A Family for the Holidays

by Sherri Shackelford

  Lily placed her hand over his. Her fingers were delicate and pale against the rough cotton of his shirt. She stared up at him, her eyes full of a trust he hadn’t earned, and a faith he didn’t deserve.

  “I’m putting our fate in your hands,” she said.

  “You have to promise me something. Don’t tell a soul that you’re leaving with me, not even Regina.”

  He didn’t trust anyone in this town, especially someone associated with Vic.

  The boys stared at him with mirrored expressions of horror and wonder.

  Sam’s mouth hung open, then snapped shut. “We’re going to travel with an outlaw. A real, live outlaw. You’re the best chaperone ever, Miss Lily.”

  “I know this all seems quite unusual.” Lily patted Sam’s head. “I assure you, I know what I’m doing. I’ve hired this man as our escort. Your grandfather is, uh, temporarily indisposed. There are some mitigating circumstances that make the added safeguard of a hired gun prudent.”

  “I have no idea what you just said, but I’m not scared,” Sam replied, his voice breathless. “I’m excited. This is better than The Captives of the Frontier. I’d rather stay with you than that creepy pale guy.”

  “Well, don’t be excited either. This is a very serious situation.” She strode across the room and replaced the key, then secured the cupboard. “We need a plausible reason to be here.”

  “No, you don’t,” Sam declared. “I have a better idea. C’mon, Peter.”

  “Not so fast.” Lily blocked their exit. “Where are you going?”

  “We’ll distract the sheriff so Jake can break out of jail.”

  “Absolutely not,” she said. “Too dangerous.”

  “This is no time for a lecture,” Sam pleaded. “We’ll create a distraction. Just like in The Fourth Bullet. Then you can break the outlaw out of jail.”

  “I’m siding with Lily.” Jake shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

  Sheriff Koepke was too unpredictable for this nonsense. If the man sensed trouble, he was liable to accidentally shoot them all and ask questions later. He wasn’t much of a marksman in the best of circumstances.

  Lily prowled the cramped space. She peered through the barred windows and tapped her front tooth, no doubt reaching the same conclusion as Jake. The cottonwood trees planted for shade had lost their leaves for winter, providing little cover between the jail and the hundred yards to the edge of town. With the sheriff on his way, he’d never make the distance unseen.

  “Wait!” Peter hollered. “The sheriff has stopped walking. He’s talking with Regina. They’ve turned around. Looks like they’re heading back to the hotel.”

  Jake exited the jail cell and blew out a gusty breath. “All right. You three need to leave. Now. You can’t be seen here any more than necessary.”

  “Oh, no,” Peter groaned. “We’re too late. He’s coming back again.”

  “Leave,” Jake ordered. He grasped Lily’s arm and turned her gently toward the door. “There’s no other way. The sheriff can’t know we’re working together. And stop breaking outlaws out of jail. It’s not safe.”

  She was a menace. A beautiful, distracting menace. Forcing her to leave was for her protection, but letting her go went against every fiber of his being.

  “You’re the safest choice I have.” She stubbornly refused to move. “I know what I’m doing is right. You shouldn’t be in jail in the first place.”

  “You don’t understand the danger. Go back to the hotel. I’ll figure a way out of here and meet you there.”

  “I don’t believe you. The moment we separate, who’s to say what you’ll do? We stay together.”

  She didn’t completely trust him. As a US marshal, he admired her skepticism. Corrupt or not, the sheriff was the law in town, and Koepke was smarter than his vocabulary indicated. If he alerted Vic of trouble, they’d never make their escape out of Frozen Oaks. All Jake could do was offer an excuse for their presence, and hope the sheriff bought their lie.

  “We’re running out of time,” he said. “When the sheriff arrives, tell him the boys wanted to see the prisoner.”

  “I’d believe that.” Sam rubbed his chin. “My friend Thomas had a button from a man who was hanged in Wichita. He let us see it for a penny.”

