Chapter 8

The pain pulsing through her body was radiating in wave after nauseating wave. Still, Jennifer felt checking on Ryleigh was more critical than her discomfort. She needed to connect with her daughter more than she needed her next breath. When Ryleigh let out a moan, Jennifer immediately whispered, "Mommy's here, Baby. I'm coming, Chérie."

Finding the strength to sit up, Jennifer tried to focus on the surroundings. She could see nothing recognizable at all. What had they been doing here? Where did she and Ryleigh go that ended with them being in this building? Nothing looked familiar to her. Even the few sounds she could hear were not ones she could identify. Well, there wasn't much by which she could identify the area. She could tell they were in the remains of a stairwell.

"Mmm… Mmooo… Momma…" Ryleigh tried to call out to Jennifer.

"Shhh," Jennifer leaned against a pile of rubble and pushed herself to her feet. "I'm right here, Sweetheart." Once she was on her feet, she stumbled through the debris towards Ryleigh. "It's going to be ok, baby. Mommy's here. We are going to get you out of here."

"I… hurt," the girl moaned.

"I know, Baby. Can you tell me what hurts?"

"Uhh… Ev...ery...thing, Mom."

The sassiness was still intact. That's a good sign, Jennifer thought as she maneuvered closer to Ryleigh. Jennifer struggled against the panic building inside her when she found her daughter pinned between the stairs, a large beam, and the wall. Knowing the steel beam was too big for her to move, Jennifer rested her body beside Ryleigh's head to think. Her mind raced with thoughts as she gently brushed the strands of red hair off Ryleigh's forehead.

Ryleigh tilted her head back, locked eyes with Jennifer, and struggling with breathing, told her, "I'm scared, Momma."

"I know, Chérie," Jennifer tried to sound confident. "We just need to hold on. Daddy is coming for us." Ryleigh closed her eyes and allowed her mother's words to relax her. "Just hold on, Daddy's coming…" Jennifer took a breath, and nearly whispering added, "Please, Jonathan, come find us." She lay her head against the wall allowing the tears to run from her closed eyes and rest to swallow her whole.

One day earlier

Opening her eyes, the blue of her husband's eyes connecting with her own in a cheery greeting. "Good morning," Jennifer giggled.

"Good morning," he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her lips. "How did you sleep?"

"Ah," she stretched and snuggled into his arms, "I think that walk last night helped me relax."

"Just the walk?" he wondered, his eyes twinkling.

Jennifer smiled and kissed him, "I'm sure all activity involved helped me sleep last night." She paused while her finger traced the edge of his pajama top. "Do you know what are your plans for this morning?"

"I have a tee time of eight this morning," Jonathan answered as he rolled onto his back, pulling her onto his chest. "Until then, I'm all yours."

Glancing over at the clock, she let out a small sigh, "That doesn't leave us much time. And as much as I like the sound of that invitation, I promised Ryleigh we would get pedicures this morning."

"A little mother-daughter bonding time?"

She laughed, "Something like that." A knock on the door paused the conversation as Jennifer turned over and answered. "Good morning, Ryleigh."

The door slowly opened, and Ryleigh pushed her way into the room, climbing on the bed with her parents. "Good morning, Momma. Good morning, Daddy." She moved to snuggled into Jennifer's arms.

"Good morning, Sweetheart," Jonathan answered her. He turned back to Jennifer, "Sounds great. Then can we meet back here for lunch?"

"Sure. How about one o'clock?"

He brushed his lips against hers for one more quick kiss. "Sounds like we have a date." Jonathan slid out from under the covers and his wife. "And I need to get moving if I am to make my tee time."

"Have fun, Darling," Jennifer sleepily called as she snuggled back under the covers, with a sleepy Ryleigh cradled in her arms.

A couple of hours into his game, Jonathan pulled the golf cart up to the 9th hole tee. He checked the par and scoped out the area. "What do you usually suggest on this hole?"

