The Best Bride. Susan Mallery

clung to him and shivered. “I don’t mean to be any trouble.”

      “No trouble. Part of the job.”

      “You carry a lot of women in your line of work?”

      Her muscles felt tight and perspiration clung to her forehead and upper lip. She must be in a lot of pain, but she was trying to keep it all together. He winked. “It’s been a good week for me.”

      When they reached his car, Travis lowered her feet to the ground and opened the door to the back seat. He started to pick her up again, but she shook her head and bent over to slide in. He returned to the lady’s car and slipped into the driver’s seat. The little girl was hunched against the door, staring at him. Tears rolled down her face.

      “What’s your name, honey?” he asked softly.

      “Mandy.”

      “How old are you?”

      She hiccuped and clutched the bear to her chest. “Six.”

      “I’m going to take your mom to the hospital, and they’re going to make her feel better. I’d like you come with me. Okay?”

      She nodded slowly.

      He gave her his best smile, then collected Elizabeth’s purse. After shoving her keys, license and registration into his pocket, he unhooked Mandy’s seat belt and helped her out of the car. He rolled up the windows and locked the doors, then led her to the sheriff’s vehicle.

      Her tears stopped momentarily as she stared at the array of switches and listened to the crackling of the radio. “You ever been inside a patrol car before?” he asked.

      She shook her head.

      “You’ll like it. I promise.” That earned him a sniff. He settled her quickly beside him, then glanced back at Elizabeth. She lay across the seat, her knees pulled up to her chest, breathing rapidly.

      “How you doing?” he asked.

      “Hanging in there,” she said, her voice tight with strain.

      “I’m going to use the siren,” he said, starting the engine and switching it on. Instantly a piercing wail filled the car. Travis checked his mirror, then pulled out onto the road.

      Traffic was light and they were at the hospital in less than fifteen minutes. Two minutes after that, Elizabeth had been wheeled away on a gurney and he was filling out paperwork at the circular counter near the emergency entrance. Mandy stood beside him, crying.

      She didn’t make a sound, but he could swear he heard every one of those tears rolling down her cheeks. Her pain made it tough to concentrate. Poor kid. She was scared to death.

      He bent over and picked her up, setting her on the counter next to him. They were almost at eye level. A headband adorned with cartoon characters held her blond hair off her round face. The same collection of animals, in a rainbow of colors, covered her T-shirt. She wore denim shorts and scuffed sandals. Except for the tears, she looked like just any other six-year-old.

      “When did you and your mom move here?” he asked.

      She clutched the tattered teddy bear closer. “Yesterday,” she said, gulping for air.

      “Yesterday?” There went his hope they might have made friends in town. “Do you have any family here?”

      She shook her head and sniffed again.

      He reached over the counter to a box of tissues beside the phone. The receptionist was also a nurse, and she had disappeared into the room with Elizabeth. Mandy wiped her face and tried to blow her nose. It didn’t work. He took a couple of tissues and held them over her face.

      “Blow,” he ordered, wondering how many times he’d done this during summer T-ball practice. There were always a lot of tears as the kids skinned knees and elbows…and lost games.

      “Where’s your daddy?”

      Her blue eyes filled again. “He’s gone.”

      Gone meaning dead? Or divorced? “Where does he live now?” Travis asked.

      “I don’t know. He doesn’t see us anymore. Mommy said he had to go away because he’s big. She said he’s never coming b-back.” Her voice trembled.

      He gave her a reassuring smile. Big? That didn’t make any sense. Elizabeth Abbott must be divorced. He glanced down at the hospital forms. She had an insurance card in her wallet, so he copied that information. “Where do you live?” he asked, then realized that if they’d just moved here, Mandy wouldn’t know her address yet.

      “By the ducks.”

      “The duck pond?”

      She nodded vigorously, her tears momentarily forgotten. “It’s pretty. I have a big bed all to myself. Just like Mommy. And there’s little soaps in the bath.” She smiled. She had a dimple in each cheek and he could see she was going to grow up to be a heartbreaker.

      He pictured the buildings around the duck pond in the center of town and remembered there was a small motel on the corner. So much for having an address here.

      “What about your grandmother and grandfather? Do you know where they are?”

      “They live far away.”

      Before he could think of any more questions, the receptionist came bustling back into the room. “Appendix,” she said, pulling her stethoscope from around her neck and placing it in the right hip pocket of her nurse’s uniform. “Caught it in time.” She looked at Mandy. “Your mommy is going to have an operation. Do you know what that means?”

      Mandy looked scared again. “No.”

      “The doctor is going to make her sleep for a little bit while he makes her feel better. There’s an infection inside and he’s going to take it out. But she’ll be fine.”

      Mandy didn’t looked reassured. She bit her lower lip hard and tears filled her eyes. Travis felt like he’d taken a sucker punch to the gut. Apparently the kid didn’t know a soul in town, and if the grandparents weren’t local, finding them could take days. He didn’t even know if Abbott was Elizabeth’s maiden or married name.

      He held out his arm, offering Mandy a hug, but letting her decide. She threw herself against him with the desperation of a drowning man clutching a raft. Her slight body shook with the tremors of her sobs. She smelled of sun and grass and little girl. So damn small to be facing this alone.

      “Hush,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I’m right here and everything’s going to be fine.”

      * * *

      It was nearly seven in the evening before Travis was able to take Mandy in to see her mother. The nurse had informed him children weren’t allowed on the ward, but he’d ignored her and marched past, carrying Mandy in his arms. He was the sheriff. What were they going to do? Arrest him?

      He should have gone off-duty at four-thirty, but he couldn’t leave the kid on her own, and he didn’t want to take her to the local child services office before she’d seen her mother. It didn’t much matter, he thought as he walked down the hospital hallway. He hadn’t made any plans for the weekend.

      Although Glenwood was far enough off the beaten track not to get much tourist trade even over Labor Day weekend, the last celebration of summer usually kept him and his deputies busy. There were fights at the park as too much beer was consumed, and the teenagers would get involved in illegal drag races down by the lake. Come Monday afternoon, the small jail would be filled with red-faced citizens who would work off their sentences doing community service.

      The last door at the end of the hallway stood partially open. Travis knocked once and entered. He’d already warned Mandy that her mother would be hooked up to tubes, but it wasn’t as frightening as he’d feared. Elizabeth had an IV in each arm, but her color was good. Medium brown hair fanned out over the white pillow. The pale hospital gown set off her tan.