Page 52 of Liberating Love

“‘Kay.”

“It’s going to be okay, Freckles. We’ll find her.”

I nod. “See you in a minute.” I hang up and sit on the couch, burying my hands in my hair as I try to catch my breath.

I’m still in the same position when Delaney bursts through my door and makes a beeline for me, pulling me into his arms and whispering, “We’re going to find her.”

I nod against him and only allow the hug for a brief minute because I know I’ll break down even more if I stay in his arms. When I pull away, I say, “Can we go find her?”

He nods, stands, and pulls me up by my hand. When we walk outside, I search the street, but I still don’t see her, so I say, “I already checked the coffee shop, so can we check the diner on fifth? She’s always liked it there.”

“Good idea. Why don’t you make a list of places she might go and send it in a group text. Everyone can take a place now and we’ll reconvene if we don’t find her after we check them.”

Buckling my seatbelt, I blink at him. “What are you talking about?”

He puts the car in drive and heads toward the diner. “I told the guys to meet at your apartment, but if you just text them now, they can start searching.”

“Y-you called them?”

He glances at me with a furrowed brow. “Of course I did. The more eyes we have looking for her, the sooner we’ll find her.”

Emotions clog my throat, and I can’t respond. The fact that my friends jump in to help as soon as I need it means the world to me. I’ve never had friends like that before; I’ve never had people I can count on, aside from my mother. But a part of me automatically gets a little annoyed that he did it without asking, which I know is wrong, but my mother made me promise years ago not to tell people about her. She hates anyone knowing what she’s going through because she’s so embarrassed when she’s confused, and I’ve kept that promise for years… until lately. I hope she’ll understand. I know her request isn’t very reasonable, but I’ve always tried to keep her privacy. But… this is an emergency and I need their help—we need their help.

Taking a deep breath, I open up a group text chain and start typing out places, then I send a photo of my mom so they’ll know who to look for. When I finish, I go back to scanning the streets and I say, “Thank you for calling them, D.”

Delaney reaches over and squeezes my thigh, then flips his hand over and I place my palm against his, lacing our fingers together.

The diner is a bust, but I leave my name and number so they’ll call me if she comes in. I pull out my phone to check my messages and see what places my friends hit up so we can take the next place on my list. There’s a bunch of messages from them saying where they’ve checked or where they’re going, but before I can figure out where to go next, my phone rings.

Jovany’s name barely registers before I answer. “Hello?”

“I found her.”

A shaky breath releases from my lungs as my eyes get blurry again and I croak, “You did?”

“Yeah. She was sitting on a bench in Little Brook Park.”

My chin trembles as I whisper, “Thank you.”

“She, uh… she seems confused, but I’m sitting with her now. Jameson’s on duty, so he’s calling it in and coming here now.”

My throat is constricted with tears I’m holding back, but I manage to mutter to Delaney, “Little Brook Park.”

He nods and leads me to his car.

Jovany says, “She’s okay, Aiden. She doesn’t seem to be injured or anything.”

I nod even though he can’t see me.

“Can you get down here or do you need me to bring her to you or meet at the hospital, maybe? I, uh, I think it might be better if you come here. I’m not sure how well she’d handle getting in my car or in Jameson’s police car.”

“No, no, we’re coming. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Is she… is she calm?”

“Yeah, she’s calm. She keeps asking where Noah is, though… is that your dad?”

“Yeah. He passed away a few years ago. My mom…” I take a breath. Jovany’s my friend, he deserves to know, all of them do. “She has Alzheimer's, so sometimes she doesn’t remember he’s gone.”

He pauses, then says, “I’m sorry to hear that.” His voice gets muffled, so I assume he’s holding his phone against something as he speaks to my mother, then he comes back and asks, “Do you want to talk to her?”

---