12. Missy
Missy
I can tell something has changed the moment Griffin comes home. It’s funny that I’ve already started to think about this guest room as home. But that’s what it is because Griffin always spends the night with me here. Anywhere he is, that’s home.
I’ve put Daisy down for a nap with her blanket, but she’s fighting sleep. I’ve read parenting books that tell me she needs to learn to self-soothe. I get that it works for some parents. I can’t do it. I want her to know that if she cries, I’ll be here to comfort her.
He joins me in the bedroom, the sounds of his boot scuffing against the worn hardwood floors filling me with warmth. Every time he comes home, I get a little thrill. I think it’ll always be this way.
He joins me over the crib, putting a hand on Daisy’s belly. Her body relaxes completely like she knows her guardian and protector is here. She trusts him completely, and that tells me everything I need to know about the man beside me.
“Is everything OK?” I ask quietly. I suspect she likes the rumbling sound of his voice. She always drifts to sleep when he starts singing lullabies to her.
He says, “We found the drugs we were looking for in your car. It had been modified with several hidden compartments.”
“Wow,” I whisper, taking this new information in.
All this time I’ve been driving around with a car filled with drugs.
If a police officer with a K-9 had ever stopped me, no one would have believed I didn’t know they were there.
It’s one more reason I feel fortunate to have landed in Courage County.
“I’ve arranged a meeting with Roulette and Jagger tomorrow. They think they’re coming to offer a small finder’s fee in exchange for their drugs.”
The weight of this news settles over me like a thick cloud. We can’t give it back and have it be over. I know that’s not the way the world works. Men like Roulette and Jagger will not hesitate to destroy every witness.
In this moment, I decide to accept my fate. There are no other good alternatives. As long as Daisy is safe, I can live with any other outcome, even losing my own life. “Tell me what time I need to be there.”
He swears under his breath. “You’re not going.”
“I have to go. It’s me they want. It’s the only way my daughter will be safe,” I protest.
“These are dangerous men. If something goes wrong, which I don’t think it will, you need to be here. Daisy still needs one parent.”
I swallow hard. “I have to do what’s best for her.”
“Staying here and protecting our daughter is what’s best for her,” he insists. I can tell from the hard set of the jaw that there’s no arguing with him. He’d give me the world if I asked him, but he won’t let me put myself in danger.
“Don’t get shot,” I whisper, voicing my biggest fear out loud.
He takes my face in his hands, his touch gentle for such a big, rough man. “You’re not going to lose me. I’m going to take care of this. Then we’re going to be together forever.”
I blink back hot tears that threaten to spill down my cheeks. “Promise that you’re coming back to me.”
“I promise,” he says the words solemnly as if they’re a vow. “I promise you I’m coming back home.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and stand on my toes to give him a kiss. The moment our lips connect, the familiar passion explodes. I kiss him with all of the fear and the sadness and the love I have.
He cups the back of my head, angling the kiss so he can deepen it. His tongue strokes along mine. I moan against him, curling even closer to his body.
He is my rock in the storm, my safe shelter. He breaks the kiss, and I blink up at him, sucking in oxygen and trying to figure out why he stopped kissing me. That’s when I hear the soft vibration of his phone.
He glances at the screen, and I see it’s a call from Sheriff Luke. I know he has to take this. I give him my best serene smile.
Although I’m nervous something bad will happen to him, I also trust this man completely. “I know you have to take the call.”
I leave the room and go to the kitchen where Aunt Dorothy is. She frowns the moment she sees me, looking dismayed. “I’ve searched the truck three times. I cannot find it. I’m so sorry.”
Daisy and I went shopping with her today to get my daughter new clothes. Somewhere in all of our activities, we lost Daisy’s blue blanket.
That blanket is the last piece I had of Shelley, a reminder that not everything she did was horrible. I can’t bear the thought of losing it, but I don’t want to make Aunt Dorothy feel bad. It’s not her fault it went missing.
“Maybe it’ll turn up.” Her voice is weak and uncertain. We both know it’s not in the house.
That’s when it hits me, the barn. Dorothy and I both spent time in the barn with Daisy today. We’ve been visiting Belle every day since Griffin introduced us.
She seems to have taken a real liking to the barn, and Dorothy swears she’s going to grow up to be a horse girl.
I’m pretty sure she’s already picked out the very first pony she plans to buy for Daisy.
She’s going to spoil my little girl, not that I mind.
I like that Daisy is surrounded by so much love.
Aunt Dorothy snaps her fingers. “That’s a great idea.”
“I’ll check there,” I say because I know she’s exhausted. She’s spent well over an hour looking for the thing.
“While you do that, I’ll get dinner started,” she says. While we were out, we picked up all of the ingredients for tacos. She tells me her homemade hot sauce is famous in five counties and outlawed in two of them. I can’t wait to try it.
I slip into my sandals and pat my pocket to make sure my phone is in it. “I’ll be gone a minute.”
I could wait and ask Griffin to go with me, but the ranch hands are doing regular rotations around all of the buildings. I’m not sure there’s a square inch on this property where I could go and not be watched. Thinking about that has me remembering my argument with Griffin over the cameras.
My body heats thinking about that. Maybe I need to pick more fights with him. I love how passionate he is.
As soon as I step into the barn, I know something is wrong. It’s almost like I can sense the anxiety of the horses. A hand reaches from a darkened corner and yanks me into one of the stalls.
Glaring at me are Roulette and Jagger, the men I’ve been running from. I reach for my pocket to call Dorothy, but Jagger grabs my phone and tosses it on the floor of the mucky stall.
