The Promise of Rainbows (21 page)

“No,” she said. The last time it had been used was after someone broke into Rye’s house while Tammy and the kids were staying there.

“I’m driving over to her place now,” Sadie said. “I left my date early. Not that it was much of a date.”

She could ask her sister about the guy she’d seen later. “It has to be about Jake, don’t you think?”

“I used my phone to search for news on him while my date took care of the bill. Nothing popped up, but I found a few tweets about him having lunch and going antique shopping in Sweetwater today. Susannah must have gone with him, right?”

Who needed to hire a P.I. when there was Sadie? “I expect she would.”

“I also found some pics on Instagram, and Jake didn’t look himself. I mean, he was smiling in some, but he looked downright weird in a few of them if you ask me.”

Had something happened on the trip? “Sweetwater’s pretty far away,” Shelby said, tapping her foot. “Susannah didn’t tell me they were taking a road trip. You don’t think they were in a car accident, do you?”

“No, Mama would have told us that,” her sister immediately assured her. “Do you think Mama called J.P?”

“Let’s find out.” She dialed her brother on her office phone and put both siblings on speaker.

“Hey, Shelby,” he said, picking up on the first ring. “Do you know something about Susannah?”

“So Mama called you too? Sadie is on my other line, by the way, listening.”

“Hey, J.P.,” Sadie said. “I’m more than a little worried here.”

“Me too,” her brother said, his voice heavy with concern. “I texted Susannah. And then I texted Jake to see if he knew anything. Neither of them responded.”

Right. J.P. would have Jake’s cell number since they worked together. “I bet it involves Jake. Mama doesn’t cause alarm for nothing. What did she tell you?”

“To text Susannah and to ask Tammy and the kids to send up some extra prayers,” he told them.

Goodness. “Sadie, tell him where they went today.”

She fiddled with a pen while her sister recounted what she’d discovered on social media. Why hadn’t she thought to look there herself?

When Sadie finished, her brother said, “Do you think we should swing by her house?”

“I’m turning onto her street now,” Sadie said. “Her car isn’t here, and the lights are out.”

“J.P. Do you want to swing by Jake’s house?” Shelby suggested, worry racing through her now. “Maybe she’s there.”

“I thought about it,” he said, “but I wanted to call y’all first to see what you were thinking. I had a hunch Mama must have called you too. I’m not sure I should go over to Jake’s if Susannah’s there. Whatever happened…well, they might need to be together uninterrupted.”

If she hadn’t been so worried, Shelby would have fanned herself.
Together. Uninterrupted.
Two words guaranteed to inflame a girl’s sensibilities. Heavens to Betsy, but Mama wouldn’t text them about prayers if they were together
in
that
sense. Mama frowned on that sort of thing before marriage.

“But what if she’s not with him?” Shelby asked, playing devil’s advocate.

“Then she’ll text us when she can,” J.P. said calmly.

“I don’t like waiting, especially if she’s in trouble,” Sadie said. “Plus I texted
and
called her.”

Sadie could be such a stalker. “How many did you leave?”

“Three voicemails and five texts. I even used Philippians 4:13.”

Shelby gasped. “Not Philippians 4:13.” You didn’t bring out
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me
unless it was an emergency. “We need to find her stat.”

“Now, y’all settle down,” J.P. said in his sister-soother voice. “No need to get riled up when we don’t know what’s going on.”

Sometimes she hated how he was the sole voice of reason. “J.P., I know you mean well, but Mama riled me up something fierce. Do you really expect me to simply kick up my heels and wait for Susannah to get back to me?”

“Yeah,” Sadie shot out in solidarity. “Do you?”

He sighed on the line. “I’ll meet you in front of the road to Jake’s house. We can walk down the lane until we can see his driveway. That way we won’t interrupt them if they want to be alone together.”

“You want us to walk down his lane in the dark?” Sadie asked. “It’s winter. J.P., you must be plumb crazy.”

