But it did hurt.
“I’m so sorry, baby, so sorry.” He nuzzled her hair, kissing next to her ear and his arms didn’t let go and finally she stopped shaking. “I’m trying to work through the mistakes I made. I’m not sure what the future holds, but I want you to know that I realize I made mistakes, and I wish I could take so much of it back. There are a lot of things I’d do differently.”
Lexi stayed in his arms, snuggling against a solid chest that felt familiar, trying not to think about moving away and why she shouldn’t let him hold her this way. “I think we both made mistakes and we’d both do things differently.”
The first whimper of a puppy broke into the conversation. Lexi pulled out of his arms, feeling chilled and missing his touch. He brushed her hair back from her face and touched her cheek.
“I’m talking to Michael.”
She shook her head, not getting it. “What?”
“I met with Michael today. I’m working on my life. On faith. I’m trying to let go of the past and find a way to stop being angry with God.”
“Because of Gavin?”
“Us. Gavin. The farm.”
“I know that bothered you, Colt. It was your family legacy. But your parents are happy. They still have the house and they have land. Most of all, you have your dad.”
“I get that, Lex. I do get it, but that doesn’t make it easier. It wasn’t easy, watching them praying together. I stood there at the edge, wondering why God wasn’t doing something to help.”
“You were a kid. I’m not sure why, but I think you blamed yourself, or maybe you thought you could fix it?” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “And then you blamed yourself for Gavin’s death, and his wife left alone to raise their children.”
“Kids without a dad.”
Which is what he feared for her. “You could stop being a cop.”
His mouth opened. “I…”
“I’m not serious.” She reached for his hand. “I wanted to shock you and maybe make you think. There are safer jobs, but there are no guarantees in life. Look at what this tornado did to this community. It’s about faith, Colt.”
“You have puppies.” He nodded past her.
“And you’re changing the subject.”
He grinned—a half smile that did things to her heart. He looked down at the ground and then met her gaze head-on. “Yeah, I am, but I think I’ve taken the listening thing as far as I can for one day. I think you should take care of those puppies and we should go out to dinner.”
“Out to dinner?” Lexi squatted next to the two puppies.
“Yes, out to dinner. You, me and maybe a little hope that we’re on the right track. At least for healing and letting go.”
“Is that the direction we’re going?”
“I think it is. I hurt you and I don’t want to have that be our story, as you put it in the basement that day.”
She looked up, unsure, really unsure. “People in town will talk.”
“We’ll drive into Manhattan and go somewhere secluded, where no one will recognize us.”
“What if we see my parents?” she teased, picking up one of the still-damp puppies.
“They’ll be shocked?”
“They would be.” Now was the time to tell him that she was considering moving back. And maybe working things out with Colt was good, because it would help her leave without leaving things undone.
He was looking at her and she couldn’t tell him. Not yet.
“So, dinner?” He sat next to her.
“Sounds great.” Or maybe it sounded like a big mistake that would hurt later.
The restaurant they picked was in an older part of Manhattan, on a quiet street, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. Lexi sat across from Colt, the candlelight glowing between them and silence. He didn’t know what to say to her. It was like a first date.
And he was out with the most beautiful girl in the world. Her skin glowed and candlelight flickered. This restaurant had been one of their favorites, years ago.
The waitress approached with their dessert. “Would you like coffee?”
Lexi nodded. Colt shook his head and moved his water glass for her to refill it when she had time. As the waitress walked away, Lexi dipped her fork into the creamy cheesecake and took a bite. She closed her eyes, opening them when he laughed.
“Is it good?” He knew the answer. She loved cheesecake. Sometimes she made up the box kind and ate the filling from the mixing bowl.
“Very.” Her expected answer.
Colt’s phone buzzed. Lexi swallowed a bite of cheesecake and looked at him. She was waiting to see what he would do, and he knew he would fail the test. He couldn’t ignore a call from one of his officers.
“I’m sorry, Lex.”
“I know.”
He flipped it open and smiled at her, hoping to ease the sudden wave of tension. As he answered, he kept his eyes on her, and she continued to eat the cheesecake. Instant replay, a scene that had played out a few too many times in their marriage. And sometimes it hadn’t been an emergency. Toward the end, he had been looking for ways to escape.
He could see that now. He could see that, in a way, he had become her father, always busy. And he hadn’t realized it then.
“That was Lucas, my new officer. He received a call in response to that article about Kasey. A family claims she’s theirs, and they want to see her, immediately.”
“Poor Nicki.”
“We don’t know if these people are her parents, Lexi.” He reached, and she slid her hand into his. “But if they are…”
“I know. And I know that they might show up and claim their child. That’s what should happen. But it won’t be easy, to watch Nicki having to let go of that child. She’s let go of a lot in life.”
“She’ll have the support of her friends.”
Colt had to admit that seemed like a pretty poor substitute for a child the entire town, especially Nicki, had grown to love.
