“Thank you. I do have some ideas. Tomorrow we fetch Mason, then we hunt.” Tucker’s eyes glitter with determination.
“You aren’t alone in this, Tucker,” Cooper promises.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Tucker grins while he eats. “After I talk to the Captain…”
“No. We can’t involve the department,” Wyatt snaps.
Everyone falls quiet for a moment. “Why not?” Tucker asks.
“Things have changed, Tucker. The department is compromised. In fact, we are both thinking about leaving the police force.”
“It’s that bad?” Tucker asks softly.
“Yes. They only care about money. You need to get this child and get out of town quickly. Before they find out about her,” Cooper says.
“I didn’t know. This escalates things. Tomorrow we will go to the orphanage. I will just have to trust you all to grab whoever shows up.”
“Not a bad idea,” Shep says with a smirk. “We will take care of that, while you keep Abbie safe.”
“Thank you. I’ll go ahead and get return tickets, though maybe we should take a detour. They might expect us to go straight back.”
“I have a house in Arizona, Tucker. You should consider taking them there until we can make sure things are safe,” Shep insists.
“I’ll consider it. I’m not sure Abbie will go along with it.”
“Just use that Manning charm, and she’s sure to cave,” Cooper teases.
“How did you find a woman with such faith?” Wyatt asks, and everyone falls quiet.
“Abbie is an example of God’s grace,” Tucker says softly. “I don’t deserve her, in fact, she deserves better, but I’m also not stupid enough to walk away from her.”
All three men nod, and Mrs. Combs smiles softly from the doorway.
“How do I convince Abbie to trust me with her heart when the one she gave her heart to crushed it?”
“That’s the easy part,” Mrs. Combs replies as she places a plate of cookies in front of them. “You start by showing her you can be trusted. Be there for her and pray. God will do the rest.”
“Sounds like good advice,” Tucker smiles as she pats his shoulder.
Chapter 25
Abbie scrubs her body and washes her hair. She winces and presses on the bump. It isn’t bleeding, that’s good, she thinks. After quickly toweling dry she dresses in her large brown dress, deciding to leave off the corset and allow her ribs to heal.
She braids her hair and elects to lay on the bed for a moment to give her body a break. A sigh of relief escapes her lips, and she is asleep by the fifth breath.
The next time she opens her eyes, the sun is shining in through the window. Groaning, she rolls over and supports her arm as she sits up. Pain is fluttering around behind her eyes, but she finds the more she moves about, the better she feels.
Dressing quickly in her turquoise dress, Abbie pulls her hair up on the sides and secures it with a silver clip before slipping on her shoes. Glancing at her reflection, she thinks of Tucker’s kiss and wonders what it means.
Abbie walks to the window and can see the garden in the backyard. Bowing her head, she prays for guidance and protection today. “I don’t know what today is going to bring, but I trust you, Father to guide my steps and steel my mind so that my emotions don’t push me down the wrong path.”
Abbie grabs her bag and pulls out the adoption papers to stare at them. She traces her finger over his name, Mason Gilbert, and she wonders what he will look like. Will he hate her or come to love her?
Trust me, the Lord whispers to her heart.
“I will,” she murmurs and heads downstairs. Mrs. Combs greets her at the bottom of the steps and smiles at her.
“You are looking refreshed, Ms. Gilbert. You must be famished?”
“Please, call me, Abbilene, or Abbie, and I’m too nervous to eat, but I’d love some coffee.”
“Abbie, we discussed this,” Tucker teases from the doorway. “You need to eat, you slept through dinner.”
“I made hotcakes,” Mrs. Combs suggests.
Abbie’s stomach rumbles, and she smiles when Tucker laughs at her embarrassment. “I’d say that’s a yes.”
A blush stains Abbie’s cheeks, and she covers her face with her hands. Tucker hugs her and nods to Mrs. Combs. “We’ll eat in the sunroom.”
Abbie hides in his chest until Mrs. Combs walks away. “There’s a sunroom?” her muffled voice asks.
“You can come out now,” he teases and lifts her chin to look at her shining eyes. “Good Morning,” he smiles.
“Good Morning, Tucker,” she smiles back, and her eyes drop to his mouth.
Tucker steps back, “Wait till you see the sunroom over-looking the garden.”
Abbie follows him through the house to the back and the into a bright sunroom. She waits for Tucker to stop walking. Nerves are growing, and she isn’t really seeing anything except him.
“When are we leaving, Tucker?”
“Abbs, we need to make sure it’s safe.”
“I agree. The sooner we get to him, the better.”
“Come sit down,” he draws her to the sofa and holds her hand.
“I told my friends what we are doing here.”
Abbie pulls her hand from his and sits back to look at him and frowns as the emotions batter her. Anger, embarrassment, shame, and she realizes that this is what she must fight back against.
“I, I understand,” she whispers.
“Abbie, Wyatt, and Cooper are both police officers. They are going to help us. In fact, they are riding ahead of us to the orphanage.
“Why?” Abbie is bewildered by this turn of events.
“Why? Abbie, you were attacked, and yesterday, it could’ve happened again.” Tucker jumps up and
