“I’ll tell you about it when we have time,” she said. “But now we’ve got a crime scene to go search.”
“You can tell me over a beer next time you come for training. Did you catch the scumbag that took her?”
“Not yet. The guy wore a ski mask. All we have so far is a description of his eye color.”
“Don’t be discouraged, Mattie. You got your girl back. That’s something you can be proud of.”
“You’re right. Nothing beats the feeling of finding a child and bringing her home.”
“I want to put you and Robo on a list for state search and rescue consultants.”
“That’s not my call. Our county bought Robo for narcotics detection, so I’d have to talk it over with the sheriff.”
“That dog shows a great talent for finding people, and I hate to waste it when we have a missing person. After you wrap up this case, I’ll give the sheriff a call. You can think it over in the meantime.”
Hoping they could wrap up the case, she said good-bye and focused on preparing to go back out to search with Brody. The adrenaline from finding Sophie had started to subside, and fatigue made the muscles in her shoulders and neck ache. But there was no time to worry about it.
Time to get back to work and catch this killer.
Sophie had slept most of the day, clutching that infernal toy some monster had given her. Somehow, Cole was going to have to lose that thing.
Olivia stayed with Sophie much of the time, reading her stories, watching her sleep. His parents came by the house and peeked in on the child, and to his relief, his mother was civil to his ex-wife. Jessie had decided to move to their parents’ house for the night, leaving before dinner.
Angie drifted around the house like a ghost—not wanting to be in the same room with Olivia, but not wanting to be away from Sophie either—until he asked her to go with him to the clinic to feed Mountaineer and take care of the chickens. While they changed the newspaper in the bottom of the box and gave the chicks clean water and food, he tried to engage her in conversation, but she resisted. He opted not to pressure her; she’d talk to him when she felt like it.
Deciding to keep the clinic closed until after the weekend, he called Tess and told her to go ahead and schedule the routine stuff for next week but to call him if an emergency came in. She seemed more than happy to continue to handle incoming calls. Right now, he felt too exhausted to talk to anyone about anything.
They ate dinner in shifts, a delicious chicken soup with homemade noodles made by Mrs. Gibbs. Sophie, Olivia, and Mrs. Gibbs ate early, and he and Angela later when they got back from the clinic. Her fever broken, Sophie soaked in a warm tub before dressing in clean pajamas and settling into bed for the night, with Angela taking a turn at story time.
Cole grabbed a minute to shower, and then he dressed in a light pair of sweats. Padding down the stairway in bare feet to the kitchen, he realized Mrs. Gibbs had shut things down early for the night, leaving a dim night-light glowing above the countertop, as was her habit. He found the chocolate cake he meant to eat, left over from her day of cooking. Finding the semidarkness soothing, he decided against turning on the overheads and served himself a big chunk of cake and a large glass of milk before taking it to the table.
Olivia came into the room, heading for the refrigerator but startling when she caught sight of him. “Oh! I didn’t know you were in here, sitting in the dark.”
“You can turn on a light if you want. It’s just so peaceful here without it.”
“Yes, we need that. I’ll leave it off.” She glanced at what he was eating. “That looks good. I think I’ll have some too.”
“It’s time for a little sweetness.”
Olivia served herself cake and milk and brought it to the table. “Mind if I join you?”
“Of course not. You’re welcome here, Liv.”
“I wish Angie felt the same way.”
“You have some fence-mending to do with her.”
“And you didn’t have anything to do with her being so angry with me?”
Cole shook his head. “You should know that I didn’t. I’ve always considered you a great mother to the girls.”
Olivia watched him over the top of her milk glass as she took a sip. When she lowered her glass, she had a slender milk mustache, and he smiled while he raised his napkin to wipe it off. She smiled back at him.
“You’ve found a wonderful cook and helper in Mrs. Gibbs,” she said. “I’m sorry I suspected her at first. I was such a mess.”
“We’re lucky to have her. It was pretty grim around here before she came.”
She looked downward, guilt crossing her face.
“I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. It’s just a statement of fact, but we managed all right. Both the girls helped out, and it didn’t hurt them to take on more chores.”
“I suppose not, but I do regret the way I left, Cole. I wasn’t really thinking straight, and, well, you’ve always been able to manage taking care of anything you set your mind to. I believed you would take care of your children, and you did.”
Cole resisted the twinge of anger her words triggered. She had no idea how much turmoil she’d caused, how she’d hurt her children. Hell—how she’d hurt him too. But it was water under the bridge, and he held his tongue.
“I lost myself in it all, Cole. Working to get you through vet school while taking care of a toddler. And then staying home to cook and clean and raise kids while you worked all day and into the night. This little town, there’s nothing here for me. I want theaters, museums, and nice restaurants. I didn’t even have any friends here.”
“We have friends here.”
“You have friends here. I’ve always felt like an outsider.”
He found her words confusing; from his perspective, she’d been welcomed with open arms by everyone. Well, by everyone but his mother. He couldn’t argue with her other complaints, and he paused while he chewed his cake and thought. “I guess we don’t need to rehash where we’ve come from and what went wrong. What’s important is how we move forward from here. And how are you feeling now? How much have you recovered from your depression?”
She gave him a thin smile, and in the dim light, he thought he could see sadness in her eyes. “I’ve spent a lot of gray days in bed with the shades pulled, but I’m getting back on track, getting some energy for something more than just pushing myself out of bed and getting dressed. Being with Marci has helped. She’s a good friend and easy to talk to.”
Cole fought to remain silent. Expressing his dislike for Marci wouldn’t help, and he knew that the last time he and Olivia talked heart-to-heart had been years ago, long before she decided to leave. And that was his fault.
“I want to be in the girls’ lives.” Her breath caught, and she blinked back tears. “I hope I haven’t ruined it with Angie.”
“I think she’ll come around. She loves you, you know, but she’s hurt. You’ll have to talk to her, tell her how you feel. We have a counselor we work with in Hightower. She can talk to her about it too.”
Surprise touched her face.
He answered her unasked question. “The girls and I had some hard adjustments to make after you left.”
She shook her head and examined the crumbs in her plate, using her fork to push them around. “I’m sorry I made it so hard on you all.”
Cole felt his resistance crumble. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
She looked up at him. “I still love you, Cole. I guess I always will. When I left here, I thought I didn’t, but now . . . sometimes I wish we could give it another try.”
His surprise must have registered on his face, because she flashed him a quick smile before sobering.