  “That is positively morbid.” Lily grimaced. “What is so fascinating about all this blood and gore? There’s a lovely book I heard about from one of the ladies on the train. It’s called Heidi.”

  “I’d rather read Huckleberry Finn and see a tooth from a dead guy. Jimmy said he had a tooth from a bank robber but I never saw it. I think he was lying.”

  “All right, that’s enough. No more talk of souvenirs from hanged men. It’s disrespectful.”

  “Then they shouldn’t have gone and gotten themselves hanged.”

  Jake hooked his fingers on the open cell door and considered his options. If the jail remained unlocked, there was an excellent chance Sheriff Koepke wouldn’t notice.

  Lily gathered the boys and hustled them toward the front of the building. The three of them huddled, their heads bent together, whispering. The hairs on the back of Jake’s neck stirred. He had a bad feeling about their conversation. Sam and Peter kept glancing over their shoulders at him, then nodding.

  Lily approached the cell and Peter angled his body near the window, watching as the sheriff approached.

  She held out her hand. “If you’re too stubborn to let me bust you out of jail this instant, at least give me the gun.”

  “Why?”

  “For the same reason you refuse to leave. If the sheriff discovers a gun after my visit, he’ll know I gave you a weapon. If you can’t keep me safe, I’ll need something stronger than my wits for protection.”

  Guilt socked him in the gut. He rummaged beneath the mattress, crossed the distance once more and held the empty gun loosely in his right hand.

  She caught his gaze, her expression somber. “I’m really, really sorry for what’s about to happen.”

  “What—”

  The words had barely left his mouth when Peter called out.

  “Now!”

  Lily yanked open the cell door.

  The squeak of hinges indicated the sheriff’s arrival.

  “Don’t come any closer.” Lily shrieked. “This is a jailbreak.”

  Jake’s stomach pitched. In an instant his last hope of coming up with a safe plan disintegrated. Six months. Six months of work out the window. Lily had just willfully implicated herself in a jailbreak. At best, if they were caught, the boys would wind up alone and unprotected. At worst, Lily was liable to be shot by some overzealous posse.

  Time seemed to slow, and he glanced at the open door.

  There were no good options. “This is a hostage situation, all right!” he hollered.

  In for a penny, in for a pound.

  He pointed the gun at the ceiling. “Hands over your head!”

  * * *

  Lily’s chest seized. She’d taken a dreadful risk. The gunfighter was staring at her as though she’d lost her marbles, and the sheriff was scratching his head.

  She caught Jake’s gaze, desperately hoping he’d read her frantic appeal. Her plan was sound. This would work. She’d break him out of jail and make a run for the next town, where they’d explain themselves.

  In an instant Jake wound his free arm around her stomach and dragged her back against him. “I’ve got hostages. Women and children.”

  Lily stiffened. “But that isn’t—”

  “Easy there.” The sheriff held his hand over his right ear. “You’ll have to speak up, son.”

  Jake squeezed Lily’s middle. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention.

  “I’m in charge of the plan now,” Jake whispered harshly against her ear. “If
we get out of this alive, our talk about personal safety and defense just doubled in length.”

  Sam and Peter had raised their hands along with the sheriff.

  “Are we hostages, too?” Sam’s eyes grew as round as saucers. “I didn’t know we’d get to be hostages. That’s even better.”

  “This is not an improvement,” Lily whispered back. “I need a moment to think.”

  She’d told the children she had a strategy. While this wasn’t precisely what she had in mind, they didn’t have much choice but to follow Jake’s lead.

  “I can be a hostage.” Peter shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  “I can’t believe you agreed with their plan.” Jake’s fierce scowl could have melted the icicles from the eves. “I thought we decided involving the children was too dangerous.”

  “I expanded on their idea,” Lily said under her breath. “Lower your voice. The sheriff is hard of hearing, not stone deaf.” She elbowed him in the stomach and bellowed, “Jake says unhook your gun belt and let it drop to the floor.”

