Under the Christmas Star

by Amanda Tru

  “You didn’t have your phone?” he asked, writing something down on his pad.

  Emma paused, taking a few seconds to remember and respond. “No, my phone was in my purse, and both were gone.”

  Emma’s answers came slowly, with Jacobs at the ready to shoot back another question before Emma finished answering the previous one.

  “You said you were delivering ornaments to the church,” he said, his words quick and brusque. “Why did you walk to the station? If you were there delivering the ornaments to someone at the church, why didn’t you simply go inside and ask them to help?”

  “The ornaments I was supposed to deliver were shattered or stolen,” Emma explained, feeling extremely confused as to why he was asking this. “Why would I go inside the church when I didn’t have the ornaments to deliver?”

  Leo was quiet as he stared at her. He seemed to be studying her, and Emma got a strange feeling that he really wanted to read her mind, which made no sense at all. She’d just explained everything to him. What more was there to understand?

  His normally quick words suddenly slowed way down, as if the thought formed right as it left his lips. “So, you went to the church to complete the task of delivering the ornaments, but since you could no longer complete that specific task, you didn’t go into the church?”

  “Of course,” Emma replied easily, feeling both relieved that he understood and still slightly bothered. Wasn’t that the right thing to do?

  “But they could have helped you,” Jacobs protested. “You didn’t need to walk to the station. If you went into the church, they could have called the police.”

  Emma shook her head. “The ladies were there to decorate. I didn’t have the ornaments. Why would I bother them without that which I agreed to bring? The station isn’t a far walk from the church. When I get home, I can try to collect some other ornaments for the church and make a different delivery, if it isn’t too late.”

  “But…”

  Emma waited for him to finish speaking, but instead, he just shook his head.

  Clearing his throat, he switched subjects again. “I am told that your parents are out of town. The hospital contacted them, but they won’t arrive home until tomorrow. Is there someone else who can stay with you tonight while you recover?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Emma assured. “I’ll have Orion with me.”

  “Orion?”

  “Yes, he’s my dog.” Emma looked anxiously at the clock on the wall. The minute hand stood at attention well after 10:00 now. She still didn’t know how it got to be that late? “I need to hurry home. I didn’t expect to be gone this long.”

  “Is Orion trained in how to care for concussions?” Jacobs asked.

  Emma looked at him, recognizing there was something different in the way he’d asked that question, but she didn’t quite understand what it was. “Do they have that type of training for dogs? Orion has been to obedience training and also trained as a therapy dog, but maybe I should look into concussion training.”

  A short laugh burst out from Jacobs’ mouth.

  Emma startled. Was Chief Jacobs laughing at her?

  Sparkles danced in his eyes and his teeth flashed white in a strong, tanned jawline. It was so different from his usual serious and sober look, Emma might have enjoyed it if she didn’t suspect the merriment was at her expense.

  “That question wasn’t a serious one, Miss Sheldon. I was attempting to point out that you need a human to care for you overnight, not a dog.” With his mouth still turning up at the corners, Chief Jacobs asked, “Is this how you normally are, Miss Sheldon, or is it just the head injury?”

  “I’m sorry, Chief Jacobs. I don’t understand your question.” What did he mean? Was what how she normally was? Though she couldn’t answer his question, his scrutiny made her uncomfortable. Throwing off her blanket, she swung her legs around and off the bed, working to keep dizziness at bay. “Can I go home now?”

  Jacobs stood. “Sure. I’ll tell Angie you’re ready.” Extending his arm, he handed her a card. “If you think of any more details about what happened, give me a call.”

  Emma accepted the card, still perching on the edge of the bed.

  Chief Jacobs turned to leave.

  “Thank you,” Emma called softly.

  Jacobs turned and looked at her.

  “Thank you for helping me,” she explained. “I get confused sometimes, and it’s hard to know what to do. I do the wrong thing and don’t realize I’ve not made the best choice. Things that are obvious to others are not always obvious to me. I thank God that He sent you tonight. I was lost, and you knew just what to do. Thank you.”

