Page 124 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“What?”

I almost ran naked downstairs, but managed to put on my underwear. Instead of zipping up my dress, I pulled Nick’s t-shirt over my head and rushed down.

“What are you talking about, missing?”

“Jo, we’ve checked everywhere.”

“You couldn’t have, because if you checked everywhere, you would have found her.”

While Mackenzie was an adventurous child, I was sure that Carter hadn’t looked for her thoroughly enough. She once fell asleep on top of Tank in a barn. The bull was younger back then, but still, much larger than Mackenzie. We found them cuddled together. If Tank had shifted, he could have easily crushed her, but the two of them had always gotten along so well that sometimes I thought they were meant to be best friends.

“How did you let my daughter get lost?” Nick accused.

“Wow, hold it right there, Navy boy. No one ‘let’ her get lost.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Which way did you mean it, then? I’ve been more like a father to that little girl than you have.”

“She’s still my daughter.”

“And she’s my niece.”

They were almost nose to nose, testosterone pouring out of their ears.

“Okay, you two. Tone it down. I know you both love her, and I’m sure she’s somewhere.”

Carter looked me up and down, and Nick stepped in front to cover me somewhat, at which point Carter frowned.

“What did she say?” I asked. “The last thing you can remember.”

“She mentioned getting decorations for the special cake.”

“The only decorations she keeps are the stones in the attic. Did you check the attic?”

“No, I didn’t. Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you two.”

I didn’t remember the last time I’d been so calm about Mackenzie wandering off, but life was finally working out for me, and nothing could get me in a bad mood, except for the awful feeling I got in my stomach. Carter’s phone rang, and then mine. He picked it up, his face going pale.

“Dad?” I asked through my receiver.

“Thank God you’re all right. We were so worried when we heard Carter’s house caught fire.”

What?

I dropped the phone and bolted out the door. They yelled after me, but I barely heard them. Only muffles and sounds squeezed past all the dreadful thoughts that were rummaging through my mind. I ran until my legs ached and my feet bled. I ran like the ground was the only connection I had to Mackenzie, because without it, I couldn’t get there. I ran when I wished I could fly. Carter’s truck pulled in beside me as I was sprinting down the road, in a pair of panties and a t-shirt.

“Get in, Jo.” Nick jumped out of the passenger seat and opened the back door for me. “And put on a pair of pants.”

“Mackenzie?” I asked, pushing my feet through what looked like Nick’s sweats: way too long and way too big, but they’d have to do. I rolled the top band down and the pant legs up.

“No word yet.”

I prayed that she was safe. She was my life, and I’d die if anything happened to her. We weren’t that far from our house, and the way Carter was driving, we’d be there in half a minute.

The sight of smoke billowing from our house stopped my pulse. “No, no, no.”

“Shit!” Carter said, pressing his foot harder on the gas. The engine roared, and I was so grateful that Carter was a mechanic as well as a firefighter and had always kept the truck in pristine condition.

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