by Sharon Dunn
“Crew regained consciousness about an hour ago,” said the nurse.
Sarah rushed toward his room and flung open the door. Bryan followed behind. Crew was sitting up in his hospital bed. He looked pale and weak, but a light came into his eyes when she entered the room. “Hey, little sister.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Sarah’s joy was infectious.
“Haven’t seen you in a while.” Crew offered Bryan a weak salute.
“Took me ten years to get back,” Bryan said.
“Well, you were the best thing for my sister.” Crew ruffled Sarah’s hair.
Sarah blushed. “That was a long time ago.”
They visited for a few minutes more until Crew started to nod off. Sarah kissed his forehead and walked out with Bryan.
They drove in silence. The street light flashed by and then thinned out.
“Do you think what Crew said is true, about you being a good thing for me?” She turned in her seat. Her gaze weighed on him.
“I think he had it backward. You were easy to be with, easy to love.” He adjusted his hands on the steering wheel as the familiar stab of pain shot through him. “We were so young. We made mistakes.”
She reached over, draping her hand on his. Her touch eased his hurt.
“We’ll always have regrets. When I said you were forgiven, I meant it. Now you just have to forgive yourself.”
Her words were a soothing balm soaking through him, melting the hurt and the self-hate he’d lived with for so many years. They had made some wrong decisions as a couple, but they’d made the right decision for their little girl. Were they ready now to move on from the past, and have the future they’d tried to rush before?
Bryan turned onto the gravel road that led to Sarah’s house. The tires crinkled over the road when he slowed down.
“I’m sure your cat will be glad to see you.” His attempt at joviality had a ring of sadness to it. What were they to each other now that all this was over? Mason was dead. He had no more excuse to be with her.
“Mr. Tiddlywinks is pretty independent. Though I’m sure he’ll have some choice words for the neglect he’s suffered.” When Bryan pulled into the driveway, she turned to face him. “Walk me to the door? I have something I want to show you.”
Sarah stepped inside and turned on a single light over her desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out a photograph, taking it to Bryan where he waited by the door.
“It’s Marie. She was in a dance recital recently.” She placed it in his hand and then wrapped her hand around his. “You can keep it. I have another copy.”
A bright-eyed, smiling little girl stared back at him. He touched the picture with his finger. She had the same curly brown hair as Sarah, but the slightly crooked nose and round eyes were his. His throat tightened. He gazed up at Sarah.
He gathered her into his arms and kissed her. Her lips were warm and inviting. He rested his hand against her back and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. He held her for a long moment, his forehead pressed against hers. He didn’t want to go but his feelings jumbled up inside of him and he couldn’t find the words. He pulled away from her, turned and walked toward the door.
* * *
Sarah stood stunned from the power of his kiss. Outside, she heard the car door slam and the engine roar to life. She turned on a kitchen light.
“Mr. Tiddlywinks. Here, kitty kitty.” As she wandered through the house a pungent odor surrounded her. She couldn’t quite place it.
She switched on the light in her bedroom, checking under the bed where Mr. Tiddlywinks liked to hide. No cat.
Sarah sniffed the air. Smoke. Did her clothes smell that bad? She took a hasty shower and put on fresh clothes, throwing the smelly ones in the outside garbage.
She returned to the living room. The acrid stench lingered. She opened several windows. Her cat was outside running his paws up and down the glass of the patio door.
Sarah’s breath hitched. She’d left the cat inside the last time she was here. Her pulse skyrocketed. Now she knew why the smell of smoke was still so strong. Mason was in her house.
Sarah ran toward the front door as fast as she could.
Not fast enough.
TWENTY-THREE
Bryan made it to the end of the street. He pulled the car over and clicked on the dome light, staring down at the picture Sarah had given him. Bright eyes and a mass of curls. What a beautiful child. The hardness around his heart melted away.
He’d kissed Sarah wishing he could tell her he wanted to start over with a clean slate, but he couldn’t manage to get the words out. Maybe tomorrow he’d give her a call when he wasn’t so tongue-tied. He pulled out on the road that led back into town. Cars blipped by him. He was within a few blocks of his house when he realized his house wasn’t where he wanted to be. Who was he kidding? This wasn’t something that could wait another day. He loved her.
He scanned the road looking for a place to turn around. Hopefully, she hadn’t already gone to bed.
* * *
Tyler Mason slammed Sarah’s head against the wall. She slipped down to the floor.
“Where is she? Where’s Nadia?”
Sarah’s vision filled with dark spots as she turned around to face her attacker.
Mason grabbed her by her shirt, yanking upward and smashing her back against the wall. His face was close enough for her to feel his hot breath. “You’d better tell me now.”
