Man of the Hour

Please, God, she prayed over and over again. Please let them find her, and let her be okay. Please.

She kept seeing the way Livvy’s face had looked in the video, all crumpled and scared. By now, she must be terrified. Glynnis bit her lip and clenched her hands to keep them from shaking uncontrollably.

My baby.

How could she have put Livvy down without grabbing on to her hand? Making sure something like this couldn’t happen? What kind of mother was she, anyway? All my life I’ve been making terrible choices. What is wrong with me?

Although she knew it did no good to dwell on the past, she couldn’t seem to stop herself today. Was God punishing her for her bad judgment? For all the mistakes she’d made, especially the worst one nineteen years ago? Was he telling her to be more careful in the future?

Glynnis jumped up and began to pace around the store.

Gregg, where are you? I need you…

In all of her life, her brother was the only one she’d ever been able to depend upon. Everyone else had let her down, but Gregg never had.

They’d always been close, and after their parents died when they were sixteen, they’d become even closer.

But she hadn’t been able to find Gregg today. There was no answer at the house, he wasn’t at the restaurant and when she tried his cell phone, she got his voice mail. She’d left a message, then another with Janine, the hostess at Antonelli’s, the restaurant Gregg had owned for the past six years.

Poor Janine. She’d been so upset. She’d kept apologizing and saying she wasn’t sure where Gregg had gone, only that he’d left at noon and said he wouldn’t be back today.

“If he calls, I’ll be sure and tell him what happened. Do you have your cell phone with you? Is there anything anyone else can do? Do you want Steve to come?”

Steve was Glynnis’s and Gregg’s cousin, and for nearly two years he’d been Gregg’s right-hand man at the restaurant.

“No,” Glynnis said, “that’s okay. You need him there.”

“What about Kat? I could call her for you.”

Kat Sherman was Glynnis’s best friend, and everyone at the restaurant knew her.

“Thanks. I—I’ll call her myself.”

Kat hadn’t let her down. “You just hold on,” she said when Glynnis told her what had happened. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

That had been twenty-five minutes ago, so Kat should arrive at any time.

“Mommy?”

Startled, Glynnis blinked.

“Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” What was wrong with her? She’d almost forgotten her son was there, he’d been so quiet. “There’s a bathroom right there.” She turned and pointed to the door behind them.

“Okay.”

“Do I need to come with you?”

Michael shook his head. “Nuh-uh.”

“Be sure to wash your hands when you’re done.”

“I know.”

She watched him as he walked inside. He was such a good kid. So was Livvy. They were wonderful children. They were the reason she could never regret her relationship with their father, for if she hadn’t married Ben March, she wouldn’t have had Michael and Olivia. They were worth any amount of humiliation she had suffered over her gullibility and misplaced trust in their father.

When Michael came out of the bathroom, he said, “Mom, where did Livvy go?”

The look in his eyes almost broke her heart, and she drew him into a hug. The feel of his warm body, the trusting way he wrapped his arms around her neck, was nearly her undoing. “I don’t know, honey, but I don’t want you to worry. The policemen will find her.”

“But why did she go? She knows she’s not s’posed to go anywhere with strangers!”

“Oh, honey, I—” What could she say that wouldn’t frighten him?

“Glynnis?”

“Aunt Kat!” Forgetting all about his question, Michael broke away from Glynnis and ran to Kat, who stood in the doorway of the small office. The children adored Kat, so much so that Glynnis had deemed her an honorary aunt. Kat bent down and gave Michael a hug. When she straightened, her eyes were suspiciously shiny.

Glynnis had never been so glad to see anyone in her life. She got up, and the two women hugged hard.

“Glynnis, this is just awful. I am so sorry.”

Glynnis swallowed against the lump in her throat. “It’s all my fault.”

“Oh, hon, don’t blame yourself. You can’t watch them every second.”

“Don’t try to make me feel better, Kat. I’m a total screwup. I can’t do anything right.”

Kat took her by the shoulders. “Now you listen to me, Glynnis Antonelli.” Fiercely loyal and outraged by Ben March’s deceit and bigamous marriage to Glynnis, she never used the March name. In fact, Kat had tried to persuade Glynnis to change the children’s names. Glynnis had considered it, but in the end, she’d decided it would only hurt and confuse them, especially Michael, who was old enough to question the reason.

“You are not a screwup,” Kat continued vehemently. You’ve had some rotten breaks, that’s all. None of what’s happened has been your fault.”

“I lost my child, Kat! What kind of mother loses her child? All for a sweater. For a stupid sweater! I knew they were tired and cranky, yet I had to push them. Why couldn’t I have just taken them home when they wanted to go?” She could hear her voice rising and knew she was becoming hysterical, knew she was frightening Michael, yet she couldn’t seem to stop. “Oh, Kat…” she cried.

“Ah, honey…”

This time when Kat put her arms around Glynnis, Glynnis broke down.

“Mommy?”

“Mom’s okay,” Kat assured Michael. Fiercely, she whispered in Glynnis’s ear. “Get ahold of yourself. You’re scaring Michael.”

Drawing on every ounce of strength she possessed, Glynnis got herself under control again.

“Okay, now calmly tell me everything,” Kat said. She put her arm around Michael and drew him close.

When Glynnis finished, Kat wore her determined look, the one that meant she was going to take charge. “What’re the police doing? Besides checking people at the exit? Are they searching all the stores? Did they put out an Amber Alert? Contact the TV stations? Who’s in charge? Do you know? Is my brother here?” The questions tumbled out in a rapid-fire barrage.