by Ana Newfolk
“Let’s make a plan, okay?”
“Yes, a plan, okay.” He was looking through me. I was losing him. Fuck.
“Max, can your friends here ring all the Manhattan hospitals in case she turns up at any?”
He opened and closed his hands like he didn’t know what else to do with them.
“She’s probably okay, Max. It’s just a precaution. Diogo and Fernando are here to help us search.”
“Do you have a photo of her?” Fernando asked.
“Oh yes, of course.” I’d totally forgotten they’d never met her. I pulled out my phone and sent Diogo and Fernando a photo I had taken of her only a few days ago. We’d been cooking dinner together, and she’d started singing a song in Spanish so we’d taken a selfie using the wooden spoons as pretend microphones. She looked at ease and carefree in that photo, like the teenager she was.
“I’m going to change,” Max said and disappeared behind the double doors of the emergency rooms.
With Max gone I made a plan with Diogo and Fernando of how we should split. We all had each other’s numbers so we could ring if there was a lead.
We’d given Lucy money for the subway, and some pocket money, but since she’d only been with us a week, she couldn’t have saved enough to take her anywhere far.
Lucy wasn’t like a typical messy teenager. Her upbringing at her dad’s house and her need to be invisible had made her into the perfect tidy teenager and the benefit of that was that all her stuff was easily identifiable.
“Wait,” I said, holding a hand up. “She left all her stuff at the apartment.”
Max came back then, wearing his coat, ready to go.
“Max, she didn’t take anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was in her room checking for laundry this morning. The notebook she always carries with her was on the bedside table with her mom’s photograph on top of it.”
“The photo of her and her mom?”
“Yes. Max, maybe she didn’t run away.”
He relaxed a little.
“If she didn’t run then where is she?”
We called Lucy’s phone again. It was switched off, so we left a message for her to call us back.
“Fernando, Diogo, are you happy to search the train and bus stations?”
“Of course. We’ll call you if we find her.”
When they left us, I took Max into my arms.
“It’s okay. We’ll find her, I promise.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I’ve found kids I didn’t know before so I damn well am going to find one I do.” I hoped my voice gave him some reassurance. It was time to put my experience into action. “What do we know about her?”
“She lived in the Bronx with her mom but she said she wasn’t there often. Her mom worked nights. She mentioned a friend in East Harlem.”
“Sounds like we have a starting place.”
We took the subway to 116 Street. On the way we looked on our phones for places of interest that Lucy may have visited as a child. The area had a strong Latin American influence, so it looked like a strong possibility.
In my experience kids ran away from the areas they knew in fear of being recognized, but Lucy had been taken away to a new area when she was ten, so it was likely she was trying to connect with memories of happy times when her mom was alive.
The first thing we did once we were out of the subway was to try to find a coffee shop or supermarket where we could ask a local resident where the places were that people could visit or hang out.
The list wasn’t extensive and looking at the map on my phone there was no obvious or efficient route.
“Should we split?” Max asked.
“I want to say yes but I don’t want to not be with you. Let’s just walk fast.”
“Okay.”
We walked, paying attention to anyone that looked familiar. We stopped a few people and showed them Lucy’s photograph but no one had seen her.
The longer we walked the more anxious Max became. We touched base with Fernando and they’d had no success but were on their way to Grand Central Station. I had a feeling they wouldn’t find Lucy at any station but it was worth trying.
“Look,” Max said, “there’s a little park there.”
I followed Max across the street to a space between two buildings that looked not so much like a park but an allotment.
“This is Lydia’s Magical Garden. I’ve heard about it but have never been,” Max said.
In the garden, I looked around. There were loads of potting boxes. Some looked like there was nothing but soil in them but others had root vegetables. I wondered how they coped with the cold temperatures.
“Looks like another dead end.” I touched Max’s arm, following it down until my hand wrapped around his. I gave him a little squeeze. “Let’s carry on. We’ll find her.”
As we walked toward the entrance gate a voice called out.
“Max? Isaac?” It came from the floor where Lucy was sitting in the gap between two flower boxes.
Max ran and in three-seconds flat had his arms around Lucy.
“Lucy, oh my god, sweetheart. We were sick with worry.”
I sent Fernando a quick text saying we’d found Lucy and to meet us at Grand Central and then joined in the embrace.
Max put one of his arms around me but kept a tight hold on Lucy.
“Guys, you’re squishing me.”
We laughed and gave her some space as we got up off the floor. Her face was tear-stained, and she looked exhausted.
“Lucy, what are you doing here?” Max said. “Jennifer’s mom said you canceled the sleepover, but you didn’t come home last night. We’ve been looking all over for you.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked down at her hands. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize my battery died. I was about to go home. I swear it.”
“Why here?” I asked.
“My mom used to bring me here when I was little. It looked different then. Looks nicer now. I learned about vegetables and how to plant herbs. I always wanted to try doing it at home. Mom promised we’d get pots one day but then—”
She didn’t have to finish. My heart broke for the little girl that had dreamed of having her own herb garden only to be taken to a house where she was left to wilt like a plant with no access to water.
