Beth tied another bow to the church pew, making sure it was perfectly centered with the white roses and baby’s breath displayed. The gold and silver theme throughout the church looked lovely, classy, and dignified, perfect for Ms. Patti’s vow renewal ceremony. She wanted everything to be perfect. Ms. Patti was the one person in her life she adored unconditionally. Brody’s mother had accepted her and Jamie into the family without hesitation, without question. Even though she’d brought danger directly to their doorstep with her ex-husband’s depravity, Ms. Patti and Douglas had stood by her, protecting Jamie as if she was their biological granddaughter.
Now it was Beth’s turn to pay them back for all their kindness and generosity. Straightening, she placed her hands at the small of her back and glanced down at her distended, pregnant belly. Only a few more weeks, and her son would come into the world and join the amazing family that was the Boudreaus. Brody practically waited on her hand and foot, not wanting her to lift a finger. Which was kind of nice, and nothing like her first pregnancy with Jamie. Her ex could barely spare the time to speak to her, much less help her out around the house, even when she’d been as big as a whale toward the end. Oh, well, she’d found her Prince Charming, and she was never, ever leaving him or Shiloh Springs.
There were still several pews needing decoration, and she moved to the next, gathering the white and silver trimmed ribbon and twisting it around the end. The side door opened, and Tessa walked in carrying another box filled with flowers. Maggie, her soon-to-be sister-in-law, oversaw getting the flowers for the ceremony, and she’d come through big time. There were the white roses with baby’s breath and ferns for greenery. The flowers at the front were white roses, red roses, pink camellias, red and white chrysanthemums, gardenias, and daisies. The scents were intoxicating, filling the front of the church with a sweetness that made Beth smile. Everything was perfect. Except for one thing.
Ms. Patti was missing.
Oh, she wasn’t supposed to be here at the church. She was supposed to be at Jill’s Bakery, helping with the baby shower. The baby shower Beth wasn’t supposed to know about. Thinking about fooling Ms. Patti made her chuckle.
“What are you laughing about, Sis?”
“Imagining Ms. Patti’s face when she finds out not only that the baby shower isn’t a surprise, but that her vow renewal ceremony is. If anyone deserves to have a celebration of love, it is Douglas and Ms. Patti. I hope Brody and I are as happy as his parents when we’ve been married as long as they have.”
“I wish that for Rafe and me too. We’ve got a couple of winners.”
“Yes we do, and I’ve never been happier. Now if we’d only get word that Ms. Patti is okay, everything will be perfect.” Beth rubbed the small of her back, and decided she needed to sit for a minute or two. For some reason, she was extra tired today. If they weren’t working on the wedding, she’d have stayed home and taken a nap. But this was too important. She could sleep later.
“You okay?” Tessa knelt beside her, placing her hand on Beth’s knee.
“I’m fine. Just a bit tired. Junior is flipping around like a jumping bean today, and he’s wearing his mommy out.”
“Let me take over the flowers for a bit. I’ve already got the food in the big freezer. You take a break, go put your feet up. I’ve got your back.”
Beth took a deep breath and maneuvered her massive belly up from a seated position, and felt a sharp pain wrack her body. “Oh, that was some kick, kiddo. Let’s give Mommy a break, okay?”
“You alright? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine. I think I’m going to take your advice and go put my feet up for a couple of minutes.”
Tessa studied her closely for a minute, before nodding slowly. “Take it easy. I remember toward the end when you were pregnant with Jamie, you couldn’t seem to sit still. Always up and going and doing. You’ve got a ton of help, so let us handle the heavy lifting. You can be the supervisor for today, okay?”
Beth grinned. “You mean I’m queen for the day? I get to order y’all around?”
“I didn’t say that, but let’s go with it, Your Majesty.” Tessa grinned and Beth felt a lightness in her chest she’d been missing for a while. Her sister was a true joy to be around, and she’d really come into her own personality after moving to Shiloh Springs and meeting Rafe. He was the best thing to happen to her sister in—well, forever.
