Embracing Us (Embracing Series) (8 page)

“
I brought you a drink, I hope you don’t mind but I may drink it. Do you remember the first time I met Liam? He was so nervous and so broken, and you said to me that day. That boy loves you already. I can’t believe he has loved me all this time. When he was missing, I thought about him all the time. Hell, even when I was screwing Evan, I thought about Liam. When I became his wife it was one of the best days of my life, well other than meeting you and having the girls. I never meant to sleep with Evan this time. I don’t have any excuses it just happened, and I can’t change it. I guess I better go, I know Liam is probably calling the National Guard by now. I left Ads. I don’t know when I’m going back. I just needed to get away. I love you my friend, always and forever.”

“Ashton, get up now. We
have to find Lila. She isn’t answering her phone. I can’t believe I let her leave like that. I’m so damn stupid.”

“What do you mean? Where is she?”
he asks, jumping up out of the bed.

“I’m not sure, she left
, and it’s been almost four hours. I said some pretty hurtful things and I just don’t know man. I’m scared. My mom came and picked the kids up, and I sent AJ with her also, I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course
, he adores Miss Sofia. Come on we will find her. Any clue where she is?”

“Nope, she packed a bag
and left. No one has heard from her. I’ve called her mom, Nikki, and Eric. But none of them know where she is. I can’t file a missing report just yet. I’ve called her a million times and she isn’t answering.”

“Let’s go
, I’ll drive. We will check the gym, mall, and nail salon first. Then check every Chipotle within a twenty mile radius. Can you think of anywhere else she would have gone?”

“No, let’s look
at all those places. Go to the cemetery. That’s where she will be.” I say, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that first. She always goes to Ads for everything. And I didn’t even think about that.

“She would be at my sister’s grave? Does she go there often?” Ashton
asks with a surprised look. I know some people stay away from graveyards but Lila goes any chance she gets. She knows that Ads isn’t there but it helps her, she feels closer to her is she is at her tomb.

“Yes, she goes there a lot. We take the girls most times. Do you not take AJ there? Does he know anything about his aunt?” I
ask with a disgusted look.

“Yes
, he knows who she was. But no, we don’t go very often, Christa doesn’t think its normal. I quit going as much as I used too, but I went last week.”

“Fuck her
. I’m sorry, I know she is your wife, but do you know how dumb that sounded? We will work on that another day, right now let’s find my Lila.”

I
try calling Lila, again, and still no answer, it just goes to voice mail. We pull into the cemetery and I don’t see her car, we drive over our family plots and I notice that next to Addison’s stone was empty Starbuck cups and a half eaten bag of Funyuns. Two of the cups were still cold and one had Lila’s lip gloss on the straw.

“She’s been here, recently because the cups are still cold. I
also don’t think anyone else would eat Funyuns here, except Lila.”

“Where would she have gone now? Maybe check the other places. We talked about? I say the mall first, maybe that body store she likes to go to there, you think?”

“Hell Ashton, I don’t know. I was so mean to her. Do you know I told her she would ruin our family name? How fucking stupid does that sound.”

“Come on
, we will find her, don’t be so hard on yourself. She knows you really didn’t mean it.”

We
drive to the mall and walk into all of Lila’s favorite stores, still no sign of her. We walk around the food court. Then we leave and go to the other mall across town. It has now been seven hours and no one has heard from her. I’m so worried, if something happens to her I will never forgive myself.

I call all the hospital and the airport. Nothing
. It’s like she just vanished. Ashton and I had been driving around all day. We go into every salon and spa on this side of California. I’m tired and worried, and my mom and her mom kept calling. I go to the police station and they still can’t help me. Ashton has to drag me out of there before I get arrested.

“Ashton, what the hell have I done? She is gone because
of me, I said all that shit to her. What if she is hurt or dead? What if I have lost my Li for good?” I say as I bury my head in my hands and cry like a baby. I can’t help it, she is my world. She is everything to me. I talked to her like she was nothing. I made her feel like she was nothing. I did this, and she is gone because of me.

“We will f
ind her. I have a few buddies at the tattoo shop that I will call. They see everyone around the area close to the cemetery, maybe they’ve seen her.”

“Okay thanks
, man. Let’s grab a burger or something. I don’t know if I can eat it, but I’m starving.”

“Okay, what about Burger Barn? We can just go through the
drive-thru, and keep driving.”

“Sounds good. Call your people
. See if they have seen my wife.”