  She’d planned on sharing the burden for his escape, but Jake had ruined that approach. She doubted the explanations she’d conjured would convince the law if they were caught now. Jake had just implicated himself in a jailbreak and a kidnapping. Taken together, those were hanging offenses.

  “That’s all he said?” The sheriff scrambled to comply, his gaze darting between them. “Seemed like he said more.”

  “Don’t rile him up,” Lily declared. “Now kick the gun this way.”

  The belt skated across the floor and landed near Lily’s feet. Stooping, Jake snatched the leather and hung it on a peg next to the door.

  He retrieved the pistol from the holster and scoffed. “This is mine.”

  Sheriff Koepke had the decency to look abashed. “Your pistol was nicer than mine.”

  Jake kept hold of Lily’s useless weapon, and stuck the second loaded gun in the back of his trousers.

  Though her revolver was empty of bullets, she was grateful he kept the muzzle pointed away from her. He shoved her behind him, an odd move for a kidnapper, but she doubted the sheriff was taking notes.

  “You’ve lost your mind.” Lily fisted her hands in the material of his shirt and rose up on her tiptoes. “This is a terrible idea. You can’t go around kidnapping women and children. If it looked like we were in on the jailbreak together, I might have explained things.”

  He held her back with his outstretched hand. The sinewy muscles on his exposed forearms temporarily distracted her.

  “You can’t explain a jailbreak.” He glanced over his shoulder and pinned her with a hard look. “I’ll say it again, that’s not how the law works. Just follow along. You began this charade, remember?”

  “Yes, but my plan was different. We were together,” she grumbled. “I was bearing part of the responsibility.”

  The sheriff strained forward. “What’s that you’re saying? What are you two gabbing about?”

  “I’m warning this lady,” Jake said, “that if she makes any false moves, I’ll lock her up and throw away the key.”

  He accompanied the announcement with a fierce stare that dared her to refute his claim. Though her heartbeat picked up rhythm, his threats were empty. They’d gone this far—there was no turning back. Jake stepped away and Lily immediately missed his warm refuge.

  She glanced at the children, who were watching the events unfold as though they were watching a stage performance.

  Jake motioned toward them. “Make certain they stay out of trouble.”

  Gathering them close, she leaned forward. “Don’t be frightened. Mr. Jake has everything under control.”

  “He sure does,” Sam declared. “This is just like one of Peter’s books come to life.”

  “Just in case, stay behind me. If anything goes wrong, take care of yourselves and don’t worry about me.”

  Peter straightened. “No can do. A cowboy always looks out for the lady.”

  “Thank you.” Lily dropped a kiss on this knit cap. “You’re the bravest cowboy in Frozen Oaks.”

  Jake tossed a burlap sack over the sheriff’s head, and the sheriff yelped. An apple core tumbled over his shoulder and hit the ground with a thud.

  Lily tilted her head in question.

  Jake shrugged. “He brought me lunch. I didn’t finish the apple.”

  With the youngsters safely tucked by the door for a hasty escape, Lily wrapped her scarf around the sheriff’s ears, hoping to muffle the sound further. Once she’d finished, she stepped back to admire her work.

  “You’re a dreadful hostage.” Jake caught her upper arm and placed his lips near her ear. “You could have at least acted a little cowed.”

  His breath tickled her ear and she shivered. Turning her head brought their faces mere inches apart. Her gaze dipped to his lips. This really wasn’t the time or the place, but she found herself imagining him without the whiskers and the long hair. His cheeks were high and chiseled, and the dip in his beard indicated a cleft in his chin.

  For all she knew, he might be wretchedly ugly, though she highly doubted the possibility. No one with eyes that beautiful could be completely unattractive. Not that his looks mattered. She was simply making an observation.

  Those beautiful coffee-colored eyes narrowed. “Are you listening to me? I was hoping you’d act more like a hostage when the sheriff is watching.”

