How (Not) to Fall in Love(79)

“Not everything. But I can do this by myself.”

“I’ll go with you,” Charlie said softly. “If you’re determined to do this, you can’t do it by yourself.”

“No,” Mom said. “Let’s call the police, or maybe a detective.”

“No one’s coming with me!” Frustration surged through me. After all I’d done, everyone was treating me like I really was a damsel in distress who couldn’t do anything by herself.

I turned back to Lucas. “You need to stop. I mean it. I’m not asking you to go fight dragons for me, so just back off.” He opened his mouth to argue but I kept talking, turning my attention to Charlie. “Charlie, I love you and everything, but you have a store to run.”

“Maybe I could go…” Mom said, her eyes on the floor.

“No, Mom. You need to stay here. You need to go to your meetings and be with your new friends.” She raised her eyes and I smiled. “I’ll only be a couple of days.”

“I’m going with you,” Lucas said, his voice low and full of ominous tones, like he was trying to hypnotize me with his superhero powers.

I turned on him again. “Okay, dude? The Lancelot thing? Not happening this time. You have a job—”

“So do you,” he shot back.

“—and a sister to take care of.”

We glared at each other, breathing heavily.

“Where do you think he is, Darcy?” Liz’s voice was calm, controlled. I turned toward her, grateful she was treating me like an adult.

“I’m guessing Idaho, or Montana. He was in Washington, at a clonehenge in Maryhill. He sent us a postcard from there. But there aren’t any other henges between there and Montana that I can find. I think he’s headed to southern Montana. Some crazy rich guy built a private clonehenge on his property north of the Wyoming border.”

Liz glanced at Charlie. “That’s what, maybe an eleven or twelve hour drive from here?”

Charlie rubbed a hand across his forehead. “About that, depending on weather and traffic.”

Liz gave me a slow smile. “You can take a couple days off work. I’ve got you covered.”

Charlie looked at Lucas. “If you can run the store for a couple of days, I’ll go with her. Even if you can’t, it won’t kill us to close for a day or two.”

I leaned back against the couch and sighed heavily. I didn’t want to hurt Charlie’s feelings, but I worried that if I found Dad he’d totally freak if I had his hippie brother with me. The brother he’d disowned and hadn’t seen in years.

“Fine,” Lucas snapped. “Whatever.” He stood abruptly and left the room.

Crap. I hadn’t meant to hurt him, but I knew I had. Why couldn’t he see this was about me, not him? It didn’t mean I thought any less of him just because I wanted to do this by myself. It wasn’t his job to fix everything for me.

“Maybe we should talk about this tomorrow,” Mom said, her voice still quiet. “Let everyone get a good night’s sleep, then talk about all our options.”

Charlie nodded. “Fine with me.” He gazed at me, his expression full of compassion and worry. “It’s a lot to consider.”

I heard Pickles arguing with Lucas before I saw her. “I don’t wanna go, Lukie. I’m making my necklace.”

“You can finish it later.”

Lucas grabbed their coats from the coat closet by the front door, not even looking into the living room. My heart ached. I wanted to go to him, to try to explain what I was doing. I hated that our night was ending like this, after he’d brought the tree and made everything so perfect for Mom and me.

Charlie and Liz stood up to leave, shooting worried glances at Mom and me.

“Thank you for everything,” Mom said from her chair. “The tree is wonderful. And the presents…you really didn’t need to do that.”

The front door slammed, shutting off Pickles’ loud protests. Charlie and Liz both flinched.

I busied myself rolling up my map.

“You know it’s because he cares about you so much,” Charlie said softly. “He’s worried.”

“I know.” I slid the rubber band around the map. “But he doesn’t always have to be the hero.”

Liz laughed softly. “It’s who he is, Darcy. Especially with you.”

I looked at Charlie. “Remember when you gave me the ninja shakers? And you said you thought I was heroic?”

Charlie nodded.

“Well, now it’s time for me to prove it.”

Lucas ignored my texts and my phone calls. I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. It sucked that we were fighting. We never had before. I was pretty sure he’d forgive me, after he calmed down and thought about what I’d said.

But right now I had more important things to figure out, like finding my dad. I knew no one was going to change their minds overnight. Charlie would still want to go with me. Mom would still want to call the cops, not that they’d listen to my crazy theory. Lucas would still insist he should go.

I rolled over and grabbed the mini Stonehenge kit. In the light of the full moon spilling in my window, I unwrapped it. I set up the tiny stones on the tiny green mat. Tears filled my eyes as I remembered how I’d destroyed Dad’s henge. I rested my head on my pillow, staring at the tiny henge on my nightstand, glowing in the moonlight.