Page 34 of Her Honorable Hero

“No, Sweetie, come to me,” Miranda said in her most soothing voice. “Remember, I’m Jeremy’s friend. I’m going to take you to your mommy.”

There was a slight shake of Hope’s head. She was hearing Miranda, but she wasn’t buying what she was selling, and she moved even farther away.

Miranda wanted to cry.

She wanted to scream.

This time when Griff pulled her inside, she didn’t resist. Not that she could have, he was a mass of determined muscle. Nope, the right course of action was to go inside, punch him in the nose, or grab him by the balls, and make him listen.

In less than a second, she was face-to-face with an angry alpha male.

“Miranda, what on God’s green earth were you thinking? Look at you. You’re bleeding like a stuck pig. My God, Honey, you need help.”

He was tearing at a shirt he had in his hands to use a bandage, but his eyes never wavered from hers. She’d been ready to go toe-to-toe with him, when she suddenly recognized the bone-deep fear underneath the anger.

“Didn’t you hear me? Hope’s out there.” She saw that it took a moment for it to register.

“The baby?”

“Yes.” She scanned the area and saw that Josiah had Scarlett’s shirt open and was binding up her ribcage. She also saw a huge hematoma on her abdomen, it was clear that blood was pooling there. It was not good. She wasn’t conscious. That explained why Griff wasn’t understanding what was going on. “Hope’s about fifteen or twenty feet away from the window of the train,” Miranda said as she tried to stand up straight. She failed. Griff put his arms around her, taking her weight.

“Griff,” her voice trembled. “Hope’s next to the cliff. I was trying to get her to crawl over to me, but then I yelled and she scooched away.” Miranda buried her face in his chest. It was all too much.

There’s no crying in baseball, Slade. Suck it up.

But before she could push herself away from him, she felt his hand stroke her hair and her heart crumpled for an instant as she soaked in the comfort of his caress.

“You’re hurt, Honey. Let me help you sit down, and I’ll go get her.”

Miranda bit her lip, then swore under her breath.

“What?” Griff asked.

“I don’t think she’ll come to you. She was scared of me, I’m not sure she’ll go to you.”

“Honey, I’ve got this, trust me.” He brushed a kiss against her forehead. He lowered her gently to the floor where there was magically a pile of soft clothes for her to sit on, so she wasn’t on glass. He set her back against a mangled seat.

“I’ll be right back.” And then he was out the window.

Miranda couldn’t help herself. She pushed up off her little nest and crammed her face into the little bit of space available between Griff’s ass and the broken window.

Miranda watched in horror as the little girl threw up her hand and wailed the word, “No!” as soon as she saw Griff. Hope must have scrambled two feet backwards toward the cliff.

“Hope,” he whispered, a smile in his voice.

“No!” Hope’s little voice was even more shrill the second time. This time, she put out two hands, it was a clear sign she wanted him to stop.

“Okay, Honey. I’ll go away. Don’t move. Please just stay still.” Miranda banged her head against the window frame as Griff carefully worked his way back into the train.

When Griff got back inside, he looked at Miranda, his face a mask of frustrated fear. “Where’s her Mom?” he asked.

“Susan has a broken leg. A head wound, too. She can’t help.” Miranda barely kept the tremor from her voice, but it was tough. Griff gathered her in his arms, and for the second time she allowed herself to be comforted.

“Griff, it has to be me. I need to be the one to go out there and get her,” she said as she pushed up to look him in the eye.

Griff hesitated. She put her hand on his chest. “Please help me do this.”

“I don’t want to,” he answered, soft and honest.