Page 64 of Shelter for Tanna

“I always will. Go on. We’ll see you in a bit.” As soon as the ambulance rolled away, Braden turned to the crowd. What could he say to these people, these selfless members of his community who’d loved him and his family enough to come out and sacrifice their time? Words wouldn’t come.

Fortunately, Crash stepped up beside him. “The Hilliard and Nichols families want to thank all of you for your time today. We’d almost given up, but we got our happy ending!” he shouted, and everyone cheered and clapped. “We especially want to thank the first responders, all the law enforcement personnel, and the drone operators. If it hadn’t been for them, we might not have ever found her. Oh, and the real star of the show. Sascha,hier!”

The big dog rose to his feet and padded toward his handler. “Sitz. Bleib.” Turning in a tight circle, Sascha sat down right beside Crash’s left leg. “I’ve only had this dog a few days. He was trained mostly for law enforcement purposes, but we were hoping he’d work with search and rescue too. None of the training I’ve done with him in the last few days included this kind of work, but he rose to the occasion and did exactly what we needed him to do. He’s the real hero today.”

The crowd laughed when Braden said, “You were a real hero too. You took a header into a hole for her!”

Crash crowed with laughter. “That I did! But it was accidental!”

That little bit of laughter was all Braden needed to set him right, and he looked out over the crowd. “Words can’t express the gratitude I feel tonight. Thank you all so much for the love you’ve shown our little family. It won’t be forgotten. And before anybody asks, unless she changes her mind, therewillbe a wedding in the near future!”

“Think you can keep up with her?” ReverendYates asked, and the crowd cackled again.

“I’m certainly gonna try!” Braden answered with a laugh. There were hugs again, shoulder slaps, handshakes, and plenty of teasing. He wanted to stay there with them, to celebrate as two more food trucks pulled up with free dinner for all of them, but he had to go to the hospital.

Didn’t matter that she was with professionals. He really didn’t want her out of his sight?not for a long, long time.

* * *

“So keep that boot on. We’ll do another series of X-rays in two weeks. No weight bearing. No running marathons. And definitely no more falling into holes,” the ER physician warned.

“Yes, sir. I don’t plan to do any of that,” Tanna assured him. “Can I take it off long enough to shower?”

“Yes, but that’s all. Then right back on.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. The nurses will get your paperwork ready and you can go.” With that, the white coat disappeared out the cubicle door and they were left alone.

Braden took Tanna’s hand. She could never understand what she meant to him, not in a million years. He wanted to tell her the past two days had been hell, that he’d been scared out of his mind, that her kids had been terrified, but he couldn’t. When he thought about it, he wasn’t sure there would ever be a time when she walked out the door without him and he didn’t feel a twinge of fear. Instead of talking, he dropped his forehead to hers and sat there, breathing in her scent. Yeah, she still smelled of mud, but he could smell her shampoo too. The sweetness was faint but still there.

The quiet was interrupted when she whispered, “Braden?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“I knew you’d come for me.”

His voice broke as he answered. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“You didn’t give up.”

His eyes closed and a single tear trickled down. “Never.”

“Where are the boys?”

“With Mom.”

“Okay.”

He sat up and wiped the tear away. “When we get home and you get cleaned up and settled, we’ve got some things to talk about.”

“Okay.” That was surprising. He’d thought she’d argue with him.

An hour later, she was showered, in clean pajamas, and propped up on the sofa, her foot on an ottoman. “Need anything?”

She shook her head. “Nah. I’m good. The boys in their rooms?”

“Yeah. I checked on them. They’re sound asleep. I’ve got a feeling they’re exhausted from the stress.”

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