That slight tilting of his lips at the corner of his mouth added to her suspicions. She was getting in over her head with him. She was struggling with all of this. The idea of leaving filled her with dread and the idea of staying filled her with fear, but she was going to have to make a decision very soon. She was scared she was not what Chase or Maggie needed in their lives. They needed someone strong and without baggage. Maggie needed a mother that didn’t come with a broken heart; she needed someone whole. And Chase…he needed a fearless woman, a woman who knew what she wanted, who could be the perfect partner to an already strong man. She could be none of those things to either of them.
“Daddy, when did you have time to paint my room?” Maggie said as she ran into the hallway. Julia was thankful for the interruption.
“I didn’t. I had it painted, but it was the color you chose.”
“They did a pretty good job.”
“Glad you approve, sweetheart.”
“When do they start the reno on the kitchen?” Julia asked.
“Right after New Year’s,” he said, putting his drill back into the toolbox and straightening up to look at her.
“That’s great. How did you decide on what you wanted?”
“It was pretty simple. I went into John’s Cabinetry on Main Street, and basically told them everything you told me.”
She choked. “But I didn’t tell you anything.”
He shrugged. “It was enough to go on. You know, the banged up cabinetry, the island in a different color, that farmer sink. Then they came out and took the measurements. I approved the drawings and now they’re having everything built.”
“That is efficient,” she said, trying not to let her horror show over the free range he’d just given the kitchen designer. She took a sip of her takeout coffee that was perched on the window sill.
“Kitchen design isn’t really my specialty,” he said. “I needed it over and done as fast as possible.”
“It’s true. Daddy is too busy to deal with this kind of stuff,” Maggie said, patting him on the back and looking very serious.
Julia laughed and Chase rolled his eyes. “Maggie, where do you come up with this stuff?”
Maggie shrugged, a mischievous look on her face. “I read between the lines.”
Chase shook his head but he was smiling.
“When’s our furniture coming?”
“Everything should arrive tomorrow,” he said, picking Maggie up and placing her on the counter, her legs dangling.
“I can’t wait. I get a new quilt for my bed too, Auntie Julia.”
Julia smiled. “That’s so great, Maggie.”
“Yeah, that Pottery Barn place is great. They had stuff for everyone.”
“I had no idea this would be such a hit for you,” Julia said, trying not to laugh at him. Just the thought of big, tough Chase ordering from Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids was so endearing.
“Again, I need to be in and out. I was done in two hours.”
She choked on her coffee. “You mean you shopped for an entire house in two hours?”
“Is that bad?”
She shook her head slowly. “That’s pretty impressive. Usually I hem and haw, put things in my shopping cart, then take them out and add different things. I can never decide.”
“Oh. Well, I picked a room I liked from their catalogue and ordered it.”
“You ordered the room?”
He nodded. “That way I didn’t have to worry about it matching or not. They did all the work.”
“That’s really…efficient.”
“That’s what I thought, Auntie Julia. I mean, what does Daddy know about decorating? First, I was very worried, but then when he showed me pictures of different living rooms and we picked our favorite, he just added all those things to the order. I was relieved.”
This time they all laughed.
“I’m going to finish installing those blinds in my office and the family room,” Chase said.
“Why don’t we go outside and build a snowman for your front yard, Maggie?”
Maggie jumped off the counter and ran to the front door. “Yes!”
“We’ll be outside and hopefully that’ll give you some time to get some uninterrupted work done around here,” Julia said, aware that they were finally alone. Chase was on the same page because he swallowed up the distance between them in a second, only for Maggie to barrel through the doorway. Somehow the child had managed to get completely ready in full-on snow gear in a minute. “Ready, Auntie Julia?”
Chase ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
Julia smiled. “You bet, sweetie.”
…
One hour later, Chase tugged on his gloves and stood on the front porch. He didn’t announce his presence yet, he couldn’t, because the image of his daughter and Julia rolling what had to be the head of the snowman around the yard filled him with something that was becoming more and more familiar since Julia came back to town. He was not used to opening up. He never did like it. Even his ex-wife had never known him on that level, but Julia had cut through everything. He’d been able to be himself, show her the man he really was.
It was a peace he’d never felt. Something he’d imagined, but never truly experienced. It made him think sappy things, brought a lump to his throat. This is what he wanted. God, how badly did he want this?
The snowball that landed in his face, however, was a cold reminder he had no business wishing for things that would probably never happen. It also reminded him what a badass Julia was when she was at her happiest, the way she used to be. He grinned, walking down the front steps, his eyes on hers. Both women shrieked at his approach and his traitorous daughter yelled out, “Don’t worry, his aim is horrible.”
He tried not to laugh out loud.
Maggie hid behind the snowman, but Julia kept running. When Maggie turned her head to see where Julia was headed, he quickly dumped a pile of snow on her as he passed. She screamed, promising revenge. He laughed and kept on walking, catching a glimpse of a red scarf trailing through the trees.