“If we drive all the way to the front of his house and she’s not there, what do you plan to tell him when he sees us? Because I can guarantee you that he’ll hear a car approaching. It’s one of the benefits of living in the country.”

“Maybe you can tell him we were going for some ice cream and wanted to see if he’d like to join us,” Shelby suggested.

“Didn’t I just say it’s winter, Shelby?” Sadie said with a tsk. “It’s too cold to eat ice cream.”

Sadie could be so literal sometimes. “Fine. We’re going for a drink. Good heavens, Sadie, it doesn’t need to be as serious as the writing of The Declaration Of Independence. Stop overthinking things.”

“Stop being ugly to me,” her sister fired back.

“Girls,”
J.P. said. “I’m not going anywhere near Jake’s property if you don’t stop your squabbling.”

Squabbling, huh? Shelby crossed her arms, but she did take a few deep breaths to calm herself. Sadie could work her up something fierce.

“I’m going to call Jake again,” J.P. said, “and if he doesn’t answer, I’ll swing by his house and see if Susannah is there. I’ll call you and tell you what I find out.”

“You mean you’re going without us?” Sadie asked.

“I live two miles away from the guy,” J.P. said, his tone as aggrieved as it ever got.

“But she’s our sister too,” Shelby said, proud of the pouty voice she was able to roll out on command.

“All right,” he said with a sigh. “I know when not to argue with y’all. I’ll wait for you by the road to his house—like I said. But if this turns into a spectacle, and we embarrass Jake, I’m going to hold you both personally responsible.”

“I’ll text you when I reach Dare River,” Shelby said, eying the clock on her computer. “I’m leaving the office now. Be there in thirty.”

“I’ll be there in twenty,” Sadie added.

“Wonderful. I’ll see you then.” He paused. “Don’t worry about the security alarm guarding his property. I’m sure he only turns on the system when he goes to bed.”

He’d dropped the call before Shelby could sputter, “His alarm?”

“You don’t think we could go to jail for this, do you?” Sadie asked, ever the fraidy cat.

“Only if we’re caught,” Shelby said to get her goose. “All the better to let J.P. do the driving. I think Jake’s warming to us, but trespassing on his property might officially put us in the stalker category if we’re caught. See you soon, Sadie.”

“You too,” her sister said and hung up.

Shelby grabbed her purse, her phone, and a couple of files she planned to bring with her. She all but ran to her car. No one was in the office to see. Goodness, she was out of breath. By the time she reached her new convertible she was huffing and puffing like a dragon with emphysema.

Her new car got her to the meeting spot in twenty-four minutes flat since there was no traffic this time of night. Okay, and she’d sped a little. Well. More than a little.

Sadie jumped out of J.P.’s truck and ran to her. Her hug was fierce, and Shelby knew she was scared too. Hadn’t she prayed the whole way, fighting the urge to call Mama and flat out ask her what was going on? But if Mama hadn’t said earlier, she wasn’t going to. That’s what made people tell her things they’d never share with another soul.

J.P. didn’t get out of his idling truck, but when Shelby scooted into the cab, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Good to see you, darlin’,” he said. “Now, buckle up and let’s get this done.”

Sadie awkwardly leaned across her to kiss their brother, and because Shelby was worried, she didn’t nudge her in the ribs for crushing her.

She and Sadie reached for each other’s hands as J.P.’s headlights illuminated Jake’s long driveway.

“Do you really think his alarm is going to go off?” Sadie whispered.

“Maybe it will be all right since he knows J.P.’s truck,” Shelby said.

“I was joking about the alarm,” J.P. said, clearing his throat. “He may have one, but I doubt it. He’s a pretty good shot from his military days. He doesn’t need an alarm.”

Shelby punched him since she was closer. “How terrible of you to joke like that. You nearly scared us to death, making us worry about the police showing up.”

“I would look terrible in an orange jumpsuit,” Sadie said with an edge in her voice.

