Mattie's Call by Stacy Campbell Read Free Book Online Page A

unspoken hung in the air between them. She was done with Johnny, her last sponsor, and wanted someone new to explore. She also wanted to finally settle down, stop playing games.
    She rubbed Colton’s back softer as his words came rushing back to her. You’re so beautiful. Roselle let herself go a long time ago. You’re the kind of woman I want for my wife. You look good and you take care of yourself.
    â€œWhen we first got here, you said you wanted to tell me something,” she said, rubbing warmed jojoba oil on his back. She licked his inner ear and the side of his face.
    He shook his head. “That drives me crazy. Stop.”
    She chuckled. She’d learned his hot spots early on and used them to her financial advantage.
    â€œLet me turn over. I have to say this face to face. It’s about what I said. About us being together, I mean.”
    He grabbed the remote and turned on the television.
    â€œThis sounds important. I don’t want a television playing,” she said.
    â€œI need some background noise.”
    â€œColt, why?”
    â€œI’m nervous.”
    â€œLet’s compromise. I’ll mute it for now.” She silenced the chatter. “Satisfied?” she asked, anticipating his proposal.
    He sat up in his boxers and rubbed her face. His back to the TV, he took a deep breath. “Gigi, reconnecting with you has been indescribable. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed this much, traveled, talked about my feelings, aspirations.”
    She rubbed his hands, loving the prospect of not being single and fifty.
    â€œI do, however, need to apologize. What we’ve been doing is wrong and I feel horrible. You see—”
    Her hyperventilating scared him. Gabrielle placed her hand over her chest, gasping for air. He hadn’t broken the worst of the news and she was a mess. He didn’t know she was so fragile. He tried a different approach.
    â€œI know you feel I led you on, but—”
    This time she screamed, pointed to the television. His eyes widened as he watched the breaking news story. He pressed the mute button on the remote, watched her mother’s face on the screen. The newscaster reported in a grim voice, “A Mattie’s Call has been issued for Grand Oak resident, Mattie Benson. She is a seventy-two-year-old African American woman, five feet seven inches tall with shoulder-length auburn hair. She was last seen wearing a gray sweater, black slacks, and a black wool peacoat. If you know of her whereabouts, please contact the Savannah Police Department immediately.”

9
Upped And Walked Away?
    G abrielle watched Colton speed away after dropping her off at the Grand Oak entrance. He said they’d pick up the conversation later, but she didn’t care. Guilt wracked her body as she trudged down the hill to the facility and watched the activity going on outside. Police cars and an ambulance were posted near the front door. Through the glass door, she saw Joshua in heated conversation with a woman in a business suit and a police officer. Ms. Agatha stood near them as well. She quickened her pace but was stopped by an officer near the door.
    â€œWhat business do you have here?”
    â€œThe missing woman. Mattie Benson. She’s my mother.”
    The officer scanned the names and photos on the checklist he’d been given. “Are you Gabrielle?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œRight this way.”
    He escorted her inside. The front lobby, filled with residents and staff, oozed the familiar antiseptic and applesauce scents Gabrielle had come to despise. Joshua’s voice spat thunder to the nursing home administrator and a police officer as everyone kept their distance.
    â€œSo you’re telling me, with all these damn security cameras in this building, you didn’t see my seventy-plus-year-old mother walk away?” He pointed to the overhead cameras for emphasis. “A seventy-plus-year old woman