She’s the perfect fit…almost too perfect.
His feelings were growing for this woman, and if he was right, that worked both ways. She’d be going home soon. He was a fool to allow himself to fall in love, but he’d grown powerless to stop. Her presence stirred up memories he’d tucked away for quite some time now, the good parts—laughter, the joy in a simple conversation, self-worth that came from being appreciated, things he’d forgotten after Carly’s death.
Maybe Jenna would break his heart, but at least he’d have times like this to look back on during those long lonely nights in his foreseeable future.
Jack pressed his cheek against the side of her head, committing the scent and feel of her hair against his skin to memory. But most of all…the warmth of her body next to his.
Chapter Seven
“A car went through the guardrail…”
It’s Jenna.
The chief went on about road conditions, but Charles heard all he needed to hear. The tightness in his chest and the swell of emotions rising up in him made the conclusion, undeniable—Jenna, the girl he loved as if she were his own daughter, had been behind the wheel of the car that crashed through the guardrail.
“We haven’t positively matched the paint and chrome. It might not be hers.” Chief Swanson spoke from behind his cluttered desk.
“I hear you, Chief.” He bowed his head. “I know it’s her Jaguar. I don’t expect you to understand, but when you find a piece of your heart missing…” The vintage wooden chair creaked under the weight of him shifting.
“Have faith, my friend. We should have some answers soon.”
Just then, the door opened and an officer passed the chief an envelope. “The results are in.”
He tore it open, and read the paper.
Silence…spoke loud and clear. Charles pressed his face in his hands and drew in a ragged breath. I’m so sorry, Jenna. I should have tried harder to keep you from leaving.
A firm hand on his shoulder kept his emotions in check. He shook his head and straightened in his chair. “So, what happens now?” Charles stood and walked to the window. “Send out a search team?” Is there any chance you could be out there, kiddo?
Chief Swanson shook his head. “Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do right now.” He slapped the results down on his desk. “If she did go over the side, I’d say the chances of her surviving are pretty slim, and even if she did, she’s been out there in some pretty nasty weather, for days...”
Charles swallowed the lump in his throat. I can’t stand around here and do nothing. “Let me at least see for myself.”
“Okay. I can make that happen.”
Should I phone her father?
No, not until he checked it out. Besides, Kenneth would just tell him to take care of things and call when there was something concrete to report.
Charles rushed out the door after the officer. Part of him wanted to know for sure, but the other half wanted to run the other way.
He stepped out of the precinct into a virtual Christmas Wonderland. The whole town was abuzz with preparations for the Christmas Eve celebrations later that night.
Jenna loves Christmas.
He looked up at the sky. Please let it be a Merry Christmas.
Jack had just tied down the tree to his sled when he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He took out his binoculars to find two police cars with lights flashing over the break in the guard rails. They’d find no sign of the Jag. It was completely buried under several feet of snow by now.
He tucked the binoculars away and quickly finished tying up the tree. He’d woken sometime later that afternoon with her still in his arms and, on a whim, managed to slip away without waking her. So focused on his surprise, he’d completely dismissed the fact Jenna had family. And whether she believed they cared or not, surely someone had to be praying she’d make it back for Christmas.
There has to be. No woman like her goes through life unloved.
Should I tell her? Am I selfish not to, at least until after Christmas Eve? She didn’t seem to be too concerned it was Christmas; in fact, she’d asked to stay longer. He looked back up the mountainside to find one of the cars gone, but the two remaining men seemed to be deep in conversation, standing on the ridge overlooking the steep incline.
Even if they did match the paint to Jenna’s car, they wouldn’t be able to search with this much snow. He couldn’t even ride the sled out there right now. They’d have to wait for some of it to melt. Nothing would be conclusive until at least after the holidays.
I’ll have to play it by ear. For now, he hoped Jenna would be pleased with a Christmas tree—the first one he’d had in over five years.
The mouth-watering scent of bread baking reached him before he got to the cabin telling him she must have put the loaves he’d left to rise in the oven.
Once he let the dogs off their lead, he put them in the barn to wind down and be out of the way. His mouth went dry with the realization he was excited to see her reaction to the tree. He felt like a kid with a secret.
He shook the snow from the branches and opened the door. “I’m back. Look what I found?”
Jenna turned from setting two golden brown loaves on a wire rack; her eyes grew big. “A Christmas tree?” She took a couple of shaky steps, using the counter edge for leverage, and touched the boughs and sniffed the scent from her fingers. “It’s beautiful.”
You’re beautiful.
Her peaches and cream skin had a fresh-scrubbed tint and her now dry hair shone from a good brushing, falling in ringlets to frame her sweet face.
Jack’s elation quickly dissipated as unease clouded her otherwise vibrant green eyes. Not exactly the reaction he’d hoped for.
“I’ve been thinking, maybe I should at least make a phone call to let Charles know I’m okay.”
His heart sank. It became painfully clear to him what he viewed as an intimate moment hadn’t evoked in her the intense emotions he’d experienced.
I’m an idiot.
“Of course you’d want to be home for Christmas. I’ll just take this back outside.”
