“You think so?” Abby sounded guilty. She walked into the bedroom and returned with the large first aid kit Emily’s parents always kept in the closet.
Emily looked at the expression on Abby’s face and her heart filled with dread. “Abby, what did you do?”
Guilt was replaced by defiance. “He was such a jerk. Brody knew something was wrong so I…I told him what Logan did.”
Humiliation washed over Emily. “He probably thinks I’m the most stupid person in the world.”
Abby vehemently shook her head. “He’s mad at Logan. They’re all mad at him for using you. I bet they let him have it, too.”
They all knew and they were on her side? “Paul said they were having a disagreement about something and had to call a team meeting.” She should feel vindicated, but all she felt was dismay. “I don’t want them to be mad at Logan for me. The Slammers mean too much to him. Look at how far he went to keep them going.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “He pretended to care about me.”
“He’s an idiot. Nothing could justify using another human being.” Abby held out the elastic bandage. “Now, let’s forget the walking lint ball and get your ankle wrapped. Tell me when I have it right. You know I always get it too tight at first.”
They had nursed each other through many scrapes, bruises, and sprains as kids. Abby’s parents worked full-time year round so they had allowed her to spend most of every summer at Boone’s with Emily and her parents. Then, at the end of August when Mike and Barb Scott returned to their teaching positions, the girls were at school together, still inseparable. Emily couldn’t imagine her life without Abby in it.
“We need to call Aaron,” Abby told her. “You’re going to be out of commission for a couple of days.”
Emily started to protest, but then she thought about what she would tell a patient. She would need to keep her ankle elevated as much as possible until the swelling stayed down. Abby was right.
“There are a few sets of crutches in the Rec building. Will you please get me some?” She hurried on when Abby started to protest. “I’ll do what I’m supposed to, but I don’t want to be completely immobile.”
“Okay,” Abby agreed. “When you call Aaron, tell him I can handle this by myself until you’re up and around. You can straw-boss me.” Abby grinned at Emily as she fastened off the elastic bandage. “Too tight?”
“Nope. It feels just right.” Emily could see the swelling through the bandage. “Will you get an ice pack out of the freezer? I should ice it down.”
Abby hopped up and walked to the refrigerator. Her face soon peaked around the freezer door. “Emily, there isn’t an ice pack in here.”
“Shoot.” Emily would have kicked herself if it were physically possible. “The one we kept here busted, and I forgot to replace it. Can you make one with ice cubes and a plastic freezer bag?”
Abby looked from the refrigerator to the sink. “I could if one of us had remembered to fill the ice cube trays and put them back in the freezer. They’re all in the sink.”
Emily listened. She could still hear the rain pounding on the roof. “We’ll just have to wait. At least it’s elevated.”
After Abby had made herself comfortable on the sofa, she smiled brightly at Emily. “I have something that might cheer you up a little.”
“Please tell me, then,” Emily pleaded. “I sure could use some cheering up.”
“I talked to my friend in protective services. Seth’s father is letting him live with his aunt. He didn’t like the scrutiny he was under, and Seth’s maternal aunt agreed to take him. Vanessa says she’s a very nice person who wants a family. Van is now his caseworker, and she’s checked everything out and says it’s great. I can’t wait to tell Bo.” Abby’s smile was like the sunshine after the rain.
Emily had one concern, though. “Does Seth know his aunt? I mean, when he gets back from camp, I assume he’ll be going to his new home.”
“Did he really know you?” Abby asked. “Bo told me that you were the one who finally broke through to him. If you did, there’s no reason to think his aunt won’t be able to as well.”
“You’d have to check with Bo first, but do you think it would be possible for him to be with Seth when he meets his aunt?” Seth practically clung to Bo now. “He’ll know he’s safe then.”
Abby appeared to mull Emily’s suggestion over. “I like that idea. I’ll talk to Van and see what she says before I even mention it to Bo, though. He’s really attached to that kid.”