We
go to grab lunch, and I order and burger and fries and an iced tea. I eat some, but feel like I’m going to regret it. Ashton‘s on the phone with his friend and I can tell he’s a little confused then he says we’ll be right there.

“Everything okay
, Ash?” I ask, unaware of what’s going on. The look on his face has me terrified, I don’t know if I want to ask him again or not but I do. “What the hell is going on, Ashton?”

“She was at the tattoo shop, I think. They said a very attractive pregnant woman was in there about an hour ago. I don’t know if she knows that’s the one I work at or not. We will go there
, review the video, and see if it was her.”

What in the hell was she doing there? She wouldn’t get a ta
ttoo while she was pregnant. God I hope she is okay, where ever she is. When we find her, I’m never letting her out of my sight. She will get so tired of looking at me. I try calling her again and she didn’t answer. I look on her Facebook and Twitter to see if she has been on either. But nothing new has been posted.

ASHTON

Lila was at the tattoo
shop. What is she thinking trying to get a tattoo while she is pregnant? She isn’t thinking obviously. I know, whatever Liam has said to her, must have hurt her pretty bad for her to leave and not take the girls. We need to get to the shop and make sure it was her.

My co-worker said it
has to be her because he’d seen her ID and noticed she was an Ellis, but wouldn’t tattoo her because she’s pregnant. He said she seemed pretty upset and looked tired. I can’t believe all this is going on. Years ago I knew my cousin would be better for her than I was, and now he pisses her off to the point she thinks she isn’t worth being around.

We pull
up in front of the shop, I don’t see her car anywhere. We walk in and have Toom pull up the video, and sure enough it was Lila. She wanted a tattoo on her wrist, she had drawn it out for him.

“She was very upset that we wouldn’t tattoo her. She said she needed the tattoo now
, but I informed her it wasn’t healthy with her being pregnant, so she left.” Toom states with a sigh.

“Ashton,
I’m not waiting twenty-four hours, call Kade in. He will help us if the fucking police here won’t.” Liam says as he shoves a chair across the floor.

“Dude, it will take him hours to get here unless he
flies.” I say running my hand’s through my hair. Our cousin Kade is a private investigator in Arlington, Texas. He’s good at what he does, so I know he can help us find her. Liam and I’ve been thinking about going in business with him.

“I don’t give a fuck, get
him here. Send our private jet after him. I will pay whatever. He can track all her calls and credit cards. I need to find my wife, I can’t stand the thought of her being out there all alone and or hurt. Goddamn it, why did I say that shit to her? Why can’t I just let the shit go and move on from it?”

“Alright,
calm down. I’m calling.”

We have to find her
, I can’t believe I talked to her like that. I called everyone she knows, except Evan. I know she wouldn’t go there. There is no way, after everything we’ve been through that she would. But hell, who was I kidding, I basically treated her like shit. So I swallow my pride, call Nikki and have her call him. I don’t think she wants to at first. But I told her that Li and I got into an argument, and she left.

Ashton sent our
plane after Kade. He’s already tracking everything, but so far nothing. As I wait for Nikki to call me back, I prayed to God Lila wasn’t with Evan. I almost asked for his number and call my damn self. I am just getting ready to call Nik, when my phone rings.

“Liam,
it’s Nikki, love. I talked to Evan and he hasn’t heard from Lila. I tried calling her and she didn’t answer my call either.”

“Thank you
, Nik. I’m going to find her and make this right. I can’t stand the thoughts of losing her.” I say almost in tears.

“I know Liam, she will be back. She probably just needs time. Let me know when you find her, I will still try calling her.”

“Thank you.” I sigh as I hit end call. My phone starts ringing as soon as I hit end, it was my mom.

“Hey momma, what’s up?”

“Baby, Lila came and got the girls. She said don’t worry about them, they would be fine. I couldn’t tell her no, they are her kids too. She also took AJ.”

“Mom, where did she say she was going?”

“She didn’t baby, she just said not to worry.”

“Thanks Mom, I love you.”

“Love you too, be careful”

LILA

I can’t believe that I’m
doing this. My conscious is tugging at my heart strings.  After Liam speaking to me the way he did, I wasn’t going to sit around and be okay with it. I went to get a tattoo, to relieve some stress, but I forgot it could harm the baby. I also think that was the shop that Ashton works in. They will never think to go there, I hope not anyways. I’ve had numerous calls from everyone I know. I almost talked to Nikki but I know she will ask questions, and she doesn’t know that I’m pregnant. 

