He tried her phone again.
It went straight to voicemail this time.
He exhaled and forced himself not to read too much into it.
Sheriff Sutherland glanced at him as they stepped inside the waiting room. “Everything good?”
“I guess.” Max slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Just trying to get hold of Hadley.”
Sheriff Sutherland shifted his attention back to Lyndee as they handed her off to the triage staff. “I need to stay with her. I’ll have a deputy drive you back to your truck.”
“Sounds good. I’ll head back to Refuge Cove.”
Sheriff Sutherland gave a short nod then looked at his phone. “I’ve got to take this.”
“Of course.” Max had his own problems to deal with.
As Sheriff Sutherland walked away, Max pulled out his phone again and stared at the screen another moment. Should he text Hadley?
No, he decided. This was a conversation they needed to have in person.
Instead, he called Caleb.
It rang twice before Caleb answered. “Max?”
“Hey, have you heard from Hadley?”
A brief pause stretched on the other end. Then Caleb said, “I have. She’s here at Refuge Cove.”
Max’s shoulders eased a fraction. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. She’s okay?”
“She’s fine,” Caleb said, though something in his tone felt . . . off. “Listen, I’m in the middle of something. I need to call youback. But Hadley is fine. She’s here with us. Don’t worry about that.”
“Got it. We’ll talk more later.”
Max lowered the phone, relief settling in—but not completely.
Hadley was okay. She was safe.
That news should make him feel better. But he was too worried about what Hadley must be thinking right now.
He stepped outside to wait for his ride, his thoughts still racing.
“Max? Is that you?”
He looked up. A man in his sixties approached him, a friendly grin on his face.
“Darryl Walsh,” Max said as surprise washed through him. “What are you doing here?”
He knew Darryl from his aunt and uncle. They let him use their property for hunting.
“Visiting a buddy who just had heart surgery.” Darryl stopped in front of him. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Same. It’s been a while.”
“A couple of months, maybe,” Darryl said. “But funny I should run into you. I was just thinking about you the other day.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” He didn’t feel like making small talk, but he needed to wait for his ride anyway.
