Page 138 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

“Miss?” I called.

She gasped and practically jumped out of her seat belt.

“Sorry.” I held up my hands.

“Oh my God.” She slapped one hand to her heart while the other tucked a lock of blond hair out of her face. “I’m sorry, Officer. I can move my car.”

“It’s all right.” I leaned to peek inside. “Is everything okay?”

She nodded and wiped furiously at her face, trying to dry the tears. “Just a bad day. Actually, a really bad day. Maybe the fifth worst day of my life. Sixth. No, fifth. We’ve been in the car for days and my son won’t stop crying. He’s hungry. I’m hungry. We need a nap and a shower, but I’m lost. I’ve been driving around for thirty minutes trying to find this place where we’re supposed to be staying.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, casting my eyes to the backseat.

Her baby continued to wail, his face red and his tiny fists clenched.

She reached for a sticky note, holding it up. “Juniper Hill.”

“Juniper Hill?” Only one person lived on that gravel road.

“Yes. Do you know where it is?” She tossed her hand toward the windshield. “My directions led me right here. But there isn’t a road marked Juniper Hill. Or any road marked, period.”

“Montana country roads rarely are marked. But I can show you.”

“Really?” The hope in her sad eyes broke my heart. It was like this woman hadn’t had a helping hand in a long, long time.

“Of course.” I held out my hand. “I’m Winslow.”

“Memphis.”

The name didn’t surprise me. Eloise had been uttering it for weeks. Knox had been grumbling it for just as long.

“Welcome to Quincy, Memphis.”

“Thank you.” She breathed and a new wash of tears cascaded down her cheeks.

I hurried to my cruiser, then led the way to Juniper Hill.

Four hours later, after I’d traded out the cruiser for my Durango, I was home.

Griffin was rocking Hudson on the porch, a bottle held to my son’s mouth. “Hey. How’d it go?”

“Good.” I took the chair next to him and waved for him to hand me my boy. When he was nestled in the crook of my arm, I breathed.

Hudson had my dark blue eyes, but otherwise I hoped he’d resemble Griffin. He already had his father’s thick, brown hair. And even at only two months old, he had Griffin’s steady nature. He’d rarely screamed, unlike Memphis’s son, Drake.

“Remember that girl Eloise hired to work at the hotel? Memphis Ward? The one who was moving here from New York?”

“Yeah.”

“I met her today. She got lost trying to find Knox’s house. Her son is about the same age as Hudson. But not as cute.”

“No child is as cute as Hudson.”

“Exactly.” I pulled the empty bottle from my son’s mouth and lifted him to my shoulder, kissing his cheek as I patted his back. “She seems sweet. A little frazzled but I guess we all are on our bad days.”

Griffin shook his head and chuckled. “I still can’t believe that Eloise convinced Knox to let a stranger live above his garage. He’s gonna go nuts. The whole point of him building that house on a nowhere road was to avoid people.”

Eloise had been struggling to find dependable employees at the inn lately, and when Memphis had applied, she’d been so far overqualified that Eloise had assumed it was a joke. Though she’d done a virtual interview, and when Memphis had accepted the job, Eloise had been thrilled.