“You can come here any time you like but please tell us when you do. We were worried sick.”
“You were?” Her voice was uncertain, but it carried a tiny bit of hope.
“Of course,” Max said, taking her face in his hands, and pushing her curls away from her eyes. “You’re my little sister.”
Lucy cried and hugged Max again. He comforted her but kept his eyes on mine. I mouthed “I love you” and he mouthed “I love you more” back.
I wanted to ask her why she’d felt she had to run here in the first place, but it was cold, and I didn’t know the last time she’d had anything to eat.
“Guys, Fernando and Diogo are meeting us at Grand Central. Let’s grab something to eat with them and then go home.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Max said, taking my hand in his and keeping Lucy tucked under his arm.
We met Diogo and Fernando in a café on the dining concourse. They waved at us to come straight to their table. I had to laugh when we got closer, because in true Portuguese fashion, there was an assortment of pastries and sandwiches, enough to feed a small army.
There was also coffee and hot chocolate with a mountain of marshmallows on top.
“Guys, you must have spent a fortune.”
Fernando dismissed me with a wave of his hand and told us to take a seat before the drinks got cold.
“Fernando, Diogo, this is Lucy, my sister.” Lucy looked at Max with adoration as he introduced her, but I didn’t miss her shy smile when she looked at Diogo, and raised her hand in a s
mall wave.
Max didn’t miss Diogo’s reaction either as he looked at Lucy with wide eyes like a rabbit in headlights.
“Max, do you want coffee or hot chocolate?” I asked to get his attention.
“Er, coffee,” he said without looking away. He had his eyes fixed on Diogo who was blushing slightly and picking at a piece of pastry.
“Baby,” I whispered in his ear as I pulled him closer, “your big brother act is cute but chill out. Here, have something to eat.” I put a sandwich in front of him and he seemed to remember he hadn’t eaten all day.
Now we had Lucy, everyone seemed to relax and enjoy their food. Fernando talked about how he’d finally figured out the subway system, and Diogo told us about their first trip to the market, and how Fernando had been chatting to all the people and it took them two hours to do their food shopping.
“I was practicing my English,” Fernando said in his defense. “Besides, who knew there were so many types of, well, everything!”
“What school do you go to, Lucy?” Diogo asked in such a quiet voice it surprised me I’d heard it from my side of the table.
“Oh, er…” she looked at Max before she replied. “I go to Park East.”
“No way! I went to Park East too. Is Mrs. Mason still there?”
“Yeah, she is, but she’s retiring next year.”
“About time, I swear she must be at least a hundred.” They both laughed at the joke.
Lucy leaned forward on the table as if to share a secret with Diogo. “It is true there’s a locker at the school that’s full of candy? I heard a rumor, but we never found it.”
“It was true when I was there but I’m not sure about now.”
“Really? Where is it?”
Diogo mirrored Lucy, so they were as close as they could be with a table between them, and whispered, “In the supply closet. There’s a spare locker there. The code used to be 1234.”
“1234? That’s a rubbish code.”
Diogo laughed. “It used to be harder but everyone kept forgetting it and since few people knew about it we changed it.”
Lucy smiled, likely hoping to check out the closet for the locker the next time she was at school. Diogo smiled back at her and then as if they both noticed how close they were they both leaned back and looked away.
Fernando was oblivious, Max was livid, and I was laughing to myself.
The pastries were delicious, and the coffee hit the right spot, not to mention Max was stroking my leg absentmindedly under the table. It was so easy right there and then to forget the stress of the day and how we’d thought we’d lost Lucy. I interlinked my fingers with Max’s and squeezed.
We sat in comfortable silence.
“Max,” Lucy said.
“Yes, honey.”
“Can we go home? There’s something I need to tell you.”
I didn’t miss that she’d called Max’s apartment home. I hoped Max hadn’t missed it either.
“Sure, let’s go then. Fernando, Diogo, are you still up for lunch on Sunday at ours?” Max asked.
“Definitely,” Fernando said, and I noticed Diogo blushing a little harder. The boy definitely had a crush. I would have to have a chat with Max before he went all big brother on Diogo.
Chapter Nineteen
Max
I was shaking as I took my key out to open the apartment door. I’d been trying really hard to hold it together both while we were looking for Lucy and then as we were sitting in the café with Fernando and Diogo.
Isaac put his hand on mine and took over from me. I didn’t know how I’d have coped without him today. After everything we’d talked about last night I’d felt like the luckiest man in the world to have him beside me, but today had taken things to a new level. The little doubts were always there. What if this was too much for him?
“Lucy, why don’t you have a shower and try to get some sleep. We’ll wake you when it’s time for dinner and then we can talk okay?”
“Thanks, Isaac.” Lucy disappeared to her room.
I put my arms around Isaac and pulled him close, not even trying to resist the need to kiss him. “You never signed up for anything other than a budding relationship and here you are, taking over, and making everything better. Again.”
