Page 21 of Refuge for Cherilyn

Maisey chuckled. “She’s a mess. That kid… I never cease to be amazed at how smart and funny she is. She and Aaron are my whole world.”

“Do you have kids?”

Maisey shook her head. “No, but we’re thinking about it. That your daughter?” she asked as she pointed to the photo on the fireplace mantel.

“Yeah. She’s fifteen.”

“Tough age.”

He laughed quietly. “So I’ve heard!”

Ten minutes later, Maisey had looked in all their clothing, written down sizes, plus measured shoes and made notes. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. The oldest girl is fifteen and she needs some, um, feminine products.”

“Gotcha. I’ll get girly shampoo and body wash and stuff like that too. Oh, toothbrushes and toothpaste?”

“Yeah, they need those too. And hairbrushes.”

“Got it.”

“And here.” Shaw fished his wallet out of his back pocket. “You can use my credit card. I don’t need it back anytime soon.”

Maisey shook her head. “No. I’ve got this. You can’t imagine how thankful I am that you got them out of the woods and into a warm, dry place.”

“But I don’t mind?”

“And neither do I. So don’t worry about it. I’ll go get this stuff, and how ’bout I pick up pizza for you guys on my way back?”

“You don’t have to?”

She laid a soft hand on his forearm, and Shaw could feel his stress melt away. “I know I don’t, but I want to. You guys work hard and somebody needs to reward your dedication.”

Shaw blushed. “I’m just a conservation officer.”

“You are not ‘just a conservation officer.’ You’re law enforcement, and you’re one of the good guys. Now you just sit down, take a load off, and I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Maisey…” When she turned, he smiled. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome. See you in a bit.”

As soon as she and Murielle were in the car, Shaw locked the door and took up his spot on the sofa again. The house was quiet, the dryer was running, and everything was cleaned up and neat. He thought about the three females down the hallway and hoped their dreams were nightmare-free. They needed some respite from the horrors they’d experienced.

Especially Cherilyn.

* * *

“Cherilyn?”The nightmare was going on, but the voice wasn’t from it, and she couldn’t figure out what was happening. “Cherilyn? Honey, wake up.”

Her eyelids fluttered and it took her a minute to remember where she was. “Whaaa…”

“Cherilyn, it’s Shaw. Wake up. Dinner’s here.”

“Oh! Oh. Oh, um…” She rubbed her eyes. “Dinner. Right. Wait. I didn’t cook.”

She heard him let out a little laugh. “A friend brought some by. Said she just wanted to help out and let everybody relax. So come on. It’s getting cold. And I think you should wake the girls. They don’t know me that well.”

“Okay. I will.” She spun and dropped her legs off the bed just as Shaw walked out the bedroom door. “Shaw?”

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