“You do look terrible in that color,” Shelby said, keeping her eyes on the road—not that they could see much else. “Goodness, it’s dark out here. I sometimes forget what it’s like outside of the city.”

Something ran in front of their car. The tail was long, and the pointed head was disgusting.

“Was that a possum?” Sadie asked.

“Yes,” J.P. said, his aggrieved tone back. “Hush now. We’re getting closer.”

They both shushed, and then Shelby punched him in the arm again. “Don’t tell us to hush. No one can hear us outside this car.”

She looked over and saw his mouth twitching. “My mistake.”

The house inched slowly into view. Lights were shining in a few of the windows, but the front porch lights weren’t on, so they couldn’t see much else.

Her brother drove into what looked like a circular driveway. “Get the ice cream story ready.”

“It’s drinks,” Shelby reminded him.

Sadie gasped when J.P.’s headlights illuminated her sister’s Audi.

“She’s here!” Sadie called out, messenger of the obvious. “What do we do now?”

J.P. put the truck in park. “Well, seeing as how they likely know we’re here, we should go on up to the front door to deliver our lame excuse for why we’ve shown up for a visit after nine o’clock on a school night.”

Shelby saw a muscular frame appear in the front window.

“He’s seen us,” Sadie declared, panic lacing her voice. “Where is Susannah?”

How
was
Susannah going to react to them showing up unannounced? Hopefully, she’d feel supported by her family.

“Of course he’s seen us,” J.P. said, shaking his head. “Let’s get on out of the truck.”

“You do the talking, J.P.,” Sadie suggested. “He knows you best. We can see to Susannah.”

“Unless Jake is seeing to her,” Shelby said, but she doubted it. Susannah was a certified mother hen, and if Jake was seeing their mama for therapy, he needed one.

The air was cool on Shelby’s cheeks as she followed Sadie out of the truck. She nestled close to her sister, and her brother slowed his steps so they could keep up with him in their heels. The front door opened, revealing Susannah next to Jake. Thank God.

“Evenin’,” her brother called out. “I know it’s late, but we wanted to see if y’all wanted to join us for a drink.”

The request was as lame as they came, but at least it wasn’t an out-and-out lie. As they neared the door, Shelby could see her sister’s pale face in the light from the entryway. The look on Susannah’s face made her desperate to run up and hug her. Then she noticed that Jake was holding her sister’s hand. His own face seemed carved out of stone today. Something had definitely happened. Mama had been right to call for prayers.

Susannah leaned close to Jake and whispered something. When he turned to look at her, Shelby saw the corner of his mouth tip up. He mouthed something to her, but it was impossible to make out the words. What
was
possible—heck, undeniable, if she had to use a word—was the sheer power of their connection. Something had definitely grown between them since she’d last seen them together.

“Why don’t y’all come in?” Jake suggested.

The McGuiness siblings entered the house, each of them hugging Susannah fiercely in turn. Her return squeeze told Shelby all she needed to know. Unexpected or not, she was happy to see them.

J.P. gave Jake a man hug, and Shelby decided to be bold and give him one too. Heavens knew the man looked like he needed it. Sadie followed suit.

His entryway featured a curvy staircase leading to the second floor. A painting of a man playing his guitar stood on the wall opposite the doorway. At any other time, Shelby would have taken in every detail. But this wasn’t the time.

Jake led them into a den and gestured for them to sit on the couch. They all took a seat there, and Shelby crossed her legs out of awkwardness. Susannah stood by Jake, and if she hadn’t known better, she would have thought her sister was protecting him.

“Thanks to your wonderful sister here, I have a bar caddy now,” Jake said, rolling his shoulders like he was about to step into a boxing ring. “What can I get you to drink, ladies?”

“Wine would be fine for me,” Shelby said, noticing how Jake reached for Susannah’s hand again.

Sadie gave Shelby a knowing look. “Me too.”

“I’ll get y’all some,” Susannah said softly. “Would you like a beer, J.P.?”