Sharon gasped. She opened her mouth to confront the absurdity of that statement and then realized it wasn’t ridiculous at all. Mimi had been there with her. She’d sat next to her and soothed her the entire time. She’d probably saved Sharon’s life by keeping her calm and sane. “Yes.”
Melinda smiled broader. “I could sense her presence as soon as we broke free and then again as we hauled you through the hole.”
“She protected me.”
“From Sandhouse?” Cooper asked.
“From myself. She calmed me while I was losing my mind. She stayed with me while I figured out who I was and what had happened.” Sharon’s own tears tumbled now. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated.
“Mom found her about an hour ago. By that time she’d been gone a while.”
“She was doing so well when I left. I thought shifting had made all the difference.” Sharon stroked the side of Melinda’s face.
Melinda nodded. “I thought so too. Maybe she simply rallied in order to talk to us, or maybe she had another stroke. It’s hard to say.” Her shoulders slumped. It was going to take some time for her to adjust. Mimi was closer to Melinda than anyone else.
“We’re here for you,” Sharon said as Cooper and Jackson flanked her. “We all are.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
As soon as Melinda left to be with her mother and sisters, Cooper hauled Sharon against his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I have to go back to work. My men are probably wondering what the hell happened to me.”
She nodded against him, grabbing the sides of his shirt and fisting the material in her palms. “I know,” she muttered.
“Go home with Jackson. Rest. You’re exhausted. I’ll wake you when I get back.”
“Be careful,” Jackson added as Cooper released Sharon and stepped from the room.
He took a quick look around the bustling activity of the sheriff’s office and then hurried from the building at a jog. His phone was already ringing in his pocket before he made it to the truck. He didn’t bother to answer. He would see his men in a matter of minutes.
The drive through town toward the college made him thank any deity who would listen. People lined the streets, probably too scared to sleep or even go inside after all the seismic activity of the day and the volcanic eruption keeping everyone on edge.
Buildings were crumbled on every corner. Some structures stood seemingly untouched. Others were destroyed from the tremors.
People sat on the curb nursing all manner of injuries. So many of them had cuts that bled in a line down their faces or chest or arms.
He swallowed as he turned the last corner and pulled into the lot adjacent to the Shepley Building. Yanking the keys out of the ignition, he whipped the door open and then ran toward the front door.
In moments, he’d taken the stairs two at a time and arrived at his makeshift office.
All four of his men were inside, peering over data that constantly ran out of several printers.
“Hey, boss,” Chuck greeted him. “Check this out.” He pointed at the printout in front of him. “The tremors are slowing down by the hour.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes as he stared at the readout. “The lava?”
“Also slowing. As if the Earth needed to burp. She did so, and she’s done now. At least for a while,” Chuck stated.
“Hopefully for about a thousand years,” Cooper muttered under his breath. He intended to live in this town and raise his family here. He wanted it still standing when all was said and done.
He’d never been to Cambridge before last week, and he’d only been to Sojourn a few times. But somehow the entire area called to him. He belonged here. It was the birthplace of his ancestors. Sharon was raised here. Jackson was raised in Sojourn. They were meant to be together. The two families completely intertwined. He knew it in his bones.
He’d come here to do a job. He would need to talk to his boss about a permanent transfer. It surely wouldn’t be a problem. Seismologists would be needed in the immediate area for decades to come.
“Coop?”
He hadn’t realized he’d been inside his head, not hearing a word Chuck spoke. He yanked his gaze up to meet his coworker’s. “Sorry. What were you saying?”
“I was saying we need to drive out and take a closer look. Make sure the lava has indeed stopped. Measure the distance it has flowed. The volcanologist is meeting us here.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “He’s already there with the US Geological Survey.”
Cooper nodded. “Right. Let’s go.”
Chuck and Jason grabbed their coats. The other two men waved. One of them spoke, “We’ll call if we see anything develop.”