by Dana Mentink
She laughed and kissed him, settling into her cozy cabin with only a small pang as she eyed the Christmas tree Keegan had provided.
After a long nap and a hot shower, Tracy’s phone buzzed with a text message.
Tracy stared at the phone, her breathing suspended.
“What is it, Honeybunch?”
“It’s from Mom. She says... I mean, I asked if I could bring over the bead bracelets I’d made for her and Lily, and she said...”
Her throat suddenly closed up, so Grandpa took the phone from her hand and read the screen. “‘We are home. A visit would be nice.’”
Eight words and her heart felt as light as the shimmering winter sunshine. It was almost enough to send her into gales of laughter. All the pieces of her life had fallen into place, except when she thought of a certain blue-eyed cowboy.
I will hang around Tracy forever if it means I can prove Bryce Larraby guilty. And now Bryce was guilty and Keegan had no reason to stay close, other than an attack of conscience. Maybe he’d assuaged that with his hospital ministrations. Again, her throat clogged with unshed tears.
The knock startled her. At first terror prevented her from moving until she told herself firmly that Mitch and Bryce were under arrest. She was safe; she was free.
She opened the door to find Keegan holding a massive bundle of sunflowers in one hand and a bunch of carrots in the other. He wore black jeans, a tucked-in button-up shirt and a leather jacket.
“Hey,” he said, peering around the flowers.
She realized her mouth was open. “Well, um, hi. I thought you’d be busy with the wedding.”
“I am. Mama sent me to town to get a haircut, which I didn’t need, but in the spirit of Christmas I got it anyway. Plus she said since I ate all the cream puffs for the dessert buffet, it was my responsibility to go get more if I knew what was good for me, so I’m on my way back from town.”
He looked down at the ground. “Tracy, what I said before, about staying with you so I could prove my father guilty...” He blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. I wish I could say it wasn’t true, but I think I was using you.”
“You don’t have to...” His eyes rose to hers, pained and tender.
“But that’s only part of it, the part I’ve been praying about. The other part, I mean, I...well.” He shook his head as if to clear it and then thrust the sunflowers at her. “Here. I wanted to get roses, but Mama has commandeered every single rose in town for the reception, so here are some sunflowers and...” The last bit came out in a rush. “Would you please be my date for the wedding?”
She blinked. “Oh, I don’t think...”
His expression was dead serious. “I know I messed up, and by all rights you should slam the door in my face, but I am asking anyway. Please come with me. Let me show you what kind of man I can be. Please. Just one date.”
She gazed at the sunflowers. “Keegan, it’s not a good idea.”
He sighed. “If you don’t go, I will be the only lonely soul there available to hold the baby, and I’m scared of infants. You gotta save me.”
She could not hold back a laugh at that. “Okay. One date. When should I be ready?”
A dazzling smile broke over him. “Excellent. I’ll pick you up at three o’clock. Bring a jacket, ’cause the barn is chilly. Grandpa is invited, too,” he said, tossing the words over his shoulder as he jogged down the driveway.
“Keegan?” she called.
“Yeah?”
“Did you bring those carrots for some reason or just in case you needed a snack?”
He eyed the cluster in his hand. “Oh, yeah. Forgot all about it. Christmas gift for Buttons and Ducky.” He handed her the carrots and kissed her cheek before she knew it was coming. His lips sent shivers up her spine.
One date, she told herself. Just one date.
* * *
Keegan could not believe the barn could be so transformed. He ushered folks to their seats, amid the bows and roses and grinning brothers.
Shelby sat in the front row, baby bundled in her lap, next to Evie and Tom, and Barrett could not take his eyes off his wife or their daughter. Jack and Owen were similarly transfixed by their brides, Shannon and Ella, one tall and dark-haired, the other small with fiery red curls, and both lovely in white gowns, holding bouquets, complemented by the pomanders the bridesmaids held. But Keegan was enchanted by a different woman in the room.
Tracy wore a simple pink dress that hugged her slender waist and brought out blooms on her cheeks. Her blond hair was piled into some sort of soft arrangement that highlighted the hazel of her eyes, the satin of her skin. He showed her to her seat, Grandpa Stew settling next to her in a plaid shirt and bolo tie.
“Hey,” Grandpa Stew said, “I don’t think you’ll be having any more trouble from that Sonny B fella.”
Keegan stared at him. “How’s that?”
“What did you do?” Tracy demanded.
“Aw, he came up on the property on his motorcycle again while you two was getting all gussied up for the wedding. Turns out that was him on the property before, you know, not Mitch. I shot out both his tires and told him I was gonna tell everyone in town he got bested by an old man with a bum leg. Gonna shame him six ways to Sunday to anyone who would listen. He couldn’t run down the road fast enough. Heard he left town.”
Keegan laughed so loud he earned a startled look from his mother. “Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t let it go to your head. I still don’t like you.”
“Yes, sir, I know.”
But there was a smile on her grandpa’s wrinkled face, the same smile he’d sported when Keegan had taken him aside just before the ceremony started.
The pastor started the proceedings and the wedding began. From the reciting of the vows to the exchanging of the rings, everything went exactly as the Thorn women had planned.
