Renee looked wildly around the empty beach, as Sadie broke into a panicked run. “Lincoln? Lincoln! Where are you, baby?”

Chapter Ten

How in the hell did Lincoln just up and vanish?

Stupid question. Two-year-old boys were like lightning bugs…popping up here, there, and everywhere—then poof gone in a flash.

Renee could have sworn the little boy had been skipping just ahead, throwing driftwood and chasing gulls. But then, she’d gotten so stupidly carried away about the pie shop that a 747 could have landed on the dunes and she wouldn’t have noticed.

A wave gnawed at the empty beach, hungry and heavy. An invisible band squeezed her chest. Most of the time she found the ocean’s vast emptiness calming, a welcome counterpoint to all the hustle and bustle back on land. Yet the North Atlantic wasn’t just fodder for oil paintings and tourist brochures. It was also cold, dark, full of hidden secrets, sharks, and drowned sailors. Unspeakable fear mounted in her throat, holding her tongue hostage.

Lincoln hadn’t wandered near the shore break, right?

Sadie sprinted ahead, head swiveling from side to side. “Lincoln, honey!” Her frightened voice cracked. “Are you hiding? Are you playing a silly game? Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Renee had lost Tansy once during a trip to Washington, D.C., in the National Air and Space Museum. Those five minutes had felt like fifty. It only took a second for something terrible to happen to a child. A single second to rearrange the world. A second between there and…not there.

Her vision dimmed at the edge as she spun around. Maybe he’d somehow got behind them. Something caught her eye out in the water, floating just behind the breakers. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she lurched forward, her limbs struggling to function. The dizzy relief was almost crippling when she realized it was just a log.

She cupped her cold hands around her dry lips and was finally able to shout. “Lincoln! Come back!” Deep breaths. He’d be scared if he heard the hysteria in their voices. “Lincoln!”

And then, quick as their terror had started, it ended. Dr. Dan rounded the headland, Lincoln perched on his broad flannel-clad shoulders, waving in delight.

“Oh my God!” Sadie stumbled, crashing to one knee before bouncing back on her feet. Twin tears slipped down her flushed cheeks. “Thank you, Dr. Hanlon. Thank you so much. I’m sorry. I don’t know how he got out of my sight. I was about five seconds from completely losing my mind.”

Dan lifted the boy over his head and handed him to Sadie.

“It’s okay, Sadie. Everyone is safe. Lincoln is all right.” He smiled kindly, somehow knowing exactly what a mother would want to hear. His blue eyes were gentle with empathy. “This big boy is quite the birder. He was chasing a pack of sandpipers right around the corner.”

“I wanna catch dat little birdie!” Lincoln announced, all business. “Member book, Mommy? Birds! I like those funny guys.”