Christmas Protection Detail

by Terri Reed

  “You’re not wrong,” he said. “Would you teach me to ride?”

  The twinkle in his dark eyes set alarms bells clanging in her head. What sort of ploy was this? “Are you being serious?”

  “I am,” he said. “I would like to know how to sit a horse and to be able to go on rides on the many trails around here.”

  “I’m sure something can be arranged.” Her father could teach him. Or Alex or someone other than her.

  Collin appeared in the doorway. “Dr. Olson is at the gate. Should I let him in?”

  “Please do,” Nick said. “You can escort him here, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Not at all.”

  Nick checked Rosie’s diaper. “She’s still dry.”

  “When does she get fed?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “I gave her a bottle first thing this morning,” he replied. “I downloaded a book on how to take care of babies onto my laptop. Very interesting reading, with clear directions on feeding schedules, sleeping schedules and all sorts of interesting things.”

  Uh. He was really getting into this, even more than she’d thought. “Do you always dive headlong into everything you do?”

  He cocked his head. “I suppose so, when I find something that interests me.”

  “Must be nice to have the luxury to do that,” she said.

  He shrugged. “I can’t help the circumstance to which I was born.”

  “No, I suppose not.” Did he realize how blessed he was to have the opportunities that having come from such a well-off family afforded him?

  “Hello.” Dr. Olson stepped into the room. He was tall and had thinning dark hair with flecks of gray and a defined widow’s peak at the top of his forehead. His blue-gray eyes were kind as they swept over them. In his hand he carried a black bag, which he set on the desk.

  “Thank you for coming.” Nick shook the doctor’s hand. “This is Rosie.”

  “Isn’t she a beauty?” Dr. Olson opened his bag and took out his stethoscope. “I’ll give her a good once-over to make sure all is as it should be.”

  Nick and Kaitlyn moved out of the way to let the doctor examine Rosie.

  “This baby is healthy,” Dr. Olson announced. “And you’ve done a good job setting her up in a safe environment so quickly.”

  “We appreciate you coming out here,” Kaitlyn said. “I’m sure you’re very busy.”

  “Never too busy to take care of a baby.” He ran the back of a finger down Rosie’s fat cheek and made her coo. “And you two are doing a wonderful job.”

  Kaitlyn didn’t feel like she’d done anything to help the child. It had all been Nick. He’d taken to tending to Rosie like an expert. She struggled to believe Rosie was the first baby he’d ever held or taken care of. Watching him with the baby stirred up unfamiliar emotions inside, and she didn’t know what to do with them other than shove them away.

  “I will leave you my card,” Dr. Olson said. “If you have any issues or questions, don’t hesitate to call, and I will come back out. Keep up the good work.” He handed Rosie to Kaitlyn.

  Flustered, Kaitlyn felt her heart race, and her muscles tensed. She worked hard to hide the fact that she felt inadequate caring for the baby. But holding the infant close created unexpected havoc with her heart.

  Nick walked the doctor out, leaving Kaitlyn and Rosie alone.

  Swaying, Kaitlyn hummed a Christmas carol. Tenderness flooded her veins. For some inexplicable reason, tears burned the backs of her eyes.

  Nick returned, his gaze disconcerting as he watched her and Rosie. She never would have imagined Nick would be so willing to take in the child, let alone be attentive to Rosie.

  That he was also attentive to Kaitlyn left her feeling off balance in his presence.

  “Why haven’t you decorated the house for Christmas?” Kaitlyn asked to shift his focus away from herself.

  “I honestly hadn’t thought much about it.” He straightened the blankets in Rosie’s crib. “With Ian and Dad out of the country, decorating seemed pointless.” He grinned. “But now that there’s a child in the house, we should decorate. Are you game?”

  His grin hit Kaitlyn square in the solar plexus, prompting a quick “I’d like that.”

  He waggled his eyebrows. “This will be fun.”

  Fun? Her mouth dried. What had she just agreed to?

  “But first... I smell breakfast,” Nick said and led the way downstairs.

  A loud buzzing noise from outside the house raised the hairs at the back of her neck. “What is that?”

  Nick’s perplexed expression mirrored her own bafflement. “I don’t know. A swarm of bees?”

  Handing Rosie off to him, she said, “Not likely in winter.”

  Thankful she’d tucked her sidearm into her hip holster when she’d left her room this morning, she put her hand on the grip. Slowly she opened the front door to a blast of cold air.

  She stepped out the door, searching for the source of the sound. The noise faded, indicating whatever was making it had moved to the back of the house.

  “Wait,” Nick said as she started down the front stairs. “The back door would be quicker.”

