daughter from her at a time when she had needed her mother the most. This was what she’d reaped from her mistake with Clay—a dangerous gulf between her and Ellery that had driven her into the arms of a stranger and onto a desperate path.
When she didn’t answer, Rex said, “Let me know what I can do to help, Daphne.”
Daphne hung up and called Evan. No answer. She glanced at her phone and saw no response to her plea for Ellery to call her.
Damn it.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, she roared up the road that led to One Tree Estates, feeling more panicked than ever. She’d been unable to reach Evan, Ellery wasn’t responding to any of her calls, and when she’d called the winery, the person who’d answered could only take a message for Evan to call her. The receptionist had said Gage no longer worked there and she didn’t know who Ellery was.
Feeling unhinged, Daphne pulled into a reserved spot and shifted into park with a jolt. She palmed her keys and leaped out, scrambling toward the entrance, not caring that she looked a bit mad. She had no makeup on, wore yoga pants, a tunic shirt with a bleach stain on the hem, and running shoes that had seen better days. Her curly auburn hair was likely snarled, and her cheeks held the high pink of a panicked mother.
“Hello,” she said, bursting into the lobby and turning toward the reception desk.
The girl behind the desk cheeped in alarm. “Oh, hello.”
“I’m looking for Evan McCallum, please. Is he here?”
The teenager behind the desk blinked and stepped back, looking unsettled. “He’s out in the fields at present. I can try to call him.”
“Do it,” she said, glancing around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her daughter or that surly bartender with his pretty smile and obvious silver tongue. But she saw no one familiar. Then she remembered that Evan had said his nephew lived in the house next to his. His sister’s house.
“Never mind,” she called to the receptionist as she bolted out the door of the winery and back to her car. Several guests looked at her in alarm as she hurried through the parking lot. She may have been muttering bad words under her breath, or maybe her panicked disposition was enough to make them pause. At that point she didn’t care. Her only thought was to get to Ellery and end the madness her daughter seemed to be determined to conduct.
She tried to follow the speed limit as she wound down the drive but found herself anxiously pressing the accelerator. Evening approached, and the shadows were long and golden. If she hadn’t been in such a state, she might have appreciated the dying day more, but she was focused on one thing—the most precious person in her life, a child she refused to lose because she’d made one mistake.
She came to the house Evan had pointed to as being his older sister’s while on their run and turned into the drive. No car sat in the driveway, and the house was dark. It looked as if she were too late.
“No,” she breathed, killing the engine. “No, no, no.”
She climbed out and heard someone call her name.
“Daphne,” Evan called again, striding across his yard, crossing into the yard of the house she’d pulled into.
“Evan,” she said, closing the car door and moving toward him. “Is Ellery here?”
“She and Gage left several hours ago,” he said, his expression narrow and concerned.
Daphne felt as if he’d dealt her a blow. “No. Oh my God, this is unbelievable.”
“You didn’t know?” he asked, looking taken aback at the thought. “She didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head as she blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes. Her daughter had essentially run away from all that she had known, willy-nilly, without care, caution, or enough sense to fill a boot. “She’s still not speaking to me. She resigned from being my assistant and told me she would not come to Thanksgiving dinner via email, but she never said anything about your nephew or Seattle.”
Evan’s eyes widened. He reached for her hand. “Come with me. Let’s sit down and talk.”
Daphne shook him off. “I don’t want to talk. I want to go after her. This is the stupidest thing she has ever done. Evan, she can’t just up and leave like this. Like she’s punishing me.”
“I don’t think that’s what it’s about,” he said, his voice quiet.