her hand flying to her mouth. “Last time he poured soap bubbles in the hot tub.”
“Why don’t you and your sister help Jami search the grounds while I check the woods?” Grant suggested, reaching up into the cupboard and pulling out a whistle. “If you see him, blow on this. Okay?”
Jami gaped at him as Doris took the whistle.
Becca hollered down from the stairway. “Toby’s not in your room. Homer’s helping search up here, and then we’ll check downstairs.”
“My baby really is missing.” Hit by the shock of her own words, Jami felt the floor sway beneath her.
“It’ll be okay, Red.” Suddenly Grant’s strong arms wrapped around her, solid and secure.
“Toby’s only six,” Jami incoherently muttered.
“Going on sixteen. Come on,” Grant replied, pushing Jami toward the kitchen door. “We better get started.” He pressed a quick kiss on Jami’s numb lips. “Let’s go find Toby.”
“Right,” Jami murmured, having difficulty getting one foot in front of the other. She fought for control, feeling she was walking through molasses, her mind fuzzed and her mouth full of gauze. Where was her little boy? Where should she look first?
“Why don’t you take the trail to the lake?” Doris suggested kindly, patting Jami on the back. “I’ll get Dottie and the professor to help me search the grounds. Okay, young lady?”
“Yes. Thanks,” Jami stammered, possessed with fresh urgency. “I’ll stop at the spring and then go toward the lake. Maybe he’s sailing his toy boat.”
“Very good.” Doris spotted her sister and Professor Tolaski standing under the ancient cottonwood tree and staring up into the branches. “There they are!” She waved and called to Dottie.
“I must hurry,” Jami said, rushing toward the trail and away from the others.
Disappointment swamped her as she reached the spring. Jami thought for sure she would find Toby there, playing with the frogs or floating his miniature boat. The image of Toby and his boat was so strong, it was almost a taste in her mouth. Driven by instinct, she ran along the trail leading to the lake. Mindless of branches and thorns tearing at her arms, ignoring the roots and rocks she stumbled over, Jami rushed toward the lake.
Suddenly, she saw her son round a bend to fly toward her, his freckled face flushed and dirt streaked, his clothing soaked and water dripping from his hair.
“Toby!” She grabbed him, swinging him against her despite his squishy clothes. “You’re safe.”
“Mom, my boat got away. The water’s too deep, and I can’t catch it,” Toby gasped, tears swimming in his brown eyes. “You gotta help me get it. Please?”
“We can get you another boat,” she soothed, stroking his wet hair off his forehead. “Let’s go back to the lodge and get you dried off.”
“No, Mom!” Toby wrenched out of her arms to head back down the trail. “We gotta rescue my boat. Grant’s little man is my captain. He’ll drown.”
“What little man?” Jami asked, snagging her son by the arm.
“The gold one with the bow and arrow.”
Chapter 14
Horrified that Toby had taken Grant’s Cupid heirloom and put it afloat in the toy boat, Jami dashed after him. If the tiny boat capsized, the gold brooch could be lost forever in Frost Lake! Determination accompanied by adrenalin surged through her—she would rescue Cupid and right her son’s wrong.
Two tiny white butterflies dipped and flitted out of the way as Jami reached the lake just behind Toby. At the edge of the water, tears rolling down his freckled face, Toby confessed that he’d taken the Cupid out of Grant’s drawer to use as a captain for his boat.
“I’m sorry,” Toby sniffed, swiping his face on his arm. “I know I shouldn’t take things without asking, but I needed a captain!”
“Where’s your boat?” Jami asked, her stomach plummeting as she scanned the lake, not seeing the handcrafted toy vessel anywhere on the water.
“This way.” Toby took off running along the edge of the shallows down the shore toward the deep sapphire swirling water.
“That’s the off-limits area Grant warned us about,” Jami gasped, frightened that her son had been so close to danger. Ten minutes of a child’s disappearance could mark the difference between life and death, so she felt very blessed that her son was now in her sight, healthy and whole. She offered a silent prayer of thanks for Toby’s safety.
The shoreline grew rough; trees and bushes replaced the sandy beach, with rocks and boulders marring the waterline. Jami stumbled after Toby, grabbing him as he slowed to point at the toy boat