“Hush,” Mary Beth replied. “You’re only making it worse than it already is. I’ll make you some tea.”
Christy Joy shook her head, but Mary Beth insisted upon brewing a cup anyway.
Darcy had searched both sides of the street and was heading for the docks when she saw Jeremy Linden coming her way carrying Twink on his shoulders. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she ran toward them.
“Oh Twink, you had us all scared to death!” she cried.
Twink simply looked puzzled. “I went to see Jeremy.”
Darcy had to grab on to the captain’s arm for support. “You should have called us. We’ve been searching everywhere.”
“I’m sorry. I thought it would take less time to walk her home than it would to look up Defy the World’s number.”
A police cruiser pulled up before Darcy could reply, and the red-haired officer who had taken the report on Twink climbed out. “What’s your name, little girl?” he asked.
Twink straightened proudly. “Catherine Jennings, but everybody calls me Twink.”
Jeremy swung her down off his shoulders, but kept hold of her hand. “I found her on my boat and was walking her home.”
The officer shot Darcy a decidedly skeptical glance and reached for his handcuffs, but she stepped in front of Jeremy. “Captain Linden is a family friend. Twink went to see him without asking permission, but now that she’s been found, we need to take her home to her mother.”
The officer’s glance never left Jeremy and he waited a moment too long to agree. “Okay, let’s do that.” He opened the rear door of his car and waited for them to slide inside.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—” Jeremy began.
Darcy raised a finger to her lips. “Let’s concentrate on getting Twink home.”
Once they were all seated in the cruiser, Twink bounced on Jeremy’s knee. “Can you turn on the siren?”
“Not today,” the officer replied. “We don’t want to scare your mother any worse than she already is.” He quickly reached for his microphone to radio in that he was on his way back to Defy the World Tomatoes with Twink.
Twink settled back against Jeremy’s chest. “Am I in trouble?”
Darcy was too relieved to have found the little girl safe to want to see her punished. “You know better than to wander off, but you’ll not do it again, will you?”
Twink played with the organdy apron on her pinafore. “I didn’t get lost.”
“That’s not the point,” Jeremy insisted. “Pretty little girls can’t go wandering around the docks alone. I told you so, remember?”
Twink lowered her head. “Do I stink like fish?”
Darcy pulled the sweet child into her arms and hugged her tightly. “No, you smell absolutely delicious.”
The police cruiser pulled into a parking place in front of Defy the World, and Christy Joy came running out to meet them. She plucked her daughter from Darcy’s arms and muffled her tears in her shiny curls.
Jeremy left the car, but hung back. When Darcy glanced his way, he just shook his head. “Twink went to see Jeremy,” she explained.
Christy gasped. “Oh, baby, you went all that way alone?”
The policeman cleared his throat. “Why don’t you call your pediatrician and have him meet us at the hospital to check her over.”
Christy’s expression filled with confusion, swiftly followed by a sudden flash of horror. “Please, Jeremy, swear you didn’t—”
Jeremy spread his arms wide. “What? No, of course not. I went up to the Scarlet Letter to pick up a book I’d ordered. When I got back, Twink was jumping up and down on my bunk.”
The officer pulled a small notebook from his back pocket. “Captain Linden, was it? Better give me the name of your boat.”
“The Great Escape, but no crime has been committed.”