“No wait.” She leaned heavily against the countertop. “Come sit with me for a second.”
Jack’s walls went up, brick by brick with every step he took toward her. Was it empathy or pity he saw in her eyes? Either way, he didn’t want her to stay because she felt sorry for him. Though it had only been mere days, he’d been a fool to think that he alone would be enough for a woman like her.
“You don’t have to say anything. The dogs need a short rest, and then I can take you to town. You could be home in time to spend Christmas Eve with your family.”
She furrowed her brow. “Do you want me to leave?”
Jack quickly turned away, shrugging indifference as he grabbed the tree trunk. “I’ll go check on the dogs. Why don’t you get ready to go. You have fifteen to twenty minutes.”
He hefted the evergreen up and pushed it back out the door.
Jenna’s eyes filled as she lumbered to the table and sat in stunned silence. Her heart ached knowing her life-changing time with Jack had just come to a crashing end.
I don’t want to leave here...to leave him. But he doesn’t want me to stay. How could I be so wrong? Didn’t we just share a special moment, even though he thought I was asleep? All she had wanted to do was call Charles so he could share the news with Edna, and Buffy, so they wouldn’t be worried about her on Christmas.
Feeling lost and defeated, she looked around the room. “What does he expect me to wear?” She stopped and reined in her fragile emotions. Get it together. If this is what he wants...so be it. I will not beg to stay.
Jenna used the kitchen chair to go to the door and open it wide. “What am I supposed to wear?” she called out to Jack.
He glanced up from hooking the dogs. “Your things are in the closet in my bedroom.” He avoided eye contact and turned back to what he was doing.
Jenna pressed her back up agains
t the closed door. Thunder Bay might be in a different country, but not too far away in actuality. It would only take Charles a couple of hours to come pick her up…and take me...home. Her eyes burned, on the verge of tears. I don’t want to go home, and Jack doesn’t want me here...
Despite the frustration urging her forward, her body quickly reminded her she was exhausted and far from healed. As she paused outside his bedroom door to catch her breath, all of her hurt and pain turned to anger. She pushed open the door and stepped into his orderly bedroom. One wall was completely filled with neatly aligned books on floor to ceiling shelves.
A picture on his bedside table caught her eye. “Son of a...” She turned the frame around. Jack smiled at her, his arm draped around a pretty blonde with a winning smile.
Why didn’t he tell me? Where is she?
It doesn’t really matter now, does it?
She yanked open the closet door. Her clothes were in a neat pile on the top shelf with her coat hung on a hanger under them and her boots lined up on the floor. Other than a few light blood stains, it was obvious he’d cleaned them to the best of his ability.
Jenna shed his pajamas right there and awkwardly pulled on her clothes with her taped fingers. After a whole lot of cussing, she pulled up her jeans. Doing them up was another story. She fumbled with the button; tears of frustration and confusion spilled over her lashes. She gave up and pulled her sweatshirt down to cover it.
I’ll be damned if I’m going to ask for his help.
By the time she put on her boots and coat and made it back into the living room, she was sweating like crazy, pausing to sit on the chair she’d been pushing around and slow her breathing. She reached down and grabbed the journal from under a couch cushion, stashing it in her coat pocket.
Maybe Charles can make sense of what I read.
The door opened a crack. “Are you ready in there? Let’s go.”
Jenna hardly recognized the stern voice. She wanted to storm out of the house, but her battered body thought otherwise, forcing her to slowly and painfully make her way to the door and outside. The distance to the sled might as well have been a mile. If she put one more foot in front of the other, she’d surely slip on the snow and ice.
Up until now Jack kept his back to her. He glanced back over his shoulder and shook his head before taking a few steps closer and offering his hand. Reluctantly she accepted, and leaned heavily against him the short distance to the sled. The realization this might be the last time she’d stand this close to him sent a searing pain in her heart, like someone had plunged a knife in her chest.
“You can sit here.” He held out his arm for her to use for leverage.
Jenna purposely avoided looking at him, and summoned the last of her shattered resolve to lower herself to sit in the sled where he’d tied down a couple of bedrolls for a back rest.
“Wrap this around your legs, and cover your nose and mouth with this scarf.” He tossed a pair of gloves and the scarf on top of the blanket before taking his place behind her. “Ready?”
“Um, hello?” She held up the items he’d given her. “Give me a second, will ya?”
Once outfitted and settled, she held up a shaky hand. “Ready.”
Without a response, the sled lurched forward, taking her away from everything she’d grown to cherish… and love.
Chapter Eight
With a heavy heart, Charles got out of the car and sifted through the snow toward the diner. Any hope of Jenna surviving the fall had vanished as he peered down the mountain ridge. He rubbed his eyes and coughed into his hand as the chief’s radio crackled and squawked behind him.
“Charles!” The chief honked his horn. “Forget the coffee and get back in the car. We found her!”
He hardly believed his ears as he dashed back to the car and jumped in the passenger side. “Where is she? Is she hurt?” he asked breathlessly.
“Some guy took her to Grand Marais. Apparently, she just tried to call you. One thing led to another, and the authorities there called the station looking for you.”
“Thank God! What are the odds of something like this happening?”
