Missing

Melissa set the cups down just as Ed arrived. "Let's go upstairs and get started," Elkins told him after taking a quick sip and introducing him to Melissa. "I'll be back down shortly," he let them know.

Melissa looked at Kyle and said quietly, "If you do hate me I understand."

Kyle smiled weakly then said, "I could never hate you, Melissa."

She tried to smile back as she thought about what she'd been told he'd said. "I'm sorry I was so quick to think the worst. You've been nothing but wonderful to both Kaylie and me and you don't deserve that. I really am sorry."

"I'd hate me too, if I were in your shoes," he told her. "I can't imagine what you're going through and for that, I'm the one who's sorry."

"Thank you. Kaylie is my whole life, Kyle. If I lose her..."

He saw her face screw up in anguish and he felt so helpless. "Hey," he said as he stood up. He walked around the coffee table and sat next to her.

She turned toward him and put her arms around him as she sobbed. "If I lose her I'll...die!" she said as the tears flowed. He pulled her head onto his shoulders and rested his on hers.

"You're not going to lose her. We'll find her. I promise." He felt silly after saying that as he had no idea whether or not they would.

They sat there holding one another until Morris came back downstairs. "Okay, Eddie's following her most likely path and my other guy is out interviewing people—anyone who might have seen her." Melissa's arms slid down but she reached for Kyle's hand and held it tight.

They sat in silence as they waited for information. The sound of clock ticked off the seconds as they waited. It was just after 5:30am when Elkins phone rang. "Yeah, Davey. What've you got?" There was a pause followed by, "Really? When? Okay. Keep me informed."

Melissa let go of Kyle's hand and sat up straight. "What is it? What did he say?"

"Dave just told me a guy at a 7-11 a couple of blocks from here saw your daughter around midnight."

"Was she okay? Was she was with someone? Was she..."

Elkins held up a hand and said, "Slow down. Dave's looking at the security camera footage right now. The kid said she called someone and evidently waited just outside for him to show up. He wasn't really paying attention, but he saw her hug some guy about two hours later when his car pulled up. All he could tell Dave was the guy was white, mid-30s, glasses..."

"Did he have blond hair?" Melissa asked with a hopeful voice.

"Um, yeah. That's the only other thing he said. Why? Does that mean something to you?" Elkins asked.

"Maybe," Melissa said as she grabbed her phone.

"What are you looking for?" Kyle asked as he watched her scrolling through her contacts.

"I have a hunch," she said. She stopped at a name that said 'Biggest Mistake.'

"Who's that?" Kyle asked.

She squeezed his hand and said, "Someone I really do hate, but if he has my daughter and she's safe..."

They watched her dial the number. She didn't have to wait long. The other person picked up immediately. "Justin? It's Melissa. Please tell me Kaylie is with you."

"She is," he replied.

Before he could say another word, Melissa's hands began shaking and more tears flowed. "She's okay! She's with her...father."

"Justin? Is she okay?" Melissa managed to say without showing her emotions too strongly.

"Yeah, she's fine. She just fell asleep. We talked all the way here. She's really confused, Mel. I told her we had to go straight back home but she wouldn't. She said she'd run away if I wouldn't take her home with me. Look, I know you could call the police on me. I have no right to see her, but she needed someone. I don't how she got my number but..."

"From my phone," Melissa said understanding now how Kaylie found her father. "I don't care about any of that. I'm just so relieved she's safe. I've been worried sick. Just bring her home, okay?"

"I will, but not until she wakes up. Look Mel, I know you think I'm some kind of terrible person, but I've changed. I'm married now and we have a daughter. She's four. My wife told me to go get Kaylie tonight as soon as she called. I promise I'll bring her back as soon as I can. Can you just let her sleep for a few hours? And Mel? We made a lot of headway on this 'older guy' thing. I think her head's on straight now. At least I hope so."

"Sure. Of course she can stay. And Justin? Thank you. Thank you so much—for everything." Melissa held it together until she hung up and then the dam broke.

"Since you know where your daughter is and that she's safe, I'm gonna leave you two here alone," Morris said.

Kyle walked him to the door and as he let him out said, "Just send me the bill, okay? And...I can't thank you enough."

