“Right behind you.”
Uncle Ford drops to his knees beside me, his hands gentle on my face. “Do you hurt anywhere, sweetheart?”
“C-cold.”
He smiles sympathetically. “I know, honey. We’re going to get you out of that snow as quickly as we can.”
“Daddy?”
“Right here, baby.”
Tears blur my vision as I throw myself into his waiting arms. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was just trying to help. Please don’t be mad at me.”
Before I bury my face in his neck, I catch sight of the sheriff’s narrow-eyed expression, and dread drops like a rock in my stomach as the certainty that I’ve made things even worse washes over me.
“Shh, baby. Nobody’s mad at you. We’re all just happy you’re not injured. But you need to let Uncle Ford check you over, okay, baby?”
My world becomes a blur of movement and snapped orders as they help me up out of the snow and back into the house, to Uncle Ford’s exam room. The sheriff insists on staying, despite Daddy’s growled protests, and I try to be brave and pretend I’m not dying of embarrassment when I’m stripped down to just my diaper right in front of her.
Uncle Ford examines every inch of me, performing a dozen different tests to make sure I haven’t injured my neck and I haven’t suffered a concussion before declaring me well enough to be interrogated by the sheriff. Well, he doesn’t actuallysaythat, and both Uncle Ford and Daddy try to argue with her that her questioning can wait until tomorrow, but I manage to convince them that I’m up to her questions and I’d rather just get it over with.
Still not looking quite convinced, Daddy wraps a heavy blanket around me and kisses the top of my head. “I’ll go get yousome warm, dry clothes while you talk to the sheriff. But if you need us, just yell and someone will come running.”
“I’ll be fine, um, Axel.” I’m painfully aware I’ve already called him Daddy in front of Sheriff Donnellyandshe’s seen me in a diaper, but I can’t bring myself to say it again right now.
Daddy’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything, he just nods and gives me another kiss before shooting the sheriff a glare and striding out of the room. Leaving us completely alone.
I desperately wish I was wearing something more than just a blanket.
“You gave everybody quite a fright there, little girl.”
Pulling the blanket more tightly around me, I drop my gaze to the floor. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“Look at me please, Melanie.”
I have to force my gaze up to meet hers, and I’m surprised to find nothing but compassion in the clear green. “Ma’am?”
“I’m going to ask you some questions. I want you to know that anything you tell me is strictly confidential and will stay between us. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Melanie?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re being very brave for me, sweetheart. Can you keep being brave and promise me that you’ll be completely honest with me, even if you think the answers might not be what I, or anyone else, wants to hear?”
I hesitate, nibbling at my bottom lip. “Do you promise to believe me even if it’s not what you want to hear?”
A soft smile curves her lips. “Aren’t you a clever little girl? Yes, sweetheart, I promise to believe you if you promise to be honest with me.”
Wiggling my hand out from beneath the blanket, I hold my pinky toward her. “Pinkie-swear?”
Sheriff Donnelly blinks, then to my utter surprise, lets out a delighted laugh as she hooks her finger with mine. “Pinkie-swear.”
“Okay. What do you want to ask me?”
“My first question is, do you feel safe here with the Thornes?”
That’s an easy enough answer. “Sheriff Donnelly, you saw how they reacted to me falling off a snowmobile. If Axel could wrap me up in bubble wrap and keep me from ever getting so much as a papercut again for the rest of my life, he would. I’ve never beenmoresafe than I am here, with them.”
“All right. Is anyone forcing you to stay here?”
