Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1)

by Laura Browning

  “Call me Betty. You have a blessed day, dear,” the woman said as she left with a smile on her face.

  Holly changed Noelle’s diaper and smiled at her daughter. “Always remember, my precious little daughter, the message of the season…peace on earth, goodwill toward men, but then you already understand Christmas magic, don’t you sweetie? Just like Mama.”

  She was humming Christmas carols when she met Jake and Tyler. Jake arched one thick brow. “Are you all right? I saw Betty Gatewood come out of there with a smile on her face, and I was afraid she might have spitted, roasted, and eaten you.”

  “We had a lovely conversation, Jake. She told me about the children’s clothes closet the church runs. I said I would stop by some time this week. You know, we should bring my car over.”

  He was staring at her as if something about her just seemed to puzzle him. “I’ll send one of our guys out to get it.”

  “Jake?” Holly asked as Tyler walked on ahead of them.

  “Hmm?”

  “I love you.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder and smiled at her. “I never would have imagined even one week ago how much my life was going to change all because of you and Noelle.”

  * * * *

  “Can you run me by the courthouse on your way to the clinic this morning?” Evan asked Jenny as they curled into each other in the aftermath of making love Monday morning. Evan could hardly believe it. Jenny was here by his side where she belonged. He touched the golden cap of her hair and skimmed his hand from her back to her bottom. Man, he wanted her again.

  “Mmm. Not if you keep doing that.”

  “Why?” he murmured.

  “Because we’ll never get out of bed, much less to the car.”

  He chuckled. “You’re right. And I need to get into my office. I’ve been out two days and had to continue the Hairston trial.”

  “The DWI case involving the family from Hillsville?”

  “Yeah. I was hoping to have it wrapped up before Christmas, but now I’m sure it won’t be back on the calendar until January.”

  Evan stood and stretched, and Jenny’s gaze roved over him.

  “I will never get tired of looking at your body,” she told him. “You’ve got a great ass…no doubt from all those years of basketball…long, long legs and those feet.”

  He caught her staring. “Feet aren’t the thing most women want to stare at,” Evan commented and chuckled.

  “They’re the biggest thing on you,” Jenny shot back with an arch of her brow. He huffed and laughed.

  “I guess I opened myself up for that one.”

  Jenny rolled onto her back and put her arms above her head as she stretched. “You did. Mmm. I guess I should get up too.”

  Evan ogled the firm thrust of her breasts beneath the covers. “We could shower together.”

  “Not a chance, Richardson.” Jenny laughed. “I have patients scheduled first thing this morning.”

  A few brows raised when Jenny’s red BMW halted at the curb in front of the county courthouse. Evan leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll see if I can’t get one of the county vehicles until I get the insurance settled on my car. Then you can help me car shop. I was thinking maybe an SUV or a minivan. We can fill it with car seats.”

  He laughed when she blushed, grabbed his briefcase from the backseat, and got out. Before he shut the door, Evan leaned down and smiled at her. His step had a little extra spring as he took the steps to the front door two at a time.

  God, I love her.

  It struck him just how much his life had changed in the last few days, and how by chance it had. If he hadn’t agreed to help Jake move Holly’s belongings, who knew how long he and Jenny would have continued avoiding each other except for the occasional lurch into open hostilities. Holly and Noelle, the spirits of Christmas. Maybe there was something to Holly’s belief in peace and good will.

  Evan opened the door to the main office and stepped through. Conversations halted, almost as if someone had thrown cold water on the whole group. He looked around at the clerks and his assistants. Did he really have such a dampening effect on their moods? Had he been as cold and sarcastic as Jenny described him?

  He smiled at everyone. “Good morning!”

  A nervous cough came from the youngest clerk, then Wanda Sue Gardner stood. “Welcome back, Mr. Richardson. I hope you’re feeling better.”

  Evan’s fingers touched the bandage still covering the stitches Jenny had put in his head. “I am, though I can’t say the same thing for my car.”