“Yeah,” Emily agreed. “He’d be disappointed.” She thought of the last time she’d seen them together. Seth had been walking beside Bo, trying very hard to walk like his “big brother”. She would have never thought the gruff man would have turned out to be the very positive influence for his charge that he was.
“The rain’s let up. I’ll go get you an ice pack and crutches, and then I’m going to check and make sure none of our tent dwellers was carried away by the flood.” Abby giggled.
“Thank you, Abby. I couldn’t…I don’t know what I would do without you—especially now.”
Abby’s gaze softened. “Are you talking about your ankle or Logan?”
Emily felt her tears well again. “Both.”
Chapter 21
“What are you doing out here?” Logan was startled by Mason’s voice. He hadn’t heard Mason leave his tent and walk over to the picnic table where Logan sat.
“She wasn’t at church this morning.” Everybody had been at the worship service Pastor Rhinehart conducted—everybody except Emily. “I thought maybe if I saw her again…”
“We’ll be going home and getting back to work in a week. Life will be back to normal,” Mason assured him. “I’ll set you up with a woman, and you can forget that Emily even exists.”
Logan had been witness to Mason’s idea of a date too many times. He didn’t go for the same kind of girls his friend did. Mason just wanted to have a good time. Logan didn’t have enough time to date as it was, so he wasn’t about to waste what little he could eke out on something with no possible future.
“I screwed up.” He turned to Mason. “I really screwed up.”
Mason sighed. “You’ve got it bad for her, don’t you?”
Logan looked into his friend’s eyes. “I think I…I’ve never felt like this about anybody before…We might have been good together. But now I’ll never know.”
“Listen. The reason she wasn’t at church this morning was because she sprained her ankle. She’s off her feet for a couple of days.”
His heart sped up. “How did she sprain her ankle?”
Mason shrugged. “Abby said something about her slipping on wet grass. I guess if Findley hadn’t seen her, she’d have had a real problem making it back to her motorhome.”
Paul Findley. He had helped Emily, and she thanked him with a kiss. That must have been what he’d seen from the Rec building. It sank in. She didn’t want to be with Logan anymore. She would have never stayed with him once they were back to their normal lives, anyway. He was finished feeling sorry for himself.
“Is Seth out here?” Bo stumbled from his tent, rubbing his eyes.
“I haven’t seen him,” Logan answered.
“He’s not in the tent.” Bo was suddenly wide awake and frantic. “I woke up, and he’s gone!”
Mason and Logan stood up. “He couldn’t have gone far. We’ll help you look for him,” Mason volunteered.
“I’m going to get some more guys out here. We can cover more ground that way.” Bo headed for one of the tents.
“Hold up, Bo,” Mason softly called. “Let’s look around a little first. There’s no sense in scaring the other kids if we don’t have to.”
Bo stopped and seemed to consider Mason’s words before he nodded. “Okay. I’ll take the playground and Rec building.”
“I’ll check the pits and playing field,” Mason offered.
“Let me get a flashlight and I’ll check the trails. I doubt if he would have gone on one of them in
the dark, but I’ll check just in case.” Logan headed to his tent. “I just hope I don’t wake Trevor up.”
“Get the flashlight out of my tent,” Bo told him. “I’ll use my phone app.”
“I can get my own flashlight,” Mason volunteered. “Spencer wouldn’t wake up if a bear rolled around in there.”
A few minutes later each of them set off in a different direction.
Logan was glad he had Bo’s flashlight. Once he was in the woods, the trees would block out most of the light from the moon and it would be pitch black. He looked at the names listed on the sign at the trailhead and wondered which one to try. His gut instinct told him to start with the shortest one—the Sweet Gum Trail—the one he and Emily had walked on those few nights. He couldn’t let himself think about her right now. He was looking for a lost child.
“Seth?” he called as he began walking on the trail. “Seth?” He shone the flashlight around the trail as he walked. He figured he’d made it about halfway through when he thought he heard something. He froze and listened. There it was—muffled crying.
