Jenna came running into the bedroom and looked at me. She knew something. I could see it in her sad eyes.

“Where is she?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know, Alex. She just said that she needed to think and clear her head.”

“She can’t fucking do that here in California?”

“Calm down. You don’t know if she left the state. Maybe she went to Adam’s house.”

“Maybe she did. I’ll give him a call.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Adam.

“Hey, Alex, what’s up?”

“Adam, have you talked to Emerson by chance?”

“No. I was going to call her later to find out how she was feeling. Why?”

“Are you home?”

“Yeah. What’s going on, man?”

“We got into a huge fight and her suitcase is gone and so are some of her clothes.”

“Shit, Alex. What the hell happened?”

“It’s a long story and I’d rather not get into it right now. Could you do me a favor and give her a call? If I call her, she won’t answer.”

“Sure thing. I’ll call you back.” Click.

Suddenly, I heard her phone go off. I looked at Jenna and she looked at me. It sounded like it was coming from the nightstand. I walked over, opened the drawer, and saw her phone sitting there. I answered the call from Adam.

“It’s me. She left her phone here.”

“Ah, fuck! Find her, Alex. Do whatever you have to and find her. I don’t trust that she’ll come back, especially if she’s hurting.”

“I will. I’ll keep you posted.”

Looking over at Jenna, who was shooting me a nasty look, I walked over to the closet and took the map down she had stored up on the shelf. Laying it on the bed, I spoke, “Let’s see if we can figure out where she went off to.”

As we looked over the map, nothing was looking right. I sighed as I sat down on the bed. Suddenly, the song she sang at karaoke last night crept into my mind.

“Jenna, Emerson sang a song last night at the club and she was staring at me the whole time she sang it. Something about Boston.”

“Hmm. Let me google it. Hold on.”

She pulled her phone out and looked at me. “Is this the song she was singing?” she asked as she played the song.

“YES! That’s it. I will bet my life on it that’s where she went. She’s heading to Boston. Pull up the flight schedule and see what the next flight is. There’s no way she got on a plane already.”

“It says here that the next flight leaves in thirty minutes,” she spoke.

“That’s the one she has to be on. Is it nonstop?”

“Yes and it’s a five-hour flight.”

“Okay. If I leave now, I can catch her at the airport in Boston.” I ran to the closet, pulled out my carryon bag, and packed a few things. Pulling out my phone, I called my pilot.

“Get the plane ready NOW! We’re going to Boston.”

“It’ll be ready and waiting, sir.”

****

Emerson

What am I doing? I thought to myself as I sat on the sand in Venice Beach. I watched as couples walked along the shoreline hand in hand, laughing and kissing. Looking around, I took notice of the families all around. Parents were having fun with their kids, chasing them around, and helping them build sand castles. I knew Alex would make a wonderful father someday, even though we never once talked about children. Hell, I didn’t know if he even wanted any kids. But I did. I wanted a family like I grew up with. It was something that Emily and I always talked about before the accident. We’d talk about how we would get married and our children would grow up together. That dream died the day of the accident, but resurfaced when I fell in love with Alex.

God, I was stupid for acting the way I did. I didn’t doubt that he loved me. I really didn’t. I was hurt so deeply and, in some way, I wanted him to feel my pain. Two wrongs didn’t make a right and I was a fool for saying what I did. I had planned to spend a couple of days here in Venice Beach just to clear my thoughts and my head. But I changed my mind and I hadn’t made a room reservation yet because I stopped at the beach first. Digging through my purse, I noticed my phone wasn’t in there. When I reached the car, I looked to see if maybe it had fallen on the floor. I looked under the seats and it wasn’t there. Shit. I didn’t remember taking it out of the nightstand drawer because I was in such a hurry to get out of there. I hopped in the car and drove back home to apologize to Alex and beg for his forgiveness. Okay, I wasn’t going to beg, but I was sure going to make him see how sorry I was.

****

Alex

Sitting on the plane, my phone was almost dead, so I turned it off, pulled out my charger, and plugged it in. There was no need to have it on since Emerson didn’t have hers with her. She probably left it on purpose so I couldn’t contact her, which made me angry. But I didn’t blame her. I was nothing but a douchebag. No, actually, I was a fucker, and I was going to make things right the minute I found her in Boston. I made a promise to her that she would never travel alone again and I broke that promise when I told her to leave. I just prayed to God that my plane got in before hers so I could catch her at the airport. She had to be on that flight. It was the next available one and the time frame worked out. She would have had plenty of time to get to the airport and board before it took off. I rested my hand on my forehead and closed my eyes.

Chapter 42

Emerson

Walking into the house, Parker greeted me. As I bent down to pet him, Jenna walked into the foyer with a surprised look on her face.

“Emerson. What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on your way to Boston.”

“Huh?” I asked in confusion. “Why would I be going to Boston? I was in Venice Beach and decided that I needed to come home.”

“Oh fuck!” she said.

“What? Where’s Alex?”

She gulped. “On his way to Boston to find you.”

I shook my head because I didn’t understand what the hell was going on. “What do you mean he’s on his way to Boston? Where did he get the idea that I went to Boston?”

“From a song you sang last night.” She bit down on her bottom lip.

Suddenly, my eyes widened. “Oh shit!” I ran up the stairs and pulled my phone from the nightstand, quickly dialing him. It went straight to voicemail. “Shit. It went straight to voicemail.”

“He probably doesn’t have service up in the air.”

“Oh my God, could this day get any worse? I need to go to Boston.” I pulled up the flight schedule and the next flight out was in three hours, but it was sold out. The next flight was with a connecting flight in Minneapolis, which put it at almost eight hours and that flight didn’t leave for another four hours. The next nonstop flight didn’t leave until tomorrow morning.

“Why don’t you just wait until tomorrow morning to fly out?”

“No. I can’t wait. I have to get on a plane now.”

“But you won’t get in until four a.m. That’s dangerous. You can’t be walking the streets of Boston in the middle of the night.”

I sighed. “What about his private jet?”

“He’s on it now. You’re really going to make his pilot fly another five hours back to Boston?”

“Damn it! I suppose you’re right. Well, I’ll just get in at four a.m. and get a room at the airport until I figure out where he is. I can’t stay here all night. I’ll go crazy.” I booked the flight that was leaving in four hours.

****

Alex

The plane landed at the airport and I raced off it, running to a monitor to see which gate her flight was at. Of course her flight had just landed and her gate was at the other end of the terminal. I ran through the airport like a madman.

“Excuse me. The flight that just landed, have all the passengers gotten off already?”

“Yes, sir. We just shut the doors. Everyone is off the plane.”

“Thank you.” I sighed as I looked around and then headed to baggage claim. She wasn’t there. But then again, her carryon bag was gone from the closet, so she probably didn’t check a bag. As I sat down on one of the benches, I went to pull my phone from my pocket and noticed it wasn’t there. FUCK! I forgot to grab it before I got off the plane. Could this day get any worse? I cupped my face in my hands.