and she’d obviously failed him. “Why didn’t I see this coming?”
She looked at Hank. “It’s because we…because I was too busy.”
“No,” he said adamantly. “It is not because of anything you did.”
“We should have been here,” she said stubbornly. “If he’s hurt…”
“Jason is a tough kid. Nothing’s going to happen to him,” Hank reassured her. Ann wanted to believe him. She clung to the words like a lifeline, but these awful images kept creeping in.
“Drink this,” Liz said, setting a cup of tea in front of her.
She pushed it away. “I don’t want it. How can you even think about sitting around drinking tea when Jason is missing? We should be out looking for him, instead of wasting time like this,” she lashed out accusingly.
She glared at all of them as they hovered over her. She blamed herself. She blamed Hank. Now she seemed to be including Liz in her anger. Listening to herself, she realized that her guilt was making her irrational, but she seemed unable to stop herself. Tears brimming over, she took a deep, calming breath and looked at Liz. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Now, please, drink a little of the tea.”
“Please, Annie,” Hank said. “Listen to Liz. Todd and I will go look for Jason the minute I know you’re all right.”
“Of course I’m all right,” she said impatiently. “It’s Jason who’s in trouble. We have to go after him. Three of us will be better than two. We can cover more territory.”
“Sweetheart,
