Page 35 of Searching for Valor

Izzy closed her eyes, picturing that conversation with Monica. It was during their girl’s weekend in San Francisco over the summer when the kids were busy—Grace at the beach with her friends and Noah at summer camp. Monica had seemed so happy that. Almost bubbly. They’d gone to their favorite coffee shop in the city, Monica’s hands wrapped around a steaming mug as she’d smiled shyly and said…

Her eyes snapped open. “Julian. His name is Julian Graves.”

Rylan nodded, already pulling out his phone. “I’ll ask Sawyer to run a background check on him, see if anything pops.”

“Ash won’t like that.”

The first hint of a smile she’d seen from him in months curved his lips as he raised the phone to his ear. “I’ve learned Zak’s approach to handling Ash is best. It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” Then he nodded toward her car. “Go home, Izzy. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

chapter

twelve

Two days passed.

Rylan never called.

Never told her what he found out from Sawyer.

Her calls went straight to voicemail, the texts went unread. She’d thought they’d made peace the other night.

That they could move forward as…

Well, maybe not friends.

But at least civil acquaintances who wanted the same thing—to find Grace and Noah.

So why was he suddenly shutting her out?

Unless… he’d found something. Something he didn’t want her to know.

She tried Ash and got the same. No answer.

She sank into a chair at the kitchen table, her head falling into her hands. The last forty-eight hours had been a special kind of torture, not knowing what was happening with the investigation, if they were any closer to finding Monica and the kids. The helplessness clawed at her insides, a physical ache that wouldn’t ease.

Across the room, Abuela Ramona moved with quiet efficiency, pulling fresh tortillas from the comal. “Mija,your face is longer than the Rio Grande. What has you like this?”

“It’s nothing, Abuela.”

But Abuela Ramona was not one to be easily dissuaded. She set down the tortillas and fixed Izzy with a knowing look. Too late, she realized her leg had been bouncing restlessly.

“Isabella, you forget I’ve known you since before you took your first breath. I can see the trouble in your eyes, the way it drags at your shoulders. This is about that boy, isn’t it? Theguapoone with the robot arm and sad eyes.”

Izzy’s throat tightened. Rylan did have sad eyes, didn’t he? Had they always been like that, or was it something new? She couldn’t remember. ”He’s shutting me out, Abuela. I thought we were past this. I thought we were… healing. I don’t know what to do.”

“Ay, mi vida.” With a small sigh, Ramona wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to the table. She sat down and her weathered hands folded over Izzy’s.“No te preocupes tanto. Todo tiene solución menos la muerte.”

Everything has a solution except death.

It was one of her abuela’s favorite sayings. But she couldn’t see a solution for this… thing between her and Rylan. Not when it always seemed they were taking a tiny step forward and two giant leaps backward.

“But he… he hates me.” Would that knowledge always be like a knife in her heart? “He claims not to, but… I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me for what I did.”

“What you did,” Ramona said softly, her tone leaving no room for argument, “was save us. You protected your family.Dios, those men would have killed us. Do you think Rylan’s sister would have wanted you to make a different choice?”

“Rylan—”

“I’m not talking about him right now. I’m talking about his sister. Rhiannon, is it? She was the one most affected by your actions, was she not?”

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