Page 53 of Her Hidden Smile

“Yep.”

“We’ll be right there.”

I shoved my phone into my back pocket and looked for signs of where she might have gone. There was grass all around the tree, and other than the depression where she’d sat, I couldn’t discern a damn thing.

Roan got to me first. “Whatcha got?”

“This peach pit is still wet. She must have eaten the peach recently. Do you see the imprint of where she sat?”

He nodded. “She started walking here.” He pointed away from the trees. “Does she have a limp?”

“Yes. You can tell that?” I looked down at where he was pointing, but I really didn’t see anything.

“Do you see the depression in the grass here?” Roan asked me, and Simon who just arrived.

Roan pointed to something in the grass that was about four yards from where she had been sitting. “You can see where she was walking, and she was definitely putting more weight on her left foot.”

After he pointed it out, I saw the depression in the grass, but I sure as hell couldn’t discern that one foot was leaving a deeper indentation than the other. This guy was good. I looked up. “She’s headed toward the pond.”

“We need to follow her tracks. That pond looks big, and we might miss her if we don’t exactly trace her steps.”

“That’s fine,” I agreed. “For now.”

Simon rolled his eyes.

“I’ve never been a soldier, I don’t take orders well.”

“Sailor,” Simon corrected.

“Marine,” Roan said at the same time. He continued to concentrate on the brush in front of him. The meadow grass was high and was peppered with wildflowers. Now that I knew what to look for, it was easier to see Millie’s steps. When we had gone fifty feet, I stopped and looked up to see where she was headed.

“She’s going to the blackberry bushes,” I announced.

“Are you sure?” Simon asked.

“Positive.”

“I’m going to keep tracking in case she veers off,” Roan said. “You two head toward the blackberry bushes.”

Simon and I started running. I was watching the ground, making sure that I didn’t hit a gopher hole. When I got to where the blackberries started, I began to yell her name.

“Millie!”

“Millie, answer me! Millie!”

That’s when I saw a peach. Then another.

There she is.

I skidded to my knees so I could cradle her in my arms.

“Simon,” I shouted. “I found her.”

“Millie. Cariña. Baby, wake up.” I pressed my fingers to her neck and checked her pulse. It was rapid, but steady.

Then I saw it. Even under her jeans I could see the muscle of her thigh jumping. Millie started to groan.

I heard Simon behind me call for Roan.