“It’s easy for me to keep a clear head. I’m not the one who’s had a sister drop on the doorstep. I just hope that anything I do is enough to ease your burden.”
“You have no idea. It’s like I’m searching around for the oxygen I need to breathe and all I need is to look at you and my lungs fill up.”
“Let’s have a shower and some rest. We need to find out why Lucy didn’t come home last night, but you’re flagging.”
I pressed my half-hard cock to him. “Quite the opposite.”
He hit my arm and sauntered toward the room. “You coming? You’re not the only one with er, not a flagging problem.”
Despite the teasing we didn’t do much other than wash and make out in the shower. The events of the day had me feeling exhausted, so as soon as we got in bed we both fell asleep.
The smell of bacon hit me as soon as I woke up, and for a moment I wondered if Isaac had got up before me to prepare dinner, but he was still asleep right next to me. I took a moment to appreciate the form of his ass under the bedsheets.
I traced Isaac’s body from his shoulders all the way down the center of his back and over his gorgeous ass, squeezing gently.
“Don’t touch what you can’t afford,” he said with a sleepy voice but raised his hips to meet my touch.
“Name your price.” I leaned over and peppered his back with some butterfly kisses. He giggled as I found his ticklish spot and then turned over.
Isaac’s considerable tent under the sheets reminded me that we’d come to bed naked after our shower, and also the easy access that provided me with.
He motioned his eyebrows up and down, his blue-green eyes shining with a lot of lust and a little bit of challenge.
“Baby, looks like you have a problem under there.” I traced the outline of Isaac’s hard cock with my finger and felt it spring against his abdomen.
“And are you going to help me solve this problem, or are you just going to stare at it?”
“I don’t know,” I said, putting a finger on my chin. “I’m not sure what’s in it for me. Plus, I smell bacon coming from the kitchen.”
“You fucking tease.” He pulled me down to a searing kiss as he pushed the sheets down to his knees.
I straddled him, lining up our cocks as his tongue explored mine. His moans were driving me insane and I was already too close to coming, so I flipped over, and took his cock in my mouth.
“You have to be quiet, baby,” I warned.
Isaac’s idea of keeping quiet was to turn on his side so he could take my cock in his mouth.
“Fuck,” I cried as he swirled his tongue around the head of my cock.
“Shhhh, quiet, remember?”
“Fuck you.”
“Not likely at this rate.”
I wanted to accept his challenge but the creep went in for the kill and made me come in less than a minute, swallowing every last drop of my release. I happily gave as good as I got but had to put a hand in Isaac’s mouth to stop him from shouting the profanities that were leaving his mouth as he came.
We lay side by side as we came down from the high of our orgasms.
“Isaac.”
“Hmm.”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s never a good thing. The last time you were thinking,” he said with air quotes, “I had to eat a cronut and those things should be illegal.”
“What?” I grabbed his hands and pinned them above his head. “Take that back.”
“No.”
“You take it back or…”
“Or what?”
“Or… I’ll tell Rich to take away the coffee machine I know you have in the office.”
“You wouldn’t!” he said in disgust.
“I would. I take my cronuts very seriously.”
“Fine,” he relented, “I apologize to the genius that decided croissants and donuts should have babies together. I shall never, ever disrespect the house of deep-fried pastries again.”
God, how I adored this man. He was the most genuine, funny, generous, loving, and all the good adjectives I could come up with.
“I would like us to get tested so we can ditch the condoms,” I said.
His face went serious. “Really? You want that?”
“With you, absolutely. I’ve never not used condoms and I get tested regularly but I’ve been thinking about it recently. I’m due a test anyway and I thought we could do it together. What do you think?”
“I’ve always used condoms too. Yes, yes, let’s do it.”
I kissed him again and then pulled him up from the bed. He moaned.
“Come on, it smells like Lucy is cooking us dinner,” I said as I threw him his clothes from the floor.
The scent coming from the kitchen paled in comparison to what it was like inside the kitchen. Isaac and I stood under the archway that separated the living room from the kitchen and observed open-mouthed what was going on.
Lucy had her curls piled up high on her head and tied with a hair band. They were the only part of her that wasn’t covered in spots of flour or what looked like tomato sauce. She was stirring something in a pot and moving to whatever music she was listening to on the headphones that were connected to the phone she was carrying in her back pocket.
Isaac was smiling at the scene in front of us.
He whispered, “See? I could have been loud.”
I bumped my hip against his and chuckled.
“Dios!” Lucy screamed when she turned and saw us.
I smiled wide at her, pleased that she’d spoken Spanish instead of English. I’d assumed she had very little connection to her mom’s ancestry in Puerto Rico and wondered how fluent her Spanish was. I wondered how difficult it would be for me to learn Spanish so we could keep a link with Lucy’s mom. I guessed maybe not that difficult since I’d already mastered Portuguese and vaguely remembered my high school Spanish.