He leaned forward and put his forehead on mine. “We can talk this out, time isn’t necessary.”

“It is.” I had nothing else to say. Stepping away from him, his hand dropped from my face, and I opened the shower door. Getting out I wrapped myself in a towel and walked to my room, retreating into my own space.

Camden didn’t follow me that night. He left me alone to wallow in my thoughts and resolve what a jumbled mess my head had become. I never even let him respond to my news breaking revelation. I hadn’t a clue if the feelings were even mutual, but I doubted it. It was like over the last few weeks I’d compartmentalized the feelings I’d established for Camden and tucked them away because I felt that he wasn’t ready for it. I wasn’t ready for it. Then the issue with Bree? I would have been understanding, I really would have. There was no reason for him to hide it from me. But obviously he didn’t feel that we were close enough that he could share something like that. That was the part the stung the most.

This morning at school I’d run into Dodger, and he apologized profusely for not telling me about Bree, but because he’d just found out himself I forgave him. I asked him some questions about her, which he gladly answered. I think he feared any negative repercussions from Macie. He confirmed that she has always taken to Camden more than the other three brothers, but mostly because he was the protective one, and he figured Camden made her feel safe. Apparently when you tell him something, that secret was on lockdown and he wouldn’t say a word. Yeah… no kidding! When I asked about the pregnancy, he didn’t seem to know much more than I did, except that she apparently had a one night stand with a bartender in the town that she lived and now she didn’t know what to do. I could understand why she’d be waffling about it. Not knowing if this guy was going to stick around when you hadn’t planned on a long term relationship with him, and then the sheer fact that her own mother had considered aborting her; she has quite a bit on her plate right now. I liked Breslin and the little bit that I knew of her now. And it turned out that she was thoroughly amused with my ass kicking of Camden’s car and had approved of me right then and there. She said if I dealt with Camden’s shit like that every time, I’d survive in this family. It made me smile for the first time in twenty-four hours.

I had just gotten home from work and plopped down on the couch. I thought I’d order a pizza and pop in a movie until Camden got home then we could talk. My phone was sitting next to me when it went off. MOM appeared on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Keegan! Oh God Keegan, I can’t find her.”

“Can’t find who, slow down Mom. Where’s Sarah?” My heart started beating in my chest.

She sounded frantic. “Sarah. She’s not here. I picked her up from school, and I thought she went upstairs to her room, but when I called her down for dinner she didn’t answer. Oh my God I can’t find her anywhere!”

I abruptly stood up and looked around my living room. Okay, okay… don’t panic. Where did I put my goddamn keys? “Have you checked outside?”

“Yes!”

“Did you look across the street at the park? Sometimes she likes to hide under the slide.”

“Yes, yes…Keegan oh God she was mad at me.”

I found my keys on the counter by my purse, and I took off for my car. “Did you two get into a fight?”

“I told her I was going to have your uncle pick her up from school tomorrow, because I had to work late, and she got upset. She told me that I’m never home anymore, so I said that she was being overdramatic.” Her voice quivered.

“Mom! You aren’t ever home! She misses you. She was trying to talk to you about it, and you blew her off.” I was fuming mad and terrified that something bad had happened to my little sister.

“Don’t yell at me, you’re not helping.”

“Shut up Mom, just shut up! I’m on my way. I swear if something has happened to her, I’m never going to forgive you!” I hung up not wanting to hear anything else she had to say. I called Macie on my way and told her what was happening. She tried to calm me down, but I was too worked up. She said she would meet me at the house and make some phone calls to places around town to ask if they’d seen her, then she’d let Dodger know. I needed Camden. All I wanted was for him to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay and that we’d find her. I was going to call him but I was pulling up to my mom’s house and I didn’t because I wanted to go in and search for Sarah.

When I got through the front door, my mom was sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and tears running down her face. She was on the phone with someone, but she told them she had to go when I walked in.

“Tell me everywhere you’ve looked,” I demanded.

She set her phone down beside her, and she started listing off every place she’d already been. The longer she spoke, the more infuriated I got with her. It was like she kept running her mouth, and we were wasting time that we could have been out searching.

“What are we going to do? I called the police, and they said that they are sending out some officers in the neighborhood to look, but what if we don’t find her?”

I held my hand up. I was done. My blood boiled over, and I had nothing else but unadulterated hate for my mom right now. “What are we going to do if we don’t find her? That’s not going to happen. She’s going to be found and when she is, you are going to be getting yourself some help. There will be no more going out, no more partying, no more random guys, no more drinking, you will stay at home with your eight-year-old child, and you will be the responsible parent that you are supposed to be. I’m sick of picking up your slack Mom. I don’t care if you have to go to counseling, or quit your job to be at home with her.” I had ticked off each point on my fingers. “Enough is enough!”

“Do you really think scolding me right now is going to solve anything?”

I bent over at the waist and got in her face. “You LOST Sarah! Get off your fucking high horse and give me a little humility for once.” I heard the front door open and Macie came into the living room. “I’m going out to look for her. Stay here until you hear from me or the police.” Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. I swear if she said anything else to me I would be too tempted to slap her.

Macie looked at me sympathetically, and we walked to the front door. “Come on, we can go over to the school and see if she’s hanging out over there.”

“Do you think we should split up and cover more ground?” My chin quivered and tears pooled in my eyes. Fear was crashing into me in waves.

“No, I don’t think you can drive right now. Just get in my car and we’ll find her. I’m sure she’s fine,” she said comfortingly.

In the car Macie was trying to reassure me that Sarah was just being a typical eight-year-old, and that kids ran away from home all the time. They might, but most only did it out of defiance. Sarah likely took off because she was sick of being ignored. Nothing could placate my guilt.

“I told Dodger what was going on, and he said he would check the roads between your house and the apartment.”

“Okay.” I kept my eyes on the sidewalks and yards that we drove past, praying to whatever higher being I could think of that she was unharmed. It was dusk and darkness was creeping in with every passing minute. I felt like I was on the verge of hysterics. We’d been out searching for over an hour when I told Macie to stop by the apartment so I could see if Camden was out searching and to check if Sarah was in the area.

When we pulled up I told Macie I’d be right out. I took the stairs two at a time. Yanking the front door open, I was immediately greeted by a teary-eyed Sarah, and Camden sitting in front of her talking to her. My legs went weak, and I nearly passed out from relief. She looked over at me and shot up from the couch. She ran to me, and I dropped to my knees in time for her to crash into me sobbing. I bawled. My only thought was that she was safe, as I was breathing her in. I squeezed her tightly in my arms, and I stroked my hands down her wild curls. Camden had gotten up and looked down on us as he leaned against the breakfast bar.