Page 6 of Mountain Reawakening

His head drops forward as he pauses with one hand on the doorknob and the other braced on the doorframe.

I rush forward babbling, “I know you’ve been here all day and certainly have gone beyond what your job requires. I’m sure you’re in a hurry to get back to your life, but I can’t let you leave without telling you how grateful I am for all that you’ve done for us today.” My voice cracks. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t found her…” I sniff as I trail off, thoughts of losing my baby still too fresh in my mind. My arms wrap around my waist in a pitiful attempt to hold myself together.

He turns with a sigh, his face pinched. “Aww, hell. Don’t cry, sweetheart. It all turned out okay. Maisie’s none the worse for the wear. Hopefully, she learned her lesson.”

I bite down on my quivering bottom lip before swallowing the sob threatening. I give a sharp shake of my head. “But I can’t keep from thinking about how much worse it could’ve been.”

His big hand rises to cradle my jaw, thumb brushing across the apple of my cheek, swiping away the tear I couldn’t hold back. The heat from it sparks throughout my body, warming me. I can’t help but lean into the contact, needing the comfort he’s offering more than I realized. Even though I was surrounded by people today, they were all strangers. Being in a new place, there’s no one here I know to count on when things get difficult. Then again, there weren’t many I would’ve been able to rely on where we came from. Mike turned everyone against me.

“We can’t dwell on the could’ve beens. It only serves to drag us into the depths of despair, and I promise you it’s a fucking hard place to pull yourself out of once your mind traps you there. You got your girl back. She’s going to be fine. That’s what you focus on.”

Tanner’s voice is rough, and there’s a flash of pain in his hazel eyes, telling me he’s speaking from experience. It makes me want to know what could’ve beens are still causing him to hurt. It makes my heart ache for the man who has shown us nothing but kindness when we were in desperate need of it.

His hand drops, stealing the heat and leaving me bereft of comfort. His hands clench into fists at his side and his lips press together before he reaches into his back pocket, producing a black leather wallet. He pulls a card from it, holding it out pinched between his forefinger and middle finger.

“Here’s my number. Call me if there’s anything you need.”

“Thank you for everything,” I reply, taking the stiff square of cardstock. My thumb runs over the indented lettering with Tanner’s name, number, and Coyote Creek Search and Rescue stacked on top of each other.

Tanner watches me for a moment longer before dipping his chin. “Glad I could help.”

Then he slips out the door, closing it softly behind him. The silence I’m surrounded by is deafening. Before it gets overwhelming, I spin, hustling back to Maisie’s room to check on her, needing the reassurance that she’s safe and sound where she should be.

Chapter Six

Tanner

The ringing of the bell on the door is obscured by a squeal as I enter Darcie’s Drip for a mid-morning pick me up after my meeting.

“Prince Hero Tanner!”

The unmistakable voice has the corners of my lips tugging up. I glance toward the register where the yell originated just in time to catch Maisie launching herself into the air at me. Her complete faith in me catching her has my chest clenching.

When her spindly little arms encircle my neck, squeezing, my heart stutters. My eyes fall closed as I clutch her to me. The strawberry scent clinging to her curly blonde locks fills my nostrils as I inhale.

The sprite leans back, bringing her hands to my cheeks, rubbing them against the bristle of my short beard.

“I’ve missed you so, so much. You haven’t come back to sees me, and I’ve been being the bestest not going anywhere without Mommy. Are you going to come visit soon?” A large gasp is the only pause in her word vomit. “I know you can come for deener. Mommy’s making my favoritest paskety and meatballs. Do you like paskety? It’s so very yummy and the meatballs are sized just for me. I gets to help make them. I’m the bestest at it. Right Mommy?”

“Maisie! We do not run and jump on people like that!” Ella admonishes her daughter in a whisper yell. “And you need to take a breath and give Tanner a moment to process that barrage of information.” Ella meets my eyes with pinched brows, and the corners of her mouth downturned. She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what has gotten into her. She’s never done that before.”

Maisie’s lower lip pops out as she glares at her mother, crossing her arms over her chest. “But he’s a Prince Hero. I knewed he could catch me, cause that’s what heroes do. And what’s a garage of infomation?”

I press my lips together, biting down to keep from chuckling at the pint-size spitfire I’m holding. Swallowing down the urge to laugh, I bounce Maisie on my arm and tickle her while attempting to smooth over their argument. “It’s okay, especially if you give me a warning so I can catch you, but you should listen to your mom. She’s a pretty smart lady. A barrage means a lot of something, and you sure did give me a lot of information in a short amount of time.”

There’s no stopping the grin on my face at her little giggle. “Otay, Prince Hero Tanner. You’re gonna reads me more stories when you come to deener tonight, right? I gots some new ones from the libarry that Miss Elsie says have princes in them.”

“This is probably one of the things you should check with your mom on first, Maisie-Girl.”

She slaps her hands together as if praying under her chin while batting her eyelashes at her mother. “Pwease, say it’s okay for my Prince Hero to come over for paskety Mommy. I’ve been the bestest girl and have been listening to you real good.”

Once again I find myself sealing my lips together and swallowing a chuckle at Maisie’s antics. Ella’s full lips twitch as her hands fist on her round hips, indicating she’s not immune to her precocious child any more than I am. Her cerulean eyes sparkle with amusement, lighting up her entire face. Seeing her relaxed and enjoying herself like this is a balm to my calloused heart.

And while she may have my heart softening, she has another part of my anatomy hardening. Her happiness makes her radiant. She’s not wearing anything meant to be provocative, just snug worn jeans and a fitted T-shirt, but they hug her thick curves in the most enticing of ways. My fingers itch to run across her silky soft skin again.

It was torture witnessing her fall apart with the disappearance of her daughter. I was afraid it would cause long term psychological damage to them both. Maisie bounced back before we even returned to her house, but Ella, I was less sure about.

Leaving her when she obviously had no one to comfort her was damn hard, but it wasn’t my place to offer her the comfort she clearly needed. I’m a virtual stranger, so I did what I could to make sure she knew she could reach out by giving her my card. I probably shouldn’t have, knowing I locked my heart up, but I couldn’t resist the pull of these two so against my better judgment I gave her the option of reaching out.