  Jacobs nodded, though Emma thought the wrinkles in his forehead made him look a little bothered by her words.

  “You’re welcome,” he said simply before shutting the door behind himself.

  Emma managed to get to her feet and use the restroom. Though she still felt a little dizzy, she was done sitting in a hospital room. Opening the door, she poked her head out and scanned the hall in both directions.

  Seeing no one, she turned left and followed the hall. Her feet were still unsteady, and the horrible, bright lights burnt her eyes and seared into the pain in her head. Even with the treatment and medication, her overwhelming need was to get home. She just needed to find a way to get there.

  She came to an intersection of hallways and stopped. Hearing a deep voice, she tried to pinpoint from which direction it came.

  Emma recognized Chief’s Jacobs’ voice speaking to someone. “Hi, Mike. Angie Lovell mentioned that Emma Sheldon was a friend of yours. She was assaulted tonight, and her car was stolen. She has a concussion and isn’t able to be home alone, but her parents are out of town. Can you stay with her tonight?”

  Emma stepped forward, sure that the chief’s voice was coming from straight ahead, and also sure that she didn’t have any friends named Mike.

  “Really? You’re out of town on business?”

  Emma caught sight of a waiting room on the left. In the far corner sat a snack machine. Couches and chairs occupied the middle.

  The chief’s voice sounded close, but she still couldn’t see him.

  “Okay. What about Brooke Hutchins? I know she’s in town. Her shop is having a big sale tomorrow, right?

  Emma rounded the corner and stepped into the darkened waiting area.

  “Oh, really? I’m sorry to hear that. Okay, we’ll try to figure something else out.

  Chief Jacobs stood with one arm raised and leaning against a brightly lit red soda machine.

  Angie sat at the edge of one of the chairs watching Jacobs and jumped up when she saw Emma. “Emma, you shouldn’t be out of bed!”

  “Can someone please take me home now?” she asked politely. “But I don’t want to go with Mike. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

  Angie bit her lip and turned to Jacobs. “Did you have any luck”?

  Chief Jacob’s lips formed a tight, straight line as he pushed a button to end his call. “No, Kate Camden is out of town on business, and Brooke Hutchins is staying with Lyla Timmons for the night. Lyla is ill, but her daughter won’t arrive until tomorrow. Kate didn’t want Lyla to be alone for the night, so she asked Brooke to stay with her.”

  “But what about Mike?” Emma asked.

  Angie sighed and put her hand to her forehead. “Drat! Kate would have been perfect with her law enforcement history. Plus, I know she and Emma are friends. Brooke is a friend as well. Without those two, I’m at a dead end. I’d stay with her myself, but I have to work graveyard all night.”

  Emma shook her head, not liking that they talked as if she wasn’t in the room. In fact, she hated it. While she preferred to observe and not necessarily participate in social interaction, she liked to be the one to choose. She didn’t like when others ignored her or pretended she wasn’t present, especially when they were talking about things directly relating to her. “No one needs to stay with me,” she stated flatly. “I’m fine. Orion w
ill be with me. I just want to go to bed.”

  “Emma, Mike is Leo’s nickname for Kate Camden,” she explained. Then with a bit of an eye roll, she added, “I’m not sure why he calls her that.”

  “It isn’t my nickname for her,” Leo protested. “It’s what everyone in the police department calls her.”

  Angie sighed and turned back to Emma. “I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to go home by yourself,” Angie’s voice sounded official, almost like a robot. “You need to take things easy. You shouldn’t even be out of bed right now. I also have some prescriptions that you need to take home and keep track of. With the confusion you’ve experienced, you can’t even trust yourself to do that. Not to mention, you need to have someone with you who can watch for more serious symptoms and call when needed. Although Orion may be the smartest dog I know, I haven’t received a phone call from him lately.”

  Emma’s face crumpled, and she whispered. “Please, just let me go home. It’s too bright and noisy here. I want to go home.”

  “I’ll stay with her.”