I
go to a nearby park. Good thing I have my Kindle and I catch up on my reading. I’m a sucker for a hot romance novel or a good erotica. Although with my hormones, that shit turns me on, but I still love to read it. Who doesn’t love a hot alpha male character? As I sit there reading, a little lady approaches me and sits next to me.

“Hi, honey
, how are you?” she asks as she places her bag under the seat.

“Hi
, Ma’am. I’m good how are you? My name is Lila.” I say as I shove my kindle in my bag.

“Nice to me
et you, Lila, I’m Miss Amber.” She says.

A
s I place my hand on my stomach. She looked down at my bump and back up to my eyes.

“How far along are you dear?”

“Six months, we are having a boy. I think he will be a big baby.” I say as I rub the roundness of my stomach.

“I’d say so honey, as small as you are
, he probably will be at least nine pounds. Do you have any other children?”

“Yes, twin girls
, they just turned four. They are a handful, but they are my world.” I say with unshed tears in my eyes.

“Whatever your reason is for being here alone, I hope you are making the right decision. It’s awful for a young mother like you to be all alone. Is your husband with your girls?” She
asks, how she knew I was married was beyond me. Oh my ring I think as I look down at it.

“Everything will be fine, it’s just a little misunderstanding. My husband and I got into our first argument in five years.” I sigh
.

“Whatever it is, can be worked out. Take it from an old hoot as myself, I was married for sixty-five years. My late husband and I rarely had harsh words. He loved me more than the stars in the sky. Now I don’t know you, but I know that man that gave you that ring and those beautiful girls, loves you with everything he is. Don’t let this ruin it. Go back to your husband soon pumpkin.” She called me pumpkin, that’s what my daddy always called me
, and that’s what I call my girls.

“Th-Thank you,
Ma’am. I think I’m going to go. I feel really tired.” As I sit there letting her words sink in, thinking about my family. I hope that I didn’t do the wrong thing by leaving. I know they are all worried about, I’ll go back home soon. I just need to let Liam cool off, the stuff he said to me was harsh. He never spoke that way, and I know I deserved it but it still hurts. As I stood to leave the water works began.

I decide to go get my babies,
but they aren’t home. I know they would be at my mother-in-laws. After packing a quick bag for them. I drive there, and AJ was there, so I take him too. Hell, I’m more of a mom to him than his is own. Sofia is worried about what I’m doing and where I’m going, but I don’t tell her. I think I’m going to take them to Disney Land, it’s six hours away, so I call Kaylin and ask her to go with us, and not to tell anyone where we’re going. She agrees. The kids don’t know what’s going on, they just know they’re going to Disney.

We
drive for about three hours and stop and get lunch. I’m tired already, but the look on all three of the kids’ faces make me smile. Just wish things were different with Liam and me. Hell, he might not even want me back.

I
haven’t told Kaylin about the baby. I’m sure she can put two and two together, that’s why I liked her she never questions anything, and she was very trustworthy. I’m really happy that Eric found her, she makes him very happy as he does her.

“Mommy, are we there yet? I’m thirsty and Addie drank my juice.” Maddie
whines.

“Almost pumpkin, here is some water drink this.” I say as I hand a bottle of water behind the seat.

“I have to potty mommy, I drank all of Maddie’s juice.” Addison cries.

“Okay, pumpkins we will be there soon. Can you wait till we get there?” I ask, potty training them was pretty easy, but when they have to go, they have to go.

We make it to the park and I have to sit down on a bench, and Kaylin‘s riding the rides with the kids. I look down at my phone and have two-hundred and seventy-five missed calls. I turn it off and throw it in my purse. I’m so tired. I would like to go to the hotel and take a long bath and a nap.

LIAM

It’s been twelve hours since
I’ve heard from Lila. My cousins are working on finding her. Ashton and I’ve been all over California. Kade should be here within the next hour, and with the three of us, we should be able to find her. She normally doesn’t carry much cash on her, but she stopped by the bank this morning and withdrew almost a grand. I have all these thoughts running through my head, what if she was kidnapped. This is all on me, I forced her to leave. I was a complete asshole. This is killing me, regardless what she has done in the past, there is no fucking way I can live without her, she is my life, and my reason for breathing.