“Seth?” He headed toward the sound of sobbing, steadily aiming the flashlight where it originated. There he was—a huddled ball of arms and legs, wearing only a pair of undershorts.
“Whatcha doing out here, buddy?” he softly asked, as he cautiously approached the boy.
Something that sounded like words was mixed in with the sobs, but Logan couldn’t understand him.
“Listen, Seth. Bo and Mason are looking for you. Will you come with me so they know you’re okay?” He was within an arm’s length of him.
The child looked up through his tears at Logan. “Bo don’t want me to be his boy.” His sobs had become hiccups.
“Yes, he does. He’s happy to be your big brother,” Logan assured him. “He wouldn’t trade you for anything.”
“He don’t want me to be his boy forever.” Oh. What could Logan say to that? Seth had become as attached to Bo as Bo was to him.
“Why don’t you come back to your tent with me, and you can talk to Bo about it? He’s really scared ‘cause you’re not there.” He was getting Abby as soon as he could. He had no idea how to help Seth and knew Bo wouldn’t be able to promise him what he wanted, either.
“I’m cold.”
“I bet you are.” Logan searched for the right words. “You know, I’m a little afraid to be out here in the dark. I might get lost. Can you help read the signs so I can find my way back out?”
Seth slowly nodded. “I read the signs for Bo and Miss Scott once.”
Bo and Emily had walked on this path—their path together? This wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“Thank you.” He hunkered down in front of the child. “Do you think I could carry you? I know you’re really too old to be carried, but I’m cold, and since my legs are longer, I can walk faster. I’ll walk while you read the signs.” That would keep Seth’s bare feet from receiving any more scrapes than they already had.
“You can carry me until we get out of the woods.” That was something, at least. It would mostly be grass and soil between the trailhead and tents.
“Come on, then. Up you go.” Logan carefully lifted Seth, shocked by how light he was. He could easily jog back to their campsite carrying him without losing his breath. He’d made a deal, though.
He walked as quickly as he could, making sure that Seth saw every sign along the way so he could point them out to Logan. They were almost to the trailhead when he saw a bobbing light and heard Bo’s voice.
“Seth? Logan?”
“We’re here,” he answered, walking into the clearing.
Without another word, Bo pocketed his phone and took Seth from Logan’s arms. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” He frantically examined the teenager’s scrawny arms and legs.
“I think his feet might be hurt, Bo,” Logan gently told him. “He scraped them up pretty badly walking without shoes.”
“Let’s go have Miss Scott look at you.” Bo headed toward the campground host site, Logan beside him. Logan couldn’t help but notice Seth hadn’t offered one single protest about being carried after Bo had him.
“Is he okay?” Mason asked as he ran up beside them. “I saw your flashlight heading toward Emily’s camper and figured you’d found him.”
“He hurt his feet,” Logan told him. “We’re just having Em check them out.”
“I’m going back to our sites, then. If anybody wakes up and finds all four of us gone, they’re liable to freak out.” Mason turned and headed toward their tents.
Logan had to knock on the door twice before Abby, an afghan wrapped protectively around her, opened it.
“What in the name of all that’s holy do you…is that Seth?” Her anger immediately turned to concern.
“Can Emily look at his feet?” Bo asked, his voice shaking. “He was barefoot on one of those trails.”
“Let me go tell her what’s going on. You’ll have to take him in there, though. It’s too hard for her to get up.” Abby let the three of them in as she rushed into what must have been Emily’s bedroom.
It wasn’t long before she was back out, a huge t-shirt hanging to her knees and a smaller one in her hands. “Bo, bring Seth over to the sink. We need to get this shirt on him before he freezes, and Em told me to wash his feet before she looks at them. She doesn’t want to take any chances with him getting an infection.”
Bo carried Seth to the kitchen and set him on the counter so he could slip the t-shirt Abby handed him over his head and arms. Then he lifted him over the kitchen sink and held him so that his feet dangled in it. Abby used a wet cloth to gently wash his feet, both tops and bottoms. Logan saw her grimace a couple of times while she was tending to them.