  Emma and Angie both startled and looked at Chief Jacobs in surprise.

  Jacobs shrugged. “Give me Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon’s number, and I’ll call to make sure it’s okay with them to crash on their couch. I’ll monitor her medication and watch her for other symptoms tonight. I’ll also feel better if I know she is safe. Though we’ve had at least ten cars reported stolen in the past twenty-four hours, she’s the only person who’s been assaulted. Before sending her to a house alone, I’d prefer to make sure this was random and not a targeted attack.”

  A broad smile spread across Angie’s face. “It’s settled then! You make the call to Emma’s parents while I get her discharge papers and medication ready. Emma, dear, if you insist on not being in the hospital room, could you please at least sit on the couch? I can’t stand to look at your pale face and fear that you’re going to pass out at any second.”

  Emma watched helplessly as the other two turned to their chores without consulting her at all.

  “Chief Jacobs,” Emma began.

  He held a hand up to silence her, awaiting the connection from the numbers he’d just dialed on his cell phone. Soon he was chatting with her parents, and Emma felt a wave of dizziness. She didn’t know if it was more from the concussion or from the knowledge that her parents would eagerly accept Chief Jacobs’ offer to stay the night.

  She tried several more times to interrupt the conversation and voice her objection, but all to no avail. Finally reaching the point of no longer being able to stand, she simply lowered herself to the floor and sat cross-legged right in front of the chief. She couldn’t find enough energy to locate a chair, and she wanted to stay in close enough proximity to voice her displeasure the first chance she got.

  She didn’t know how to politely say that she didn’t want him to come, and as the minutes ticked by, the politeness factor mattered less and less. The thought of him watching over her unnerved her, disrupting all dreams of hiding in the sanctuary of home. Now with her parents on board with the chief and Angie, Emma realized that her objection, no matter how rude, would not be heard.

  Desperation settled in, and she folded her head into her hands.

  Lord, help me! She prayed.

  Her prayers weren’t for help with her pain or symptoms, nor was she requesting her stolen car or ornaments be found. The plea was solely for help in knowing how to handle a certain police chief staying in her home overnight to take care of her. She had no frame of reference to determine how to behave or respond in such an unusual situation. She didn’t have scripts that she’d memorized and rehearsed based on this imagined situation. Instead, she was being thrown into the deep end of the pool, and she didn’t know how to swim.

  On the most basic level, even though she knew the chief’s purpose was entirely professional with the goal of keeping her safe, the reality was that this marked the first time ever she would be bringing a boy home.

  “If you’ll give me your keys, I’ll unlock the door,” Jacobs said, extending his hand for the keys that fumbled through her nervous fingers.

  Emma knew he was irritated with hearing the jingle of keys for the last thirty seconds while she searched for the right one. Emma noticed that people got annoyed when a task took her longer than they thought it should. In this case, the only light in the shadows of the house shone from the chief’s flashlight directly onto her clumsy fingers. Unfortunately, they simply refused to give an adequate performance and actually grasp anything while under the spotlight.

  Finally locating the silver key with the rounded top, Emma handed it over to Chief Jacobs’ waiting grasp. With his impatience in her key search, Emma decided to take mercy on him and not subject him to waiting while she found the keyhole in the door.

  Jacobs unlocked the door in a mere few seconds and twisted the doorknob. The door opened with a small creak of protest that quickly succumbed to a much louder growl, one that didn’t belong to the door at all.

  Hairs rose at the back of Emma’s neck.

  With a cry of alarm, she quickly ducked under Jacobs’ arm, pushing past him to get into the house.

  “Orion, it’s me!” she burst out, putting herself in front of the chief to face the shadowy figure. “It’s okay. It’s me. Chief Jacobs is a friend.”

  A soft whine of recognition met her words. Reaching out her hand, she flipped the switch near the door jam, and the front entryway immediately flooded with light.

  Emma bent to meet the large ball of red fur that leaped into her arms with a much happier whine. “Here boy, let’s get you outside.”

