Page 68 of Play With Me

“Not here, but definitely somewhere in the forest. That’s what I was trying to tell you. I didn’t come here on my own. I came with Anna.”

Great. Now we had another missing person to find, but at least Sophie hadn’t traveled alone. I wondered how she’d kept so quiet following us.

“Come on, let’s head to camp. Maybe we can go looking for berries later on.”

“And fishing?”

“Yes, we’ll go fishing as well.”

If Lola doesn’t drown me first.

I watched Sophie’s mouth curve into a ginormous smile, and I lifted the stack of collected wood off the ground. Seeming to want to be even more helpful, Sophie grabbed the largest branch she could handle and pulled it behind her. My first instinct was to take it away from her and help, but I didn’t. She dragged that branch behind her as if she were pulling a full-grown bear. Sweat beaded on her forehead and grunts rolled out of her mouth, but she didn’t complain even once.

When I saw Anna by the campsite, my mouth dropped open. The good news was that we didn’t have to send out a search party for her. The bad news was that Anna looked ready for combat, and I had a feeling she wouldn’t understand the concept of ‘stay out of my way.’

“Look what I found,” I told Lola.

Sophie dropped the branch she was pulling and ran to Lola as if she were her savior, throwing her arms around her. “I’m sorry, Lola. I just missed you so much and Daddy didn’t want to go camping with me but Uncle Brook is such a good camper that I thought it would be fun doing all the adventuring with you because there are so many bears and cute little animals in the forest but then I got separated from Anna and the forest grew so large that I didn’t know where I was for a moment. Grandpa Jack showed me the map and the forest and the rivers and I lost my way only once and I promise I’m not going to be any trouble. I have a good memory and a good—”

“Wow, Sophie, it’s okay. Slow down, honey. Take a deep breath.”

Lola stopped her just as Sophie’s voice broke into a cry. I thought Lola would push my daughter away and yell at her for ruining our plans. I thought she’d be crushed when she realized her chance to find Xavier was gone. Instead, she bent down and put her arms around Sophie, snuggling her and gently smoothing her hand over her back, the way I had moments ago.

“Hey, I mean it, Sophie. There’s no reason to cry. We can call your father as soon as we can get a signal and tell him you’re out here with Uncle Brook. Okay? Don’t worry. You’re safe now. Everything will be okay.”

“Okay.” Sophie turned her head sideways, wiping the snot underneath her nose on Lola’s shoulder. “Daddy thinks Anna’s babysitting, so it’s okay.”

Lola’s glimpsed to the left. Seeing the jelly-like smear, she wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t gag. I guessed that was a good sign.

“It’s true,” Anna confirmed.

“So let me get this straight. You two snuck into the back of the truck and rode thousands of miles? How?”

“Oh, it wasn’t uncomfortable, Uncle Brook. I promise. Scout’s honor.”

Lola tilted her head to the side as Sophie looked up at her with her big eyes. I didn’t know what it was about seeing them together, but it felt right, and I wished I could tell Lola that Sophie was mine. She was brave, and despite the fact that she’d snuck away, I felt proud of my daughter. Most kids her age never ventured out beyond their street corner. What kind of life was that?

“Where did you go when we were at the motel?” I asked.

“I got us a room. Don’t worry. I used cash.” Anna winked, as if I were worried that someone would track us. The gut feeling I’d had at the motel was right. I should have listened to it. If I had, perhaps I could have stopped Anna and Sophie that night.

“All right. We can’t go back home right now. We’ll just have to be more careful and make it work. You two do not leave the campsite. Ever. We’re going to make this our base. No more sneaking around, and both of you listen to Lola and me.”

“Does that mean we can stay?” Sophie shot up, then crouched lower again, making herself appear small.

I looked over to Lola, who gave me a small nod.

“Yes, you can stay.” As soon as I agreed, Sophie jumped into my arms and I held her against me, losing myself in the moment. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Lola watching us from the side, and so I set Sophie down.

“Are you sure no one back home is looking for you?” I asked Anna.

“Yes, I’m sure. I called Jack and Mary just to be sure and they were okay with Sophie spending time with me. We’re supposed to be at a water park all weekend, and then Sophie’s staying at my new home, helping me decorate.”

Sneaky.

Maybe we could pull this off. After all, both Sophie and Anna had managed to follow us for thousands of miles without being seen.

“All right. Like I said, you and you” – I pointed to both Anna and Sophie – “do not leave the perimeter of this campsite unless I or Lola say so. Do you understand?”

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