She shook her head. “She deserves a life, a chance to get away from you.” Mason smelled so heavily of smoke, it made her nauseous. A streak of black marred his face. “How did you get out? They said you were dead.”
He pushed her harder against the wall. “I have resources you couldn’t begin to comprehend. What was one more helicopter flying around in the air?”
Mason’s henchmen must have gotten separated. Mason had left the others to die.
His eyes bulged as he leaned close. “You’d better tell me in the next three minutes or it’s curtains for you. And then for your brother. And then for your little boyfriend. And after I’ve disposed of all of you, I’ll still find some other way to get to her.”
Mason had lost everything. This wasn’t about protecting his illegal business anymore. It was about revenge. He would kill Sarah either way. The least she could do was buy Nadia some time.
Mason grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the kitchen. He pulled a kitchen knife out of the holder and then pushed her toward the back door.
“Open it,” he said through clenched teeth.
She could hear the cat meowing as Mason pushed her down the stairs out into the field behind her house. She doubted he really cared all that much anymore about committing his crimes where no one would see them, but it had probably become such a habit that it didn’t even occur to him to simply kill her inside, where her body would easily be found.
Bryan’s face, the tenderness of his touch flashed in her mind. She loved him and now she would never see him again, never get to tell him how she felt.
Mason pushed her hard and she fell on her knees.
She closed her eyes. Her last thought was of Bryan and her prayer was that he would recover from losing her yet again.
* * *
When his knocking went unanswered, Bryan had let himself in. And from the moment he stepped across the threshold, he knew something was wrong. His gaze darted around and then he saw the open patio door. He rushed outside. Darkness covered the field.
Mason’s voice, low and sinister, floated through the air. “Have it your way.”
Bryan darted softly through the field, focusing on the direction Mason’s voice had come from. He drew his weapon. He squinted. Was that a silhouette of a person, or a shadow? He lifted his
gun and fired.
A scream filled the night air. Sarah’s scream.
Bryan ran. Feet pounding. Heart racing. He gathered Sarah into his arms.
“He’s dead,” she whispered, pressing close against his chest.
His arms enveloped her.
“What made you come back? How did you know?”
He touched her soft hair. “I didn’t know. I...wanted to tell you I love you.”
She touched his cheek, kissed his lips and then pressed close against his chest. His heart pounded; heat radiated and adrenaline coursed through him. He closed his eyes, nestling his cheek against her head.
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “I don’t think I ever stopped loving you.”
EPILOGUE
Through the window of the bridal shop, Sarah spotted Bryan standing out on the sidewalk. She felt a rush of joy as she stepped out to meet him.
He gathered her in his arms.
“You didn’t see me when I came out in that last wedding dress, did you?”
Bryan raised his hand. “Scout’s honor. I just got here from the station.” He hooked his arm through hers as they walked past the downtown shops. “I have some good news. The last of Mason’s henchmen have been taken into custody.”
Sarah took in a breath of crisp September air. “That makes me feel a lot safer.”
Bryan stopped at a storefront that read Jefferson Expeditions. “I read something about this guy. He takes people out in the wilderness and teaches them survival skills.”
Sarah shrugged. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I was thinking maybe we could do that for our honeymoon. You know, go tromping around the woods.”
She caught the twinkle in his eye and gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. “I think we’ve done enough of that.”
Bryan slipped his hand into hers. They walked several more blocks to the café where they planned on eating. Bryan held the door for her and they found a quiet booth. Sarah rested her arms on the table and leaned toward Bryan. “I told you Crew said he’d give me away at the wedding, right?”
Bryan nodded.
“It seems he’s bringing a date to the wedding.” Sarah was buoyant with excitement.
The waitress arrived and set their menus in front of them.
“Oh, really, who is he bringing?”
“Me,” said the waitress. Bryan registered surprise when he saw that their waitress was Nadia.
She had a warm glow to her cheeks and she had gained weight.
“You,” said Bryan, shaking his head.
Nadia raised her head and squared her shoulders. “I give you folks few minutes think about what you want for your meals.”
As Nadia walked away, Bryan continued to shake his head. “Some things come full circle, don’t they?”
Feeling a surge of love for the man she wanted to spend her life with, Sarah grabbed Bryan’s strong hands. “Yes, they do. And sometimes you get a second chance with your first love.”
He squeezed her hand, love shining in his eyes. “Yes, indeed.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from HER MISTLETOE PROTECTOR by Laura Scott.
