Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(42)

“Any idea what happened?”

Travis’s frown deepened into an angry grimace. “There shouldn’t have been anything in there that could have started a fire. I mean, there was paint and glue and logs—stuff that obviously made the fire a lot worse. But there was nothing electrical turned on, so I don’t know why it started in the first place.” He paused on a frustrated growl. “I hope to God it wasn’t arson. Some kids messing around. If it was….” He didn’t have to finish the sentence. The threat was there without words.

Lucy, either feeling insecure or cold, tugged on Geo’s hand. Without thinking, he picked her up and patted her back. Her lack of a backpack, or anything in her hands, made him realize she’d left her dolls in the cabin, but she didn’t seem concerned. She regarded Travis with big, dark eyes. Travis’s expression softened. He reached out and gave her hair a stroke. “Hey, sweetie.”

“Where’s Max?” Lucy asked.

“He’s shut up in my room so he stays safe,” Travis told her with a little smile. It was nice to see the worry ease in his expression.

“Is there anything I can do?” Geo asked.

Travis shook his head. “Nah. You guys should head back to bed.” He looked around. “Where’s Jayden?”

“He’s right—” Geo looked down, then around, then at the people standing nearby.

Holy shit. He’d let go of Jayden’s hand to pick up Lucy. Now Jayden was gone.





Chapter 21




Geo panicked. But surely Jayden couldn’t have gone far. They searched, Geo holding Lucy in his arms, and Travis by his side. They walked around the crowd of campers, looking for Jayden’s wild hair and the red sports shirt he’d slept in.

He wasn’t there.

“Maybe he went back to the cabin?” Travis suggested, sounding unsure.

Geo didn’t think Jayden would, not with the way he’d been so focused on the fire. But they’d looked all around the firetruck and the crowd with no luck—they had to try something.

“Okay. Let’s go see.”

They went to Geo’s cabin, jogging in their haste. It was empty. They stood outside near the step. Geo’s heart was racing. It wasn’t as though Jayden would just walk into a fire. But there were strangers around, big vehicles, smoke… It wasn’t safe. Where the fuck was he?

“Is Jayden gone?” Lucy asked, her voice shaky.

“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay,” Geo said, kissing her brow. “Silly Jayden. He probably went to say ‘hi’ to someone. We’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

Lucy looked doubtfully at Travis. Travis stroked her arm. “Your dad’s right. We’ll find him.” He sounded so confident. Geo almost believed him too.

“Lemme call Cindy to come stay with Lucy, then you and I can go look,” Travis suggested.

“Okay. Thanks.”

Geo paced with Lucy while Travis made the call. He didn’t know if he was more pissed that Jayden had taken off or more afraid. Now that he thought about it, Jayden had been acting weird since Geo first woke up and realized there was a fire. He’d hardly said anything. And far from being his usual assertive self, he’d been quiet and intense. Geo felt guilty for not paying more attention, for not asking him, “What’s wrong?”

Jesus, how selfish was he? He’d been completely focused on Travis, his lover, who he shouldn’t even be messing around with at this camp anyway. This camp was supposed to be for the kids.

Travis slipped his cell phone back into a pocket. “She’s on her way.”

“Thanks.”

Geo continued to pace up and down with Lucy, too nervous to stand still. She fell asleep on his shoulder. She was so light for five years old. So fragile. Geo had to take care of her. He had to take care of them both.

That niggled warning he’d dismissed earlier that night was back. He turned to Travis. “I think Jayden has a thing with fire. That trouble he got in before? That sent him to juvie?”

Travis frowned, his face serious. “Yeah. What happened?”

Geo swallowed. “It was arson. Supposedly, he was playing around with matches and set fire to his foster parent’s living room.”

Travis wiped a hand over his face. “Shit.”

“I don’t—I’m sure he didn’t mean to. No one was hurt and, from what I’ve read, the damage was localized to the living room. So he only got three months in juvie. But what if this fire’s brought up bad memories and freaked him out?” Geo’s throat was tight with worry, his voice too high.

“We’ll find him,” Travis repeated firmly.

They said nothing more as they waited. Finally, Cindy ran up. She took Lucy from Geo and promised to stay with her. She looked worried too.

Their first stop was Van’s cabin, but it was silent and dark. Then they went down to the lake, where there was no one on the shore, and, thankfully, no one in the water. Geo scanned the water until his eyes almost hurt, dreading what he might see. But no, there was no sign of Jayden, swimming or…otherwise.

They walked to the fire pit. It was cold, the fire long extinguished, and there was no one there. They walked back up the hill toward the lodge. It was cold and Geo wished he’d grabbed a jacket, but it didn’t really matter now. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes searching out every shadow for Jayden. For his son.