“Joe, would you mind coming to pick me up? We can drive around and see if we can find him. Make sure he didn’t take a call by himself or something and end up in trouble.”
“You really think it’s that serious?”
“I know it is, Joe.”
“Alright. I’ll be there in a few.”
Joe picks me up, and we make our way down the mountain.
“The cruiser isn’t at his place either,” Joe says as we drive past.
Way to state the obvious, I think, but I don’t say it. Joe is just trying to help. He doesn’t need me snapping at him.
Joe and I drive up and down the streets. We check The Place twice, drive back to the station in case he’s switched the cruiser for the truck, but nothing. It’s close to midnight when he calls it a night and drops me off at home, promising we’ll get the whole unit involved if he doesn’t show up tomorrow. I know just as well as him that we can’t file a missing person until he’s been gone twenty-four hours.
I clean up the mess from dinner and put everything away before pulling on one of his baggy T-shirts and sliding into bed. It takes me forever to fall asleep. I keep thinking the worst. What if he took a call by himself? What if he was shot and is lying in a ditch somewhere? What if he’s hurt? What if he’s just tired of me and decided to take off? He wouldn’t do that, would he? He did turn me down for a quick romp before he left, though. Maybe he is tired of me.
By some stroke of luck, I manage to fall asleep around two a.m. I’m sleeping deeply, not even dreaming. Suddenly, I hear a noise that jerks me awake. The sound of a man’s heavy boots walking across the living room floor has me dashing from the bed. I come to a sudden stop when I see Bryce in the living room, shrugging out of his jacket.
I breathe a sigh of relief as I rush toward him, wrap my arms around him, and pull him close. “Where have you been?”
“I’m sorry. I know I missed dinner,” he says, sitting on the couch and pulling me down with him. I sit on his lap with my arms around his neck, twirling the hair at the back of his head. “I was leaving the station when I got a call from Mrs. Winters. She was afraid her husband was having a heart attack, but he refused to go and get checked out. I went up there to check out the situation.”
“You were at the Winters?”
He nods before letting his head fall back against the couch.
“No wonder we couldn’t find you.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I got worried when you wouldn’t answer your phone, and Joe said you weren’t answering his radio call either.”
“I forgot the radio in the cruiser. I was so high up the mountain that I didn’t have any reception for my cell to work. I’m sorry for making you worry.”
I rest my head against his chest. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re alive and not dying in a ditch somewhere.”
He chuckles. “So, does Joe know about us now?”
“No, he’s too stupid to figure it out, even after tonight. It’s good that nobody lets him carry a gun. He’d probably shoot his own eye out,” I joke.
He laughs but checks the time on his watch. “What do you say we catch a few more hours of sleep?”
“Sounds perfect,” I reply as he stands with me in his arms, carrying me to bed.
Snuggling down with his strong arms around me after the night of worry that I had feels better than ever. Deep down, I was really worried I’d never seen him again, despite trying to remain cool and calm about the situation. I wonder if this is how things will always be with him being the sheriff. Will I be scared that every time he kisses me will be the last kiss? I never thought about these things before, and I wish I weren’t thinking them now. He’s snoring behind me, but I’m still wide awake, worrying about things that shouldn’t even cross my mind.
Twelve
Bryce
Now that she’s sound asleep and her shaking has stopped, I crawl out of bed for a shower. I can’t believe she was so worried, and a part of me feels terrible for making her worry. It never crossed my mind to try checking in with her some way, but I make a mental note to keep her in the know next time. I don’t think she even realized how badly she was shaking. It makes my gut knot up with guilt.
I shower off quickly, just needing to wash off the day. I pull on a pair of boxers and crawl back into bed. She’s breathing heavily and not moving a muscle. She must be wiped out. I slide my left arm under her pillow and pull her against my chest. I press a kiss to the side of her neck. “God, I wish you knew how much I love you,” I whisper into the darkness, even though I know she can’t hear me. It’s relieving getting the words out there even if she doesn’t acknowledge them. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you,” I say, laying my head down on the pillow. Moments later, sleep takes me.
When I wake up in the morning, the bed is empty. I roll to my side to see the clock. It’s going on nine a.m.
“Shit,” I mumble under my breath as I push myself to get out of bed. “Nina, we overslept,” I shout, but she never answers.
I stand up, use the bathroom, and go in search of her. I check the kitchen and the living room, but they’re both empty. I peek out the front window to see that her car’s not even in the drive. She went to work without me and left me sleeping in her bed. Why would she do that?
I bust my ass to get dressed and rush to the station. I make it fifteen minutes later, and instead of going to my office, I go to hers.
“Why’d you let me sleep in?” I ask, jarring her.
She spins her chair around. “Sorry, I came in early and just assumed you had your alarms set.”
“My phone is dead. It spent all night searching for a signal while I was on the mountain. It drained the battery. And I was too busy trying to calm you down last night to remember to charge it.”
She stands up and wraps her arms around my waist. She rests her head against my chest. “I really am sorry. I didn’t want to wake you earlier. You’d barely gotten any sleep.”
I hug her tightly. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault that I didn’t charge my phone. I was just hoping to wake up with you in my arms instead of an empty bed.”
She looks up at me with her shining blue eyes. “I should get back to work.”
I place my finger beneath her chin and hold her a moment longer, just long enough to kiss those thick lips of hers that I love so much. “Lunch at home today?”
She nods. “Sure.”
Sure? I wonder what’s up with her today. Maybe she just didn’t get enough sleep. I shrug it off and leave her office, heading for mine.
At lunchtime, we each drive our own vehicles back to her place, and she gets busy making us both a sandwich while I pour us each a glass of iced tea. We sit at the kitchen table, eating in silence. Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “Is something wrong?” I ask, taking a sip of tea.
“No. Why would you think that?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. You’ve just been acting strangely today.
She offers up a small smile. “I’m just tired. I’m cranky when I don’t get enough sleep.”