“I can believe that,” Rina said. “Are you coming home tonight?”
“I’ll be out here until they officially call off the search until morning.”
“When might that be?”
“Before midnight, but I might keep searching. I’m a little wired up.”
“Is Tyler with you?”
“No. Everyone in the department is riding solo. Don’t wait up for me.”
“I might,” Rina said. “I’m a little wired as well.”
“Try to get some sleep, honey. Call me when you’ve made it home.”
“I will. Love you. Stay safe.”
“Ditto and ditto.”
Pulling into the driveway, Rina was taken aback to find it occupied—surprised but not scared because she recognized the car. A quick look around, then she dashed to the door and let herself in with a key. Gabe stood up when she came inside. “Hey, there.”
“Well, this is a treat.” Rina walked over and gave her foster son a mama-bear hug. Gabe had been with them since he was fourteen. A decade later, he now stood six two, lean and wiry. His light-brown hair was streaked with dirty blond. His eyes were saturated with shamrock green and peered out from behind rimless glasses. He wore a short-sleeved shirt festooned with cocktail glasses with black jeans and sandals.
Gabe returned the hug. “How are my favorite foster parents?”
Rina laughed. “Not much competition.”
“Then how about, how are my favorite set of parents?”
“Still not much competition.”
It was Gabe’s turn to laugh. “You never age, you know that?”
Rina gave him a skeptical look. She was in her fifties and wavered between feeling like a teenager and feeling like a centenarian. Most of the time, youth won out. She was still trim, and that helped with her energy level. “That’s because I’m wearing a scarf on my head and you can’t see all the gray hairs.”
“All I see are your baby blues and your happy smile.”
“You charmer, you.” She gave him a gentle slug on the arm. “How are you doing, honey?” A glance at her watch. “When did you get here?”
“I got here about an hour ago. I know it’s late. Am I disturbing something?”
“No, of course not.”
“Where’s the big man?”
“The community is out looking for a lost man. He disappeared near the woods and he’s cognitively disabled. I’ve just come back from searching.”
“That’s awful. Can I do anything? I’ve got a car.”
“Not at all. I was just sent home. Are you hungry?”
“No, I’m fine. I ate before I came to Greenbury, and then I raided the fridge. I took the rest of the meat loaf. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay. Sit down. Tell me what’s going on in your life.”
They sat side by side on a blue-and-white print couch. Rina had originally decorated the rooms in multicolored chintz and florals. A year ago, she switched everything to prints in blues and whites. The house looked like a Ming vase with an occasional wood piece thrown in for contrast.
“Nothing much.” Gabe sat back into the cushions. “Just thought I’d stop in and say hello. I know it’s been a while.”
“It has.”
Rina smiled and waited for the shoe to drop. When Gabe chose to remain silent, she said, “How’s Yasmine?”
“Miserable.”
“Oh dear.”
“Not with me but with medical school. She’s either in class or studying.”
“I hear that the first year is the hardest.”
“Yeah, absolutely. Her parents keep bugging her to come back to Los Angeles and apply to pharmacy school. There are a ton of Persian girls who are pharmacists.”
“I thought her parents wanted her to go to medical school.”
“I dunno, Rina. Maybe they just want to get her away from me.”
“You’re engaged.”
“We are, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy about it.”
“You converted to Judaism.”
“Yes, I did. I even learned a little Hebrew and a lot of Farsi. But I’m not the guy they had envisioned for their daughter.” He smiled. “Although they do approve of the ring that I bought her.”
“Sparkle always wins them over.”
“Who doesn’t like bling? Yasmine is thinking about it . . . pharmacy school. I’d support her either way. I just want her to be happy, but I don’t suspect she’ll be any happier in L.A., living with her parents and away from me. But it’s her decision.” He looked at his watch. “I shouldn’t be keeping you up.”
“I’m fine, Gabe.”
“How did this man disappear?”
Rina sighed. “He lives in a facility. The residents were on a field trip to hike in the forest. The bus stopped off at a local diner off one of the rural