Page 30 of Jenna's Threatened Sanctuary

“An ambulance is here, Calvin.” Tommy said and rose to his full height.

Tommy frowned. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise. I’m going to meet the sheriff outside and secure the perimeter of the house.”

Boo barked, announcing the arrival of Sheriff Mike Wells. “The ambulance pulled in behind me, Calvin. They’ll look at you. Deputy Pennel, you take his statement, as well as Dr. Simon’s.” He dipped his head then stormed out the back door.

Sadie nodded. “Do you want to wait until the paramedics look you over before you give your statement?”

Calvin opened his mouth, but Jenna cut in. “He needs medical attention first,” she said, snapping into doctor mode.

Oliver padded into the kitchen, his ratty blankie trailing on the floor behind him. “Mama?”

The mist in Jenna’s eyes intensified. She pressed her lips to Calvin’s cheek then jumped to her feet to steer Oliver away fromthe blood-filled view of Calvin on the ground. Even if he would be okay, it wasn’t a sight her little boy should witness.

She set Oliver at the kitchen table and smoothed down his wild curls she didn’t have the heart to cut. “Someone’s coming in to look at Calvin’s wound. We might have to go to the hospital. But everything’s fine.”

“Boo.” The name came out on a yawn.

The dog hustled to Oliver’s side and sat, resting his head on his lap.

A paramedic rushed into the kitchen with a medical bag. “What are we looking at, here?” The young man kneeled beside Calvin and kept his lips pressed together and eyes narrowed as he lifted the hem of Calvin’s shirt to assess the damage.

“The bullet grazed my side. Shouldn’t be too deep.”

Jenna tapped the tip of her bare foot against the cool ground and every nerve in her body trembled. She wanted to be the one to tend to Calvin, but she couldn’t leave Oliver’s side. Calvin might say the bullet only grazed him, but the puddle of blood on the floor told her it could be worse than he realized. Tears streamed over her cheeks.

Sadie stepped up beside her, pen and notebook in hand. “Jenna, you made the call to dispatch. What happened?”

Jenna kept her gaze fixed on Calvin, who winced with every movement. Her heart screamed at her to drop to her knees, to bust down all the damn walls she’d built—to tell him how much she still cared for him.

“Jenna?” Sadie’s voice broke through her thoughts. “I know this is hard, but I need to know what happened.”

“I’m sorry.” She faced Sadie and wiped away her tears, trying to pull together her wits. She blew out a shaky breath and concentrated on the deputy who’d become a friend over the past few months, both of them giving their time at the Safe Haven Women’s Shelter. “I woke up and saw someone in the back yard.I went to Calvin’s room, and he told me to call the police. While I was on the phone with the dispatcher, he grabbed a gun and left the room. I heard two gunshots…” She closed her eyes and replayed the moment in her head, her heart rate spiking. “The dog ran to the door, whining like crazy. I opened the door and he ran out.”

Jenna had never felt so helpless in her whole damn life. She couldn’t have left Oliver without knowing if the intruder was still in the house. But the need to get to Calvin and make sure he was all right was so deep, so strong, she’d thought her entire body would tear in two.

A warm touch settled on Jenna’s bare forearm, pulling her back from the nightmare. “He’s going to be fine. Right, Calvin?” Sadie infused a lightness to her tone that calmed the jagged edges of Jenna’s nerves.

“Just a few stitches.” The paramedic anchored a firm hand under Calvin’s elbow and assisted him to his feet.

Calvin hissed. “Why don’t you stay here while I get this taken care of? It won’t take long. I’ll give my statement either on the way to the hospital or once I get there.”

“No. You’re not going anywhere without me. You came to the kitchen alone to take care of a break-in and ended up shot. I’m not letting you do any of this alone anymore.” Jenna steadied him with an arm behind the small of his back. The scent of blood mixed with the masculine smell of his sweat.

The pain in Calvin’s eyes dimmed as he stared at her, a small smile lifting his lips.

Sadie crossed to the table and scooped Oliver into her arms. “Why don’t I stay here and get this little guy back to sleep?”

Oliver giggled and threw his arms around Sadie’s neck.

Jenna pulled in a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

Mike strode through the door with his sheriff’s hat in his hand, Tommy following along behind him. The grim set of their mouths and tension in their shoulders spoke volumes.

“Did you find him?” Calvin asked, hope lifting his deep baritone.

Mike shook his head. “I called in a search party to cover the forest. There’s too much acreage back there to wade through just the two of us, and we need more light. Y’all should find somewhere else to stay after tonight. No use being a sitting duck until we find out who’s after you and put him behind bars.”

Jenna wanted to argue, but what the sheriff said made too much sense. She’d worry about it later. Right now, she needed to focus on Calvin getting the help he needed. Besides, that was the only problem in her world she could do something about right now. The rest would be there tomorrow—whether she wanted them to be or not.

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