"Laura," he said when he glanced up. "Please join me, darling." When she sat in the lady's chair across from him, he continued, "I'm sorry, my dear, but it looks like David won't make it out here tonight to take you to a final dinner before you leave. He stopped by the office right before I left, and he was worried about the storm clouds in the sky. I told him he could come on out with me then and spend the night if necessary, but he said he had a case he needed to work on."
"It's all right, Father. I'll see him in the morning before I leave, if the storm stops in time for me to be able to go. If this keeps up, the supply ship may not arrive tomorrow so I can go back on it."
"I checked with the weather forecasters before I left," he said with a wink. "You know, those old men around the stove at the general store?"
Laura laughed and nodded. Amazingly, those old men were extremely accurate. "What did they say?"
"That it will quit by midnight. Then we'll have a couple days of clear weather before a larger storm hits."
"It's the time of year for it," Laura said with a sigh. "I'm surprised Sandy and I have had as much clear weather as we have for our training runs. Some winters it starts snowing in November and doesn't stop until May."
"How is that going, darling? And how's Blancheur?"
"Blancheur's almost perfect again. And I guess it's going all right. Sandy's not one to give a lot of praise, but if you mess up, you definitely hear about it."
Tom reached for his chocolate and took a swallow. "Cold," he muttered. "Ah, well, it's good that way, also." He finished off the cup and set it down, then studied Laura. "Do I detect that Sandy thinks there might be a flaw somewhere here or there in my perfect daughter? I might have to have a chat with him about that."
His teasing tone belied his stern words, and Laura chuckled. "He only wants to make sure I stay safe. Today, I was foolish and left my mittens off too long." She explained about the deer, knowing he would chastise her more if she kept that from him than if she confessed. Taking a cigar from the box beside him, he lit it while she talked.
When the cigar glowed strongly, Tom puffed out a mouthful of smoke and said, "I assume, though, you didn't suffer any permanent damage to your hands."
As she recalled exactly how the damage was avoided and once again imagined those hard chest muscles beneath her fingers, a blush heated her cheeks. Yet she forced herself to meet her father's gaze. "No, no damage. And I'll be more careful in the future."
Tom nodded and inhaled on his cigar. "The house looks lovely," he said after he blew out the smoke. "Too bad you won't be here to enjoy it."
"I enjoyed the time spent decorating. Cristy and Tracie are a lot of fun and company."
Tom nodded an acknowledgment, but didn't say anything else. Finally Laura recognized a familiar ploy on her father's part. Ever since she had been little, Tom would fathom when she had something on her mind and silently make himself available for her confidences. This confidence, however, had to be handled delicately, because she also felt she had a secret with Sandy. He hadn't told her father of his decision to not accept the shipping position, and that knowledge divided her loyalty. Maybe she could evade the issue and still get some information.
"I really appreciate your finding Sandy for me, Father. I don't believe you could have found any better man on earth — more knowledgeable about dogs and racing."
Tom nodded agreement, but instead of commenting, he continued to enjoy his cigar.
"And, as I said, I truly enjoy Tracie and Cristy. I guess they surprised me somewhat. I don't mean to sound . . . well, judgmental, but when I think of people from Alaska, I think of prospectors and trappers. I keep forgetting there are cities and towns there, too."
"Cristy came with Sandy from Washington State," Tom corrected. "It was a shame, but her and Sandy's mother and father both died, leaving her to depend on Sandy."
"Oh, I knew that," Laura said. "Sandy told me. You know, I wonder why he came all the way to Minnesota, instead of staying out there? Do you think he wanted to get far away from the memories of his wife? He talked about her a little one day, and you could tell he really loved her."
Tom flipped some ashes into a glass ashtray at his elbow, then studied Laura for a few seconds. "Real love is a beautiful thing," he said, not directly answering her question. "I had that with your mother, and not finding it again is what's kept me a widower all these years. If I could choose only one wish for you that I'd be granted, it would be for you to live your life with a true love, Laura, darling."
