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Iwas kicking myself for choosing to be at the office working instead of at home spending the rainy Saturday with Goldie and River. We could have watched movies all day. I would have cooked them lunch to save them from another day of chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. Not that either was complaining. I had a feeling that if it were up to them, the two would have mac and cheese and chicken nuggets for all three meals—River because it was his favorite meal, Goldie because it was all she could cook without accidentally burning something or herself. She was abysmal in the kitchen, and I loved her all the more for it.

I hadn’t realized what love could be until her. She had taken my heart so easily, and I was more than willing to let her keep it for the rest of our lives, and even after that if she were willing. I was doing my best to take it slow. I had both River’s wellbeing and Goldie’s past to think about, but if it were up to me, I would have dragged her down to the courthouse and married her the moment she told me she loved me.

But patience was key when it came to her, even if it were a trait I was lacking in. I also had to make sure River was okay with it all. As much as I loved Goldie, I needed to protect him first. He relied on me for everything, and it was my job to put him first. That’s what had been so hard about dating as a single dad; it was one of the reasons I had avoided it for so long. There were women out there who couldn’t understand that they wouldn’t be my priority—that it would always be River. Goldie didn’t just understand it, she supported it, and a part of me wondered if she felt the same—that she would do whatever she needed to protect him from this cruel world. It made me love her all the more.

“Stop making heart eyes and focus on work,” Oliver said, throwing a balled-up piece of paper at me to punctuate his point. “The sooner you’re done, the sooner you go home.”

I rolled my eyes, throwing the ball back. He caught it with ease and a smirk. “What’s got your head in the clouds, Lex?”

“What do you think?” I raised a brow and crossed my arms over my chest.

He smiled. “She’s good for you.”

I didn’t disagree, because Goldie was my saving grace. I also wasn’t shocked that he immediately knew who I was talking about. Oliver was the only person I had told that Goldie and I were officially together.

“Why are you here anyway?” I asked. He had shown up at the office an hour after I had and parked himself at the conference table to work instead of in his own office. Me, being the little brother I always was, followed him and sat across from him. While we were two adults now with kids of our own, some things never changed. Nor did I want them to.

He sighed. “I left early almost every day this week. Violet had a basketball game one day, Kaia a dance recital the next, and then parent-teacher conferences for the older two.”

“You left early yesterday, too. What happened then?” I asked curiously.

Oliver just smirked. “Kids were at Mom and Dad’s. Figured I could spend some… alone time with Theo.”

I snorted. “You’re ridiculous. You left early to have sex with your wife?”

He nodded. “And I’d do it again.”

I just shook my head and focused back on my work in front of me. Oliver was right: the sooner I got it done, the sooner I would be home. The rain had started to let up, too, meaning the drive wouldn’t be nearly as perilous as I had thought two hours ago when it was pounding the pavement.

Oliver’s phone ringing broke the quiet, jarring us both. He answered it quickly. “Hey, Jackie, what can I do for you… wow… slow down. Who’s missing?”

He looked up at me, putting the phone on speaker, and Jackie’s voice flooded the room.

“I can’t find him anywhere in the house! I asked Theo, Will, everyone. I even called his brother. No one has seen Silas,” she explained, and I pulled my phone out to call Goldie, seeing if she knew where he had gone. “He’s not there?”

“No, but Lex is calling Goldie now. Keep ya posted.”

My phone rang, and rang… and rang. In the weeks since Goldie had been living with me, she had answered every time I called. I shook my head at Oliver when it went to voicemail and dialed again.

“No luck here,” Oliver explained. “You sure he’s not just out for a walk or something?”

“He’s on the cameras leaving the property, and he got picked up by a car a couple miles down the road,” Jackie explained. She was quiet for a moment as I was sent to voicemail again, and I swore under my breath. “You don’t think it’s…” She trailed off, and Oliver swallowed hard as his eyes flitted to me.

I stood quickly, grabbing my keys and heading to the front door of the office. I heard Oliver’s steps behind me as I ran out of the building.

He jumped into my passenger seat just as I slid into the car, not even bothering to put on my seat belt as I peeled out of the parking lot.

“We’re heading to Lex’s now. I’ll text you if he’s there.” He glanced at me quickly, took the phone off speaker, and held it to his ear. “Call the police. It can’t hurt, even if we find him.”

He hung up, his hand going to the grip on the ceiling as I broke nearly every traffic law to get home. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe Goldie was at home with River, perfectly safe, and we could all laugh about this later. Maybe this was just the aftermath of all we had gone through, and I had PTSD now and was simply panicking.

But a feeling in my gut told me otherwise, and it was Goldie who had told me to trust that feeling.

The drive was fast, and before I knew it, we were pulling into my driveway. The cop car was still parked out front, both officers seeming unperturbed. In fact, they seemed more pressed with my speed. I jumped out of the car, barely putting it in park, the engine still running as I ran to the patrol car. The officer sitting in the passenger seat rolled down his window, confused by my behavior.

“Do you know how fast—”

“Has anyone been in or out of the house since I left?” I interrupted. They could ticket me later; I didn’t care.