Page 93 of Somewhere We Belong

“I’ll go talk to her,” Colt said, and I shook my head.

“Let Nova handle this and if she needs help, she will ask,” I said, trying to keep us respectful of Nova’s boundaries.

“Fine,” Colt muttered, as he went back to the living room.

Nova started to fidget and get restless when she finally went to Sol’s room. Webber was talking about his teammates who hated each other, and his solution was for them to fuck it out of their system. Nova called out for Sol and when she yelled a second time, I got up.

“Sweetie, where are you?” Nova was opening the door to the room she slept in and came out immediately going to the next room. “Sol, this isn’t funny, Honey.”

“I’ll check the game room,” I said, as she looked in another bedroom.

She nodded as I passed her.

“Sol!” I called out as I ran upstairs.

A little panic hit me when she wasn’t up there and when I came down, everyone was looking for her.

“She’s not in the garage.” Colt came out of the door next to me.

“I’m going to go check outside with the horses,” Theo said, putting on his jacket.

It was snowing outside and I hoped she hadn’t decided to go out there.

“Maybe she went home?” Jude suggested.

Nova rushed to her room, panic really setting in for us. I went to our room to change, and Colt followed me. Once we were dressed, Nova was arguing with Jude.

“Don’t tell me to wait,” she snapped.

“Take your phone and give us a call. I want to make sure we all look in different areas,” Jude said, standing in front of thedoor. “We don’t want to be looking for her without a plan and have it be counterproductive.”

“Nova, he’s right, just a quick plan and we can start looking for her,” Colt said walking up to her.

Her lip trembled. “Ok, please hurry.”

Luke came out of his room ready to look for her too. Jude made a plan on a piece of paper and everyone exchanged phone numbers. It was only an extra five to ten minutes, but each minute felt like it was way too long. I hoped she didn’t walk anywhere and if she had, she had bundled up. The thought of her outside in the cold almost sent me into a panic and a realization. I loved this little girl and I would do whatever it took to bring her home safely.

27

theodore

The snow was falling harderthan it had been this morning. The forecast said we would get at least five inches of snow, maybe more. If Sol had gone outside, I hoped she hadn’t walked around aimlessly.

I built a small stable by the house so we could put up our horses and not have to worry about putting them up in the barn if we were too tired. We had Luna here in case Sol wanted to go riding. She had been dead set on practicing so she could become a barrel racer. I didn’t have the heart to tell her no. Hula Hoop was also here, along with a duck named Howard and Sable, who preferred the animals to people.

I opened the door as Sable rushed to me. The barn was still cool, better than being outside. I installed a floor heating system that kept the floor warm, it was cheaper than heating the entire building.

“Hey beautiful, is Sol in here?” I kissed Sable's nose before she ran away from me.

I looked around making my way to Luna’s stall, tapping my fingers as I tried to stay calm.

Thankfully, Sol was inside brushing Luna’s hair with her jacket on, but she had her pajama bottoms on with her tennis shoes.

“Sunflower,” I said, holding my tongue from scolding her.

“Is my mom with you?” She glanced back at me.

“No, but she is looking for you,” I said, staying on the outside of the stall. “You scared us.”

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