  Reversing, she hurried after him through the kitchen to the door that faced the rear of the mansion. Margaret and Collin stared, clearly alarmed.

  “You all need to stay back,” Kaitlyn instructed as she cautiously opened the door and peered out. A path had been shoveled through the snow, which was at least a foot deep and covered most of the patio and the furniture, to the greenhouse a few yards away.

  The buzzing sounded overhead. She stepped out onto the patio and looked up, shielding the bright sunlight from her eyes with her free hand.

  There! A quadcopter, named for the four rotors on the four corners of the civilian drone, hovered over the house.

  Her lungs filled with crisp, cold air that did nothing to stem the tide of anger washing through her. Apparently, the men who were after Lexi and had tried to break in last night were surveilling the house with the camera attached to the drone, no doubt planning their next attack.

  She raised her weapon and aimed at the quadcopter. The thing quickly veered away and flew out of range, disappearing over the tops of the trees, confirming her suspicion that the drone had been outfitted with a camera. Apparently one with real-time viewing, not just recording.

  From the direction the drone was going, Kaitlyn decided the bad guys must have hiked around the perimeter looking for a way in.

  “Should we be worried?” Nick asked when she reentered the kitchen.

  By the tone of his voice, she could tell the question was rhetorical. She wanted to reassure him, but she couldn’t, not with her own concern crowding her chest. “Unfortunately, I don’t think these men are going to stop anytime soon.”

  But what was it exactly they were after?

  SIX

  After informing Alex about the drone, tension stretched Kaitlyn’s nerves taut. What did these men want? Rosie? But why? What was it about the baby that would lead these men to be so determined to get to her?

  “Would you like to eat at the counter or in the dining room?” Margaret’s voice shook slightly.

  Kaitlyn sympathized with the other woman. Margaret and Collin were in danger along with Nick and Rosie by virtue of the fact they resided on the estate.

  “Counter’s fine,” Nick said as he balanced Rosie in his arms and took a seat at the counter. His mood had been subdued by the very real threat hovering over them.

  Kaitlyn took a seat and tried for normalcy. “Do I smell bacon?”

  “You do. And fresh veggie omelets.” Margaret placed plates filled with two slices of bacon and an omelet in front of Kaitlyn and Nick. “Eat before it gets cold.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Nick said. He glanced at Kaitlyn. “Would you like me to say grace?”

 
“Please,” Kaitlyn replied.

  “Lord, we thank You for this food and ask for Your blessing and Your protection. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

  “Amen,” Kaitlyn murmured. Though she wasn’t hungry, she didn’t want to be rude by not eating the food set before her. With every bite, however, her appetite grew. She needed her strength, she rationalized as she ate the whole plateful. “The omelet is so good. The veggies are super fresh. Where did you get them?”

  “Out back,” Margaret said. “Nick has a greenhouse full of veggies and flowers.”

  Kaitlyn nearly choked on her food. She swallowed quickly. “What?” She turned to stare at Nick. She’d seen the glass structure but hadn’t thought much about it. “You have a greenhouse?”

  “I like growing things,” he stated. “And it’s wonderful to have fresh produce year-round.”

  Kaitlyn didn’t know what to say. Never would she have thought he’d be a gardener. “Interesting choice of hobby.”

  Nick smiled but looked away. “Plants don’t judge.”

  “I’m not judging you,” she said quickly. “If you find joy in gardening, that’s wonderful.”

  “Gives me depth,” he shot back.

  She hated to admit it, but yes. Before now she’d considered him very superficial and lacking in complexity. But apparently there was more to Nick than she’d known. The past twenty-four hours had cracked open the box she’d relegated him to. And she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it or the seeds of respect germinating inside her.

  “Don’t let him fool you,” Margaret said. “Nick here is a Certified Master Gardener.”

  “Really?” No way would Kaitlyn have guessed.

  Nick shrugged. “I took a course through the Colorado Certified Nursery Professionals program. It’s not a big deal.”

  She’d always wondered what he did with his time. “I think this is a big deal.” She held his dark gaze and for a moment couldn’t breathe. There was something there in his eyes that made her heart pound and her blood race. “I’d like to see your garden sometime.”

  He wiped his mouth with a napkin before saying, “Then let me show you.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “Not a good idea.”

  Nick tucked in his chin. “Didn’t last night prove the bad guys can’t get onto the estate?”

  True. But an anxious flutter in her chest demanded caution. Who knew what the bad guys could put on the next drone that flew over? “I’d prefer we stayed inside.”

  Resignation shone in the dark depths of his eyes. “Of course. You’re the boss.”

