Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Saturday morning, Beau wasn’t in his tent. I immediately texted Shawna, asking where I might find him, but she was either ignoring me or was still asleep.

Dammit. I texted Kay to let her know I’d be missing spin class again and to go without me.

Kay: You’d better not be out shopping, girl. Angry face emoji.

I was too embarrassed to tell her the truth. I’d behaved like a Krampus to a man who hadn’t deserved it. I’d called him a bum! Oh God…

Me: I wish, but no. I have some work to catch up on. Sad face emoji.

I went back upstairs, deciding to write a note to Beau. Then I thought that a note wouldn’t do, so then I baked some pumpkin spice muffins with cream cheese frosting.

I put them in a plastic container and placed a red bow on top. I could only pray he’d forgive me for last night, but why had I done it? That had been a full-blown, she-devil meltdown, kind of like a mamma bear, only I wasn’t his mamma. I’d acted like a jealous girlfriend.

Do I like him? But he wasn’t my type. I mean, apart from being hot. And mysterious. And sort of kind in that none kiss-assy way that I liked. But the man had no job or home, and he came with some very sharp edges.

Yeah, I wonder why, Meri , I scolded myself. It was no wonder he didn’t want help from anyone. He was probably tired of all the judging when he was perfectly content with his way of life. He’d said so himself.

Then here I came, meddling, talking down to him in front of my friends, and being an all-around shithead. Maybe Kay was right about me not being a genuine giver. Not from the heart. Not in a good-spirited way. If I wanted to change that, I had to begin by being kinder and to apologize from the heart.

I rewrote my note, simply asking to talk. I then grabbed the muffins and headed downstairs, but when I got to the alley, the tent was gone.

Oh no. Where did he go? I couldn’t leave things between us like this.

I was about to go back up and ask if Jason knew where Beau might’ve gone when a white delivery truck pulled up. The man inside wore a red jumpsuit and matching baseball cap.

He looked up at the building and checked his phone. He then rolled down the window. “Is this 1225 Peppermint Street?”

“Yes, but the front door is one street over.”

“Have you seen a man with a red tent around here?”

Was this the delivery Beau had been waiting for? “Yes, he’s been sort of staying with me.” I was about to add that he’d also been camping out here and had taken off to God only knew where, but the man cut me off.

“Well, in that case,” the man handed me a small red box with a white bow on top, “can you see that he gets this?”

“Sure.” I took the box, praying I could track Beau down.

The man dipped his head and then sped off down the alley. The back of the truck read Starling Toys. There was a cartoon of a little reindeer with a red nose, too.

So weird. I went back inside and knocked on Jason’s door. He answered in his boxers, scratching his bed head. “What’s the matter?” he grumbled.

“Have you seen Beau?”

“Beau?”

“Yeah, the guy living in the alley.”

“No. Why?” he asked.

“Someone just gave me a package for him, but I’m not sure where he’s gone,” I explained.

“Haven’t seen the guy in weeks.”

I frowned. “Weeks?”

“Yeah, since that first time you complained. I made sure he’d be gone before the weekend, and he took off that day.”

What? “No. He definitely stuck around.”

Jason gave me a confused look. “You sure about that? Because I’m back there all the time, grabbing tools and stuff from my garage.”

“Jason, he has a bright red tent. How could you not see him?” I argued.

He shrugged, and I could tell he was wondering if I’d lost it.

“I’m telling you,” I said. “He didn’t leave. Not until this morning.”

“I don’t know what to say, Meri. I haven’t seen anyone.”

What the hell? Was he playing a trick on me? How could he not notice Beau for four weeks?

Suddenly, Mrs. Trudy came out of her apartment next door to Jason’s, her silver hair up in a bun. She wore five layers of sweaters over her house dress.

“Hey, Mrs. Trudy,” said Jason, “have you seen a man hanging around in the alley lately?”

“No. But someone hasn’t been separating their recycling again.” She gave me a harsh look.

She went through my trash? “I ran out of space in my recycle container. It was just one yogurt cup.”

She shook her head. “You lazy people are destroying the planet.”

Jeez. It was just one time. “Are you sure you haven’t seen anyone living by the dumpster, Mrs. Trudy? Red tent? Tall?” Sexy jawline?

“No. I would’ve told Jason. We can’t have vagabonds living anywhere they like, all willy-nilly. Why do you think I give ten percent to the church?”

Mrs. Trudy? Give ten percent? She was so cheap that I once caught her putting her dirty clothes in with someone else’s at the laundromat down the street. Gross. Also, she frequently picked the lock on my mailbox and stole my coupons. Meanwhile, she drove a Benz. And not one of those old diesel-guzzling monsters either.

“Okay, well, if you see the guy, will you let me know?” I said. “I have a package for him.”

“I’ll call the police is what I’ll do,” said Mrs. Trudy.

I sighed with exasperation and went upstairs. It made no sense how the other tenants hadn’t noticed Beau in over a month. Were they that self-absorbed and blind to the homeless?

Desperate to find Beau, I called Shawna again, but it went to voicemail.

With no other options, I grabbed my purse and keys and headed out.

I ended up driving around the city, hitting the shelters, parks, and bus station, but there was no sign of Beau. By the time I got home, it was pouring rain outside and freezing cold. The thought of him wandering around, trying to get dry and warm, made my heart ache.

Of course, that was foolish of me. Beau wasn’t stupid or without resources. He knew how to take care of himself, even if it was under uncomfortable circumstances.

So where would a man like him go?

I made some hot tea, my mind spinning. I wanted to make things right, but how? I had to start by finding him and delivering this package.

The package… I eyed the red box on my coffee table. What was inside? It had to be something important. Maybe it’ll give me a clue to where he went.

No, you’re just being nosy. “I’m not opening you. Do you hear me, red box? Not happening.”

But as the seconds ticked by, I knew I was about to do something terribly wrong.

I reached for the box, untied the ribbon, and looked inside. I don’t know what I was expecting, but not this. A letter.

I unfolded the thick parchment:

Beau,

I received your last petition, and while you say you’ve truly repented for your past, I see that you still haven’t changed.

I urge you to stop playing games because time is almost up.

If you ever want to see her again, you know what you must do.

– Dad

My hands began shaking. “See her again?” Was his own father holding someone Beau loved as a hostage? His wife? His daughter? Who? And how could his own father do this to him? What had Beau done?

It doesn’t matter . Because it was clear to me that Beau’s dad was punishing him for something. Maybe it was for something terrible, but this was no way to treat your child.

When I’d been caught cheating on a test in high school, my dad didn’t yell or punish me. He told me how much he loved me and then cried like a little kid. He’d said that my failures were his and that he hadn’t done his job properly. Otherwise, why would I have done something so stupid?

Now, you might say to yourself, “What a kind, sensitive parent,” but no. My dad was a guilt pirate. He said all that stuff because he understood that parental guilt was the best weapon in his fatherly arsenal. Because there was nothing more terrifying than seeing your father cry. Needless to say, I never cheated again.

In any case, it appeared that this entire situation was about punishing Beau with massive guilt. That poor woman. I could only hope they weren’t torturing her while Beau attempted to appease his evil dad.

I had to help him. But first, I had to find him.

“Beau.” I shook my head with a sigh. “Where did you go?”