“Santa Claus came early, my friend.”
Yes, he most certainly did!
Jack originally planned on taking her to the cops he’d seen on the mountain brow, but he’d looked through his telescope while Jenna dressed to find they’d already left the scene. He decided on handing her over to the care of a couple of doting postal workers.
Though he prepared himself during the trip to town, actually leaving her proved far more difficult than imagined. A profound sense of loss shrouded him, comparable to the heartache of losing Carly. It took everything in him to give her a quick hug and leave the post office without actually looking at her face. Even seeing her in the window robbed him of breath, bringing him to his knees next to Sasha and Tito. It took some doing to get them to stop barking after Jenna and settle down. They’d grown very attached to her in such a short time. He’d grown very attached to her.
Jack closed his eyes and recalled the scent of her hair, the sound of her laughter...after losing Carly, he swore he’d never let another woman in his life...in his heart...and then came Jenna, buried under a mound of snow. He’d known as soon as he set eyes on her he was in trouble.
It hadn’t been easy to act as if he wanted her to go, but it was for the best. She had a life before him, and he’d been a fool to think she wouldn’t want to go home for Christmas.
Jack exhaled a long breath, cut short by a cop car screeching to a halt in front of the post office.
The officer and a big guy with a bald head rushed up the steps two at a time. Through the window, he saw the man lift Jenna in his arms. Her pain-filled cry out brought him to his feet. He stopped himself from rushing to her aid, and watched her arms go around him, her eyes closed as she rested her head against his broad chest.
Breathing into his gloves, Jack choked back a sob framed with jealousy and heartache. Without another moment’s hesitation he positioned himself on the sled. “Let’s go, Sasha, Tito. Let’s go...home.” His voice cracked as he passed the post office, leaving his beautiful snow angel behind.
* * * *
Charles sat open-mouthed, understandably shocked by Jenna’s harrowing recount of plummeting off the side of the mountain and being buried alive in the snow.
“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Jack and the dogs. He…they saved my…life.” She swallowed hard, struggling to keep it together.
“Where is this Jack fellow? I owe him a big debt of gratitude?” He perused the room.
The last thread of her resolve snapped and she crumpled against him. What am I supposed to do now? I’m not the same woman I was before I met Jack. I can’t go back to my life in Thunder Bay as if nothing has changed.
She welcomed her dear friends’ strong hands on her arms, guiding her to a seat in the waiting area of the post office.
He pulled up a chair to face her and clasped her shaking hands. “Jenna, do you need to see a doctor?”
She shook her head as she struggled to gather her composure. “I...I don’t want to go...”
“What do you mean you don’t want to go? I’m here to take you home.”
“I don’t know why he thinks I want to leave him?” Her chin dropped and her breath hitched. Oh God, I think I love him. “I need to see him Charles. You have to take me to him.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want? What if he doesn’t want to see you?”
A middle-aged woman dressed in a postal uniform brought Jenna a glass of water.
Each tender moment they shared replayed in her mind. “There are some things in life you can’t fake. I only wanted to let you know I’m okay, and he jumped to the conclusion I wanted to leave for good...then I saw a picture on his bedside table. He was standing with his arm around a very pretty blonde woman.”
“A blonde woman?” The postal worker took a step back to stand beside Charles. “That’s Jack’s
wife, Carly. She died over five years ago. That’s when he built the cabin. He’s lived there ever since.”
His wife? “What have I done?” She jumped up, immediately regretting the sudden move. She grabbed hold of Charles and looked around the room frantically. “Can someone take me back to the cabin?”
Chief Swanson joined them. “We’d have to arrange for transportation. As you know, it’s not exactly down a country road.”
Jenna laughed through her tears, the huge knot in her stomach slackened somewhat. “No it’s not. It’s in the middle of paradise.”
“Let me make a couple of calls. I’ll get right back to you.” The chief left the building.
Jenna slumped back in her chair, suddenly exhausted.
“I don’t understand, Jenna. Why call me if you didn’t want to come home?” Charles bowed his head, feigning interest in his clasped hands.
“Jack nursed me back to health. Until today, I wasn’t well enough to make the trip here, and he didn’t like the idea of leaving me alone in such a fragile state.” She cupped the sides of his face and raised it up to look into his eyes. “Please don’t be angry with me. I love you, and I didn’t want you worrying about me ruining your Christmas.”
His expression softened. “I love you, too, kiddo.” He took her hands in his and kissed her forehead. “Nothing’s been the same at the estate since your mother passed. As much as it pains me to say so, you’re good to be rid of it...all of it.”
Charles squeezed her hands. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been since you left the house?”
Jenna searched his misty eyes. “We? Does that include my father?”
His gaze dropped. “Of course he’s worried…”
“The truth…”
“You know your father. He’s not one for open displays of emotion. Besides, I don’t think he’s been feeling well.”
She tossed back her head, her laughter dripping in sarcasm. “Who are you trying to kid? The only reason he wants me found is so I can marry that beast, Harold Meed. He doesn’t give two shits about me.” The memory of sneaking into her mother’s sitting room and the pills on his bedside table flashed back... Maybe he really is sick?
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