Right now I couldn’t let myself think about that.

“How does your mom figure into this?” Wow, I sounded remote.

“She went missing in Laredo,” he answered, his tone dull like the pewter of her pocket Buddha. “The police have no leads and I... I swear to God, Corine, before this happened, I had no intention of looking you up. I just... I wanted closure. I wanted to know where you were, wanted to be sure you were okay.”

Oddly, I believed him. He hated uncertainty, hated not being in control, so my taking off must have ruffled him some. So he needed to find me. If he chose not to see me thereafter, that was his call. To Chance’s mind, having power and not exercising it was far different than being left in the dark. Frankly, it surprised me that it took him this long to give in to the urge to search.

Maybe, just maybe, once upon a time, I had been disappointed not to find him hot on my heels. Sometimes a woman runs because she wants to be chased. But I was over all that. And him. Right now, I just wanted to find the fastest way to make him disappear.

One thing puzzled me. “What was she doing in Texas?”

“She came out to meet me. Closed up the store in Tampa and called it a vacation.” I heard the guilt lacing his voice like strychnine tea, smooth on top but razors going down, and I felt mildly disgusted with myself for wanting to comfort him.

To distract myself from disastrous impulses, I cracked open the two drinks. The Coke bottles sat in water rings that I smeared idly with a fingertip. He took his and drained half the soda in one go. My hormones clamored; why couldn’t I stop watching his brown throat work as he swallowed?

“Is this going to be bad?” I looked at the pewter Buddha like it was a coiled rattler.