Page 56 of Due North
Heaven held the door open for me, and I ran for the bathroom, my little girl back in my arms and smiling up at me like this was the best game in the world. At that moment, I became her mother, and I would die if it meant she lived.
Eighteen
“You don’t have any questions for me?” I asked Sheriff Nash as I held a sleeping Poppy on my lap. She was dressed in layers, slippers on her feet, and a stocking cap on her head. The warm bath brought her body temperature back to normal, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I would keep her on my chest to sleep tonight, so my body heat would keep her warm. Since noise didn’t bother her when she was asleep, we could talk.
Sheriff Nash shook his head and motioned at Poppy. “There aren’t many questions to ask since I already talked to Caleb. I don’t need to investigate to know what happened. It was a sequence of unfortunate events that luckily had a happy ending. I have been involved in search and rescues that didn’t turn out this way. You owe a huge debt of gratitude to Caleb. He saved that baby.”
I snugged her tighter to me and nodded against the top of her head, her sweet pea body wash fragrant when I inhaled. “I know,” I said, tears in my eyes. “I don’t understand it, but I know.”
Nash put his hands on his hips and shook his head, still covered in a black stocking cap. “I don’t either. I’ve done this job for a lot of years. All I can say is, she had a guardian angel out there tonight.”
“How did she get up on the ridge?” I asked him, still unclear about the details of the rescue. “Where did Caleb find her.”
“I think that’s better left for Caleb to explain,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “As for how she got up there, I guess she followed the trail. I would be derelict in duty if I didn’t suggest you change the locks on the doors. I could jiggle the front doorknob, and the lock turned over easily. Maybe put a deadbolt higher up on both doors where she can’t reach it as well.”
“Tomorrow morning,” Dawn said from where she was making hot chocolate on the stove. “Beau will be changing them as soon as the farm store opens.”
Nash nodded once and pointed at Poppy. “She looks good, but I’d still take her to the doctor tomorrow if I were you. Have him check her toes and make sure there aren’t any developing problems.”
“I already talked to the on-call nurse. They’re expecting her in the morning.” I glanced at the clock, and it read two a.m. “I guess more like this morning.”
The back door opened, and a woman walked in. She shut it behind her with her boot and cradled her hands against her crossed arms.
“Tobi,” Nash said, his eyes glued to the woman. “Are you okay?”
The question was like a prodding stick. Tobi pushed herself off the door and stepped chest-to-chest with the lawman. “Nash.” I noticed she didn’t answer the question, but she didn’t break eye contact with him either. There was something weird going on between those two. I’d always heard about love-hate relationships. It seemed they were the poster children.
“Did you need something, dear?” Amity asked, turning in her seat.
Tobi relaxed and smiled at the matriarch of the ranches. “No, I just wanted to let you know that the horses were all taken care of and back in the barn. I’m going to head home and get some sleep before I’m due back at six a.m. for chores.”
Dawn set cups of hot cocoa down on the table and held one out to Tobi, but she shook her head without reaching out for it. “Forget chores. Stay home tomorrow. You did enough tonight to help Poppy get home safely. We’ll take care of them.”
Tobi’s gaze drifted toward Poppy and me, and a smile filled her face. “Seeing her safe, sound, and happy made everything worth it.” It wasn’t hard to miss how she protected her hands when she spoke. I wondered if she hurt herself, and that made me feel bad. I couldn’t be mad at her for flirting with Caleb. Not if she didn’t know he and I were an item.
“I’ll walk you to your bunk. I was just leaving,” Nash said, rubbing Poppy’s back before he walked to the back door.
“I can find my bunk just fine without an escort, but thanks. I wanted to talk to Cecelia if she has a moment.”
Nash’s snicker told me he was used to Tobi’s snark and didn’t take it personally. I had to say she was the only person in this town I’d seen stand up to Nash, and I suspected there was a long history there between their families that I just didn’t understand. That was the weird part about this thing with Tobi and Caleb. Everyone could see that she had feelings for Nash. Was she just using Caleb to make Nash jealous? Had Nash told her he wasn’t interested, so she was moving on?
“You never disappoint, Tobi,” Nash said, shaking his head as he waved at everyone, picked up the blankets from the ambulance, and strode out the back door.
Without saying a word, Amity, Dawn, and Heaven all left the kitchen, leaving me alone with the one woman I didn’t want to talk to right now. So much for girl power and all that.
“I’m glad she’s okay,” Tobi said, lowering herself to a chair.
“Me too. Thanks for helping tonight. I know you didn’t have to come out and do that. Poppy isn’t your responsibility.”
“Maybe not,” she agreed, “but in Wellspring, when someone is in need, everyone steps up to help. That’s what a community like this does.”
“To be honest, the whole night is sort of a blur. I just remember Caleb taking off on Dolly and telling me to wait for him at the bottom of the ridge.”
“Listen, about Caleb.”
I held up my hand to stop her. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m happy for you both.”
“Pardon my French, but you’re full of crap,” she said with a chuckle and a shake of her head. “If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t pull any punches. Not with you, Nash’s daddy, or Sheriff Damn Nash himself.”