“I’m going to find my throne and sit my big fat—” Beth broke off as another pain shot through her, and she grabbed her stomach, moaning at the sensation. Uh oh. “Not now,” she whispered. “It’s too soon.”
“Beth? Beth!” Tessa raced to her side, helping ease her down onto the front pew. “Honey, are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Either Junior’s kicking harder than he ever has, or…” She trailed off, knowing her sister would put two and two together and figure out she was in labor.
“That’s it. We’re going to call your doctor and find out what he wants us to do. Lean on me,” Tessa added, sliding an arm around Beth’s waist, and Beth looped her arm around her sister’s shoulder. She couldn’t be going into labor. It was too soon. There was too much going on right now. The party, Ms. Patti being missing. Nope, she could not be going into labor. She breathed out slowly, hoping it was simply Braxton-Hicks and not the real thing. But she had a feeling time wasn’t on her side, and she was about to become a mommy for the second time, whether she was ready or not.
Rafe drove toward the Haskin’s place, his foot pushing hard against the accelerator. Everybody was out actively looking for Momma. The women were making calls to everybody in town they could think of that might have seen or heard from her. Dad and his brothers were doing their own searches. Somebody, somewhere, had to find her. Anything less was unacceptable. He’d decided to head back home, which was the last place anybody had seen her. He figured he’d check out the lead about the Haskin’s place, then head to the Big House and do a check of her computer history, see what she’d been working on. Maybe he’d be able to figure out where she’d been headed if it wasn’t the Haskin’s place, before she was supposed to head to Jill’s bakery.
While he drove, every possible scenario played through his mind. The Boudreaus had faced more than their fair share of dangerous situations and devious people in the past few years. Though it was a longshot, it was possible somebody with a grudge might have targeted his momma, wanting a little payback. His gut clenched at the thought of his momma at the mercy of some maniac. Though they didn’t have a lot of crime like he’d seen in the bigger cities like Dallas and Houston, there were bad people even in small towns. He did his best to keep Shiloh Springs a safe place, but sometimes bad things happened no matter what precautions you took.
When his phone rang, he grabbed it, not bothering to look at the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Is this Sheriff Boudreau? A lady named Sally Anne gave me this number when I called the station.”
“I’m Sheriff Boudreau. How can I help you?”
“My name’s Stan Ferguson. I wanted to let you know that I have your mother—”
“What do you mean you have my mother? What have you done with her?” Rafe practically spat out the words, his fingers itching to wrap themselves around this unknown man’s neck. Probably would have if he’d been there in the flesh.
“No, no, nothing like that! I didn’t make myself clear. I found your mother earlier today. She’d hurt her ankle and couldn’t walk, and I helped her. I was driving her to the emergency clinic there in Shiloh Springs when she passed out. I thought it best to take her to the hospital.”
Rafe let out the first truly deep breath he’d taken in hours. Momma was okay, that’s what mattered.
“She’s hurt?”
“They don’t think it’s anything serious. When I found her, she’d twisted or sprained her ankle pretty bad, couldn’t walk or bear weight on it. I’ve got some EMT experience, so I wrapped it as best I could. Told her she needed to go to a hospital to be checked out, but she insisted I take her to the emergency clinic, but when she blacked out, I figured it was better she got seen at a hospital. Right now, she’s at Mercy General.”
“She been admitted?”
“For observation only. They’re waiting for the x-rays to come back, to see if she broke the ankle. She wanted me to make sure and get hold of you or her husband. She smashed her phone and couldn’t make any calls.” The other man chuckled before adding, “When we got here at the hospital, she wanted to call but couldn’t remember anybody’s numbers because they were all programmed into her phone. Something I totally understand because I wouldn’t remember anybody’s numbers either. It’s too easy to program them and then just hit speed dial.”
Rafe scrubbed a hand across his face, eased the car to the side of the road, and put it into park. The sense of relief flooding him made him almost giddy. The fear that ate at him most of the afternoon dissipated with the knowledge his momma was okay. Now he needed to call off the manhunt—or was it woman hunt?—and let the family know where she was and that she was safe and sound.
