Page 25 of Playing Santa

“Sean, it’s Jimmy. He’s missing and I don’t know who else to call. He was missing Dasher and I thought—”

“Jimmy’s not at my house,” I say. “And neither is Dasher.” My mind spins to the truth that if we find one, we’ll find the other. But where?

Tate’s frown deepens as he watches and listens. He looks as tense as I feel.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Ronnie says. “Do you think Dasher and Jimmy are together?”

“Yes, I do. Tell me what happened.” I keep my voice steady though my heart and head pound away like I’m about to seize up with the adrenaline overload.

“I wasn’t out front when the bus let him off today at the shelter.” Self-recrimination strangles her voice, but she holds it together. She’s made of stronger stuff than Betsy my dog sitter. No shit. “But Jimmy knows he’s supposed to come right inside. I was having a cut bandaged when I heard the bus and—”

“I get the picture. I’ll be right over.” Throwing my jacket on, I slip my phone in the pocket and before Tate can ask me what’s going on, I tell him.

“I need to go–family emergency.”

It’s not a lie technically. Dasher is family. Though Jimmy’s not my family emergency, him being missing is most definitely a family emergency. And somehow, I do feel panic and concern as if he’s family.

“I can see that. I hope you find Dasher and… whatever else you’re looking for.” Tate follows me. “If you need any help—or anything. Say the word, bro.” He thuds me on the back as I push out the door.

I race to the shelter, knowing I need to calm my crazy emotions, be the strong calm one because it’s her kid we’re talking about. Honestly, I’d be far more worried about Jimmy than I would be if Dasher wasn’t with him. But somehow the idea that they’re together calms me and I’m convinced that they found each other somewhere between my house and the shelter.

As soon as I stop the car at the curb, Ronnie rushes from the front door of the shelter and jumps in my car. I won’t lie. It feels good that she trusts me, that I can help her and she’s letting me, relying on me.

“Let’s go to your house first to check if he’s there.”

“Okay, but I’m taking it slow in case we see him on the way. I know he’s with Dasher.” I reach over and hold her hand. She latches on, hard and I drive in the direction of my house. It’s only a fifteen-minute drive, even going slow, but it would be a long damn walk for a six-year-old kid even if he knew the way. I don’t share my concerns with Ronnie. She sits shivering and clasping my hand in a death grip, staring out the window searching, silent and thank god, dry-eyed. She’s holding it together, watching for Jimmy and not hysterical though she’d have every right to be. My already inflated opinion of her goes up another notch.

Finally I swing the car into my driveway and come to an abrupt halt, falling a hair short of leaving a layer of tires on the stone paved driveway. My mason would wave his fists at me. Ronnie flings open the door and jumps out at a run, shouting.

“Jimmy? Are you here? Jimmy!”

I run to catch up with her and damn if she isn’t fast, getting to the back yard and running for the door to the mudroom where she stops short. I get there just as she shrieks his name, only this time the anxiety is replaced with a whoosh of relieved joy as she bends to hug her little boy.

Meanwhile Dasher yips and jumps, bounding toward me and I lift her into my arms, hugging her close when I realize she’s shaking she’s so freezing cold.

“Are you alright?” Ronnie says to Jimmy as she holds him, squatting down. I reach over her and unlock the back door. “You’re so freezing, you poor thing.” She kisses his head and rubs his arms and back.

“Let’s go inside,” I say.

Once we get inside and I suggest hot coco, Ronnie let’s Jimmy out of her arms. The transformation is instant and almost comical the way it’s so complete, from joyous relief to exasperation.

“What do you think you were doing young man? Coming here all this way without me? You know you’re supposed to come straight inside the shelter when you get off the bus. You scared me so hard, my heart may never be the same.”

Jimmy stares up at her, wide-eyed and on the verge of tears.

“Mommy you have to be the same.” He hugs her and she relents, hugging him back into her chest again.

“What happened, sport? Why did you come all the way here?” I ask.

He looks up at me over his mother’s shoulder and smiles.

“Dasher was waiting for me when I got off the bus and I went to her and then she ran.”

“So you followed her?”

He nods and squirms away from his mother. “Can we have hot coco now?”

She rolls her eyes and grins. Then she gives me a questioning look.