Dear Reader,
While this book is a fun and sometimes harrowing suspense story, I think it is also a book about choices and consequences. As teenagers Sarah and Bryan made destructive choices that caused deep wounds for both of them. Crew made choices that led him down a path to addiction, as well. Though we meet Tyler Mason when vengeance and control rule his soul, he, too, had to have made choices that turned him into a man without a conscience. When I thought about the spiritual journey of these characters, I wanted to show that our past choices don’t have to determine who we become in the future. There is redemption for Bryan, Sarah and Crew because they decide to pursue what is good and right and true.
Some people might have looked at Sarah and Crew, unloved orphans lost in the foster care system, and said that there was no chance for them to have a normal life. Life circumstances can be truly terrible and filled with pain, but we still have choices to make. When my husband and I married, more than twenty-five years ago, I’m sure some people thought we wouldn’t last a year. To look at our backgrounds, where we came from, that might have been a good prediction. He was the child of a terribly destructive divorce and I was the daughter of an alcoholic father. But then, we had choices to make, day by day, moment by moment.
Your redemption story may look different from Sarah and Bryan’s. Not everyone gets a second chance at love with their teenage sweetheart. But everyone has the chance to find healing through the choices we make every day.
Sharon Dunn
Questions for Discussion
Have you ever become disillusioned about your career or life mission like Bryan does? What happened?
Bryan decides to spend time alone in the fire tower because he can no longer deal with the injustice he sees with his job. Do you think he made a good choice?
What did you think of Sarah’s relationship with her brother, Crew? Why does she still love him?
Sarah’s background as a foster care kid causes her to be treated with prejudice by Bryan’s parents. How does Sarah overcome her childhood?
Have you ever known someone like Crew, a person who had goodness in them but made destructive choices?
What different choices could Sarah and Bryan have made when they were teenagers?
What forces pulled Bryan and Sarah apart when they were so young?
What was the most exciting scene in the book?
What was the most emotional scene in the book?
Have you ever known anyone who got a second chance at love like Bryan and Sarah do?
In what ways does Tyler Mason control and destroy Nadia’s life?
What does Nadia do to get free of Tyler, both emotionally and physically?
Why do both Sarah and Nadia give up their daughters for adoption? Do you think they made the right choice?
Have you known anyone who gave up a child for adoption? What was the fallout from that choice? Did that person find a measure of healing and assurance in the aftermath?
Do you know someone who adopted a child? How was that person’s life changed? What about the child?
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story.
You enjoy a dash of danger. Love Inspired Suspense stories feature strong heroes and heroines whose faith is central in solving mysteries and saving lives.
Enjoy four new stories from Love Inspired Suspense every month!
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ONE
“Ms. Simon, wait! I have a letter for you.”
Rachel Simon, CEO of Simon Inc., froze, despite the fact that she was running late for her nine-o’clock meeting. The sick feeling in her stomach swelled with dread as she forced herself to turn and face the receptionist.
“Here you go,” Carrie Freeman said with a wide smile.
Rachel stared at the thin envelope with her name typed neatly on the front, the dread congealing into a mass of fear. The letter looked exactly like the one she’d received in her mailbox at home last night, and she instinctively knew there was another threat inside. She swallowed hard and took the envelope
from the receptionist, being careful to hold it along the edges. Then she cleared her throat. “Who dropped this off for me, Carrie?”
“I don’t know... It was sitting on my desk chair when I came back from the restroom. There was a sticky note, telling me to deliver it to you first thing.”
Rachel tried hard to keep her fear from showing as she cast a worried gaze around the lobby. Was the person who had left the note watching her right now? “Do you still have the sticky note?” she asked.
Carrie’s expression turned perplexed. “I tossed it in the trash bin.” Rachel glanced over the receptionist’s shoulder at the large stainless-steel trash container standing near the lobby door. “Do you want me to go through the garbage to find it?” Carrie’s tone indicated she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of pawing in the trash although Rachel knew she would if asked.
As much as she wanted to see the note, she shook her head. Asking Carrie to search through the bin would only bring unwanted attention to herself. She wasn’t ready to go public with the weird phone calls and the threatening letter she’d received. The last thing she needed was some sort of leak to the media, as if her company hadn’t been through the wringer already.
“No thanks, just curious to see if I recognized the handwriting, that’s all. Thanks again, Carrie.”
Rachel turned back toward the elevators, her mind focused on the contents of the letter rather than on her upcoming meeting with the two top research scientists in her pharmaceutical company.
The ride to the tenth floor, where her office suite was located, seemed to take forever. She smiled and chatted with various employees as if the envelope in her hand didn’t matter.
“Good morning, Rachel,” her senior administrative assistant, Edith Goodman, said as she entered through the glass doors. “Dr. Gardener and Dr. Errol are waiting for you in the conference room.”