We’ve
been to all of her favorite spots, and to the nicer hotels in the area. Lila isn’t too keen on cheap hotels and with her withdrawing that much cash, she is probably at a fancy hotel somewhere. That’s what I keep trying to tell myself anyways. Her mother and my mom are worried sick, about her, the girls, and AJ. Christa hasn’t returned Ashton’s calls. Hell, she could probably care less that Li took AJ.

I don’t see how
the hell he deals with her on a regular basis, she is fucking crazy. I contact Li’s friends at work, there is one lady she shops and has lunch with a lot, Megan Snow, and she hasn’t heard from her either. She has offered to help. Maybe she will have better luck than we have.

“Liam, Kade
said to meet him at the Venue.”

“Fuck…
Why in the hell was I such an ass to her? This is all my goddamn fault Ashton. I’ve pushed her so hard lately. Now this, what if she is hurt? Or one of the kids is hurt? Hell, she has your kid too.”

“Calm down, you don’t know that. She is probably fine. She is a strong woman, and I guarantee she isn’t in any danger.
She would never put any of the children in danger either.”

All I
can think about is the look on her face this morning. I’ve never talked to her like that, and for me to speak to her the way I did, I need my ass kicked. Hell, if she did run to Evan, I wouldn’t blame her. He wouldn’t talk to her the way I did. I went to a strip club and let another woman put her hands on me, then came home drunker than I’ve ever been.

“
Now look, you need to calm down, just relax. We will find them. I promise you that. Now let’s go in here and see if they’ve seen her.”  Ashton says as he parks the car.

“Alright, I’m calm. Now quit trying to be my damn boss
, and find my damn wife and our kids.”

I know he means well, but I feel like he is bossing me around. Hell
, maybe I need it. There’s no greater fear than fearing you’ve lost the woman you love. I can feel my heart rate increasing, and I see Kade talking to a security guy, once we round the corner. I hadn’t seen him in years, and he looks great. The Marines did him well. He is mine and Ashton’s age, he grew up in Texas with our Uncle Marco.

“Kade, man thanks for getting here so quick.” I
say as I pull him in for a quick hug.

“No problem
, man. You look like pure shit, cousin. We’ll find Lila and the kids, so just breathe. I haven’t been able to track her credit cards yet, but I’m having her phone records sent to me now. It’ll just take a few minutes to update.”

“Thanks again, I owe you man. Anything you need just let me know.”

“Liam, why don’t you have a sit? Kade and I will talk and figure out what to do.” Ashton says as he points to the benches.

“Okay, only because I have no patience right now.” I
say as I walk over to sit, down and I can feel the tears streaming down my face. My wife is gone and took my babies, no one knows where she is. I call her friend Megan to meet us at the Venue.

“Hey Liam, I’m sorry I got here as fast as I could. I looked through all the cases he had been working on before her accident and didn’t see an
ything. She does have her blackberry with her though, she used it about an hour ago. She called a number in Anaheim. Maybe a hotel? Here’s the info.” Megan says as she hands me a piece of paper with a number written on it.

“Thank you.
These are my cousins; Ashton and Kade.”

“Let’s do this, we have a long trip ahead

ASHTON

We’re about hundred miles away
Anaheim. Liam is sawing logs. I’ve never heard anyone snore as loud as that fucker. I know he’s tired and worried. Hell, I’m just as worried, I have tears stinging my eyes. She has my son, and I know she would never hurt him. I’m glad that we’re able to have Kade help us, he and Megan seem to hit it off. They’re both in the back still trying to contact hotels, the number Lila had called was disconnected. But we tracked her credit card to a family diner in Anaheim. I think she is headed to Disney Land.

It’s been almost
twenty four hours. I just keep replaying everything over in my head. Why would she want a tattoo and why would she run away, especially to take the kids. I know Liam hurt her feelings, but Jesus Christ. That’s no reason to leave. There has to be an explanation for all of this. My phone starts ringing, I don’t even look at the number, I just answer.

“Yeah
.”

“Ashton, where the
hell you at? Where’s my damn brat?”

“What the hell
, Christa? He’s at Sofia’s.” I lie, not wanting her to know where he is.

“Um,
I wasn’t aware he was there. Where are you? Let me guess, you’re out with some whore right, you’d rather get that big ass dick of yours sucked then hang out with the brat?”

“Do you not listen to your goddamn messages woman? I’m with
Liam. We are looking for Lila, she’s missing. We think she is in another city. And quit calling my son a brat, he isn’t a brat. He is a good child, you would know that if you spent time with him, instead of your fucking crack pipe. Leave him where he is, I’ll pick him up.”