Page 111 of I Could Never

Two cops accompanied us inside. Scottie took his spot on the couch, and I handed him my phone while he waited for his tablet to charge. I’d pulled up his favorite streaming site and thankfully, that seemed to do for the moment.

“Where exactly was this house?” Josh asked one of the cops.

“A little over a mile from the group home. It’s a miracle that he didn’t get hit by a car.”

I looked up at the ceiling and thought about Brad.His brother was watching over him.

Josh looked over at Scottie. “The owner has no idea how long he was there?”

“No. The guy just noticed him an hour or so ago. He saw a shadow moving inside the clubhouse and assumed it was an animal since he’d had them in his yard before.”

“Thank God Scottie’s a kid at heart,” I said. “He probably saw the swing set, and that’s what drew him to that yard. We’re lucky he was in a safe place.”

“The paramedics checked him out at the scene. They were gonna take him to the emergency room, but his vitals are good, and he doesn’t seem to be dehydrated. He somehow had access to food and water. We suspect he might’ve stolen something from a convenience store because they filed a report about someone matching Mr. Longo’s description. They reported that a man walked in and brazenly took a bottle of cranberry juice from the refrigerator and a box of Oreos before walking out. The older woman at the register has a bad leg and didn’t want to chase after him, and she said the man just looked at her blankly when she screamed at him. So that’s in line with what you report about Scottie’s behavior. But that report came in just shortly before we found him, so we hadn’t made the connection. Anyway, that might explain why he’s in good condition. In any case, we gave him water and a couple of granola bars, but I’m sure he’s still hungry.”

“Scottie was a bandit on the run.” Josh laughed.

The door flew open, and Lorraine walked in.

She charged toward Scottie. “You had us worried sick.” Scottie ignored her, continuing to play on my phone.

After she held him for a few seconds, Lorraine joined us where we were standing with the officers.

“I’m Lorraine Longo, technically Scottie’s guardian,” she said, holding out her hand. “But as you probably know, he lived with Carly and Josh before he moved to the group home.”

“Are you planning on taking him back to that residence?” one of the cops asked her.

Lorraine looked toward us for guidance.

“No,” Josh said adamantly. “Not anytime soon, at least. We haven’t gotten that far, though.”

“Okay, well, we let them know that we were bringing him here because that’s what Ms. Longo instructed us to do in the event he was found. You’ll have to contact the group home and make them aware of your plans.”

“Will do, Officer,” Josh said. “I can’t thank you enough for bringing him home safely.”

The officer nodded. “This is what we do, son. It’s our pleasure.”

The officers turned to walk out the door, and Scottie hopped off the couch. He came over to Josh and began disrobing. His pants were halfway down his legs by the time Josh put a stop to it.

“Does he always do that?” One of the cops chuckled.

“He wants to take a bath,” I tried to explain. “He’s not very subtle.”

“Okay, we’ll let you get on with your evening,” he said, looking uncomfortable.

After the door shut, Josh lifted his shirt off and threw it. “I’ve never been happier to get naked in my life.” He laughed. “Come on, Scottie! Let’s go take a shower!”

“Manshower party!” I laughed.

Josh then realized he hadn’t brought a change of clothes, so he went into Wayne’s old closet and grabbed a few things for him and Scottie.

After they disappeared into the bathroom, I could hear the music blasting through the door. It was a true celebration in there. All of the emotions from the past couple of days seemed to hit me at once. Lorraine had gone into the kitchen to prepare Scottie’s chicken, and I sat down on the couch and sobbed into my hands. We’d been so lucky today. So very lucky.

When Josh and Scottie emerged, they both had wet hair and were wearing Wayne’s clothes, which were too tight.

Josh shook my shoulders playfully and teased, “No offense, but lemons aren’t gonna cut it after forty-eight hours, Pumpkin. I think you need to shower next.”

“Thanks for the advice. And I concur. You’re right this time. Let me go see if I can find something to wear, too.”

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