She smiled at him, then glanced out the window. "Thank you, Daddy," she said, using the name she'd dropped a few years back. He held out his arms, and she rose. Crossing to his chair, she settled on his lap, as she had hundreds of times before. They sat that way for a long time, alternately watching the fire and the snow through the window. Finally Katie came to announce dinner, and Laura realized she hadn't really gotten any more information about Sandy from her father.
Yet maybe she'd gotten something even more important from him.
#
Something about the couple striding resolutely up the walkway near the general store two days before Christmas caught Cristy's attention. When Tracie's hand tightened on hers, she glanced down to see a look of fear on her niece's face. Tracie pulled her hand free and turned back the way they'd come.
"I decided I don't wants to go to the store, Aunt Cristy," she said. "I'm gonna wait for you back at Davie's."
Cristy hurried after her, catching her within a few steps and pulling her to a halt. Tracie's eyes flew past her, and Cristy saw the couple enter the store. Tracie relaxed slightly, but Cristy sensed her determination not to continue on down the walkway.
"What's wrong, Tracie? What made you afraid all of a sudden?"
"Can we's at least go into Mr. Tom's office?" she asked. "I gots cold." A shiver punctuated her words, but Cristy had a feeling the chill had more to do with who Tracie had seen than the actual temperature.
Taking her hand, Cristy led Tracie inside the nearest building, which was indeed Tom Goodman's office. She didn't see his secretary at her desk, and the door to Tom's office was closed. Leading Tracie over to the potbelly stove, she sat her in one of the chairs.
"What's wrong?" she repeated. "You need to tell me, Tracie, so I can help you not be afraid."
Tears pooled in Tracie's eyes, and she bit her lips. Cristy knelt before her, cupping her chin in her palm. "Please, darling. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."
All of a sudden Cristy was afraid some danger from Alaska had arrived in Grand Marais. She hated to upset Tracie further, but she needed to know, since she was responsible for Tracie when the child was in her care.
"Does your being afraid have something to do with what happened in Alaska, before you came to Grand Marais?" she asked.
Reluctantly, Tracie nodded her head, and wiped the back of her hand under her nose. "Uh-huh."
Cristy pulled a handkerchief from her reticule and handed it to Tracie. "Does it have something to do with the people we just saw on the walkway?"
Dropping the handkerchief, Tracie flung herself into Cristy's arms. "It's Grandma and Grandpa," she wailed. "Please don't let them take me away from Daddy, Aunt Cristy! Please!"
Fighting her own burgeoning fear, Cristy gathered Tracie close. Thank God her niece had seen the Dyers and recognized them. Cristy had never met them herself on her two brief visits to Juneau; instead, she spent her time with Sandy, his wife and Tracie. Since she'd become aware of why Sandy couldn't return to Alaska, she'd imagined all sorts of terrible things about them, though.
Tom's office door opened, and Cristy rose, Tracie in her arms. David stood in the doorway.
"I thought I heard her cry," he said. "Would the two of you like to come in here?"
"Yes." Cristy carried Tracie toward him. "Where's Tom?"
"He went home just a second ago. He left out the back door, where the shed is and where he keeps his horse and sleigh."
Hi
s eyes traveled over her hungrily, as they had been doing lately. She had to tell him they needed to stay away from each other. Soon.
"I was just leaving myself," he said. "Gonna lock up for Tom."
"I'm glad you're here. I thought we'd have to go to your office to find you."
Motioning for her to sit, he pulled the other visitor's chair close to her. "What's wrong?"
Tracie straightened in her arms. "We can'ts tell him, Aunt Cristy. It's a secret."
David laid a hand on Tracie's head. "Darling, you remember me telling you that I was a lawyer?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, before men are allowed to be lawyers, they have to promise that they will never, ever, tell anyone's secret. It's called an oath, and if we break that oath, we can't be lawyers anymore. And since I really, truly like being a lawyer, I can promise you that your secret will be safe with me. The only time a lawyer tells a secret is with permission, and to protect other people."
Tracie stubbornly stuck out her lower lip, and David gave Cristy a beseeching look. "It's tearing me up to know the two of you are worried about something and won't let me help." He lowered his voice. "Especially seeing how worried you are."