The drive to High Plains seemed to take forever. Colt drove fast, not too fast, his emergency lights flashing blue into the dark sky. Next to him, Lexi worried the tissue in her hand, not wiping eyes that were dry, but scrunching the poor defenseless thing into a wrinkled mess.
“Try to relax.” He glanced her way again and she smiled.
“I really don’t want this to happen. It’s hard to know how to feel about this situation. You want a child reunited with her parents, but you don’t want to see someone you know hurt.”
“Where is God in this, Lexi?” He didn’t mean to growl the words, but it happened and her gaze flew to him, her mouth opening a little.
She blinked a few times, but he could see that she was mentally gathering her thoughts. Of course she wouldn’t let him get away with that.
“I can’t answer that, Colt. I only know that I can look back and see how He has worked in so many things, and for that reason, I have to trust Him in this.”
He nodded, because he really wanted to believe that God did have an answer, and that Kasey wouldn’t be hurt.
They cruised through High Plains to the police station. A patrol car was parked out front and another car was parked in the lot to the side. The big doors of the fire station were open and the volunteer firemen were cleaning the fire truck.
Colt got out and, before he could open Lexi’s door, she was out and waiting for him on the sidewalk. He started to reach for her hand but she shook her head. And he agreed, they weren’t going there. This had to be about letting go and moving forward.
They walked through the doors of the police station, and the couple stood up. Colt didn’t want to, but he had to admit the woman looked a little like the child that had been found after the tornado. He picked up a tablet on the desk. Head down, he perused the two people in shoes that were so new they had no scuff marks and clothes that didn’t appear to have been worn before this night. They looked professional. They looked successful.
But where had they been for th
e last nine weeks? No one had reported losing a child, a daughter, a granddaughter. Kasey had been the child no one seemed to be missing.
Suspicions formed in Colt’s mind. A quick look in Lexi’s direction confirmed that she probably thought the same thing. The mother-bear look on her face worried him, though. She had the look of someone about to run some people out of town. He touched her arm, shooting her a warning look that she countered with a look of her own.
“I think I’ll talk to you folks in my office.” He motioned the couple down the hall. Lexi took a seat in the outer office. He needed an antacid.
“We want to see our daughter.” The woman had tears in her eyes.
“Ma’am, we’ll talk and if she is your child, we’ll definitely get her to you.”
“Her name is Maggie.”
“Have a seat.” He pushed the door to his office open and motioned the couple inside.
“We heard she was injured.” The couple sat down, holding hands and waiting for him to answer. He sat down behind his desk in a chair that was normally comfortable. He leaned forward, watching the two people in front of him, wondering what their game was.
He had to admit, they looked worried about the child. They seemed to want answers. So why were the hairs on his neck bristling? He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to release the tension building in his muscles. He had taken this job after Gavin’s death, thinking it would be less stressful than the job as a state trooper.
“She was banged up, but nothing serious.”
“Is she okay now?” the prospective mother asked, wiping watery eyes with a tissue, crumpled like the one Lexi had held on to in his truck.
Lexi. He sighed and listened to the couple. How did parents allow nearly two months to pass before they came to claim their child?
“I have to admit, I’m curious as to where you’ve been and how your child got here—in High Plains. Alone.”
He sat back in his chair, arms crossed and doubts whirling through his mind as he watched the couple scramble for an answer.
“We were in Europe.”
“For two months? Who had your daughter?”
“My sister had her. We don’t know where my sister is. We haven’t heard from her.”
“Well, the funny thing is, we haven’t had any missing people reported in this area. And no one has reported a missing child. We’ve been watching the national reports. No one matching this child has been reported missing.”
“We hired an investigator.” The man looked a little shocked, a little outraged.
“Could you tell me why you waited?”
“We were gone. I had business.” The man again.
“We just want our daughter back.” The woman leaned forward, biting her bottom lip, looking genuine. Colt nodded.
“Do you have her birth certificate? And we’ll obviously need more proof. Family photographs, something with fingerprints, a DNA test. Oh, and there are medical bills.”
“The media said that money has been raised to help pay for her medical expenses. Is there any of that money left?” The father shifted in the chair.
Colt sat forward again. Nicki Appleton loved a child that wasn’t hers. Lexi wanted a family to love. And these people? He couldn’t begin to think what they wanted. He realized it probably had a lot to do with money.
“The money has been spent to pay for her care and to buy what she needs.”
“There’s nothing left?” The woman looked up from the tissue, her gaze meeting Colt’s. She didn’t even look ashamed.
“The money is gone.” It wasn’t completely gone, but he liked the shocked look on their faces. The money that was left would go into an account for Kasey. “Can you describe her birthmark?”
The woman shook her head, “She doesn’t have a birthmark.”
“Sorry, Mom, you’re out of luck.” He stood, angry, tense, and the two people sitting in front of him had the good sense to stand up. “I think you should leave before I call the county prosecutor to see what charges we can file against you.”
Colt sat back down, exhausted with this mess, with people that were so willing to take advantage of a tragedy. He buried his face in his hands as his blood pressure returned to normal. A light knock on the door interrupted thoughts that probably would have shocked Reverend Michael Garrison.