  There was more silence in the office. Were they scared of him? When had he become such a monster? But he knew the answer, and knew things were going to change from now on.

  “Is it true?” Wanda Sue continued. “Are you going to marry Doc Owens?”

  Serious faces, hardly daring to show curiosity, regarded him. He smiled again and saw them shift nervously at what must be an unaccustomed action on his part. “Yes. It’s true. Jenny Owens and I are going to get married.” Just admitting it in public filled him with euphoria.

  He grinned then and laughed. Another nervous titter slipped from the young clerk and then the whole office was laughing and congratulating him. Evan accepted their handshakes and hugs and the warm sense of belonging missing before. As he closed the door to his office, he decided the change was for the better. He’d do his best to make sure it stayed that way.

  Still, some things couldn’t be avoided. There was a twelve-year-old crime for which he needed to ensure someone paid. He pulled a pad of paper in front of him and began making notes. He would need his father’s bank records, Jenny’s bank records, and her father’s as well. He would need a statement from Doc Baxter and access to Jenny’s medical records.

  Most of all, he needed the video. And he would have to be careful. Evan now suspected the man he’d spent so many years trying to please was not at all who he thought him to be. The man Jenny described would have no compunction whatsoever destroying evidence if he sensed a threat. Evan would have to be very, very careful.

  He drummed his fingers on the desk, realizing he needed to talk to her. She was smart enough to know that now he knew about it, pursuing prosecution was his job. He could not ignore the commission of a felony. This, he thought, was going to get a whole lot uglier before it was over.

  Evan grabbed the phone and punched in a number. “Sam, it’s Evan. You got a few minutes to talk?”

  “Sure, Evan. I’ve always got time for you. Come on. One of my deputies just got back from Mercer’s with fresh doughnuts, and I made coffee. Good stuff, not that swill Jake and Ernie drink at the police station. We can drink to my apparent psychic powers. Just when are you and Jake tying the knot?”

  “Bite me. I’ll be right down.”

  Evan walked out of his office whistling “Jingle Bell Rock” under his breath and could have sworn everyone in the outer office caught their breath. He stopped, stared at them all, and snapped, “Oh for heaven’s sake! I’m happy okay? I have not acquired some fatal disease.”

  “Sir?” Bill Fields, his senior assistant ventured.

  “What?”

  “We’re just a little shell-shocked right now.”

  Evan stared at them all. “Was I that bad?”

  Wanda Sue and Bill nodded, and soon everyone else had joined them. He frowned. Damn. He must have become a real son of a bitch without even realizing it. He had become his father. The thought entered his brain unbidden…and very unwelcome. With a flip of his coattail, Evan pulled out his money clip and grabbed a credit card.

  “Do we have any cases in court today?” he asked.

  “No, sir,” Wanda Sue answered.

  He handed her the card. “You and Bill, go get Christmas decorations and let’s make this place look festive. Get some snacks, too. We’ll have a party…on me. Now, I gotta talk to Sam about something. I’ll see you later.”

  Bill looked at everyone with a puzzled
expression. “Does anyone else feel like they’ve just awakened in London on the day after Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by the ghosts?”

  After just a short silence, Wanda Sue snickered and soon everyone was laughing again.

  Evan rolled his eyes.

  “Whatever,” he said, and left.

  * * * *

  Sam Barnes sat back in his plush leather chair. He was about Evan’s height, but broader and brawnier, closer to forty than thirty. He’d played football for Tech for a couple of years before an injury sidelined him, and he was already in his second term as county sheriff. He’d been running for reelection when Evan had run for commonwealth’s attorney.

  He gave Sam a couple of minutes to bask in the glory of being right about him and Jake before he launched into the real reason he’d sought him out.

  “That’s one hell of a story, Evan,” Sam said, rubbing his chin, “but it sounds like you have enough evidence to go after the rapists and your father. The key is that video if Jenny doesn’t remember what happened. You need to consider a few things before we go ahead with this, Evan.”

