I nod, then shake my head. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Tell me about your meeting,” I say, trying to change the subject to distract myself from my mom.
He tells me everything that happened between them. What was said and who said it. But nothing can take my mind off of my mom and the fact that even by the end of his story, she hasn’t called me back.
“Call her again, honey,” Landry suggests.
I inhale a deep breath, then let it out with a sigh and call her again. When she still doesn’t answer, I frown.
“Can you call her work? Either of them?”
Nodding, I scroll through my phone and find her night job’s number. When I finally get a hold of her boss, Robert, after sitting on hold for far too long, what he says sends a chill down my spine.
“I’m sorry, Tenny, I wish I could tell you more, but your mother hasn’t been in for the last two shifts she was scheduled to work. I have been worried about her, I was fixin’ to call you tonight if she didn’t show again. It just ain’t like Helen to be a no-show, no-call.”
My blood turns into ice instantly. Lifting my eyes to meet Landry’s, I thank Robert and end the call. Landry watches me for a moment, probably waiting to see if I’m going to tell him what’s going on. I don’t, at least not immediately, I’m too numb to speak.
“Tennessee, tell me what is going on,” he gently demands.
Blinking once, I gulp and open my mouth, then snap it closed before I open it again in an attempt to get my words to come out. Finally, on the third attempt, they do.
“My mom hasn’t been to work for two days. She hasn’t called in. Her boss hasn’t heard from her. Nothing,” I rasp.
Landry doesn’t say anything right away. He narrows his eyes and purses his lips together. Then he stands to his feet. “I’m sending Hansen to check on her.”
His words come out in a harsh bark, but all I can do is stare at him. He clears his throat, watching me for just a moment, trying to gauge my reaction to his words. They aren’t a suggestion, they aren’t a demand, he’s just simply stating something to me.
“Landry, what could have happened to her?” I whisper.
I see it. It’s only a flash, but that flash is there. It’s bright and bold for just a second before he hides it from me. Fear. He isn’t supposed to be scared, not ever. He is strong and big and beautiful. He is smart and calm, even-tempered, and doesn’t get ruffled. I mean, he found out his wife was a whore for half of his marriage and all he did was drink a little too much.
Landry doesn’t get scared from what I’ve seen.
Until right now.
Until this moment.
He’s afraid and I’m terrified.
“Whatever it is, Hansen will find her.”
Pressing my lips together, I roll them and don’t speak the words aloud that I’m thinking inside of my head. The last thing I need to do is voice the fears that I do have, too scared to have them become a reality.
Landry touches some buttons on his phone and presses it against his ear. I try to keep my body from trembling, but I fail. I hear him give Hansen orders, then tell him that it’s extremely important and he’ll double his fees before he ends the call.
Just when I think Landry is going to go back to work, he walks over to me, crouching down in front of me. I feel him take my hands in his and he gently squeezes. Lifting my gaze to meet his, I try not to cry.
His lips twitch as he looks at me. “We will find Helen, honey. Don’t worry about any of that. We will find her and everything will be okay.”
Those words, they’re a lie. A hopeful lie, but a lie nonetheless. He doesn’t know if they’re going to find my mom okay or not. He doesn’t know shit and neither do I, and suddenly I feel like the world’s shittiest daughter.
“I need to go to Oklahoma,” I breathe as I look to the side.
He squeezes my hands, my attention forced back on him, and I watch him for a beat. He shakes his head once, then cups my cheek. His thumb slides across my bottom lip, his eyes following its path. Then I hear him inhale a deep breath before