Kate Little – Baby On The Run (страница 2)
“How old is your child, ma’am?”
“Six months, a little girl.”
“Is anyone hurt? Any bleeding?”
“No, we’re both fine. Just please, send someone to pick us up. I’m afraid that my daughter is going to get frostbite.”
“We’ll send help right away. Where are you located?”
“I… I’m not sure… I got off the highway at the last exit. Then I turned off the exit ramp… The sign said Greenwood…or Greenbriar…” Carey sighed. “I don’t live around here. I was lost and I got off the road to find a gas station…”
“Okay, miss. I have some idea where you might be. Were you traveling north or south?”
“I don’t know…” Carey tried hard not to lose her temper.
“I went right at the stop sign…I think.”
“Is the car visible from the road…?”
The connection started to break up. Carey spoke quickly.
“I don’t know… I…”
Then the phone went dead.
Carey stared at the screen. The battery had run down. She hadn’t even realized it was low. She shook it, knowing it wouldn’t help at all. She felt so frustrated, she wanted to scream.
Had she given the operator enough information to find the car? She could hardly say for sure. It was snowing so hard. The windows of the half-buried car were already coated so that she couldn’t see out.
It was a holiday. And such a small town. She didn’t think there would be many police or EMS workers on duty tonight to come look for her.
It might take a long time. It might take…hours.
What now? Was she stuck here with Lindsay? She couldn’t start walking, not in this snow. And where would she walk to? She hadn’t seen a single house since she’d turned off the highway.
Or a car or truck passing. She didn’t want to leave Lindsay alone even for a few minutes, while she walked up to the road, but she realized she had to. She could tie her scarf to a tree or set out some other distress signal.
She pushed down a wave of panic. If they were stranded for hours, what would she do? She didn’t even want to think that far.
Carey secured Lindsay in her seat again, closed the car and headed up the snow-covered slope toward the road. The hill was steep and she thought it was a miracle the car had made it to the bottom in one piece, without either of them being hurt.
That was one lucky break.
She had to tug herself up, pulling on a branch, to get to the road again. Her leather boots with thin soles and heels were not exactly ideal for hiking, but finally, she made it.
She stood at the shoulder of the road and gasped for air, then gasped with alarm as a man ran toward her through the snow. He was big. Very big. With broad shoulders and long legs. He wore a thick parka with the hood pulled up over his head and knee-high boots.
Backlit from the headlights of a car parked down the road, his face was obscured and she couldn’t see anything more than his outline.
Carey felt frozen in place and swallowed hard, hoping he was help and not more trouble.
When he finally drew closer she could see from the patches on his jacket that he was a police officer and she breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“Gosh, you got here quickly. I didn’t think the 911 operator even knew where I was. Then my phone went dead and…”
He stared at her a moment. “I wasn’t sent out to find you. I was just driving home and saw the flashers.”
Home to his cozy warm house and a family, who was probably waiting for him to celebrate Christmas Eve, she added silently.
“Thanks for stopping.”
“No thanks necessary. Are you all right?”
His voice was deep and even, soothing her ragged nerves.
He took a step closer, staring down at her. “What happened to your car? Did you skid in the snow?”
“An animal jumped out from the woods. I guess it was a deer. I turned, trying to avoid it.”
“Are you traveling alone?”
A logical question. Though the way he said it and the way he was looking at her now made her swallow hard. Made her feel even more isolated…and lonely.
“I have my baby with me. She’s down in the car, but she’s fine. I left her for a minute so I could put out a distress signal.”
The word
Carey ran behind him. She didn’t come down the hill nearly as gracefully and rode most of the way on her bottom.
By the time she reached the car, he had Lindsay out of her seat and handed her up to Carey’s waiting arms.
“She looks okay. You bundled her up well.”
Then he picked up the extra blanket on the backseat and tucked it around the baby. Carey was surprised. She hadn’t even asked him. It was an unexpected, tender gesture.
Lindsay was crying, but he didn’t seem to notice. There was something about him, a centered, calm air that seemed as unshakable as a mountain. The complete opposite of how she felt.
“Need anything from the back?” he asked.
“That blue baby bag—” she pointed it out “—and the black duffel…and the car seat, too. I guess.”
He scooped up both heavy bags and slung the straps over his shoulders as if they were empty. Then he picked up the car seat. He locked up the car and they headed back toward the road.
When they reached the snowy slope, he put the bags down and turned to her. “Let’s leave the bags and seat down here. I’ll come back for them. I’ll hold the baby if you like and we can go up together.”
Carey considered his plan for a moment, then remembered going up the hill the first time and nodded. “All right.”
She handed Lindsay over, feeling a tiny, instinctive twinge of concern. It vanished in an instant once she saw the way her rescuer cradled the baby protectively to his chest.
His strong, gentle embrace was reassuring and a much safer way for Lindsay to travel than if she had carried the baby herself.
He stood by and let her go up first. She started to slip and he was instantly at her side, one strong arm cradling Lindsay to his chest and the other suddenly wrapped around her waist, catching her close before she fell.
He looked down at her. Just about all she could see of his face, covered by his parka hood, were his eyes. Brilliant blue of a summer morning, defying the dark night and falling snow.
She focused on getting up the hill, one slippery step at a time. It was hard to ignore the man beside her. His face was suddenly so close she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. She quickly turned away and stared straight ahead. This was the closest she’d been to anyone in over a year, since Tom had died.
“Careful now, I’ve got you. Just go slowly.”
“I can make it.” She tried hard to keep her mind on getting up the hill. The feeling of his arm around her waist and his hard strong body so close next to hers was both distracting…and energizing.
When he reached the top, she gave out a sigh of relief. She was sure he thought she was just happy the trek was over.
He carefully handed the baby over, then went down for the rest of her belongings. She wasn’t sure how he could manage the two large bags and car seat in one trip, but moments later, he emerged on the roadside, with the entire load, not even winded.
She followed him to a dark green SUV that was parked down the road. He tossed her bags in the back then secured the baby’s seat in the backseat. Carey placed Lindsay in the car seat and fastened the strap.
Then she softly kissed the baby on her forehead and stroked her cheek. Carey was sure she must be hungry and need a diaper change. “Poor sweetheart. I’ll take care of you very soon,” she promised.
Moments later, she sat up front and the police officer started the vehicle. He pushed back the hood of his parka and she finally had a good look at his face.