Before Keegan knew it, the ceremony was over and the reception had begun. He broke from the group and beelined straight for Tracy, helping her on with her sweater. “Let’s go outside,” he whispered to her. “I think I see Shelby coming at me with the baby.”
She giggled. “I like babies.”
“They’re scary and they leak,” he said, waving at someone across the assembled tables clustered next to the heat lamps.
John lifted a mug of cider to return the greeting.
“I’m surprised to see him here,” she said.
“Really, you’re surprised I’m not sniping at him.”
She smiled. “Well, yes, actually.”
Keegan ran a hand through his hair. “I guess with all that’s happened, I learned a few things,” he said. “Let go of a few of my own burdens long enough to take note of other people’s.”
She went quiet, studying him in a way that made his nerves race. “I am so glad.”
“I’m not a new man or anything,” he said. “I’m the same thrill-seeking hothead, but...” He looked at his mother, who gazed, teary-eyed, at her sons and their new wives and the tiny squirming infant. “I’m a better version of myself...thanks to you.”
“No,” Tracy said, “I just got you into trouble.”
“You got me out of it, made me see myself for what I was, how I treated people, how I treated you.”
She looked away. “I’m glad I met you.”
He touched her chin and brought her eyes back to look at him. “You are what I need in my life and I...” He cleared his throat. “I know I can be what you need. I love you, Tracy.”
Now her eyes went wide. “Keegan, I know you want to mean that, but I think you’re mistaken about your feelings. We haven’t known each other that long.”
“Nope. I’m mistaken about a lot of things, and I imagine I’ll make huge, colossal, mind-bending mistakes in the future, but on this I’m not, Pockets. You are the person I’ve been looking for my whole life�
��you are the woman I want to be my partner now and forever.”
The sparkle of Christmas lights danced across her face as the band struck up a medley of carols.
“You’re my gift, Tracy. I want to be yours, too.”
Her lips pressed together and he tapped her sweater. “What you got in there, Pockets?”
Openmouthed with surprise, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a black-velvet box. He took it from her and opened it, removing the delicate band inset with a small diamond.
“Best I could afford, much smaller than you deserve. I know you have your dream, you and your grandpa, and I want to help you make that campground the best in the county. I already asked your grandpa for permission to propose, by the way. He said he still doesn’t like me, but he gave his consent.” He kissed her knuckle. “We can make some dreams of our own, too, if you’ll have me.” He slid the ring on her finger, and through his haze of near panic, he realized she had let him.
“But it’s so soon...”
“We can be engaged as long as you like. Whatever you need.” He sank to one knee. “Will you marry me, Tracy?” he whispered.
She cupped his cheeks in her warm hands and bent her head to touch his. Her caress was gentle as a spring breeze and filled with a forever promise. “Yes,” she murmured, nose to nose with him. “Yes, I will. I love you, Keegan.”
“I love you, too, Pockets.” Keegan rose to embrace her, kissing her as many times as she’d let him before she pushed at his chest.
“Everyone is staring,” she whispered.
He turned and found all four of his brothers grinning at him, as well as his mom and dad and the guests.
“Looks like we’ve got another wedding to plan,” Evie said, wiping away tears.
“Better start rustling up food now,” Jack added. “The Iron Cowboy here can eat more than a hundred guests can.”
Keegan laughed and grabbed a glass of cider for him and Tracy. He held his glass up high.
“Thank You, God, for Your gift to us,” he said, and everyone raised their glasses. “And thank You for this family,” he added, gazing at Tracy, his Christmas gift for now and forever.
* * * * *
Read on for an extract from CHRISTMAS HIDEOUT by Susan Sleeman.
Christmas Hideout
by Susan Sleeman
ONE
The low, keening wail reverberated from the walls of Nicole Dyer’s apartment as fear skittered through her body.
She listened. Hard. Trying to figure out where the sound originated.
Her. It was coming from her. She was the one crying out.
She clamped a hand over her mouth, stilling the noise before she woke her precious three-year-old daughter. Nicole stared at the warning message. Someone had laid a photo of her on the butcher-block countertop and plunged a large hunting knife into it.
The threat was clear. Someone wanted her dead. And that someone had to be the man she’d recently broken up with. Grady Harmon.
He’d finally lost it. Taken his obsession with her too far. They’d dated for months and all was good, but then he’d turned angry and controlling, and she’d dumped him before he could hurt her or sweet Emilie. But that didn’t matter to him.
Not one bit.
Nicole had been receiving texts for a month from various phones and nothing could be tracked back to Grady, but she knew it had to be him. He’d constantly tried to keep her from doing anything without him, hounding her and insisting he know her every move. So she’d ended things with him, and he was angry about the breakup. The messages started right after that, but soon changed to threats on her life.
But this? This physical threat? The hunting knife? This was too much.
How had he even gotten into her apartment?
Wait. Could he still be here?
She spun. Scanned the room, her heart racing.
Emilie. She had to protect Emilie.
