Page 17 of Chasing Your Ghost

Cloying heat was replaced with cool air as she stepped into the dining room, and when she walked through the arch that led to the kitchen, the sun’s brutal gaze was traded for a far more gentle one.

“Good morning,” Hugh said to her, his crow’s feet deepening as he smiled at her.

“Morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Like a baby,” Riley replied as she sat opposite him at the smaller breakfast table.

“So you woke up screaming and crying every three hours because you were hungry?”

She chuckled as she grabbed a bowl from the stack at the center of the table. “Pretty much.” She had, after all, cried herself to sleep, and the sleep she had gotten wasn’t very restful.

Hugh nudged the boxes of Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies her way. “Then you’d better eat something to get some energy.”

“Where’s everyone?” she asked after pouring herself a bowl of Rice Krispies. She would need to make herself something heartier if she didn’t want to be left shaky and half-starving by the time lunch rolled around, but it would do for now.

“Edith took Olivia to the school for her ballet lesson, and Noah went for a jog, but he should be back soon.”

Riley nodded, wondering if it was weird that she felt so much more comfortable talking to her stepdad than her mother. “What are your plans for the day?”

“I was thinking of doing some work this morning.”

“On a Saturday?” she asked with lifted eyebrows.

“Yep, working out of my garage means I never really leave work, even on the weekends.”

“You could just not work, you know? Even if your office is in your garage.”

He shrugged. “I know, but I love it.”

“That’s awesome.” When the time came, she hoped she’d feel that way about her job. Her plan was to major in English and work as an editor, and if she could read for a living, she was sure she’d be in the same boat as Hugh.

“Anyway, after I finish up the bookcase I’m working on, I thought it might be nice if we all went into D.C. this afternoon. We could go to the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Monument, the Capitol Building…Whatever you’d like.”

“Really? That sounds great.”

Riley might not like the fact that she was there, and she knew it was very much temporary, but after watching National Treasure countless times with her dad, she’d always wanted to see Washington. There was no reason she couldn’t do some exploring before this delicate and tense family dynamic became something of the past.

“Awesome,” he said as he stood from the table. “You can think about what you’d like to see, and when Edith and Olivia get back, we can head out.”

“Cool.” Riley smiled, and for the first time since her dad had died, she felt excited about something. Not even Edith or Olivia would be able to ruin a trip to D.C.

Hugh was putting his bowl and spoon into the dishwasher, and Riley was chewing her first bite of Rice Krispies when she heard the front door opening and closing. Noah came into the kitchen, sweaty and gross from his jog, and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Hey, Noah,” Riley greeted him.

Going against her expectations, her stepbrother grunted, not bothering to even look at her as he walked back out. Riley’s smile fell.

“Don’t take it personally,” Hugh said as Noah’s footsteps receded. “He’s going through a tough time.”

“Yeah, he told me about his mom,” Riley admitted, careful to keep her voice down. But Noah had been friendly with her the previous day, so what had changed?

“It’s not just that,” he told her. “One of his friends went missing two weeks ago, and we got a call from the boy’s parents this morning to say the police still have no leads.”

Riley’s eyes widened, her stomach dropping. “What?”

“Asher was driving home at night after visiting a friend and never made it home. His car was found abandoned and with a punctured tire on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The police found his phone nearby, but other than that, nothing.”

---