“Good. Now, I’m going to carry you to the car, and we’ll get you sorted out in no time, Ms. Boudreau.”
“I think you’d best call me Ms. Patti, since you’re doing me a huge favor by rescuing me. You’re a regular knight in shining armor, Stan. A hero.”
Color flooded his cheeks at her words, and she wondered if he wasn’t used to being complimented. She would’ve thought Beverly would dote on her son, but then again neither Beverly nor William spoke about Stan. Yes, she knew they had one child, a son, but from what she could remember they were estranged and had been for a long time. He hadn’t moved with them to Shiloh Springs all those years ago, so the rift was a longstanding one. With everything that had been going on with her boys and their women lately, she hadn’t had time to catch up with her friends. Maybe they’d mended fences, and that’s why Beverly called him to help out while William was in the hospital. She made a mental note to get in touch with Beverly as soon as possible, to see if there was anything she needed.
“I assure you, ma’am, I’m nobody’s hero. I’m the farthest thing from heroic of anybody you’ve ever met.” His gaze met hers, steady and unwavering. “But I’m trying. Taking things one day at a time, because I want to be the person, the man, my family deserves.”
“Well, today, you are my hero, Stan. Now, let’s get out of here. I’ve got places to go and a baby shower to finish plans for.”
He eased her onto the car seat and gently helped her lift her injured leg into the car. While there was a twinge of pain, she didn’t have the sharp agony like earlier.
“You rest, Ms. Boudreau—Ms. Patti—” he amended at her squinty-eyed look, and added, “The doctors will have you good as new in no time.”
“Thank you, Stan. Oh, can I borrow your cell phone? I want to let my husband know where I’m at before he rounds up all my sons to look for me.”
“Um, about that, I left it at my mother’s place. I didn’t realize I hadn’t stuck it in my pocket until about half an hour ago. Sorry.”
Darn. Oh well, surely Douglas wouldn’t worry yet. He knew she was going to be with the ladies, getting things ready for Beth’s baby shower. They probably hadn’t even missed her yet. One quick phone call when she got to Doc Jennings’ emergency clinic and the crisis would be averted. Leaning her head back against the headrest, she closed her eyes, the soothing motion of the tires against the asphalt lulling her into a dreamless sleep within minutes.
Douglas fought against the pool of fear that had settled deep inside him after Rafe’s call. One of his greatest fears was losing his precious wife. The simple thought of her not being in his life? Inconceivable. You might as well stick a knife in his chest and finish him, because there would be no going on without her.
Climbing into the cab of his work truck, he gunned the engine, and pointed the hood toward town, praying for all he was worth. He drew in a deep breath, knowing he needed to stay calm, not aggravate his blood pressure. After his health scare earlier this year, where they’d thought he’d had a heart attack, the doc had placed specific demands in place—including not allowing himself to get overexcited. But how’d he expect him to remain calm when his wife wasn’t able to be located?
Stomping his foot down harder on the accelerator, he watched the needle on the speedometer climb ever upward. He didn’t care, his one concern, his one focus was finding his Patricia.
Scenes from their life together seemed to play through his thoughts. He could remember the day he’d met her. The moment he’d seen her something had broken loose inside him, and he’d felt freer than he’d ever felt before. The feelings he’d had for another woman, one he’d thought he’d loved, disappeared in an instant, because he couldn’t see anybody but Patricia Mackenzie with her glorious blonde hair and blue eyes. She’d stolen his breath with their first meeting, and still did to this day.
Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that settled over him like a shroud. He refused to believe he wouldn’t find her. And she’d swat his arm the way she always did, and fuss because everybody had been worried. Hoped against hope it was simply a dead cell phone. Or she’d run out of gas. Or she was helping somebody in town and simply hadn’t thought about contacting anybody.
Except she would’ve called someone. His beautiful wife wouldn’t have left the ladies hanging without letting them know she would be late. For her not to show up? Every worst-case scenario raced through his mind, and didn’t that scare him half to death? Shiloh Springs was a safe place. Didn’t have the kind of crimes seen mostly in the bigger cities, but more and more people were moving into the area. Drugs and guns moved across the border with increasing frequency. No matter how hard they worked to keep their town a haven for its citizens, bad stuff happened.
But not to his wife. Not his Patricia.
His gaze strayed to his cell, beside him on the seat. Grabbing it up, he punched the speed dial for his wife. Listened to the ringing and sighed when it switched to voice mail.
“Honey, the boys are getting worried coz they can’t get hold of you. Gimme a call, so I can set their minds at ease.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Mine too. Love you.”
Disconnecting the call, he immediately dialed Rafe.
“Dad.”
“Have you heard anything yet?”
Please say yes. Please say you’ve heard from your momma and she’s fine and this has all been a colossal misunderstanding and she’s waiting for me to reach town.
“Sorry, Dad. I’m contacting my brothers and we’re organizing a search party. We will find her, I promise.”
Douglas drew in a deep breath, and eased up on the accelerator as he drew closer to town. Traffic was getting thicker, and as much as he wanted to shove the pedal to the floor, he refused to put other lives in danger.
“Where do you need me, son? I’m on the outskirts of town now, so I can meet you wherever you need.”
“Can you think of anyplace Momma mentioned going? An errand she meant to run? Somebody she’d planned to visit with and had put off?”
“Not that I can think of. Wait, she did mention a couple of days ago that she wanted to check on Edna. Said she’d been down with the flu, and she wanted to stop by and see if she needed help at the bed and breakfast. You think she might have stopped there on her way to the bakery?”
“I’m thinking we should check any possibilities. I’ve got a lead and I’m headed in the opposite direction, so why don’t you plan to head over to the B&B and see if Momma stopped by there?”
Hope blossomed inside Douglas’ chest. At least he had someplace to start. The not knowing, feeling so helpless had been eating away at him like an insidious cancer, and he latched onto the possibility he might find his wife at the B&B.
