Dru had come up behind Erik and regarded Lily now over his shoulder. She hadn’t missed it, Lily realized—the crackle of antagonism that existed between her dad and Erik.
Shea said, “I hope it’s okay that we came. I couldn’t stand sitting at home, waiting around one more second.”
Lily embraced her; it seemed the thing to do, and after a moment’s hesitation, she and Dru shared a hug, too. It was awkward, and it struck Lily it would never have happened under ordinary circumstances.
“AJ called here last night,” Lily said as soon as Dru stepped away from her.
Shea was speechless. A thousand questions haunted her eyes.
Lily quickly related the specifics, and during her recital, all of them, with the exception of her dad, sat down, Dru and Shea in the pair of rockers, Erik and Lily on the swing.
Her dad leaned against the porch rail.
They talked about AJ’s request for his passport, the possibility that he’d been kidnapped. Lily’s dad reiterated his opinion that AJ was still in the area.
Shea said, “We put up missing-person flyers around town early this morning, but we need to get the media involved, too. There’s been almost nothing on television about it.”
“Some councilman and his girlfriend up in Dallas are missing, along with a bunch of money. They’re all over that,” Erik said.
“Well,” Dru said, “I’m listening to all this, what y’all are saying, and my question is if AJ’s around here, if he’s not being held against his will, why doesn’t he just go to the police? I mean, you’ve said he’s innocent, right?” She looked around at each of them.
But Lily saw that no one was looking back. No one was answering. And then it hit her. Dru didn’t know about AJ’s past arrest, the prior history that made him such an attractive suspect now. Shea’s glance collided with Lily’s and seemed filled with pleading. Don’t tell, she seemed to say.
Lily got out of the swing. “I’m going to get the Jeep and drive around. Maybe it’s crazy, but if AJ is nearby—”
Erik got up, too. “It’s why we came over, because we thought—well, we have to do something, right? Even if it’s stupid. AJ’s always loved this place.”
Lily put her hand on Erik’s shoulder.
He met her gaze. “We’ll find him,” he said, and the conviction in his voice heartened her. He wouldn’t give up until AJ was found, and neither would she.
Her dad said he would saddle Sharkey and ride west toward Little Bottom Creek. “It’ll be easier searching that area on horseback.”
Lily was surprised to hear Erik say he’d ride out with him.
“Sure you can take time from your job?” her dad asked, and Lily was irked anew.
“Yeah. I told my boss the situation. He understood.” If Erik was offended, he didn’t let on. “I’ve only been there a short time, but so far this month I’m lead salesman.”
Lily looked at her dad, willing him to say something supportive, but he didn’t, and it was left to her and Shea and Dru to cover his silence with their offers of congratulations.
“I’d like to ride with you and Erik,” Shea said to Lily’s dad. “AJ talked once about a fort y’all built out that way—on past the creek, right? He was going to show it to me, but it got dark too fast.”
Lily’s dad smiled, and glancing at Erik, he said, “How old were you when we built that thing? Twelve, is that right? AJ was nine. It was some work rigging it up in those trees.”
“Yeah,” Erik said, “but it was so cool. We were like the pioneers. We built a raft using cedar logs and ferried all the building materials across the Little Bottom on horseback.”
“You remember when we lost that load of cedar logs?”
Lily’s dad’s eyes on Erik now were warm with affection.
Erik laughed. “Water was high after the rain that spring. AJ and I had to swim like hell to catch the raft. If you hadn’t jumped in, we would have lost it.”
“I’ve still got the plans we drew up someplace.” Her dad’s gaze was loose.
“We should check it out,” Shea said.
“Yeah,” Erik said. “But last time I was out there, it was mostly fallen in. I doubt you could even get up in there now.”
Lily’s dad straightened. “Well, there’s a hell of a lot of ground to cover between here and there. We should get a move on, if we’re going.”
Shea turned to her mother. “You don’t have to stay. Erik can bring me home.”
“No,” Dru said. “If you’re staying, I’m staying. I won’t ride, though. Horses and I don’t get along.”
“You can go with me in the Jeep, if you want to,” Lily heard herself say.
Dru wanted to decline; Lily hoped she would, but after a moment, Dru shrugged and said, “Fine.” It took her another longer moment to act, to come to her feet, shoulder her purse.
Lily addressed her dad. “We’ll go south to the old well site. We’ll check out the cabin, too, and the railroad trestle.”
“All right,” he said, and then he gripped her upper arm a moment, steadying her, telling her through his touch—the best way he knew—that he wouldn’t give up, not on his faith in AJ’s innocence, not on finding him.
Lily searched his gaze, hunting for a sign of yesterday’s mental fumbling, finding none, and grateful that she didn’t. She had heard that in the early stages, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, or senility—that sort of brain ailment—could come and go. Her dad seemed strong now, his usual take-charge self. Maybe his lapses were from stress. He hadn’t really known what to do with himself since he’d quit ranching and sold off the herd. She didn’t want to think what would happen if he were to sell off the land, too. Where would he go to live? Town? She couldn’t imagine it. The Texas coast? She’d heard him say he wouldn’t mind settling down where he could hear the ocean. But moving away would kill him, she thought. The xL was part of him.
She followed him around back, Shea, Dru, and Erik in her wake, and before they split up, they exchanged cell numbers and agreed they’d meet back at the house in three hours, earlier if they found something.
Dru waited in the driveway for Lily to back out the Jeep, then climbed into the passenger seat. She fumbled with the seat belt.
“It doesn’t work,” Lily said. “Neither does the AC.”
Dru shot her a look, some mix of scorn and disbelief.
Lily’s jaw hardened. “Don’t worry, you’re safe with me,” she said. “I’m not a maniac.”
6