I pound on her front door after ringing the doorbell.

No answer.

I peek in her windows, but don’t see any movement, so I make my way around her small house to the back door and pound there for a good five minutes, still not getting an answer.

I’m really fucking sick of not having Cara answer me.

I pull my phone out and call her number again and curse a blue streak when I get her voice mail.

Returning to her front door, I continue to pound until my fist is sore.

“She’s not there.”

I twirl at the sound of Ty’s angry voice behind me. He’s standing a good five yards away on Cara’s sidewalk, his hands shoved in his pockets and his face as angry as I’ve ever seen it.

“Where the fuck is she?”

He smirks and shakes his head. “I can’t tell you that.”

My feet carry me down the steps and to my best friend of nearly thirty years without any thought, and I grip his shirt in my fists, pushing my nose an inch away from his.

“Where. The. Fuck. Is. She?”

“She’s not home. I don’t know what the hell happened, but she couldn’t even talk to me, Josh.” Ty narrows his eyes on me. “I should kick your ass. Cara is as much my sister as Jilly is, and she was shattered when I saw her.”

“Tell me where she is.” I drop my hands and step back, panting. My heart is racing, and for the first time, true fear joins the anger in my gut.

“No.” He shakes his head and pushes his hands through his hair. “I can’t. The women in my life have taken too much shit from assholes.”

“Goddamn it, Ty, you know that’s not me!” I yell, and pace away, frustration rolling off me.

“You didn’t see her face.” He shakes his head. “She won’t see you now. How is Seth?”

“He’ll be fine.” I swallow as I remember the scene at the creek. Seth crying and sitting in the frigid water, and Cara standing with him, holding his leg, reassuring him.

I fucked up.

“Please.” I meet Ty’s gaze with mine. “This was a misunderstanding. C’mon, Ty, you know I love her.”

“Go be with your family. Keep me updated.”

“Damn, Ty.”

“You didn’t see her, man. You’d do the same. Go be with Seth and give Cara a few days to calm down.”

With that, he turns, hands still in his pockets, and walks toward his house without looking back.

* * *

“Ty knows where she is,” I inform my parents, and slump in a chair as they eat chicken from a bucket in a hospital waiting room.

I’ve never before seen my mom eat chicken that she herself didn’t fry.

“He’s right,” Mom mutters, and frowns at the mashed potatoes and gravy. “She’ll come around. Give her some breathing room.”

“I need to apologize and shake some sense into her.” I stand and pace around the room. “Is Seth awake?”

“He is. Zack is with him,” Dad confirms. “Your chicken is so much better than this,” he mutters to Mom, who smiles lovingly at him.

Zack saunters in and sinks in a chair, grabbing a piece of chicken as he does.

“How is he?” Mom asks.

“Pretty good, actually. A bit sleepy, but he’s not in any pain.”

“Good.”

I call Cara’s phone, elated when it rings, but curse when it goes to voice mail yet again.

“That horrible language isn’t going to make her answer the phone,” Mom says matter-of-factly.

“I just wish I knew where she is.” The adrenaline is gone now, replaced by worry. Regret.

Fear.

“You could go ask Seth,” Zack mentions casually, as if my world weren’t falling apart around me. “He’s talking to her right now.”

I immediately hurry out of the waiting room, down the hall to Seth’s room, and push my way inside. He glances up with Zack’s cell pressed to his ear and says, “I won’t.”

“Please hand me the phone, Seth,” I murmur calmly, not wanting to scare the boy. He hands it to me and I immediately stalk out to the hallway, almost running headfirst into Zack.

“Where the hell are you?”

The line goes dead.

“Where is she?” I demand.

“I don’t know,” Zack insists. “She wouldn’t tell me when I asked. She just wanted to talk to Seth, to make sure he’s okay.”

“I wonder if she told Seth.”

“If you’re going in that room,” Zack warns me with narrowed eyes, “you’d better damn well be calm, J. I don’t need you scaring the shit out of my kid.”

“Jesus, man, I’m not going to scare Seth.”

We both open Seth’s door and walk in calmly. Seth is sleepy, but smiles at us when we approach his bedside.

“Hey, buddy, did Cara tell you where she went?” I ask as I push my hand over his soft hair.

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell me?”

He shakes his head and frowns. “I promised I wouldn’t.”

“Seth.” Zack sits on the edge of Seth’s bed and cups Seth’s face in his hand. “Uncle Josh is really worried about Cara.”

“You hurt her feelings,” Seth whispers.

“I know,” I reply. “I just want to make sure she’s safe, Seth.” I brush his hair off his forehead and offer him a small smile. “I love you, buddy. I’m glad Cara called you to make sure you’re okay.”