Page 56 of Faking It With the Grumpy Single Dad

“Let’s try the arcade,” I say, trying to keep my mind occupied with practical thoughts. Cody loves the old-school arcade on the boardwalk, with the bright neon lights and the claw machines packed with stuffed animals.

Eli nods, his eyes a little brighter. “Maybe he went there! He likes that place.”

I steer the truck toward the boardwalk, not caring when I choose a parking spot that I’m definitely not supposed to be in. I’ll take a parking ticket anytime if it’ll get me closer to finding my son.

Hand in hand, we rush through the dense throng of people and step inside the darkened arcade. The noise hits me—a cacophony of bells, dings, and cheerful music. Children and teenagers are laughing, cheering, and running all around. For a second, I allow myself to hope. Maybe he’s in here, just playing a game and totally unaware of the chaos he’s caused.

“Cody!” I call out, weaving through the rows of machines. “Cody, are you here?”

Eli trails behind me, calling his brother’s name in a high-pitched and shaky voice. We search every corner of the place, check behind the machines, and ask the employees if they’ve seen a kid matching Cody’s description.

But they all shake their heads, offering sympathetic smiles and promising to keep an eye out.

By the time we leave the arcade, my heart is pounding even harder than before. I check the clock on my phone, one hand pressed firmly to my chest as if that will prevent it from bursting free.

It’s been over an hour now, and there’s still no sign of him.

We walk back to the truck, the weight of my panic pressing down on me. I can see the fear in Eli’s eyes, and can feel the way he clutches my hand a little tighter like he’s afraid I might disappear, too. I pause and kneel down beside the truck, pulling him into a hug and trying to hide the trembling in my own hands.

“Daddy, what if we can’t find him?” he whispers, his voice muffled against my shoulder.

“We’ll find him,” I say firmly. It doesn’t matter if I’m having a hard time believing it. Eli needs to hear it. “We just need to keep looking.”

I pull back, giving him a reassuring smile, even though I feel like I’m falling apart inside. I can’t let him see me panic right now.

We start driving around town, checking every place I can think of: the candy store, the rest of the boardwalk that stretches beyond Main Street, even the little ice-cream stand Cody loves on the outskirts of town. With each empty street and each blank face I ask, the fear grows deeper and sharper until it’s a physical ache in my chest. The world feels too big, too chaotic.

Desperately, I start to wonder if I’ll ever see him again.

By the time we make a full loop around Mermaid Shores, it’s been almost two hours since he disappeared. My mind races with every terrible possibility, every worst-case scenario. The longer we search, the harder it is to keep it together.

“Dad, what if he got hurt?” Eli’s voice is barely a whisper, but the fear in his eyes is raw and real.

It’s the first thing Flo suggested, sending me a text letting me know that she’s still down by the beach, calling every local hospital just in case a young boy has been brought in. Both luckily and unluckily, though, there’s been no sign of Cody.

My grip on the steering wheel tightens, and I have to force myself to keep my voice steady. “Eli, don’t think like that, okay? Cody’s smart. He’s careful. He knows not to talk to strangers, and he wouldn’t go far. We’ll find him.”

But as we turn onto another empty street, the certainty in my words feels thin and fragile. Cody has never wandered off like this. Even on all the hundreds of beach days that we’ve been on before. That thought keeps echoing in my mind, louder and louder, until it drowns out everything else.

We circle back to the beach, where Flo is pacing with her arms crossed against her chest, her expression tight with worry. She comes over to the truck as I roll down the window, her eyes flickering with hope and dread.

“Any luck?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

I shake my head, swallowing the knot of fear in my throat. “Nothing. We’ve checked everywhere.”

Flo’s shoulders sag with the same guilt and worry that’s threatening to take me down once and for all. She glances past me at Eli, her gaze softening as she reaches out to touch his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” she says, her voice cracking. “I thought he was right there with us.”

Eli nods. “I know. Me too.” Tears are brimming in his eyes. I pull him into another hug, my heart breaking as he clings to me, his small hands clutching my shirt. He’s scared, and I don’t blame him. I’m terrified, too.

“Ma, maybe we should call the police,” I say, my voice strained. “It’s been a couple of hours, and this isn’t like him.”

She nods, reaching for her phone with trembling hands. As she dials, I try to hold onto hope, to believe that maybe Cody’s just lost somewhere on the sand, waiting for us to find him. But the fear gnaws at me, growing darker and more menacing with each passing minute.

Eli is quiet beside me as Flo steps away to make the call to the local dispatch. I wonder if Nara Fitz and her partner will be responding, still on duty after taking care of Percy. Somehow, that disaster feels like it happened days ago.

As the minutes drag on, the panic presses down harder like a weight I can’t shake off, and all I can do is hope that Cody is somewhere close, safe and waiting for us to bring him home.

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