  “I’ll do no such thing.” Focusing once more, she dragged him as far away from the sheriff as she could. “How can you escort us to St. Joseph when you’re wanted for kidnapping?”

  “At least this way you’re safe from some vigilante posse. What was your plan?”

  “The sheriff arrested you on false charges. I was breaking you out of jail. We could have explained the whole thing as a mistake on my part. How I couldn’t stand to let an innocent man rot in jail.”

  “You knew the charges were false?” His expression was incredulous. “How?”

  “Because you’re not a thief. And my idea wasn’t the worst. You just had to trust me.”

  “Well, it’s too late now. Besides, there was no guarantee they’d have believed you.”

  “Yes, but I’d have felt far less guilty if we were both implicated.”

  Jake lowered his chin and lifted his eyebrows in an expression that could only be described as long-suffering. “I will never, as long as live, understand you.”

  The sheriff shook his head, trying to disengage the sack. “What’s going on? Let me outta here.”

  “What are we going to do with Koepke?” Jake jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “He’ll raise the alarm as soon as we let him go.”

  “Then lock him in jail for now. Serves him right. He’ll know what it feels like to be jailed for a crime he didn’t commit.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Grasping the sheriff by the shoulder, Jake hauled the struggling man into the vacant cell and shut the door. Lily scurried forward and gave him the key, then retreated once more. Even behind bars she didn’t entirely trust the sheriff.

  Jake stalked toward her and halted inches away. “The next time you make a plan, I’d like a briefing. If something had gone wrong, there were too many civilians in too small of a space. There was no way to control the situation.”

  “Civilians?” She frowned. “That’s an odd way to refer to us.”

  For the first time she noted the smooth skin on his forehead. Since he normally wore a hat, she’d never really gotten a close look at his hairline. He was younger than she’d first suspected.

  “Innocents. Civilians.” Jake reached for his hat. “What does it matter?”

  “I know you’re still in here.” The sheriff struggled to remove his head covering. “You’ll never get away with this.”

  With the sheri
ff behind bars, Sam and Peter emerged from the shadows. Peter edged closer and jabbed his thumbs in his ears, wiggled his fingers, then stuck out his tongue. Sam joined him and followed suit. Since the sheriff was blind to their antics, they added a merry jig and some silly pantomimes to the routine.

  “Stop that nonsense right now.” Lily snapped her fingers. “Get back over here this instant.”

  “What?” The sheriff nearly doubled over in an effort to see. “What’s going on out there?”

  “Nothing,” Jake hollered. “Keep quiet.”

  He turned and reached for his coat, trapping Lily between his body and the wall. The tension in her chest grew. Something was wrong with her breathing. He was as immovable as an oak, and a myriad of conflicting emotions tumbled insider her. He was an outlaw but she trusted him. He was infuriating and stubborn, yet oddly kind. Her instincts defied reason. The world had gone topsy-turvy from the moment she’d stepped off the stagecoach. She might as well hang on for the duration and hope something made sense later. For the first time in her life, she tossed aside reason.

  There was also absolutely no way a man with eyes that gorgeous could be ugly.

  “Miss Winter.” Jake lowered his voice into something akin to a growl. “I’m going to find someplace safe for you and the boys, then I’ll come back and square things here.”

  Lily tipped back her head. She caught his chin and her teeth slammed together, sending a sharp, stinging pain through her head.

  She muttered an apology and caught his gaze.

  “You’ll be the death of me yet,” he mumbled, gently rubbing the spot on her head though his own chin must hurt, as well. “Try and stay out of trouble for the next few minutes. I need a rest.”

  “Don’t worry.” His self-mocking grin sent a wash of tenderness through her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “From here on out, my little protector, I’m in charge. My rules. My plan. My orders. No arguments.”

  Chapter Six

  “We’re a team,” Lily stated. The wash of tenderness drained away beneath his domineering stance. “My idea was not without merit.”