He glanced back at Maggie to make sure she wasn’t following him. She wasn’t; his daughter was currently laughing maniacally and rolling a giant snowball no doubt meant for him, and the minute he turned his head a dense, cold, wet snowball hit him in the back of the head. He whipped around and then ran after Julia, laughing as he heard her laughter trailing behind her. God, was it good to hear her laugh. Seconds later he had caught up to her, grabbed her hand, tugged her over to him, and pinned her lightly against a tree. The laughter stopped immediately as their bodies made contact. Her smile had faltered, but her eyes were a brilliant shade of green, the light of awareness filling them.
“Julia.” His voice sounded gruff to his ears. He reached out to pull the hair that kept blowing in her face.
“Chase, clearly, I’m the better shot.”
He grinned, dipping his head slightly. God, how he wished they were alone right now and not in the company of a child that was about to ambush them with snow. He had about sixty seconds. “I’m a gentleman and needed to go easy on you.”
“Nice cover,” she said, her gaze going from his eyes to his lips in a way that made all his self-control vanish.
“Or maybe I wanted to get you alone. Maybe I haven’t been able to sleep since the night in this house. Maybe I can’t get you out of my head, and all I can think about is tasting you again, feeling you.”
Her lips parted and a smart-ass retort didn’t come out. Instead, her hands reached out to grasp the front of his coat. “Then stop talking and kiss me.”
That was all the encouragement he needed. His lips hovered close to hers for a moment. And in that moment of almost perfect heaven, his daughter screamed, “Avalanche!”
He pulled back immediately, swallowing all the expletives that were on the tip of his tongue as a bucket full of snow was thrown at him. Julia screamed with laughter as did Maggie. He let out a giant growl and ran toward Maggie, who
was barely able to run from him because she was laughing so hard. He grabbed her and tossed her in the air. Seconds later she was begging for mercy and the three of them declared a truce.
They proceeded to create a slightly insane looking snowman that day. ‘Mr. Flake’ was situated in the center of the front yard, perfectly in the middle of the living room window.
Chase knew he’d look back on this day as one of the most perfect in his life. He didn’t care if it made him a sap. Today, his daughter looked as though she’d never been burdened by the pain of a mother leaving her. She looked like a child who was living a happy life, and Julia looked like a woman who’d never known pain either. And that night when they were on their way out to dinner and he caught his reflection in the mirror, he realized that he looked like a man that finally knew the love of a good woman.
Dammit, if that didn’t set himself up to be destroyed.
Chapter Thirteen
Chase cursed the chaos that was his life. He was at least a half hour outside of Shadow Creek and he was supposed to pick up Julia in twenty minutes. He loathed being late in general, but being late for Julia was worse. It put him in a foul mood.
He had managed to get the night off and arranged for Maggie to have a sleepover at the Baileys’ while he took Julia out. But he had something even better planned than dinner out in public, because he knew neither of them wanted to be out on the town with everyone gawking at them. He wanted to have her all to himself. He wanted a night where they didn’t have to worry about anything. Except a late afternoon call landed him out of town and heavy snow was making the drive back impossible.
He increased the speed of the windshield wipers and kept his attention focused on the dark rural road in front of him. He’d get there soon enough. Barely perceptible movement on the side of the road ahead made him slow slightly, not sure if he saw an animal or something. Last thing he needed was to hit a deer on his way to pick up Julia.
He cursed out loud as he realized it wasn’t a deer but a toddler. He slowed the car and made a U-turn, not taking his attention off the slow-moving child. He hopped out of the car and immediately started running for the kid when he saw headlights in the distance. His gut churned and he felt a shudder run through him at the sight of the little girl in a T-shirt and boots and nothing else. The weather was frigid, snowing, downright dangerous. He stopped running when he was within a few feet of the child and she finally noticed him.
It was as though someone had punched him in the gut. The little girl’s face was dirty, tear-streaked, and gaunt. Her eyes widened as he approached.
“Hi, sweetie. Where’s your mom and dad?” he said in his gentlest voice.
Her chin started trembling and Chase looked around. There was a small unplowed driveway that led to a battered-looking ranch house. She didn’t say anything so he pointed to the house. “Are they in there?”
After a few seconds of not moving she nodded. He wanted to get her inside and warm. He needed to check out what was happening inside the house. It didn’t look good. Yeah, kids wandered off, but this girl was filthy, scared-looking. Kids like this gutted him. He was a kid like this once. A gust of wind blew down hard and she teetered slightly. He needed to hurry up.
“Can I pick you up and carry you back home?” When she still didn’t speak, he tried again. He crouched down so they were at eye level. “I’ve got a nice and warm coat. I bet you’re cold, aren’t you? I’m here to help you. I’m a sheriff and my job is to help people.”
She didn’t say anything, but when he reached out to pick her up, she didn’t fight him. He wrapped her up in his coat. She was shaking and felt like a block of ice as he carried her. Seconds later her head huddled into the base of his throat and he tried not to pre-judge the situation, but his gut was churning and he was itching to find out what the hell was happening inside the house.