Roulette sneers at me, his gun glinting in the cracks of light coming through the old boards. “Where are the drugs?”
“I don’t know,” I whimper out the words. I wish that I had thought to ask Griffin. My heart is pounding so hard that I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a heart attack right here. Is that a thing? Can you get scared into a heart attack?
Roulette shrugs. “Then we’ll go in the house and ask your boyfriend.”
Daisy is in the house. I can’t have these men anywhere near her. I have to lead them away from her, Griffin, and Dorothy. They are my family, and I won’t let them get hurt.
Doing my best to sound confident and not like I’m scared out of my mind, I say, “I don’t keep them here. Are you crazy? He’s a cop.”
The two exchange a look, and I can tell from their expressions that this is not new information. It’s only something that I confirmed.
Roulette’s expression changes like he’s trying to be cordial, but the hardness in his eyes never leaves. “You take us to where the drugs are, and nothing bad will happen.”
I nod like I believe them. They don’t plan to let me live past this encounter, but none of that matters if I can get them away from the house.
Roulette gestures to Jagger, “Go start the car. Have it running, and we’ll be there in a minute. I don’t want them seeing three of us leave together.”
Jagger disappears to get the car. I know that this is my chance if I want to make an escape.
We’re one on one now, but he still has a gun.
If only I had something of my own, a weapon to even the playing field.
That’s when I spot a shovel in the corner of the stall.
It’s not as good as a gun, but it’s better than nothing.
As if she can sense the plan forming in my mind, Belle neighs loudly.
It distracts Roulette long enough for me to make my move. I grab the shovel and jab his stomach with it. He doubles over with a wheeze, and I use it to smack him on the head. He crumples in a heap, and I kick the gun away.
Griffin shouts my name. There’s an edge of undeniable panic in his voice, which means he found Jagger already.
“I’m in here,” I call.
He joins me in the stall, his gun trained on Roulette who is still unconscious at my feet. He scans me from head to toe with his gaze. His face is white, and I’ve never seen him clutch his gun before.
I ask the first question I can think of, the only one that matters. “Is Daisy OK? Is she safe?”
“She’s still sleeping. Never even knew what was happening. Did he hurt you?” His words are tumbling over each other, growing increasingly angry. I think he’s close to pulling that trigger. One word from my lips, and he’d do it without hesitation.
“Griffin, look at me,” I command.
He drags his gaze away from the drug dealer to me.
“It’s not the same thing. I’m not her. I’m here with you. I’m safe now,” I promise.
I see the moment my words register. The thick tension he’s carrying melts away. My heart hurts for the boy who lost his mom and for the man who had to relive his worst nightmare. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Two more ranch hands arrive along with Russell. Within seconds, they have Roulette secured with zip ties. He’s barely moving, but he’s still breathing.
“You were so brave,” Griffin crushes me against his chest, burying his face in my hair. “All I could think about was getting to you.”
I melt into his embrace, not caring about our audience of cowboys. “What made you realize something was wrong?”
“I came out to the barn to find you. Two of our guys were down. Said they’d been hit by someone who came up from behind them.”
“Luke is already on his way,” Russell tells us. “He’ll probably have some questions for you.”
Sheriff Luke arrives within a few minutes. He puts both Roulette and Jagger into the back of his car. Then Griffin and I follow him down to the station, so we can give our statements.
Everything feels surreal, like a dream and not something that actually happened to me. At least, it does until halfway through my statement. That’s when I realize everything that could have happened. I could have lost Daisy. I could have lost Griffin. I could have been killed.
Tears pour down my face as I start to sob and shake, the adrenaline gone from my system.
Griffin wraps his arms around me and says to Luke, “The interview is over. If you have more questions, you know where to find her.”
With that, he picks me up and carries me from the station.
Daisy is still sleeping soundly in her crib when we get home. Dorothy and Russell are up in the kitchen drinking coffee at the table. They look up when we come into the house, but Griffin shakes his head, so they don’t say a word.
He carries me into the bedroom. “Let’s get you in bed.”
“I still smell like horse and muck. I need a shower,” I croak, my throat raw from crying for the last hour.
He carries me into the bathroom and sets me gently on the counter. He warms the shower water before undressing me. There’s not a lot of room in the shower stall, but he still crowds in there with me. His hands roam over my body as he washes me tenderly.
When we’re done, he dresses me in one of his old T-shirts and dries my hair, combing it so gently that it never snags.
It’s not until we’re in bed together that I admit what’s worrying me. We’re lying on our sides, facing each other. The bedside lamp is still on, and in the low light, I can see the streaks of silver starting in his beard. “Luke said there’s going to be a trial.”
I imagine that this is going to stretch out for months or even years. I know the kind of men that Roulette and Jagger work for. They won’t let this go. What should have been a victory today may only be the beginning of the nightmare, and that’s what scares me the most.
He takes my hand, threading our fingers together underneath the blankets. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I will keep you safe.”
“I don’t want to leave town and you. This place is wonderful.” I start crying again, putting my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound so I don’t wake Daisy.
“Oh, honey,” he thumbs away my tears gently, “I’m never letting you go. That’s something you can count on.”
“I feel like Daisy and I have a family now, and it’s the best feeling in the world,” I tell him between hiccups.
“We are your family, and here in Courage, we stand behind family. Whatever happens in the future, you won’t face it alone.”
His words soothe the former foster kid in me that was worried about having to leave. Maybe after years of searching, I finally found my forever home. With that thought, I drift into a peaceful sleep. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m not on my own anymore.