"You have been hitting the driver well today, Mr. Hart," the caddy answered him. "I wouldn't fix what ain't broken."

Jonathan smiled and pulled the driver from his bag. "That is sound advice, young man." He moved quickly to the tee area and looked down the fairway at the flag 471 yards away. He was studying the bunker near the green when his phone, still on the cart, began to buzz with the word HOME displayed on the screen. His caddy agreed with the decision on where Jonathan should aim for, and stepped back from the tee. Jonathan settled into position and swung. The little white ball arched and landed mid greenway, just shy of 200 yards from the putting green.

"Great shot, Mr. Hart."

"Yeah, not too bad," Jonathan smiled.

Neither man noticed the phone as they climbed into the cart and moved down the path.

"What about this color?" Ryleigh held up a dark blue bottle of polish for her mother to see.

Jennifer shook her head. "That's too dark, Chérie. Little girls should not wear that shade of color." She picked up a light pink, "Bubblegum?"

"M-o-m," Ryleigh made the one-syllable word much closer to three. "That color is for babies. Did you see Julie's?"

Jennifer returned the bottle to the stand and faced her daughter, "Chérie. It was dark. I couldn't even tell what color her swimsuit was, let alone her nail polish."

"Well, it was this marvelous shade of jade. So very cool." Ryleigh picked up a bottle, "Kind of like this. Only with glitter. Sparkly."

Grinning, Jennifer asked, "You had fun last night, didn't you?"

"It was the best." Jennifer watched her blue eyes shine as she talked about her new friends and the evening they had together. She couldn't help but smile as Ryleigh told of their antics in the pool. "You know, Michael is old enough to drive? Isn't that awesome? Several of them are going to go to the mall today."

"Nope. Don't even ask." She reached out and brushed a rogue curl from her daughter's eyes. "We are going horseback riding after we have lunch with Daddy." She picked up a light turquoise bottle. "What about this one?"

A sly smile slid onto Ryleigh's face, "Only if you use it, too, Momma."

"Tell me about 15," Jonathan asked the caddy as they pulled off from his par on the 14th hole.

"Oh, it's much longer than 14, a par five at 535 yards."

Jonathan let out a low whistle and repeated, "535 yards?"

"Yes, sir. No water, just a couple bunkers."

He pulled up to the teeing ground and shut the cart off. The buzzing of his phone caught his attention. Instinctively he reached for it. Once more, the screen announced home was calling him. "Huh," he turned to the caddy, "I'd better take this." Jonathan pushed a button and answered, "Hello, Claire."

"I'm going to wait outside," Ryleigh announced as Jennifer stepped up to the front counter at the spa.

"Don't go far, Chérie."

"I won't, Momma."

"Oh, I love that color on you, Mrs. Hart," the sales lady gushed.

"Ha. Thanks," Jennifer answered, looking at her hands. "Not one I would have picked for myself. Whatever it takes to keep the teenage daughter happy, I guess." She smiled as the lady worked up their bill before she turned around to watch Ryleigh. Jennifer could tell the girl was talking to someone; however, her angle impeded her ability to see with whom.

"Would you like to charge that to the room?" Jennifer continued to watch out the window. "Mrs. Hart?"

Jennifer snapped her head back to the sales lady, "I'm sorry. What?"

"Charge to the room, or do you have a card you want to put it on?"

Feeling a strong need to get out to Ryleigh, Jennifer answered, "Just put it on the room, please." She looked back, but could no longer see Ryleigh at all.

"Of course, Mrs. Hart. I just need you to sign this for me."

Jennifer managed a small smile as she quickly scribbled out her signature and handed the woman back her pen. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hart. Have a fantastic rest of the day." Jennifer didn't hear, though, as she rushed outside.

Jennifer started calling for her daughter as soon as she stepped out into the warmth of the fall day, "Ryleigh?" She moved a little farther, willing herself not to panic, "Ryleigh Jennifer?"

There was no answer.