Nicole grabbed the knife. Held it tight and raised it. Armed now and prepared to save her child, she charged down the hallway, fear stealing her breath. She shoved open Emilie’s door. Her sweet child lay in her bed. Curled on her side. Her thumb firmly planted in her mouth.
Nicole sighed out her relief but didn’t relax. She jerked open the closet door. He wasn’t there. She knelt to look under the bed. Nothing.
She bolted for the door and checked her own bedroom. The closet. Under the bed. No intruder. She raced to the hallway bathroom. Knife raised, she slid open the shower curtain.
No Grady. No one.
A sigh of relief came to her lips, but she stifled it. She couldn’t relax. Not for a second. Not when he’d stalked her. She saw him everywhere. At the grocery store. Outside the school where she taught third grade. At her church. He texted her. Demanded to get back together. Then started threatening her life. Daily. Sometimes hourly.
She’d reported everything to the police, but he used an unregistered phone and they couldn’t trace it. She’d considered moving out of Austin to get away from him, but she’d have to quit her job. Her husband had been a great provider before he died, but he’d spent every penny he’d earned and left her with nothing. She had to work, and if she abandoned her job, how would she take care of Emilie?
And what would the point of moving be, anyway? Grady was a police officer, and he had ways to locate her anywhere. Especially here in Texas.
He’d even gotten into her apartment. He could come back at any time. Now. Tonight. Tomorrow. When she didn’t know. Couldn’t predict.
Panic raced along her nerves. She gulped for air. Couldn’t find a breath. Panted. Tried harder. Looked for answers. For what to do.
She suddenly realized she was still clutching the knife and dropped it on the counter. The solid metal landed with a clang, ratcheting up her fear.
She needed help. Her sister. Piper. She’d call Piper. She was a voice of reason and could help Nicole think logically.
She grabbed her phone and dialed. “He’s been here. Grady...in the apartment.”
“Are you in danger?” Piper’s urgent and worried question was nearly Nicole’s undoing.
She took a breath and blew it out. Took another. “We’re fine at the moment. He’s gone, but he could come back.”
“You need to call the police. Now!”
“What good will that do?”
“He violated his restraining order. They can lock him up, and all of this will be over.”
Nicole snorted. “Like that’s made a difference. I’ve called 911 on him so many times, and he’s long gone before anyone arrives, so they think I’m crying wolf.” Piper had to realize by now that as a cop, Grady knew how to play the game. To disappear as fast as he’d appeared. “I’ll report him, but I can’t rely on the cops to make sure he’s punished for violating the order.”
“Why did I ever date him?” An ache settled in Nicole’s chest. “Him of all people to be the first guy to go out with since Troy died.”
She hadn’t dated in the three years since her husband had been killed in a motorcycle crash. She’d shut down for months, needing Piper just to get through her daily activities. But Nicole soon realized as a pregnant woman she had to find her footing again for the baby. To honor Troy and give their child the best chance in life. She started dating Grady after he came to her classroom to talk to her students. He was so compelling. So sweet with the kids, and she’d never been able to resist a guy who loved kids this way.
“You’ve got to quit beating yourself up about that,” Piper said. “I still think you should call the police.”
Nicole shot a look around her tiny apartment. “Grady wouldn’t have touched anything without wearing gloves, and there’s no sign of a forced entry.”
“Then how did he get in?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the windows.” She ran to check the locks, window by windo
w. “No, they’re locked, and there’s no sign he forced them open.”
“What about the door?”
She raced to the front door. “No scratches or gouges from prying it open. He had to have a key.”
“Did you give him one?”
“No. He insisted I have a key to his place, but I never gave him one for my apartment.”
“Then how?”
“Maybe he used his status as a police officer to get the building manager to let him in. Yeah, that has to be it.”
Piper sighed. “No matter what, you’re not safe there. Come stay with me.”
“No. No way. He’d find us at your place. I need to leave. To run.” Nicole didn’t need to think twice about her decision when Grady threatened to kill her, leaving Emilie an orphan.
Running was the answer.
The only answer.
But how and where?
She’d just have to play it by ear.
“I’ll call you once we’re safe.” A thought burrowed into her brain. “No, wait. I can’t take my phone. He can track it. I’ll have to leave it here. I’ll buy a prepaid phone the minute we’re safe and call you.”
She couldn’t believe she was even thinking about running? Was it the right thing to do? Would they be safe?
“Honey, don’t go,” Piper pleaded, breaking Nicole’s heart even more and raising her doubts. “Not like this. Not alone. I’ll come—”
“I can’t ask you to come along. I’ll go to that cute bed-and-breakfast in the Texas Hill Country I stayed at with Troy. I’ll call you the minute I get a new phone. I love you, sis.” Nicole disconnected before she caved in.
She left the phone on the counter and raced to her room to jerk a tote bag from the closet. She needed clothes, sure, but she had to take items that were important to her, too. That gave her comfort. She didn’t know when she would be back, if she would be back, and the journey would be tough. Nicole would ask Piper to pack the rest of their things and put them in storage.
She grabbed her mother’s necklace. Her wedding ring. Her father’s watch. Put them in the bag. She located Emilie’s baby book and added it, too.