"I gotta pay my guys, but you don't me anything, Kyle. This one's on the house. I'm just glad she's okay. I'll call my guys and we'll call it a night." He looked at his watch then said, "Make that a morning."

Kyle shook his hand and thanked him again profusely. "No problem. Take care of the pretty lady over there. She looks like she could use a friend."

"I will," he told Elkins. "If you ever want to learn to play the violin, lessons are free," Kyle said with a smile.

Elkins laughed loudly. "Me? Play? Never. But if you want to come play for us sometime..."

"Deal. I'll give you and your wife a private solo performance," Kyle told him as he said goodbye.

Melissa had stopped crying and overhead Kyle talking to Elkins and watched him walk back toward her. "May I?" Kyle asked pointing to the empty spot beside her.

"Yes, of course," she said as she blew her nose loudly. "Very ladylike, huh?" she said trying to muster a smile. "Kyle? How can I ever repay you? Speaking of which, I heard you talking. How much do I owe Mr. Elkins? It may take me a while, but I'll pay him every dollar."

"No, no need. It's taken care of," he told her. "I'm just glad Kaylie's okay."

"I've been so awful to you and you've been so good to me. I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry again."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Melissa. You're a mother who loves her child. You did what any mom would have done. You believed your daughter and when she left, you made a logical assumption about...me. And you did everything you could to get her back. So there's nothing to apologize for."

She threw the pile of nasty tissues in the trash and asked Kyle if he'd like more coffee.

"Well, it is time to get up so...sure," he told her.

Neither of them could sleep so they sat and talked. It was a little after10am before Justin called and told her they'd be leaving around noon. "I'd just like to have brunch with her this one time."

"Sure. And Justin? Maybe this could be a more regular thing. If you and Kaylie want."

"Are you serious? You'd let me see her?"

"We can start out slow and see how it goes, okay? You seem so...grown up now so maybe it's time she knew her father."

"Mel? I'm more than willing to start paying child support, too. And for what it's worth, I was such a shit to you and I can't tell you how sorry I am."

Melissa almost laughed as she said, "Yeah, there's a lot of that going around here these days. Look, we can work out all the details later. Just tell Kaylie I love her and can't wait to see her, okay?" With that, she hung up.

Kyle decided to forego more coffee and got ready to excuse himself. Melissa walked him to the door but before opening it she said, "You don't have to answer this, but I can't stop thinking about something Mr. Elkins told me you told one of his men."

"Oh," Kyle said sheepishly.

"Is it...is it true? Do you really have those kinds of feelings for me? I know we're both exhausted so this is probably the worst possible time to ask, but...I have to. Did you really say that?"

Kyle looked at the floor as he spoke. "It was, you know, the middle of the night and I wasn't thinking clearly. I was scared and confused and maybe he misunderstood. I mean, there was a lot of pressure to get answers and I can't really recall the exact words, but yeah, I guess I might have mentioned I think you're, you know, really special or something like that."

She smiled for the first time since the guidance counselor had called and said, "Well, I just wanted to say I think you're really special too, Kyle. And if you ever do recall later on exactly what you said...and if you said anything close to what Mr. Elkins told me you said..."

Kyle finally looked at her and said, "Okay, maybe that wasn't the whole truth." He looked down again then continued. "I know exactly what I said; every word." He looked back up then spoke again. "I can only imagine how crazy that sounds. I don't really even know you. I mean, not really." Again he looked down at his feet then said quietly but clearly, "As silly as it sounds, it's true."

"Really? All of it?" she asked also in a quiet voice.

"Yes. All of it," he told her finally getting up the courage to look at her. Her hair was matted to her face which was strewn with mascara and dried tears.

"Sorry I'm such a mess. I was just..."

"You look...beautiful," he told her. "You always look beautiful and nothing could change that, Melissa. Nothing."

"That's so sweet but we both know that's not true. I look like...hell." She smiled at him and said, "You said you thought it sounded crazy to let me know how you feel about me. I don't think it's crazy at all, Kyle."

"Now you're the one who's just being sweet," he said feeling very uncomfortable.

"No. No, I'm not," she told him. Melissa looked down for a moment herself then looked right at him. "What really may be crazy is that I've had...I've had similar feelings for you, too. I just never took them seriously...before."

Kyle was so tired he wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly for a moment. Once he was a surge of adrenaline shot through his body bringing to full alert.

