Page 44 of Thirteen Years
Paul hushed her.
“It's okay. I…talked her into staying. I told her there wasn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t do for her and she had people that cared about her and Natasha now. No one was going to let her go through this alone and she wasn’t a burden to people that loved her.”
I looked up at the silence to find Monica staring at me with tears in her eyes, “You told her you loved her?”
Aw, hell. Of course that was what she focused on. Now this woman wasn’t going to let me forget it.
“Well I mean….”
“Lucas Marshall! You romantic!” she crowed, getting up, crossing the room and launching herself at me to hug me tight.
Paul laughed, “Welcome to the club, man. Did she say it back?”
“Not yet. But she’s been through a lot. I know she does,” I said, patting Monica’s back who was still sniffing beside me.
“You two are beautiful together. I cannot wait to help plan the wedding!”
“MONICA!” her husband and I exclaimed together, me panicked and him laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee himself.
“OH what?! Like it's not going to happen?” she scoffed.
She crossed the room again, kissing Paul soundly on the lips, “I love you, you big idiot. I’ll see you at home tonight. Hopefully the girls will be asleep,” she added, winking, “Then you can take great care of me!”
I covered my ears, acting disgusted as they both laughed.
“I love you too, firecracker,” He replied, kissing her one more time before watching her leave.
“Tell Becks I’ll be there in a minute,” I yelled after her.
She nodded, waving behind her, already out the door.
“You are well and truly fucked, my man” Paul said, with a shit eating grin.
“Shut up,” I replied, throwing a pencil at him.
“Have you taken her to see your Nan yet?” Paul prodded, curiously.
“I was planning to ask if she and Nat wanted to go tomorrow. They’ve talked to her on the phone a few times. I think Becks was trying to keep her distance. She was really close to her grandmother, and I think she’s scared of hurting mine if she had to leave again. Nan knows I’m head over heels. She even gave me her diamond engagement ring and told me to get it over with,” I said, pulling it out of the drawer I kept locked, and showing him the box.
“God help you, Lucas! These women are plotting against you,” he laughed.
“It's not like I haven’t thought about just asking her,” I shrugged. “People have gotten married knowing each other less than half a year. We’ve been through enough together in that amount of time. I just don’t want this shadow hanging over us.”
He nodded in understanding, then glanced over my shoulder, doing a double take. The look in his eyes hardened and I found my stomach dropping before I’d even turned around.
Monica was ushering the girls through the station doors towards us with a panicked look on her face, and Becks wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Natasha and Lexi were in tears. Lacey even looked close and she hardly showed any emotion but attitude anymore.
Something had happened.
“What is it?” I asked, meeting them at the same time Paul did.
“Its Becks,” she sniffled, “I got to the ice cream parlor and the girls were finishing up and said Becks had needed to step outside for a minute because she needed to return her boss's phone call. Lucas, she’s nowhere. Her purse and phone, keys and everything, were in the entrance to the alley. I looked everywhere and screamed her name. No one had seen anything. It's the middle of the day!” Monica broke off, close to losing it, clearly trying to keep it together for the girls.
“Alright, honey,” Paul said, drawing her to him tightly, “We’ve got this.”
I tuned them out, feeling like I had turned into a block of ice. This had turned into some kind of living nightmare. I refused to believe what I was hearing. Becks was gone? Just like that? In the middle of the day? I watched as Monica and the girls went to the back of the station, into the witness room to calm down and wait. Natasha was sobbing and it was her tears that broke me out of it.
I strode after them, dropping to my knees in front of her, “Peanut,” I said, reaching out and grabbing her tiny hands in mine.