As they approached the entry, angry voices and loud, crashing noises filtered into the open air. The child flinched at each crash. Beer bottles littered the walkway and garbage was strewn about. He sidestepped all of it and made his way up to the front door. He banged on it loudly with his fist and repeated the motion again when no one answered after a few minutes.
Finally, a man with an unkempt beard, a dirty wife-beater shirt and baggy, stained jeans answered the door. His scowl gave Chase a pretty good idea of how this was going to go.
“What the hell you doing with my kid?”
Chase managed to flash his badge without letting go of the little girl. He wasn’t about to hand her over in an environment like this. “Sheriff.” The man barely flinched. “I found her on the side of the road. She could have been hit by a car. She could have frozen to death.”
“She likes to wander off.”
“Then get a lock.”
“Don’t you be telling me how to raise my kid.”
“I need you to stand back from the door while I come in.”
He cussed but did as asked. Chase walked in, the little girl still huddled into him. It was pretty telling that she didn’t even make an attempt to go to her father. The stench of garbage, alcohol, and feces hit him as he entered the filthy home. Stark, powerful images from his past flashed before him and it took everything in him, every ounce of training he’d ever received, not to lose it right then and there. He wanted to take this little girl and bring her as far away from these people as he could. He already knew what he had to do.
He was reaching for his phone when a thin, dark-haired women stumbled into the room. She looked wasted, and judging by the almost empty bottle of gin in her hand, probably was.
“What are you doing with my baby?” she screeched, lunging for him.
He backed up and she staggered forward, falling into a chair. He clenched his teeth, wanting so badly not to be wearing a badge or have a protocol to follow.
“This here’s the sheriff, Suzie. ‘Parrently, ‘yer motherin’ skills are lackin’.”
Before he was forced to listen to her retort, Chase spoke. “I found your daughter on the side of the road, freezing, and about to walk onto the road.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Well, thanks. Now you can leave her an’ be on yer way.”
“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple now, ma’am.” He pulled out his phone with some difficulty since the child was still attached to him and dialed into the station. He would have liked to sit down, but since the place was covered in filth, he’d rather struggle. Seconds later dispatch had him hooked up with the local Child Services department.
Both parents started yelling when they heard his conversation and he moved away from them. The little girl clung tightly to him and he fought down his rage. He never took calling in Child Services lightly. In many circumstances, kids staying with less than ideal parents was still by far better the better choice. But this was the only option.
Looking around him, he knew this place wasn’t safe for human inhabitation, especially a child. Pieces of drywall were missing, some were punctured. Half the ceiling in the entry was undone. Then there was the garbage situation. Rodent feces were visible. He knew this home. He knew this home in a way that no one would understand, and he knew these parents. And God, did he loathe this type of parent.
As soon as he was off the phone, the father lunged for him. Chase sidestepped him. Oh how he wanted to lay his hands on him, but there was no way, not with the little girl. “Sit down beside your wife, or I’ll have to use force. If you want a hope in hell of us going easy on you, you’ll do as you’re told. Understand?”
His wife tugged on his shirt and he reluctantly agreed.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” he whispered in the little girl’s ear.
She didn’t answer.
The scoff he heard made him straighten her back.
“Her name’s Sammy. She don’t talk.”
It wasn’t a surprise. He could list at least five reasons this little girl didn’t speak. He ignored them and walked across the room.
“It’s going to
be okay, Sammy,” he whispered, just loud enough that only she could hear. Chase stood at the window, watching cars drive by, holding a little girl he knew very little about. But in some ways he knew more about her than probably her own parents. And she unknowingly knew about him. They were one and the same. Just like any kid or adult being raised in an environment like this. She knew more about him in some ways than even Julia did. He’d never let her in on this part of his life. He’d never told anyone. Julia. God, he was at least two hours late at this point.
He ran his hand over his jaw and shifted Sammy’s weight to his other arm. She was light for a child her age. Underweight for sure. She held on to him like she was clinging to a buoy in a storm. Maybe he was. Maybe she’d dreamed of someone finding her, coming in to save her. Half an hour later one of his officers and a familiar social services worker knocked on the door.
He could leave now. He trusted both of them. He tried to let go of Sammy, but she wouldn’t budge. Mary, from Social Services, finally managed to cajole her into her arms with a brown bear. He had a lot of respect and trust for Mary. She went above and beyond and was dedicated.
He leaned down to look at Sammy, her scared, wide eyes staring at him. “Sammy, you’re going to be okay. I promise you. This nice lady, Mary, is going to take care of you, okay?”
She didn’t say anything, just stared at him and clutched the bear. He knew she understood him. “I’m going to check in on you tomorrow. I promise. Do you understand? Do you believe me?”
After a long moment, she nodded. Relief surged through him.
“You’re safe, Sammy. You’re safe now.”
She closed her eyes and tears sprung from her shut lids and streamed down her dirty face. He touched the top of her head gently.
Christmas with the Sheriff Page 12