"Are you just saying that because of all the emotion and stress and relief? If you are, it...it makes perfect sense. You don't have to say anything like that just to make me feel..."

Melissa moved closer and kissed him on the cheek and said, "I never say I feel something I don't, Kyle. I've hurt too badly in the past to ever be anything but 100% honest. You are very special to me."

"Special is an interesting word. It's positive but rather non-committal. It let's something say something nice without actually saying anything..."

Melissa stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips then said, "I like you, Kyle. I like you a lot. And if you'd ever ask me out, I'd say 'yes.' Is that clear enough?"

Kyle was not only wide awake he was—jazzed. He was on fire. He was...in love.

"I really like coffee and Michael Thomas is just about my favorite place in town. So since you drink coffee too, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to..."

"Yes, I would," Melissa said with a genuine smile. "Just let me have some time to sort through all of this with Kaylie, okay? But I would love to have coffee with you, Kyle."

"Okay, well...great. So um, I guess I'll be going home now and I'll um, call you or maybe text you or..."

"Good night, Kyle," she said sweetly as she opened the door for him. "And thank you again. From the bottom of my heart."

Not knowing what to say he just smiled and nodded as he walked down the steps toward his car. It was crisp and clear and the sun was coming up as he got in and started the engine. He smiled as he backed out when he realized that for the first time in his life his palms weren't sweaty. His heart was racing, but he didn't feel sick to his stomach. He just felt...happy.

It was almost three o'clock before a car Melissa didn't recognize pulled into the driveway. Her heart was pounding as she saw Kaylie grab her backpack and get out of the car. She smiled when she saw her chattering away with her father who was still a very handsome man. Like her, he'd aged well, but he had indeed aged. Melissa was too tired and too excited to worry about how much she'd aged or how Kyle saw her. There would time for that later. For now, her daughter was home, alive and well, and nothing else mattered.

She ran out onto the porch as Kaylie walked up. "Mom!" she hollered as they grabbed one another and began crying. "I'm so sorry I put you through all of this!" she said.

"It's okay," her mother assured her. "None of that matters as long as you're okay." She squeezed her daughter as hard as she could and told her, "I'm so glad you're home, sweetie, and I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mom," she said as she let go leaving Melissa standing there facing Justin.

She extended her arms and he hugged her. "You okay?" he asked as he held her.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Perfect even," she told him truthfully. "Do you wanna come in for a while?"

"Um, sure. If you don't mind, that'd be great."

The three of them spent the next two hours sharing the more pleasant memories of their past leaving out the sordid details.

"I just always wondered who my father was and why he didn't want to see me," Kaylie said.

"I wanted to, it was just so..."

"It's okay," Kaylie said. "I understand now." She turned to her mom then said, "And I understand why I felt the way I did about Kyle...Mr. Redding... and why it was wrong. It was like he was the dad I never had or something, you know? And Mom? I'm so sorry I lied about what happened. It was all my fault. I'm not sure I can ever face him again."

Mellisa stroked her daughter's hair and said, "You do need to apologize to him so at some point you're going to have to face him. But I can assure you he's not angry or upset."

"Really? How do you know that?" Kaylie asked.

"Well, for one he told me so and two, he hired a private investigator to get up in the middle of the night and got his whole team out looking for you. Oh, and he paid for it all himself so...that's how I know."

"I know the way I felt about him was wrong, but he's still really cool. But honestly? I never really did like playing the violin. I liked taking lessons, but I never really liked playing." There was some laughter before Kaylie said, "Do you think he'll be mad if I tell him I want to stop taking lessons?"

"No, of course not, but you will have to let him know when you apologize."

"Maybe we could invite him over here so I could tell him without having to go back to the studio? Would that be okay or am I being a chicken?" Kaylie asked.

"As long as you tell him in person, anywhere will be fine. But don't wait too long, okay?" She gave her daughter a big hug then said, "Your father and I need to talk about some things so could you maybe go upstairs and give us some privacy?"

Kaylie agreed, hugged her father and told him how glad she was to finally meet him and he said he'd back again soon. "I can't wait," Kaylie told him as she said goodbye then went upstairs.

