When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,114
and Joe took my truck, telling me that Mike’s parents would meet us at the hospital and take the kids with them.
“Mike’s parents?” I protested. “I’d rather leave them with Neely Kate and Jed.”
“They’re scared out of their minds, Rose,” Joe said. “They know Mike’s parents better than they know Neely Kate and Jed, and they really need familiar faces just now.”
“But what if Mike shows up and tries to take them?” I asked.
I might never see them again, something I couldn’t take.
“I’ll assign a deputy to stand guard.”
“And what about Dermot? He shot Carey Collard. Will he be in trouble with the prosecuting attorney?”
“No. He was defendin’ you from that maniac. I’m more worried about what Gerard Collard’s gonna do when he finds out Dermot was the one to pull the trigger. It could mean an all-out war.”
“Surely Gerard Collard will be behind bars,” I protested in outrage. “He kidnapped my niece and nephew.”
He nodded, but I could tell he didn’t think this would be the last trouble the Collards would make.
I let the EMTs load me onto a gurney, even though it felt ridiculous, while I cradled Hope close. She had fallen asleep and I studied her sweet round cheeks and her tiny nose, so full of love I felt like I was close to bursting with it.
The hospital pronounced Hope perfectly healthy, but I needed some stitches after what they deemed to be a traumatic birth. My doctor wanted us both to stay in the hospital overnight, but she left the decision up to us because there was no medical need. Hope had already successfully nursed, and I just needed time to heal.
Joe had Neely Kate bring Hope’s car seat from the farm so we could take her home. When Neely Kate walked into our hospital room, I was alone with the baby. Joe had left to make some phone calls about the crime scene.
Neely Kate stood in the doorway, holding the car seat and my hospital bag. The longing on her face as she studied the bundle in my arms made my heart hurt, but I told myself that soon she’d have her own baby girl to love.
Unless they lost the baby and that was her deep sadness in my vision. I prayed that wasn’t it. Her heart couldn’t bear it.
“Hey,” I said with a soft smile.
“Hey, yourself,” she said, moving closer. “Joe told me everything. You scared me to death, Rose Gardner.”
Hope was in my arms—the need to keep her as close to me as possible was overwhelming. I gave her an apologetic smile. “I know. I’m sorry. Come meet your goddaughter.”
“You had a girl?” she squealed, rushing forward and setting the car seat and bag in a chair. “Joe refused to tell me that part.” Perching on the side of the bed, she grabbed the bottle of hand sanitizer on the nightstand and squirted a generous portion onto her palm before rubbing it in. “Does she have a name yet?”
“Hope Violet.” I looked up at her. “Simmons.”
Her mouth parted. “You’re givin’ her Joe’s last name.”
“He’s her daddy. Of course she should have it.” I grabbed her arm. “Neely Kate, I told Joe that I love him. That I want to be with him.”
She frowned. “Are you sure you weren’t emotional from the delivery?”
“I told him earlier this afternoon, after I had a moment of clarity.” I gave her a sad smile. “It became very apparent to me that James is no longer the man I fell in love with. He’s Skeeter Malcolm through and through.” I told her about my chat with Sandra at the diner, my visions of James shooting Joe and Vera, plus Dermot’s hypothesis about why James had wanted me for forty-eight hours.
“But you had the baby, so will he try to kidnap her now?”
A cold chill washed down my back. “I don’t know.”
Would he really go that far? I’d like to think not.
The color left her face. “He shot Joe and Vera in cold blood in your visions.”
I could understand what she left unsaid. James viewed Jed’s departure as a betrayal. Would he go after Jed too?
Joe walked in soon afterward and took Hope from my arms, cradling her to his chest.
“Hello, Hope. I’m your daddy, and I promise to love and protect you until the day I die,” he said in a soft voice.
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him.
My heart filled to the brim, watching the man I loved holding my baby, whom he clearly