Page 14 of Missing White Woman

Like me, he’d chosen a selfie from the park, the location tagged in case anyone couldn’t recognize it. He smiled wide, and it felt like he was looking right at me. I leaned forward to take him in without worrying about real-life him catching me ogling. I could just make out my elbow in the corner.

I hit the Heart button.

I kept scrolling until I saw the ad. That was the thing I hated about these social sites. How you could visit one site, one time, and next thing you knew, you were inundated with ads for it or something similar. The people doing the Phenomenal Woman grant had sprung for Instagram ads. We’re offering $10,000 to help you launch your business. Phenomenally. Deadline June 1.

Instagram made interacting with their ads so easy. Just clicking on it would take me right to the website so I could Learn More or Shop Now or, in this case, apply today. And I would have—except for that damn background check.

I’d like to pretend I was happy to still be at the stationery store—that I liked dealing with entitled customers and college kids looking to supplement scholarships and student loans. I’d tried to leave once about five years ago for a job at a large athletics company. Even got the job—until the background check came through. Apparently, they weren’t too keen to hire someone with a record—even if I’d only spent a few months in jail.

I never applied for anything else again.

Now I stared at the Phenomenal Woman post before clicking three buttons in the top corner. Then I selected Hide Ad.

“Whatcha doing?”

I jumped, then turned to see Ty standing at the bottom of the steps. I hadn’t heard him emerge from his third-floor lair. The house had to be soundproofed.

“Didn’t mean to scare you again.”

I managed a smile. “It’s fine. Next time wear a Jigsaw mask.”

He came over and put his arms around me. “I prefer Michael Myers. You know I’m a horror purist.”

“You finish your project?”

He nodded. “Just need to do the final touches tomorrow. Wanna watch a movie?”

Ty’s energy was different. He was smiling more. Making eye contact. Doing all the things like the Ty I knew. It made me happy that I’d decided to stay longer. “As long as it’s not Halloween,” I said.

We made it halfway through Ferris Bueller’s Day Off before we changed our minds yet again. Ty wanted to break in every room in the place. We made it through two and a half floors. By eleven, we were exhausted. We played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who got to shower first. I let him win—he always went with paper. He took his cell to the bathroom. The shower turned on immediately, then stayed on longer than normal. I checked my phone. No Janelle Beckett updates. I texted my friend to tell her I’d be out tomorrow, then texted my mom.

She’d responded almost immediately. Your boss isn’t going to be happy with the last minute notice.

My boss hadn’t even cared. Just told me to have a good time since I already had someone to cover for me. The lone benefit of having worked somewhere for over a decade. We went back and forth like that for a good few minutes to the point I was tired when Ty got out of the shower.

He came out in a T-shirt and shorts, cheesing it up. “I’ll go in super early. Be back before you are even up. You won’t even miss me.”

I put my phone away. Arguing with my mother was like talking to a brick wall.

“I’ll miss you less if you have an omelet waiting when I get up,” I said.

“I’ll throw in some French toast too.”

“A feast.”

“Come here, you.”

And I did, snuggling into him, enjoying the scent of his soap-tinged brown skin. When I tried to pull away, he held on. “I can’t be smelling that great,” I said.

“Like roses.”

Finally he let go, turning his body so he could fully watch me walk into the bathroom. I got inside, then glanced back, a tease of a smile at the ready. “Yes, Mr. Franklin?”

He was staring at me intently. If my smile was a tease, his was fully exposed. The expression on his face reminded me of how my dad used to look at my mom.

“God, I love—”

But then he hesitated. It sounded like he was going to say he loved me. I wasn’t expecting it. Not this soon. It’d only been a few months, and though I hoped we’d get to that point, I liked that we were taking the scenic route.

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