He looked up. Lexi smiled, soft and sweet, like the first time he saw her. She didn’t enter the room but waited at the door.
No longer his wife.
“Scam artists.” He rubbed his hand over the top of his head before he leaned back in this chair. “Man, I hate this.”
“But we love it for Nicki.” Lexi, the optimist who wanted happy endings.
“Lexi, what about the parents of this girl? That’s what I can’t shake. There’s a missing piece to this puzzle. There is someone missing, possibly in this town. And I don’t have a clue. A parent could be dead. Or injured. Maybe kidnapped or harmed.”
Lexi sat down across from him. “I know. I’m sorry. You see the case in front of you. I see a woman who desperately wants a child.”
He saw that woman, too. She was sitting across from him. He looked at her and saw a child who had been neglected by workaholic parents. He saw a little girl dreaming of someday having a big family that went to church together and had big Sunday dinners.
She was talking about Nicole, not herself. He sighed and clasped his hands behind his neck, waiting for the tension to fade a little.
“What are you going to do?” Lexi asked.
“Keep looking for clues. Keep looking for her family. But two months, that’s a long time. If she has family out there, even a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, why haven’t they come forward?”
“I don’t know.” Lexi shrugged slim shoulders. “Colt, let’s get out of here. You aren’t going to find the answers tonight.”
“I can’t, Lex. I have to do some work.”
She smiled a little smile and nodded. At the door she looked back, still smiling. “Colt, God isn’t surprised by any of this. And you don’t have to be alone.”
And then she was gone, and she was wrong. He was alone.
Chapter Eight
The yard around the High Plains Community Church was crowded with people, pets, tables of baked goods and some yard-sale items. Nearby, construction of the town hall had been suspended for a day. But it was coming along. They had the frame up and were about to start on the roof.
Today wasn’t about building. Today was about fun, and coming together for one another. A band played a mixture of country and gospel music, and laughter carried from the dunking tank where Colt sat on the board, waiting to go under. At least it was still warm.
Lexi didn’t want to hear him whine about being cold. The money raised was going to help those still in need within the community. And there were a lot of needs. People were still displaced and living in the Waters cottages that Heather had supplied after the tornado.
Families were still trying to replace what was lost, and not covered by insurance.
Lexi set the cages on tables that had been made with sawhorses and plywood. Kittens, puppies, even a goat and some chickens. As soon as the children saw animals, they came running.
She was the local petting zoo. And the animals really needed homes. Her feed bill for the last two months had been astronomical. Furthering the belief that her parents held: this was a bad career choice.
Two little girls with matching red pigtails and matching Kool-Aid smiles were the first to stop at the cage holding the sheltie and her new puppies. The puppies, four of them, were still curled against the momma dog’s side, eyes closed.
“How are you girls today?” Lexi knelt next to Lilli Marstow and her friend Alyssa. The two eight-year-olds were constant companions. And a big source of contention between Josie Cane, who worked at the church day care, and Silas Marstow. The problems had started the day of the tornado, when the two girls had escaped together. Lilli’s father, Silas, still grieving the loss of his wife, had
blamed Alyssa’s aunt, Josie.
Lexi thought the two adults should make up, for the sake of the two girls. Lilli tugged on Lexi’s hand. “How much for those puppies?”
“Honey, they’re not for sale.” Lexi’s answer brought a frown to the sweet faces of both girls. The two actually looked like sisters. “I mean, they’re free. But I can’t give them away, yet. They’ll need their mother for another six or seven weeks.”
“Oh—” big frowns on angelic faces “—can we come back and see them, then?”
“Of course you can. But you have to ask permission. An adult needs to bring you.”
“Okay.” Alyssa was already sticking her fingers through the cage, petting a kitten. “I like kittens, too. I think Mr. Marstow is allergic.”
“Okay.” Lexi thought she might be missing something. But other children and parents approached and the girls scattered.
Tommy, still missing Charlie, peeked into the cage with the sheltie and her puppies. “Those are nice pups.”
He sounded so big for his six years. She wanted to hug him and promise she’d find Charlie. Two months, though. She didn’t see how it would happen.
“Tommy, do you want a corn dog?” Maya waved, but her smile was for Tommy. Greg Garrison came through the crowd behind Maya, her daughter skipping along next to him.
“No, I don’t.” Tommy shoved little hands into his pocket.
“I’m sorry, Tommy. You know, every time I go out on a call, I look for Charlie.” Lexi smiled at the hopeful look on his little face. “But Tommy…”
He shook his head. “He’s going to come back.”
He ran off. Lexi watched him go, Maya close behind him, hugging him tight when he finally stopped. Lexi knew his little heart was breaking. She felt it as if it was her own pain. A hand, cold and wet, slipped into hers.
“It isn’t easy.” Colt gave her fingers a light squeeze.
“Children shouldn’t have to hurt like that.”
“No, they shouldn’t. Maybe we will find Charlie, though.”
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