It took all the willpower she had not to answer him — tell him she wanted nothing more than to fling herself into his arms and let him take over her problems. Worse, she almost did anyway, even knowing how she would be betraying Laura and the morals she'd been taught all her life. Only knowing her mother would be disappointed in her, even in death, kept her in place.
"I can'ts tell you," Tracie insisted. "But maybe Aunt Cristy didn't promise my Daddy she wouldn't tell anyone."
The rationalization from the young mind told Cristy how terribly afraid Tracie must be. George and Elvina Dyer evidently posed a threat more horrible than Cristy had imagined — more horrible than Tracie coming so close to breaking a promise to the father she loved above all else. Squeezing Tracie comfortingly, she began to tell David what she knew.
"I found the court order among some of Sandy's things when I was cleaning his room one day," she said at the end of the story. "A box fell off the closet shelf when I was hanging up some of his shirts, and an official looking document caught my eye as I put it back. I'm not exactly sure how the Dyers managed it, but they stole custody of Tracie from my brother, and now they're here in town. Somehow they found Sandy all the way across the country."
Cristy's voice broke. "O — oh, God, David, what can we do? Sandy will die if he loses Tracie."
"I'm not goin' back to Alaska with Grandma and Grandpa!" Tracie cried. "I know they loves me — they's always said they do. But they won'ts let me see Daddy if I'm livin' with them. I won't go! I won't!"
David knelt on the floor and wrapped an arm around Tracie's small shoulders, placing his other arm around Cristy. He offered too much comfort and she needed it too badly to refuse the gesture.
"Tracie, you and Cristy have done the right thing in talking to me about this," he said softly. Tracie looked at him hopefully, her sobs quieting. "There are things I can do to protect you from the Dyers. At least, I'm pretty sure there are."
"Pretty sure?" Cristy asked, immediately picking up on his hesitation.
"It's the holidays," he said with a worried look. "I have a feeling the Dyers deliberately came here during this season, thinking the legal officials would be unavailable. What I can do to help will depend on whether I can get hold of Judge Barstow in Duluth. Otherwise, we'll have to hope Police Chief Ingstrum can be reasoned with."
"P — police?"
"Don't worry, Aunt Cristy," Tracie said, patting her on the cheek. "Chief In'sun likes me. He gives me peppermints all the time when he sees me."
Cristy exchanged a look with David, neither of them having the heart to tell Tracie the police chief liking her had nothing to do with enforcing the law. David stood, indicating for the two of them to join him.
"Where did you see the Dyers?"
Cristy explained the couple had gone into the general store, and David frowned. "Cathy's at the counter today. I was in there on my way over here to Tom's office just a half hour ago."
Having heard over and over what a gossip Cathy Berglind was, Cristy avoided her whenever possible. If the Dyers asked Cathy for information about Sandy and Tracie, without a doubt she'd be more than willing to fill them in on even more than they asked.
"Tom's already gone but we can go out the back way, too, and get my horse and sleigh." David locked the front door on the office, then turned back. "I want to take both of you out to Ladyslipper Landing and I want you to stay there. Even Chief Ingstrum won't bother you there, if I can assure him Judge Barstow is coming here to conduct an emergency hearing. He won't want to antagonize Tom."
"Maybe Mr. Goodman will be so upset at being involved in this situation, he'll tell us to leave," Cristy said.
"Not the Tom Goodman I know," David assured. "Just be glad he's still here, instead of in Duluth with Laura." He placed a finger on his chin. "Wait a minute before we go."
Sitting at Tom's desk, he searched in a drawer until he found some paper. He picked up Tom's fountain pen and dipped it in the inkwell, saying as he wrote, "We'll detour by John Beargrease's cabin on the way to Ladyslipper Landing and see if one of his son's will go to Duluth for us by dogsled. I'm writing a short letter to Judge Barstow, explaining the situation. He's a friend of mine and Tom's both, and if there's any way he can get up here, he'll come, despite it being the holidays."
