Chapter One

“You nervous, buddy?” Kevin asked him as they stood at the front of the First Baptist Church in Adrian, Texas on a gorgeous late May morning.

“Nope, not at all,” Tim told his best man without hesitation. “I love her, and I’m ready for this.”

Tim Fresco and Sarah Genard had dated all through high school, remaining as strong a couple as ever when he left for the Army. By the time he had gotten through boot camp, he’d decided to ask her to marry him, and she’d accepted, her entire face alight with happiness.

Ten months later, he was home on leave, standing in his best dress uniform in front of all their friends and family members, just waiting for the music to start and his bride to appear on her father’s arm.

He glanced at his watch. Three minutes past ten.

Not a big deal, he thought. I’m sure I will see them walking in any minute now.

At fifteen minutes past ten, people in the pews began to whisper, and the pastor leaned over to him and murmured, “Everything okay, son?”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he murmured back.

At ten-forty-two, the door at the back of the church opened, and Tim’s eyes filled with hope, but it was dashed when he saw it was Jenny, Sarah’s maid of honor.

Jenny nervously made her way down the aisle, the whispers in the audience increasing to a loud murmur as she moved to the front of the church where Tim still stood resolute but beginning to turn pale.

“What’s going on, Jenny? Where’s Sarah? Is she all right?” he asked, with fear in his eyes.

“She’s gone,” Jenny answered as quietly as she could. “But I found this. I’m so sorry, Tim.”

And she handed him an envelope.

He opened it to find two things, both of which caused a lump in his throat.

He held one of them in his left hand, and with his right hand unfolded the paper. As he scanned its contents, he felt his knees give way, and sat down heavily on the altar step in complete shock.

“What the hell is she talking about?” he whispered, completely confused, clutching the engagement ring that he’d had custom made just for Sarah as his eyes filled with tears.

But she was already gone, and no one, not even Jenny, knew where she was headed.

So he couldn’t ask her.

***

Right around the time Tim was reading the short note she had left for him, Sarah was frowning as she fiddled with the radio, searching for a new station to keep her company on the drive. 

She’d spent a restless night in a Motel 6 just south of Lubbock, Texas, passing part of the time in her room setting up a new email account before falling into a fitful sleep. By nine-thirty a.m. she’d left the motel and was walking into a Verizon Wireless store to get a new cell phone with a new number.

He probably won’t even bother to try to find me, she had sighed to herself. Still, better safe than sorry.

Now, she was back in the car and heading east, her fingers idly drumming in tempo with the random pop song playing in the background.

She glanced at the clock display on her dash.

Almost eleven a.m.

We would have been pronounced man and wife by now.

Tears glistening, she looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror and willed herself not to cry.

“Come on, Sarah, you got this,” she muttered aloud. “You know it had to be this way.”

Sarah already knew her parents must be worried sick, and she resolved to call them as soon as she got to Arlington. Not before then. She could not risk reaching out before this afternoon.

By then, everyone would have gone their separate ways. She hoped so, anyway.

She also knew that Marty and Bethany Genard would never reveal their daughter’s location to anyone if she asked them not to – not even Tim.

Especially not Tim. If he even cares enough to ask, that is.

Sarah set her jaw, blinking rapidly to see the road through the tears she couldn’t hold back anymore, and cranked up the radio before gripping the steering wheel like it was her lifeline.

***

“I don’t understand,” Tim said as he sat on the Genards’ couch beside his parents, Patrick and Paige Fresco. “I have no idea what she’s talking about, I really don’t.”

He lifted devastated eyes to Bethany and Marty.

“Do you have any idea where she is? If you do, please, tell me. I have to find her and talk to her.”

“No one’s heard from her, and her phone’s going straight to voicemail,” Bethany replied softly, her voice catching. “Marty had to work last night, and I went to bed early, so we didn’t even know she’d left the house, Tim. When I got up this morning and she wasn’t here, I just assumed she’d gone to Jenny’s house or the church to get ready.”

“But-” Tim started to say, and Marty held up his hand.

“She didn’t tell us anything either, son,” he said gently, his face creased with worry. “She never said a word. Didn’t even leave us a note. When I went to work last night, she was here, and she was happy, and I was gonna walk her down the aisle to you this morning. We’re just as surprised as you are, and we have no damn clue where she is.”

Tim closed his eyes for a moment and hung his head.

With a heavy sigh, he stood up and shook both their hands.

“I have no idea what happened,” he repeated, “but I love your daughter. She’s my whole world. If you happen to talk to her before I do, can you please tell her that for me?”

Marty nodded and saw Tim and his parents to the door as Bethany dabbed at her eyes.

***

Sarah stopped for food in Abilene. While she waited for her take-out order, she made a call and confirmed that registration for the summer semesters would begin on Thursday morning. She made an appointment with an academic advisor for Wednesday morning, then ate her lunch at a picnic table just outside the restaurant before getting back in her car.

That gives me a few days to find a place to live and get settled in, she told herself. Better get going.