  “Sam, I don’t have a choice. I have to proceed. I’m an officer of the court and I know about it. Besides the fact I would be in violation of the oath I took to uphold my office, it’s the right thing to do.”

  “Even if it puts your father behind bars?”

  Hearing it put so bluntly made him want to cringe in denial, but he had a job to do.

  Evan clenched his jaw. “Yes. I’ll have to recuse myself from the case and request a special prosecutor. Any suggestions? I’d like to make sure it’s someone competent who’s also not been touched by my father’s rather long political reach.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  “One other thing, Sam.” Evan sighed. “If my father gets wind of this, you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll destroy any evidence he can.”

  “Then we’ll have to get all our ducks in a row, quietly and quickly. Let’s keep this just between you and me until we ready to make the arrests. When we do, we’ll need some additional help. I’ll have to bring Ernie and Jake in to assist with any arrests inside the town limits.”

  “No problem. Listen. My parents are holding their annual holiday party this Saturday. I’ve been trying to avoid them, but I could go.”

  “You can’t take the evidence, Evan.”

  “I know,” Evan mused, “but I might be able to get him to give it to me.”

  “How?”

  Evan’s smile wasn’t pleasant. “I would need Jenny’s help, but I have the feeling that won’t be a problem, not after what he’s put her—us—through.”

  * * * *

  Jake took off his ball cap and scratched his head as he stood next to Pastor Joe, staring at the nativity. Someone had swiped Melchior, one of the three Wise Men. Jake had just come from the Presbyterian church where both Balthazar and Gaspar, the other two Wise Men, were also missing. This was just getting stranger and stranger, but there did seem to be a pattern.

  “I’m beginning to think Holly’s right,” Jake admitted.

  “In what way?” Pastor Joe asked.

  Jake chuckled. “We were talking about it Saturday. Evan and I maintain it’s just thieves, but Holly has a different theory.”

  “What’s that?” The young minister dug his hands in the pockets of his down vest as he stared at his denuded nativity.

  “You have to understand, Holly has come to believe in the goodness of man since she came here. She thinks the thieves are trying to bring the feuding between the Baptists and the Presbyterians to an end. Somehow, she believes all of this has a larger purpose that will be revealed.”

  Joe laughed. “Well, we can only hope she’s right. But I must tell you, there’s been a lot of bad blood between the two congregations over the years. It was one of the first things I heard about when I came to town.”

  Jake eyed his fellow poker player. He looked more like he’d come straight from the farm than the pulpit, but both worked well for him at the card table. “I take it you don’t subscribe to that, though.”

  Joe tilted his head and smiled. “You were in the congregation Sunday. You heard my sermon.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Holly seems to have found another fan,” Joe added as he dug his toe at the metal spike that had anchored his missing wise man to the ground.

  “Who’s that?” Jake studied the blank spot where Melchior had stood between the other two wise men.

  “Betty Gatewood.”

  Jake’s head jerked back to Pastor Joe’s face. “I’m sorry. Did you just say Betty Gatewood was saying nice things about Holly?”

  “Indeed. She was the one who discovered the theft this morning. When I mentioned I would contact you, she said she’d spoken with Holly yesterday, and how lucky someone with your volatile temperament was to have found a woman as sweet and kind as Holly Morgan.”

  Jake blinked. Well it appeared even if she hadn’t softened toward him, Betty Gatewood had changed her mind about Holly. He grinned and snapped his cap back on his head.

  “Well. That’s pleasant news indeed, Joe. I’ll have my men keep an eye out for the Three Wise Men, as well as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. But to be honest, I’m beginning to think we might have to wait a while to see where Bethlehem turns out to be.”

  The young minister arched a brow. “You thinking they’re all going to turn up there in a stable?”

  Jake grinned. “Seems likely at this point. You want me to beef up patrols?”

  Joe rubbed his cheek. “I suppose. My congregation will expect that, though I must say it would be nice to subscribe to Holly’s theory.”

