In the Cards (Road Trip Romance #8) - A.K. Evans Page 0,1

to unbuckle her. I noticed the flush in her face was a bit worse than her brother’s. She had been sweating a lot. Her hair all around her face was saturated and stuck to her.

It might have been mid-October, but we were in the desert. It was still hot during the day. In a car with the windows up and no air conditioning on, it was even worse.

I finally freed the little girl, took her in my arms, and pulled her out of the car. Once I stood up outside the car, I shifted her limp body into one arm as I held out my free hand to her brother.

“Come with me, Cooper,” I started. “We’re going to go sit in my car with the air conditioning, okay?”

Cooper willingly came with me. After opening the back door, I ushered him in ahead of his sister. No sooner had I gotten her inside when I heard someone say, “Excuse me, Officer?”

I looked up and saw a gentleman wearing a polo shirt that had the words ‘Sagebrush Beer Depot’ embroidered onto the left chest. He was holding out two bottles of water. I hadn’t realized anyone was watching the scene unfold, but I guess it would have been hard to miss a bunch of police officers surrounding a vehicle in the parking lot of your business.

Taking them from him, my only response was, “Thanks.”

Once I’d opened the first one, I passed it over to Cooper. He took it and drank feverishly from it. I opened the second one and held it out to his sister. She was clutching her stuffed dog so tightly in her hands, she didn’t take it from me.

“Hey, Cooper. What’s your sister’s name?” I asked.

He pulled the water bottle from his mouth and answered, “Corinne.”

My eyes shifted back to the sweet, little girl. There was nothing but fear written all over her face: fear and exhaustion.

“Corinne?” I called gently.

She shifted her eyes to me.

“Sweetheart, my name is Dex. I’m here to help you. You need to drink some water, okay? It’s going to make you feel a lot better,” I promised her. “Can I help you with it?”

Ever so slowly, she moved her head to indicate her acceptance.

I offered her a friendly smile and put one finger under her chin. Once I tipped it back, I held the water bottle up to her mouth. She drank. It was much slower than her brother, but she was doing it.

“Good girl, Corinne,” I praised her. “You’re doing such a good job.”

She continued to drink, and I was happy to hold that bottle of water for as long as she needed me to do it for her.

“Hey Taylor,” a voice sounded from behind me.

I looked up from my seat beside Corinne and saw Officer Tucker Wagner had walked up to my car, looking rather grim.

Knowing I needed to talk to him out of earshot of the kids, I started to stand up. That’s when, for the first time since I’d arrived, Corinne showed any sort of reaction. Her tiny hand clamped down on my forearm.

Halting my movements, I turned back toward her and explained, “I’m just going to be standing right outside the door here to talk to this officer, okay? I’m not going to walk away from the car, and I’m not going to leave you. I promise you. You and Cooper are just going to hang tight for a minute, cool off, and drink some water. I promise you’ll be able to see me the whole time, Corinne. Okay?”

Her terrified eyes broke my heart, but she ultimately nodded. A second later, she pulled her hand from my arm.

I held her water bottle out to her, and she took it.

Then I got out of the car and closed the door. Before I spoke to Tucker, I looked back in the window and waved at the kids.

Instantly, I noticed them both relax a little.

When I brought my attention to Tucker, he jerked his head toward the kids and asked, “Everything okay?”

“The boy seems okay. He’s doing everything I’ve asked, and he’s speaking. The little girl hasn’t said anything. She seemed to be affected by the heat much worse than her brother. Beyond that, I think they’re both traumatized by the whole ordeal,” I told him. “What’s the word on their mother?”

“The medics are with her now, trying to get her to wake up. Ultimately, they’re going to be transporting her to Sagebrush Medical,” Tucker began. “Riley and Weaver are going to