A half hour later, they arrived at Ladyslipper Landing. Sandy was gone, and David refused to leave them alone in their own cabin. He took them down to the main house and ordered them to stay in the kitchen with Katie while he explained things to Tom. Tracie didn't seem to pick up on the fact her secret was spreading, which told Cristy exactly how scared her tiny niece was.
David came back to the kitchen after a few minutes and motioned for them to follow. He led them into Tom's study, which she and Tracie had helped Laura decorate along with the rest of the house. Given the crisis they were there to discuss, the merry decorations looked incongruous.
"I'm going to send Buck out to find Sandy and get him back here," David said as Cristy sat down with Tracie on her lap. "I'll return in a minute, I promise."
"Thank you," Cristy breathed.
Tom stood and walked around the desk as David left. "I don't want you two to worry about anything," he said. "You've both become very dear to Laura and me, and I'll do everything in my power to protect you, Tracie."
A stab of guilt pierced Cristy at his words. Yes, Laura had become almost like a sister to her — the sister she'd never had. At the very least, Laura was her best friend. And Cristy had fallen in love with her best friend's fiancée.
***
Chapter 13
Pure luck, Laura thought to herself as Judge Barstow helped her down the supply ship's gangplank. To cover up her indignant reflections, she directed a brilliant smile at the judge. Pure luck let her overhear Mrs. Barstow at the party, bemoaning the fact her husband had to make a trip to Grand Marais between Christmas and the New Year for some sort of emergency hearing. When Laura sought out the judge, he hadn't known much more than his wife — only that David Hudson had requested he come, and David had written that Tom Goodman would also deeply appreciate the judge handling this very important matter.
She hadn't minded cutting her trip short at all, since she'd constantly caught herself wondering what was going on back home the entire week she'd been gone. Well, wondering a little more about what one certain person was doing, but overall she missed her father, Cristy and Tracie, also. Oh, and David, too.
Not surprisingly, given the request for the judge's appearance in Grand Marais, her father hadn't shown up for Christmas Day at her friend's house. After that Laura had no qualms about sending Judge Barstow a note, telling him she would join him the next morning on the supply packet.
The judge checked his pocket watch. "It's almost one o'clock, Miss Goodman. I better get on over
to the courthouse. Will you accompany me?"
"I believe I'll stop by my father's office and let him know I'm back early," Laura said. "I'll come over there after that."
"Your father may already be at the courthouse," Judge Barstow said.
"It'll only take me a minute to check. Thank you for the company on the trip."
"My pleasure, my dear."
The judge hurried away, and Laura followed at a slower pace. Judge Barstow was a very nice man, but he thought it good manners to keep her amused. She hadn't had a moment to herself during the trip. Not that it would have mattered, because she still had no earthly idea what would merit summoning a judge from Duluth. When the judge got a fair distance ahead of her, she quickened her own pace and arrived at her father's office a couple minutes later.
His secretary wasn't at her desk, and Laura could see her father's empty desk through his open office door. Just to be sure, she peeked into the other office. Then she hurried back to the walkway and a few doors down to David's office.
Papers strewn all around and law books open on every surface indicated David had been there recently. But his clerk's desk was empty, as was David's. A quiver of apprehension stole through her. The mess in David's office was unlike him. He usually stayed so calm and in control, even when working on an important case. Concern heightening, she left for the courthouse on down the street
Suddenly Laura halted in the middle of the walkway. She'd been so distracted she hadn't noticed the area around the courthouse before. Dogsleds, horses and sleighs surrounded it, with snowshoes and wooden skis setting against the front wall of the building. Every person for miles around must have interrupted their holiday celebrations to be at this hearing. She stifled a stab of anger at her father and David for not notifying her about whatever was going on.
Since she didn't see any people outside the building, she assumed the hearing must be in progress. She raced on down the walkway and up the courthouse steps. Inside, she hurried over to the courtroom, then paused at the door to catch her breath. When she finally eased the door open, she saw every seat taken and people standing against the back wall. Despite the crowd, however, the room was almost silent.
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