Page 53 of Due North
“You have to trust him then. He has nothing but Poppy’s best interest at heart. I know he upset you last night, but he was telling you the truth.”
“How do you know about that?” I asked. “I didn’t tell anyone about it.”
“He did,” she said, patting my face. “I promise you can trust him, and I am not letting you and Poppy leave my ranch.”
“I can’t worry about that right now, Heaven,” I said, swallowing around the lump in my throat. “I have to find my little girl.”
Her face was grim when her gaze met mine. “And we will. Just trust Caleb. He loves you and that little girl. He would die for either of you. Remember that. Update me every ten minutes on the walkie,” she said, pointing at the black box Dawn had left.
Amity ran down the hallway and threw her arms around me before I could answer her. “Oh, sweetheart,” she said, rubbing my back with the vigor of a worried grandmother. “She’s going to be okay. Everyone is already out looking for her, and Sheriff Nash is almost here.”
I relished how good it felt to feel safe in a mother’s arms. I just wanted that for Poppy Rose tonight, too.
“Here’s your coat,” Caleb said, holding it out so I could slip my arms into the sleeves.
A thud resounded from the bedroom, and we ran down the hallway, tripping over each other to get there. I stopped in the doorway as everyone gathered behind me. Eden was still asleep in the crib, and nothing was on the floor.
“She’s not here,” I said, my heart dropping to my feet with disappointment.
Amity moved me aside. “Let me by, sweetie. I swear I put that rail up.”
I grabbed her arm before she could scoot past me. “You put the rail up?”
“Yes, of course. I always do. Eden could fall out if she woke up.”
Caleb pushed past all of us and strode to the crib quietly, pulling the railing up, but it fell back down as soon as he let it go. He grabbed it before it slammed down and woke up Eden. After some wiggling and jiggling, it still wouldn’t stay up. Finally, he grabbed my suitcase and propped it under the railing.
We all made our way back to the living room, and he took my shoulders, holding my gaze. It was as though no one else in the room existed but us. “The latch is broken, Cece. Poppy escaping wasn’t your fault.”
“I should have known,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s my job.”
“Mechanical failure is not your fault,” Amity assured me. “Get out there and find your little girl.”
“We should take her coat,” Caleb said, running back to the bedroom. He was back in thirty seconds. “Where is her coat?”
“It’s always by her crib. You know that.”
He shook his head. “It’s not there. She must have taken it.”
“Are her boots there?” I asked, frozen in place by the door.
“Yes, but not her coat, so she must have put it on.”
“She has been proud of her new ability to put it on and off,” Amity said. “Ever since Caleb taught her how to put it on and snap it, she wants to do it thirty times an hour. I would bet she did.”
“God, let’s hope,” I cried as we ran out the door to the porch. I pulled my hat onto my head and prayed that Poppy had put her hat on too. Even if she didn’t, the fact that she had her coat was huge! That might keep her core warm long enough for us to find her.
I grabbed the flashlight Caleb handed me, not that I needed it with the number of floodlights around the place. They were right, it was lit up like the Fourth of July, but there was no sight of a little redheaded girl.
“Oh, God, where is she?” I huffed as we ran toward Caleb’s cabin. “It’s too cold out here. She’s going to freeze.”
We reached the cabin and walked in opposite directions around his house and the bunkhouse but found nothing. “She’s not here,” he said. “There aren’t even any footprints small enough to be hers.”
“How far could she get with no boots?” I cried. “She’s not going to survive in this weather, Caleb!”
His hand came down on my shoulder, and his heat calmed me instantly. His pointed and determined gaze added to the feeling of serenity filling my mind. His eyes closed, and he inhaled, holding his breath and waiting. I had no idea for what, but when his eyes popped open, they were a color brown I’d never seen before. They swirled brown, white, and tan so quickly I would have missed it if I hadn’t been focused purely on him.
“I need Sundance.”
