The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(57)

He exhaled. “I’m hoping she’s taking a breather. Apparently there were troubles in the marriage that she didn’t want to talk about, didn’t want to tell me about. I don’t blame her. We’re not close. Maybe she just ran away for a little while.”

Sid shook her head. “From what I saw, Sedona seemed too invested in her family. Even in this Colorado family. Do you know what the doctors said her disorder was?”

“The police are looking into that and we’ll know soon. The thing is, she was last seen in Denver. Cal has a baby, Sierra has a baby, so...” He stopped and just shook his head.

“So?” she asked.

He straightened. “I’m going to find her. I’m going to find my sister. And I’m about the last person she’d want to be found by. I haven’t been a good brother.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sid said. “You want something to eat? Drink? A beer?”

“I’d like a sandwich, if you can. And a cup of coffee. I’m leaving from here.”

“Of course. BLT? Grilled cheese? Club?”

“Yeah, club. With oatmeal and fruit.”

She smiled at him. “I want to hold you,” she said. She felt tears come to her eyes. She had never said that to a man before. Her husband, David, seemed to have a million problems. No, he had irritants. She had never wanted to or offered to hold him.

For a split second, she let herself ponder if she hadn’t done enough. Then she remembered how selfish he had been and let it go. “Let me get your food. Then we can talk a little while.”

She went to her computer and keyed in the order, then anxiously turned back to Dakota.

But who was suddenly sitting on the bar stool next to him? The fancy woman. Neely. She was all smiles. Sid heard her say, “Well, what a surprise! I never would have thought I’d run into a friend at this time of day!”

Dakota gave her a look that said he was disgusted with her. And then he did something Sid would never have expected or predicted. He was completely rude to her.

“Not playing your games today, Neely. I have things to work out.” He stood from his bar stool and walked down to the end of the bar near the kitchen door. The look on Neely’s face was priceless. She was stunned.

Neely snapped her fingers at Sid. “Hey! Can I get a chicken Caesar?”

“Absolutely!” Sid said. “Coming right up!” And she went back to her computer. Then she brought Dakota a fresh cup of coffee. “I assume you were kidding about the oatmeal and fruit.”

“Kind of,” he said. “Waking up with you is heaven, even if it means eating oatmeal. Listen, I don’t know what this is going to take. I don’t know how long. I talked to Tom Canaday and he’s not that busy right now so he’s going to take my shift on the truck for a while. He said the money will come in handy.”

“Will you call me?” she asked.

He grinned and she knew why. “We don’t talk on the phone,” he said. “We meet in the bar or at the food bank but we don’t whisper into the phone like lovers do.”

“This seems to be a good time to start. What do you think?”

“What I think is, I could pathetically need you.”

“That would be okay. I’d like to be with you on this journey, in spirit if not in person. I think this is a good thing you’re doing. I hope she’s okay.”

“I don’t know what to expect, Sid. I always thought Sedona was the most stable kid in our family. I had no idea she was a little fucked up in the head. I mean, I did, but I didn’t. You know?”

“You have no idea how well I know,” she said. “Tell me what you’re planning.”

“I have a recent picture from Sierra’s wedding. I emailed it to a print shop and they’re making flyers for me. I’ll go to the restaurant where she had dinner. I have an appointment with the doctor—hopefully she’ll give me information I can use to help find her. Cal contacted a private detective to help us and the police have been very supportive. I asked them not to publicly mention her fragile mental state—I’m afraid if she hears that it will drive her away. She’s so secretive and proud. I didn’t know she was struggling.” He looked down into his coffee. “Sedona drove me crazy. Not as a kid and big sister, she was okay then. But once she got married and had kids, man. She drove us all crazy.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. She ran a tight ship. Her husband was too quiet and preoccupied, her kids too polite and disciplined, her house too perfect, her schedule too rigid—the polar opposite of the way we grew up.”

“But isn’t that reasonable? If she didn’t want the mirror image of the way you grew up?” Sid asked.

“Sometime, later, after we get Sedona back, I’m going to have to tell you more about my childhood and adolescence. It affected each one of us differently. The funny thing is, I thought Sedona was completely unaffected. She glided right off that farm, got scholarships and earned herself a degree in psychology, then a master’s and PhD, then a nice husband and a house out of the city. She went back to the farm twice a year to check on our parents. She took her kids a couple of times but I never heard of her taking her husband. I thought she was the most normal one of us. Now I find out...”