“Petal. It’s me,” he cried. “It’s Daniel.”
“Daniel.” The little voice got louder until Petal emerged from what appeared to be a crawl space between a planter and the wall. Her knees were scraped, her dress muddy, but he ran to her as she ran to him.
Daniel fell awkwardly to his knees. “Come here, Bug,” he said, opening his arms to her as she threw herself against his body. Tears began to fall in earnest as she sobbed against his shoulder.
“I can’t find them, and everybody is going to be so mad,” she said, her words punctuated with sobs.
“No, they won’t be.” Daniel stood, allowing her to wrap her legs around his hips. “We just need to let everyone know you are safe.”
Elliott was on the beach, too far to easily shout, so Daniel reached in his pocket for his phone and, with one hand, called his dad.
Elliott answered on the first ring. “You okay?” he asked.
“I have her. Walk back to the boardwalk… I’m to your right.” Daniel hung up and wrapped both arms around Petal. In many ways, she was just like a younger sister.
“I just wanted to ask the dancers to join my dance troupe,” Petal said, hiccups now wracking her body.
“I know, Bug. We’ll sort it out when we get back to the restaurant.” Daniel watched as his dad made a couple of calls as he jogged up the beach, likely calling Uncle Dred and the rest of the band.
Elliott reached them and pulled them both into a hug. Pressed against his dad’s chest, he could hear his heartbeat. A fast pounding sound that matched his own. He was sixteen. A hug shouldn’t feel so reassuring, but holding Petal safe while his Dad hugged him felt perfect.
Adrenaline shook his body, his thoughts filled with relief over what could have happened to her. It had him a couple of steps away from puking. But that would only scare Petal. He took a few deep breaths.
Elliott loosened his hold. “Petal, Sweetheart. You scared me.”
Petal lifted her tear-stained snotty face off his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Uncle Elliott.”
“Come here,” he said, offering to take her from Daniel. “Let’s get you back to your daddy. He’s really worried about you and wants to give you a hug.”
Petal turned to Daniel. “Can you carry me, please, Daniel? I won’t fidget. I promise.”
Daniel felt a moment of pride that she’d picked him over his dad. That she thought he was strong and capable enough to look after her. “Sure, Bug. I’ve got you.”
For a few moments, they were all silent. Elliott would periodically run his hand through his hair, Daniel would sigh, and Petal would hiccup. He ran his hand in circles on her back until she started to feel limp in his arms.
“I think she just fell asleep, Dad.”
Elliott smiled. “Yeah. Little ones tend to do that. Cry themselves out. You did really well today, Daniel.”
Words of praise from Elliott were the best kind because, unlike his mom, Elliott wasn’t obligated to give him any. “Thanks.”
“I’m serious. You were the first to notice she’d gone. You thought about what had been happening before she went. And you formed a plan of where you thought she’d be. That was so levelheaded of you. I’m really proud of you.”
Guilt whispered through him like an icy blast. “I’m the reason she ran, though. I wouldn’t dance with her.”
Elliott shook his head. “No, no, no. All of us were too busy. And Dred and Pixie are likely beating themselves up for assuming that she was safe in a room full of friends. And I wish I’d danced with her, too. You didn’t cause this, Daniel. You fixed it.”
In the distance, Daniel could see his uncles Dred and Jordan sprinting toward them and gave Petal one last squeeze.
“Holy fucking shit,” Dred gasped as he got to them. Tears were in his eyes as he grabbed Petal from Daniel’s arms. Dred squeezed Petal just like Elliott had squeezed him. “Petal, Sweetheart,” he said, pressing her head against his shoulder as she roused from sleep.
Jordan arrived, but instead of reaching for Petal as Daniel expected, his Uncle Jordan pulled him into a hug. “You are a fucking credit to yourself and this family,” he said gruffly. “What you did today, Daniel…”
He left the words hanging.
Uncle Jordan really loved Petal.
Jordan let go of him but gripped him by the shoulders. “I probably don’t say this often enough, but I really love you, Kid. You’ve grown into a great young man.”
Dred reached for him with one arm and tugged him into a hug. “Same here, Daniel. What would we do without you?”
Emotions conflicted. Pride, love, and a healthy dose of teenage embarrassment.
He had a family. A much bigger one than he’d ever known. Men who cared about him and would protect and love him.
People were now looking, starting to figure out who the three men on the boardwalk were. There had been at least one camera flash.
Elliott pulled Daniel in against his side. “We should get going,” he said, cautiously.
His Uncle Jordan and Uncle Dred walked ahead of them, Petal’s curls bouncing as she slept on Dred’s shoulder.
“Well, that was quite the night,” Elliott said, throwing his arm over Daniel’s shoulder. “How are your legs?”
The truth was, they throbbed. Scar tissue pulled tight over his joints. There had been surgeries to release the contractures where his growing frame and taut skin worked against each other. And there had been plastic surgeries to transform the appearance, something that he desperately wanted. While most of his friends were cool, there were still some who would call him a freak or Freddy Kreuger after the horror movie guy. “I’ll need a couple of painkillers tonight,” he answered truthfully. “And perhaps a chair.”
“You need me to carry you? It’s not a big deal.”
Daniel shook his head. “Definitely not.”
Elliott grinned. “Come on, I’ll give you a piggy-back. We can even make it look like a bet. No one needs to—”
“No, Dad,” Daniel said with a laugh. “I’m fine. Just, let’s walk a little slower, maybe.”
They slowed their pace as Dred hurried off ahead of them.
“Aunt Pixie must be out of her mind,” he said.
Elliott ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. As we ran out looking for her, I was wondering what if it happened to Noah or Holly. What if they just wandered off? Scared the shit out of me.”
“Me, too. Being a parent must be really hard.”
“You know, when we were looking, and you told me that you didn’t want what happened to you to happen to her?” Elliott asked.
Daniel looked out toward the water. “Yeah?”
“I would have believed you. Back then. If I’d been your dad. There would have been no question in my mind. Is being a parent hard? Yeah, in some ways it is. It now takes thirty minutes and about five different bags of clothes and diapers and car seats and shit to get out the door, when I used to just grab my keys and go. And finding time to make out with your mom with you three constantly asking for snacks and diaper changes is a ball ache, literally.”
Daniel pretended to gag. “That is so gross. I don’t even want to think about that.”