  Jake laughed. “This time of year is special for her. Noelle’s original due date was the twenty-fourth, which happens to be Holly’s birthday.”

  “Holly and Noelle. Christmas angels.”

  Jake smiled. “That’s how I think of them.”

  Chapter 12

  Thursday evening, the Mountain Meadow Town Council was slated to accept Ernie Jones’s resignation and appoint a temporary chief until council members could complete official hiring procedures to fill the vacancy. Ernie attended along with Jake, and most of the small police force. Sam had also shown, and despite Jake’s protests, Holly was there with Tyler and Noelle.

  The council read Ernie’s resignation letter and voted to accept it with a note added into the minutes thanking Chief Jones for his years of service. At that point the motion was made and seconded to appoint Lieutenant Jacob Allred as temporary police chief until such time as applicants could be reviewed and a new chief hired. When the mayor asked if there was any discussion on the motion, Betty Gatewood’s husband John cleared his throat.

  “I’m not sure Lieutenant Allred is the right man for the job. We need someone in the position of chief who is an excellent police officer and can also relate to the public in a positive way.” Gatewood paused.

  “Are you telling me,” Councilman Les Gardner interjected, “you believe the man who delivered Holly Morgan’s baby all by himself by candlelight in the middle of an ice storm is not capable of projecting a positive image for the town and the department?”

  “He had two flashlights, too!” Tyler jumped up to add before Jake could haul him back into his seat. A nervous chuckle went through the crowd, which Jake now noticed had ballooned to standing room only. He spotted Evan and Jenny in the back and nodded at them.

  “He threatened to punch my wife in the nose,” Gatewood exploded.

  One of the church ladies who had accompanied her whispered into the silence following Gatewood’s outburst, “I thought Jake said if she were a man he would have punched her in the nose.”

  “The fact remains,” Gardner spoke, “he did not punch Mrs. Gatewood in the nose.”

  “He should have,” someone else in the crowd whispered. “I heard she said unkind things about Jake’s Holly.”

  Every eye glared at Betty Gatewood,
who blushed furiously. Jake rested his gaze on the painting of the courthouse hanging over the mayor’s head and struggled to keep a straight face. This was turning into a farce. Just when it seemed it could get no worse, the door burst open and the ministers from both the Baptist church and the Presbyterian church entered looking breathless and flushed.

  “The thieves have struck again!” Pastor Joe exclaimed.

  “They’ve taken Mary’s donkey,” the Presbyterian minister informed them.

  “And Melchior’s camel,” Joe added.

  The mayor banged his gavel as everyone in the chambers spoke at once. Jake rose to his feet and let out an earsplitting whistle that immediately silenced the room and made Noelle begin to squirm.

  “Let’s table the matter of our temporary chief until our next meeting on the twenty-ninth,” the mayor said. “We can settle it then.”

  The motion was quickly amended, seconded, and voted on unanimously. Jake leaned down and kissed Holly and Noelle.

  “Sorry, honey. I’d better take a look. Evan and Jenny can run you home. Stay at their place until I get there. I don’t want you at the house alone at night.” Although he was beginning to believe they had nothing to fear from her ex-fiancé, Jake didn’t want to take chances. It simply wasn’t worth it.

  “You have a job to do.” Holly smiled and her eyes twinkled. “I wonder where they’ll set their ecumenical nativity?”

  Jake laughed. “Still stuck on the thieves with a grand-plan theory, huh?”

  Holly grinned. “You’ll see. You just need to have faith.”

  Getting everyone in Jenny’s BMW was a tight squeeze, especially with the infant carrier. After Evan strapped it in, he unfolded from the car, looked at Jenny archly and said, “Definitely an SUV. One of those big ones with the additional backseat so we won’t have to move all the child seats.”

  Jenny blushed and Holly giggled as she inquired, “How many child seats are you planning on needing?”

  Evan grinned at her. “Three or four. We can always do hand-me-downs for the younger ones.”

  Jenny made choking noises and Tyler thumped her on the back. “You okay, Doc?”