  Emma hurried through the house to the sliding door in the back near the kitchen. She flipped the light to illuminate the backyard and let Orion out.

  “He was happy to see you,” Jacobs observed following her.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “I’m sorry he growled at you. He didn’t realize I was behind you.”

  “Or maybe he did and thought you needed rescuing,” Jacobs countered with a slight tilting at the corners of his mouth. “I wouldn’t think much of him if he hadn’t growled at me. That reaction earned him points in my book.”

  Emma smiled in relief and opened the door to let an eager Orion bound back into the house. “Orion, this is Chief Jacobs. He’s a friend and will be staying with us tonight.”

  Jacobs bent slowly and extended his hand for the dog to smell. After a few cursory sniffs, Orion planted a slobbering lick from the tip of Jacob’s finger to the back of his palm.

  Jacobs laughed and reached out to scratch behind Orion’s ears. Loving the attention way too much, Orion rolled onto his back so the chief could scratch his belly as well.

  “Ha! You’re begging for the full treatment now, aren’t you, Orion?” Giving into the request, Jacobs gave the dog a good belly scratch.

  “What kind of dog is he?” Jacobs asked, turning to Emma. “I’m usually fairly good with dog breeds, but Orion has me a bit baffled.

  “Orion is a Rhodesian Ridgeback,” Emma supplied.

  “Well, that explains the ridge of fur that grows the wrong direction on his back, but I don’t know that I’ve seen one exactly like him before.”

  “That’s because the combination of the red coat and brown nose and eyes is not as common,” she explained. “Most red Rhodesian Ridgebacks have a black nose and dark eyes. Orion’s nose is brown and eyes are amber.”

  “That explains it.” Giving Orion a final pat, Jacobs stood. “I think you’ve got a special dog there, Miss Sheldon. He seems to be special in more ways than just his appearance.”

  The chief’s words pleased Emma, and a thrill of pleasure shot through her at the knowledge that her dog and Jacobs so easily accepted each other with such fondness.

  Emma’s attachment to Orion was based on more than just a pet/owner relationship. Years ago, Emma’s parents had suggested they get a sort of therapy dog with the thought that he could enter Emma’s world more easily than a person and also provide her help s
ocially. They allowed Emma to choose the kind of dog she desired for her companion, and Emma chose Orion from a picture after doing research. When she saw the brown-nosed, amber-eyed puppy, she knew he was a special combination, and she felt an immediate connection. Emma identified with Orion. To her, they were the same—a special combination of characteristics in an otherwise normal population.

  Because of that connection, Chief Jacobs’ acceptance of Orion translated in her heart to acceptance of her in all her specialness. Though in her head she knew that was silly, she felt helpless to stop the soft flush of pleasure that filled her face at the chief’s words.

  Thankfully oblivious to her reaction, Jacobs’ tone lost its warmth and turned quite professional. “Miss Sheldon, you must be tired. Let’s give you your medication, and you can go to bed.”

  “Chief Jacobs, could you please call me Emma?” she asked before she talked herself out if it. That terribly formal Miss Sheldon had chased away his lovely warm tone and attitude, and Emma wished it to return. “I don’t get called Miss Sheldon very often. It feels like a shoe that doesn’t fit. I’m just Emma.”

  A soft smile curved his mouth, and he glanced up at her from where he fumbled in a white paper sack for small bottles of medication. “I like that. ‘A shoe that doesn’t fit.’ That’s a good way of describing it.”

  Turning back to the task of spreading the medications and instructions on the counter, he continued. “Ok, I’ll call you Emma. But that means you’ll have to call me Leo. I’d rather not be ‘Chief Jacobs’ 24 hours a day anyway. Everyone should take off their ill-fitting shoes sometime.”

  Feeling slightly lightheaded again, Emma settled herself on a barstool with Orion curled on the floor at her feet. “Leo is your first name? Is that short for Leonardo? Are you named after Leonardo da Vinci?”

  He smiled in amusement and handed her two pills and a full glass of water. “Nope. Not Leonardo. Just Leo.”