“Sorry, Vera,” Charles said to me. “It was my fault.”
The woman pushed through a crowd of people, and Charles and I followed. “Why is my sister here?” he said under his breath.
Away from the dancers, he folded his arms. “Josie?” His tone wasn’t exactly welcoming.
“Wow, I didn’t think I’d actually find you here,” she said, annoyed. She tucked a lock of her perfectly coiffed brown hair under her hat before smoothing an imaginary wrinkle from her dress. “I went looking for you over at the Blue Palms and Delores said”—she looked at me with disapproving eyes and took a deep, frustrated breath—“anyway, there isn’t much time. It’s Mother. She’s taken ill.”
Charles dropped my hand. “Oh no,” he said. “What happened?”
“The doctor’s with her now,” she replied. “But you need to come quick.”
Charles turned to me. “I’m sorry, Vera, I have to go. I’ll…I’ll call on you soon.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “Go.”
I watched Charles and Josie walk briskly out of the gymnasium. They disappeared in the shadows of the night before I turned back to the other dancers on the floor. Only a few dozen remained. Beads of sweat dripped from their brows. We would have won, Charles and I. We would have danced until dawn.
“My, aren’t you a vision, Vera!” Lon exclaimed when he saw me in the lobby. I hardly recognized my own name on his breath. And when I caught a glimpse of myself in the gilded mirror on the wall to my left, a society girl stared back. My waist looked inches thinner, suctioned in by the fancy undergarments beneath the blue silk dress. My breasts brimmed out of the bodice in a way that made me feel like a roast turkey on a platter, buttered and browned and ready to be devoured. I held my hand to my chest self-consciously.
“Your beauty is dizzying,” Lon said, slipping a possessive arm around my waist.
I didn’t like his hand there, or anywhere. I swallowed hard. I can do this. For Daniel. If I played my cards right, Lon might use his resources to help me find my son. I would be his dinner guest. I would smile and look pretty. I would do anything, really, if it brought Daniel home.
Chapter 12
CLAIRE
I ducked my head as I stepped out of the elevator at the office the next day, purposely taking the long, winding route through the sea of gray cubicles. It seemed silly to take such extreme measures to avoid my own husband, but after last night’s exchange, I didn’t have the heart, or the strength, to face him. Besides, I’d slept in an empty bed again. I knew he probably had stayed at the hospital with Warren, but still, he hadn’t even called to let me know. Since when had he become the husband who considered coming home optional?
The sun had returned to Seattle, and the warmer weather had Frank particularly agitated. “How’s the story coming?” he asked from the doorway of my cubicle a mere ten seconds after I’d planted my butt in the chair.
I swiveled around to face him. “Good morning to you, too.”
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed,” he said, pointing to the window, “but the snow has melted. Before readers forget about the storm entirely, I was kinda hoping to get your story to press. You told me you’d have it to me today, but that’s obviously not going to happen, so maybe I can get it, I dunno, before Thanksgiving?” He plucked a gnawed pencil from his shirt pocket and inserted it in his mouth. He remained the only boss whom I found adorable when he was mad at me.
“Listen, Frank,” I said, folding my arms with deliberation. “You knew this story was going to be a goose chase going into it.”
He put the pencil back in his shirt pocket. “You’re right,” he said. “But I didn’t think it would be such an epic goose chase.”
I glanced at my notebook, wishing I had more to show for the past days’ research. “Frank, it’s like someone erased this little boy from history.”
“So you’re saying you don’t have a single lead?” he said with a sigh.
“Well,” I continued, “I found a child’s drawing with the name Eva Morelandsteed written on the back.”
“A child’s drawing?” By the look on his face, I gathered he wasn’t thrilled.
“I think she might be related to the missing boy, somehow. Perhaps a sister, or a friend.”