The two parents set some basic ground rules for visitation and child support and parted with a friendly hug and a new-found mutual respect for one another. Melissa was amazed at just how good it felt to able to let all those years of anger and resentment go and then remembered there was now someone new in her life—or at least potentially. That thought was almost as pleasant as saying goodbye to so much bitterness.

She reached for her cell phone hoping there might be a text from him. She smiled when she realized how disappointed she was when there wasn't, but smiled even more at the possibilities of what might come. She set her phone down then headed upstairs to take a long, hot bath and maybe even dream a little about...

On the way up, Kaylie came bounding down and Melissa was thrilled when she stopped to hug her again. "I'm liking the new you, Kale," she told her.

"Yeah, I'm cool like that!" she teased as she headed for the kitchen to get a diet soda. As she passed the sofa, she heard her mom's cell phone buzz and stopped to read the text.

"Hey, I'm really looking forward to going out with you, Melissa. I just wonder if now is the right time with Kaylie having just had these feelings for me. Please tell me I'm overthinking things because I've waited two years for this. :-) Love, Kyle"

Suddenly things became clear to Kaylie who had always wondered why her teacher was so friendly to her mom and so...formal...with her. For the briefest of moments, she felt hurt or somehow betrayed. Fortunately the long talk she'd had with her father helped her understand her real feelings. She was however, more than a little surprised to learn her intuition had been right and the thought of her mom dating the man she'd been in...crushing on...was downright weird. Then again, her mom almost never dated and if Kyle made her happy...

She picked up the phone and quickly typed: "Kaylie will understand and I can't wait to go out with you, either. Is there any chance you could stop by tonight around 7? Love, Melissa"

Kaylie felt guilty for pretending to be her mom, but she felt even worse about the mess she'd made. She thought about something her father had just said. "Sometimes it's easier to beg forgiveness later than to ask permission." She hoped he was right as she hit 'send.'

Seconds later she saw his reply: "She's a very mature young woman! Okay, I'll see you then. Love, Kyle."

Kaylie quickly deleted the exchange then grabbed her diet Dr. Pepper and headed back upstairs. She peeked into her mom's bedroom and saw a pair of jeans and old, comfortable tee-shirt on the bed. It was comfy, but it was ugly as could be. She went over to the closet and found a cute, white blouse with a narrow-waisted fit and set it on top of the tee-shirt.

When Melissa dried off she saw the blouse on the bed, and knew immediately Kaylie had put it there. She had no idea why, but she did know who'd done it. She loved the blouse and it really was pretty. It accentuated her tight waist so she decided to play along and wear it without asking questions. She dried her hair, pulled it back into a ponytail and got dressed. Normally, she at least wore some mascara, but there was no need for makeup to sit around the house with her daughter. Then again, why would she put out something pretty unless... Melissa quickly touched up her lashes then went downstairs.

"You ready for dinner?" she asked when she saw Kaylie sitting on the couch. She'd come back down just in case Kyle sent another text. It was almost seven and the phone had been silent.

"Sure. Sounds good. You look really pretty, Mom," she told her.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah, it's funny, but somehow this blouse managed to move itself off the hanger in my closet and magically appear on my bed."

"Maybe we have a poltergeist," Kaylie offered.

"Who we gonna call?" Melissa said.

Kaylie jumped up and started dancing to her own rendition of Ghostbusters which made her mom laugh for the first time in too long.

"Okay, we've got...leftover tuna casserole..."

"Ugh!" Melissa heard.

"Okay, okay. There's some spaghetti sauce so if we have any noodles..."

"Ugh!!" came even louder.

"The only other thing in here is..."

The doorbell rang and Kaylie jumped out of her seat. "I'll get it!"

"What in the world?" Melissa said as she stepped out of the kitchen so she could see the front door.

"Kyle! Hi! Please come in," Kaylie said cheerfully.

"Um...is your mom home?" he asked not having seen her yet.

"Oh, hey there," Melissa said looking at him in a way that indicated complete surprise. "Um...what's going on?"

"Just let Kyle come in and I'll explain." She led him to the couch then grabbed her mom's hand and set her next to him.

"What in the world are you doing?" Melissa asked her daughter.

"Okay, first I totally owe you an apology," she said to Kyle. "I...I had this like huge crush on you, but it was really just me wanting my father but I didn't know that until we talked today which was really cool 'cuz I've always wanted to meet him and now it all makes sense so..."