“You have my thanks, Mr. Ferguson. You have no idea how important my mother is, not only to our family but to the community. We’ve been looking for her for the last several hours, and honestly? My thoughts were starting to head into the worst-case scenario territory.”
“I’ve heard stories about your mother for years, Mr. Boudreau. My parents talk about Ms. Patti all the time. I’m happy I could help. I’m going to stick around here until somebody from the family gets here, if you don’t mind?”
“I appreciate that, Ferguson.” Rafe paused for a second when the name clicked. “Any relation to William and Beverly Ferguson?”
“Yeah, I’m their black sheep son, the one who gave them so much heartache and grief. Fortunately, my parents are the loving and forgiving sort, and we’re on the road to patching up our relationship. I’ve got a lot of fences to mend, but I’m working on it.”
“Your parents are good people.”
“They are, and I’ve caused them a lot of heartache. I’m trying to make amends, which is part of the reason I’m in Shiloh Springs now. Watching their place while Dad’s in the hospital in Austin.”
“Let me know if there’s anything you need, Ferguson. Me or one of my brothers will do our best to help you out.”
“Thanks for the offer, Mr. Boudreau.”
“Might as well call me Rafe. I have the feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of you in the future, Ferguson. Momma will make sure of that. And we appreciate you rescuing her and getting her to a doctor right away. Let her know we’re on our way, and we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Will do. She’s in room 423A. See you when you get here.”
Rafe disconnected the call and stared at the dashboard of his cruiser, tempted to run with lights and siren to get to the hospital as soon as possible, because this was his mother, not some stranger he was thinking about. Instead, he hit the speed dial to call his dad.
“Rafe, tell me you’ve heard something?”
“Momma’s fine, Dad. She’s at Mercy General with a sprained ankle. They’re waiting for x-rays to see if it’s broken.”
“Why didn’t she call? How’d she get hurt?” The gruffness in his dad’s voice didn’t fool Rafe. He knew the man was close to tears, the emotional upheaval of not knowing where his wife might be, whether she was hurt or worse taking its toll. After having his own health issues not that long ago, Rafe worried the stress of his wife being missing might exacerbate his heart issues.
“I’m not sure of all the details. I got a call from the Ferguson’s son. Apparently, he found Momma after she’d hurt her ankle, and took her for medical help.” Rafe deliberately didn’t tell his dad about her blacking out. Better he found that out after they got to the hospital.
“William and Beverly’s boy?”
“Yes. He’s in Shiloh Springs watching over their place while William’s in the hospital. Last I heard they’re getting ready to move him to a rehab facility, to work on getting his strength back.”
“Good. You said Mercy General? I’m gonna head that way—”
“Where are you now? Let me come pick up you and drive you there.”
“I’m in town, close to Edna’s B&B.”
Which meant his dad was at least thirty to forty minutes in the opposite direction from him, and he’d have to backtrack to pick up him.
“Stay where you are, and I’ll pick you up, and we’ll head straight to the hospital.”
“Son, I can drive myself.”
“I know you can, Dad, but I think it’s best we go together. You can be with Momma, and I’ll get a chance to talk with Mr. Ferguson, get a few more details. Plus, there’s no sense in both of us driving to the same place separately.”
His dad sighed. “Fine, I’ll wait here, but you’d best hurry. You momma needs me.” Rafe could almost hear the unspoken “and I need her.”
“I’m on my way.”
Disconnecting the call, Rafe quickly typed a group text to his brothers, letting them know to call off the search, that Momma was safe, and for them to let all the women know so they’d stop worrying. He sent another quick text to Tessa, to let her know he was heading to the hospital.
Within seconds, his phone exploded with text messages, which he ignored. He didn’t have time to spend on the phone answering everyone individually. They’d all get the message soon enough. Smiling, he put the car in gear and made a U-turn, headed back toward town, listening to the pinging as the texts kept coming.
The lightness in his heart was reflected in his smile as he realized once again how much his family loved each other, and especially loved the woman who was their touchstone. Their lynchpin. Everything was going to be alright, because Momma had been found.