“Bring him on back,” she told Bo once she had patted Seth’s feet dry. She opened the bedroom door. Bo and Seth disappeared behind it.
Abby closed it and turned to face Logan. “I think we have it covered from here. You can leave.”
“Abby, I…”
“Leave, Logan. There aren’t any photo opportunities tonight—unless you want some poses of a nurse with a sprained ankle taking care of a half-naked boy’s bloody raw feet! That’d get Sloopy’s some publicity, wouldn’t it? And we all know that’s the most important thing to you.”
“Listen to me for a minute, Abby. This isn’t about me. It’s about Seth.” At least she had stopped ranting. “He ran away tonight. He told me Bo doesn’t want him to be his boy forever. He’s become so attached to Bo that he doesn’t want to leave him at all.”
Abby’s frustration dissipated in her concern for Seth. “What did you tell him? Please tell me you didn’t promise him he could always be with Bo.”
“Of course I didn’t,” Logan told her. “Even I know not to make promises that can’t be kept.”
“Sure you do.” Her brow furrowed. “I’m not sure how to handle this, but he needs help. That child has had enough turmoil in his life.” She paced the floor. “I think I have to call his caseworker and let her decide what to do. It might be in Seth’s best interest to get him to his aunt right away. I’m not trained to counsel children, you know.”
Logan knew it would kill Bo to lose Seth that soon, but if it were what was best for the child, his friend would accept it.
“Thank you, Abby.” Logan walked to the door and opened it. “I won’t force my company on you any longer. I’ll wait outside for Bo and Seth.”
Abby didn’t stop him as he walked out the door and down the steps. He sat on the bench of the picnic table. The first time he’d sat there, he had been ready to make love to Emily—with no regard to where they were or who was around them. And she had been right there with him, lost to her feelings and more responsive than he would have ever thought possible. He had never experienced that strong of feelings for a woman before and he feared he never would again.
Chapter 22
“Brody asked me on a date,” Abby told Emily as she marched into the Rec building, her grin
nearly splitting her face apart.
“That’s a shocker,” Emily replied drolly. “When’s the big day?”
“He has a business dinner at Butlers next Friday, and he wants me to go with him.”
Emily didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but she had to point out, “That’s not a very romantic first date, Abby.”
Abby giggled. “It’s across the parking lot from the inn, Em. He has a suite reserved for us.”
“Isn’t that kind of fast?” It wasn’t like her friend to just jump into bed with a guy.
“I realize we’ve only known each other for a week and a half, but I feel like I’ve known him forever, Emily. He says he feels the same way, and I believe him.” Abby’s eyes were glowing with happiness. “I already know in my heart—he’s the one.”
“Please don’t get mad at me, but don’t you think you should wait awhile and see how you both feel after you get back home?” Emily really didn’t want to rain on her friend’s parade. “You know how I’ve always called Boone’s my oasis?”
Abby slowly nodded, her smile rapidly fading.
“The past ten days we’ve been in our own little world with these guys. There haven’t been any other commitments, schedules, or…people. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Like Emily had.
“Oh my gosh, Emily.” Abby sank to one of the chairs in front of the washing machines. “What was I thinking? I’m not going to bed with him on our first date! And our first date isn’t going to be some stuffy business dinner with a bunch of other lawyers and their wives or girlfriends.” She was building up a head of steam. “If Brody Gaines really wants to be with me, he’d better plan on some serious wining and dining.”
“Don’t you think you should let Brody know that instead of telling me?” Emily asked.
“I will—after I give Bo the good news.”
“What good news?” Abby must have had a busy morning.
“Vanessa called. It turns out that Seth’s aunt loves fast-pitch softball and knows who Bo is. She’d love for him to be a part of her nephew’s life, especially since Seth won’t have any other male role models. She works to support herself and isn’t married.” Abby looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary.
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