The Great Escape (Wynette, Texas #7)(112)

Bree knelt, her skirt trailing in the muck, and cradled what was left of a delicate globe. “It’s over. It’s all over.”

If Lucy hadn’t insisted they go out this evening, none of this would have happened. She couldn’t think of anything comforting to say. “Why don’t you go inside? I’ll deal with the worst of this.”

But Bree wouldn’t leave. She stayed crouched over the debris of goo, glass, and ruined dreams.

With guilt hanging over her head like a shroud, Lucy fetched a pair of rakes and a shovel. “We’ll figure out something tomorrow,” she said.

“There’s nothing to figure out,” Bree whispered. “I’m done.”



LUCY MADE BREE CALL THE police. While Bree told them what had happened in a flat, listless voice, Lucy began scraping the worst of the glass back from the highway. Bree finished answering their questions and hung up. “They’re coming out tomorrow to talk to Toby.” Her expression hardened. “I can’t believe he let this happen. It’s unforgivable.”

It was too early to plead Toby’s case, and Lucy didn’t try. “It’s my fault,” she said. “I’m the one who insisted we go out.” Bree brushed away her apology with a shaky hand.

They worked in the ghostly illumination of a pair of floodlights mounted on the front of the farm stand. Cars slowed as they passed, but no one stopped. Bree dragged away her splintered sign. They righted the chairs, tossed the damaged candles and ruined note cards into trash bags. As night settled in, they began attacking the broken glass with rakes, but the ocean of ruined honey made the glass stick to the tines, and a little after midnight Lucy pulled the rake from Bree’s hands. “That’s enough for now. I’ll bring a hose out in the morning and spray everything down.”

Bree was too demoralized to argue.

They walked back to the house in silence. They had honey everywhere—on their skin, on their clothes, in their hair. Clumps of dirt and grass stuck to their arms and legs, along with slivers of glass and other muck. As Lucy peeled off her sandals, she saw a square of pale blue cardboard stuck to the heel.

I’m a one-of-a-kind Christmas ornament.

Please be careful when you pick me up.

They took turns sticking their feet under the outside faucet. Bree leaned down to rinse off her hands and forearms, then glared toward the back window. “I can’t talk to him right now.”

Lucy understood. “I’ll check to make sure he’s okay.”

“How could he have been so irresponsible?”

Because he was twelve, Lucy thought. And because Lucy should never have encouraged Bree to leave him alone with so many rowdies on the island for the weekend.

Even though she’d rinsed off, Lucy’s feet still stuck to the vinyl floor as she crossed the kitchen. She turned down the hall. Toby’s door was open. He usually kept it closed so Bree wouldn’t nag him about the mess. With a sense of foreboding, Lucy looked inside.

The room smelled of strawberry bubble gum and boy-funk. The last few days’ clothes lay in a heap on the rug, along with a discarded bath towel. The bed was unmade as usual. And empty.

She searched the house. He was gone. She shoved her sticky feet into her sneakers, located a flashlight, and went back outside to find Bree staring into space, smoking a cigarette.

All she does is sit on the back step and smoke. That’s what Toby had told her, but Lucy hadn’t seen Bree do either in weeks. “He’s not in the house.”

Bree’s head shot up. “What do you mean? Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

Bree came off the step. “I’m going to kill him! Doesn’t he know he’s only making things worse?”

“He’s probably not thinking too clearly.”

Bree ground out her cigarette. “Because of me. Because of what I said to him.” She turned toward the woods just as Lucy had done on the day they’d met. “Toby!” she shouted. “Come back here right now! I mean it!”

Not exactly the way to lure a frightened kid home. On the other hand, Bree sounded like a million other angry mothers.

Not surprisingly, Toby didn’t appear. Finally Bree grabbed a flashlight of her own, and they separated to search the perimeter of the yard, the root cellar, and the woods around the house. They went into the neighboring orchard and shone the flashlight down the ravine. “I’m calling Mike,” Bree declared. “Toby’s over there now. He has to be.”

But he wasn’t.

“Mike hasn’t seen him,” Bree said when their brief call was over. “He’s going out to look. What am I going to tell him? That I screamed at Toby and told him to go?”

“You’re only human.”

“Maybe he’s at your house. Check over there while I wait for Mike. Please.”

Lucy couldn’t bear the idea of seeing Panda again, and if anything other than Toby’s safety had been involved, she would have refused, but she couldn’t refuse this. She followed the path she’d traveled so many times in the daylight, but at night the woods were no longer as friendly. “Toby!” she called into the silence. “Toby, it’s Lucy. Bree isn’t mad anymore.” Not true, but good enough. “I want to talk to you.”

The only response came from the rustle of night creatures and the hoot of an owl.