"I don't want to discuss Carter and Kelsey," my mother said flatly, her words a bit cold, considering the pain in Sean's gaze. "I don't even know that I believe it. I will wait to hear what Kelsey has to say when she comes home. Until then, it's all just speculation."
It was a lot more than speculation, but no one wanted to argue with my mother, including Sean.
He ran a weary hand through his thinning hair. "It's nothing we need to get into now. Gage would also prefer that we keep it private, which is one reason I'm here. I need to make sure we're on the same page."
"We are," my mother said, answering for all of us. "And that's all we need to say."
"The other reason I'm here is about the wedding," Sean continued. "I don't know what's happening with the plans, but we need to shut everything down."
"We could still get Kelsey back," my mother argued. "I don't want to cancel anything."
"The wedding is supposed to be tomorrow, Monica," Sean said with exasperation. "Carter is in the hospital fighting for his life. My family is in tatters. There is not going to be a wedding this weekend."
My mother bit down on her lip. "I'm sorry," she said. "Thinking about the beautiful wedding we planned has been the only thing keeping me sane."
"I understand, but it's not happening," Sean said.
"We'll take care of everything," my father interjected. "You don't need to worry about it, Sean. Neither does Gage. Just focus on Carter, and we'll concentrate on Kelsey. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check in with Ben. I have several investigators who can't get here because the ferry is not running. I need to see if we can get them out here by private boat."
"Boats aren't running, either," Brooklyn said. As all eyes turned to her, she added, "The Connelly's wanted to leave this morning, but Rachel told me they weren't able to go."
"Why would they leave?" my mother demanded.
"People are rattled, Mom," Brooklyn replied. "They're scared. They don't want to stay here anymore."
"They need to stay until we find Kelsey. No one should leave," my mother said. "We need everyone here."
"We left when Melanie was missing," I said. "We left five days after she disappeared. You forced me to get on the ferry when I wanted to stay, when I begged you to let us stay."
My mother gave me an annoyed look. "That was different."
"It wasn't different. It was exactly the same."
"I was protecting you, Willow. You were hysterical. I needed to get you away from here. I needed to get all my kids to safety. I did what I had to do."
"Well, maybe that's the way the Connelly's feel, too."
"Rachel and James are not kids."
"And they're not going," Brooklyn put in, trying to ease the tension in the room. "It was just an idea they had, but the ferry stopped running, and the private boats are saying it's too dangerous to leave right now." She turned to Sean. "How is Eileen? Does she need anything?"
"She needs her son to wake up," Sean said heavily. "Beyond that, there's not much anyone can do. Eileen is very upset. She can't eat or sleep. She was up all night and went back to the hospital this morning. I'm going to join her there shortly."
"We'll come by later," my mother said.
Sean shook his head. "There's no point. But I'm sure Eileen would appreciate a call or a text." He got to his feet. "Gage could use some support, too. He's spinning around in circles, wanting to look for Kelsey, wanting to stay with his brother. It's all a big mess."
"I'll reach out to him," Brooklyn said.
"Thank you."
"I'll walk you out, Sean." My mother got to her feet.
My father's gaze followed them out of the room and in that moment, I thought he knew about them. Whether he'd ever confronted my mother or Sean, I had no idea.
He cleared his throat, then stood up. "Brooklyn, can you talk to Jenny? Tell her everything is off."
"Yes, I'll take care of it," Brooklyn replied. "Don't worry about any of that, Dad."
"Thanks. I'm going to make some calls."
As Brooklyn and my dad left the room, I found myself once again standing alone in the middle of the room. But not for long. This time, I knew what I needed to do. I grabbed my coat and an umbrella and headed out the door.
It was a short drive to the Ryan's house, which was in the foothills, not far from where Drake had grown up. The single-story home had three bedrooms and two baths. I'd never spent much time in the house, but the free-standing three-car garage on the property had been a big hangout. A third of the garage had been converted into a game room, with a pool table, darts, and an old pinball machine.
It was ironic that the sheriff's house had been the center of so much underage drinking, but because Ben's dad worked a lot, he'd had a lot of parties with no adult supervision. I'm sure the sheriff must have known, but he'd always been lenient with Ben. I think in some ways he'd been trying to make up for Ben losing his mom when he was so young.
The garage looked dark, but there were lights on in the house. It was ten o'clock in the morning, and there was smoke coming out of the chimney, so it looked like someone was home. I wondered if Ben lived with his dad, or if he'd gotten his own place. Even if he lived here, he was probably at work. I would prefer to talk to Tom when Ben wasn't there. The more I thought about the night Melanie disappeared, the more convinced I became he had picked me up, especially in view of what he'd said to me the other day about looking out for me. It all seemed to go together.
On the other hand, it made little sense that he would have just carried me out to the patio and let me sleep on a chaise lounge all night.
Why wouldn't he have rung the bell and notified my parents? They might have been angry with me. But why would he care?
I blew out a puzzled breath. I might be on the wrong track. Drake had reminded me that sometimes Ben drove his dad's cruiser. If Ben had seen me, he probably would have rescued me, too. But unlike his father, he would have been motivated to sneak me into the backyard of my house and leave. He wouldn't have wanted to answer to my parents about the condition I was in.
If it had been Ben, what would he have been doing out on that road? He'd supposedly been buying drugs behind the Road House. What else had he been doing?
I didn't want to believe Ben was guilty of anything more than lying about a drug buy. But I wouldn't have thought he'd do that, either.
I was relieved when I saw a car turn down the road. I needed to get out of my head and take action. As soon as Drake parked, I grabbed my umbrella and got out of the car. I didn't bother to open my umbrella. It was only drizzling, and the wind was so fierce, it would probably take the umbrella right out of my hand. I hurried down the street.
"Did you find your dad?" I asked, as Drake stepped out of the car.
"No, but hopefully he'll turn up soon. Any other news?"
"Carter is still clinging to life. My mother has finally agreed to cancel the wedding. The Chadwicks and my parents know about Carter and Kelsey, but no one wants to talk about it."