“Peter, have you seen Thomas?” Nicole asked, entering the kitchen once more. Peter looked up from his eggs and shook his head.
“No, I haven’t,” he replied. “Isn’t he in his room?”
“No,” Nicole replied. “And he doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the house, either.”
“Maybe he went next door,” Joanne offered from the table where she was eating her cereal.
“Maybe,” Peter replied. He pushed his eggs aside and stood up. “I’ll go check.”
The clothes his mother wore were a little big on Layla, Thomas thought to himself as the girl stepped out from behind the rock wearing his mothers jeans and t-shirt. But they were clothes anyway.
Layla shared his sentiments. “They’re a bit baggy,” she told him as she stepped out. She glanced down at the jeans and tugged on the pant legs so she wouldn’t trip on them.
“That’s okay,” Thomas replied. “We can get you some that fit better later. These will work for now.”
She nodded, reassured for the moment.
“No Pete, I haven’t seen him,” Mike replied.
“He hasn’t been over here,” Micky added, shaking his head.
Peter frowned. “Where could he have gone?” he wondered aloud. “It’s not like him to wander off.”
“Maybe he went out on the beach,” Mike said. “I’ll look out there.”
“Maybe he went down the street or something,” Micky pointed out. “I’ll go that way.”
“Pete, you can check the neighbors. Maybe he went there,” Mike ordered him. Peter nodded and the three separated.
“Where am I going to go?” Layla asked Thomas. “I don’t know anyone.”
“You can come with me,” Thomas offered. “I don’t think my mom and dad would mind.” Layla smiled.
“That’s sweet of you, Thomas,” she replied. “But I don’t think they’d like it if you brought a strange girl they didn’t know into their house.”
Thomas nodded. “You have a point.” He frowned, thinking to himself.
In the distance he heard someone shouting, calling his name. He turned to see who it was, his eyes scanning the beach like an eagle searching for its prey.
“Thomas!” the voice called again. He turned and looked in the direction.
“Great,” he mumbled, turning around. He turned to Layla. “It’s Uncle Mike,” he informed her. “We’re not ready for him yet.”
“Mike?” Layla asked. Thomas nodded.
“Well he’d see you one way or the other,” he pointed out to himself. “No time like the present.”
“But if we’re not ready,” Layla pointed out, but trailed off, not finishing her sentence.
Thomas stood up and waved his arms, shouting to get Mike’s attention.
Mike spotted Thomas in the distance and heard his shouting. He was standing behind a large rock that hid what was behind him.
“THOMAS!” he shouted loudly and started off, running towards him. He reached the rock in a short amount of time and walked around it.
“Where have you been? You were worrying your parents to death,” he scolded. He paused in his sentence and let go of Thomas when he spotted the girl behind him.
“Uncle Mike, this is Layla,” Thomas said as though it were a casual introduction.
Mike stopped in his tracks and couldn’t stop himself from staring. She couldn’t have been Layla, such a thing wasn’t possible, but she certainly looked like her.
“Mike?” Layla whispered. She was short but not as short as Davy was, with long, wild auburn hair that flowed down her back. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that he recognized having seen on his sister, though they were too long on her.
“Layla?” he whispered back, staring into her eyes. They were green, and he was instantly taken aback. He stepped forward, taking her hands in his, and looked into those eyes. “Is it really you?”
She nodded, smiling.
“But how?” he asked. “No, wait, don’t tell me. Just come. Come with me. Meet the others. Please.”
She nodded slightly smiling, and he smiled a large grin. Taking her hands, he turned and led her up the beach, Thomas following.