  Was he mocking her? Nick’s smile appeared genuine. Still, his words made her defenses rise, but she held herself in check. The situation was stressful enough without her unnecessarily adding to it. He’d accepted her mandate and that was that.

  “How about we bring the Christmas decorations down from the attic?” he asked.

  Clearly, he needed something to focus on other than the danger lurking outside the fenced estate. She couldn’t deny him the concession. “Sure.”

  His pleased smile made her chest ache with a strange sort of happiness. When had she allowed him to have so much power over her? And what was she going to do about it?

  * * *

  A lump formed in Nick’s throat. He and Kaitlyn stood in the dining room surrounded by the plethora of boxes marked Christmas. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, shining on the ornaments inside the boxes.

  It had taken nearly two hours to bring all the boxes down from the attic. Rosie slept upstairs, and the baby monitor receiver sat nearby.

  The reminder of his past had Nick choking up.

  When he was young, decorating the house had been something his mother did, and she had shooed away her sons on the pretext they would be in the way of her creativity. But Nick had enjoyed watching his mother transform the house into something whimsical.

  After her death, the house staff took over preparing the house for the holidays. With his father and Ian out of the country, Nick had told Collin not to bother. But now Nick wanted to make the house feel homey. For Rosie. And, to be honest, for Kaitlyn. But he was out of his element here.

  “Where should we start?” he asked Kaitlyn. “I have to admit this is my first time being the one in charge of decorating the house.”

  Kaitlyn arched an eyebrow. “No kidding? Who would’ve thunk?”

  He made a face at her. “Mock all you like. I’m doing it now.”

  Curiosity brightened her eyes. He wasn’t about to reveal the painful truth that his mother hadn’t really wanted to be bothered with her children, so he held her gaze with a steady look, hoping she’d let it go.

  Finally, she looked around as if contemplating the best strategic way to go about decorating. He could practically see the wheels in her agile and quick mind spinning.

  “Well, first off...” She met his gaze, her pretty eyes sincere. “You don’t have a Christmas tree, so there is that issue.”

  “An issue easily remedied.” He took his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call a local Christmas tree farm and have them deliver one.”

  “I’ll call the Howards’ Tree Farm.” Kaitlyn dug her phone out of the pocket of her jeans, allowing her pink sweater to hike up slightly to reveal her holster and sidearm. “They own a Christmas tree farm outside of town. I trust them. Riley and his son, Trevor, ride on the mounted patrol.”

  Nick suppressed a smile. She liked being in control. “That’s fine.”

  A few moments later, she hung up. “Trevor will bring us a tree.”

  “I’ll let Collin know.” Nick liked that she used the term us, though he didn’t have any illusions that Kaitlyn gave some sort of significance to the word. There was no us. They were not together, like a couple. And the quicker he got that through his thick skull, the better. Kaitlyn barely tolerated him. There was no way he’d ever win her heart.

  Why he even contemplated doing something so reckless was a mystery.

  If he wanted to take the risk and give his heart, it should be to someone who accepted him, flaws and all.

  And that was not Kaitlyn.

  * * *

  Kaitlyn watched Nick contemplate a stunning glass orb with swirls of glittery colors inside. There was a sadness to his expression that tugged at her and made her want to see his smile again. Her attraction to the man both annoyed and confused her. “Should we check on Rosie?”

  His expression shifted, the sadness retreating to be replaced with an amused sort of joy. He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “She’s growing on you.”

  Kaitlyn’s pulse unaccountably began to race. She struggled to calm it down. She didn’t like that his grin made her heart beat faster. “Rosie is cute.”

  Her gaze strayed out the tall windows. And so was he, but she wouldn’t ever admit that out loud.

  She’d worked long and hard to keep herself free of romantic entanglements, because after what had happened ten years ago, she wasn’t about to risk her heart ever again. And certainly not with this man she didn’t fully trust to honor his commitments.

  A section of the tree line surrounding the back of the house went up in a swoosh of flames. For a moment, Kaitlyn couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her heart stalled, then pounded in large, booming beats. “Fire!”

  “We have to put it out!” Nick hurried to the window.

  “This could be a ruse to flush us out,” she said. “You need to secure Margaret, Collin and Rosie in the safe room.”

  Without a word, Nick raced to do as she’d commanded.

  Dialing the sheriff’s department as she ran for the back door, Kaitlyn reached the emergency dispatcher. “Fire at Delaney estate. South side tree line. Tell the sheriff suspects may be on scene outside of the fence surrounding the estate. Be cautious.”

  She cracked open the door. There was no way
anyone could be on the electrified fence surrounding the estate, but she couldn’t be sure there wasn’t a sniper positioned out there on a nearby hillside waiting to pick her off. But to what end?

  Even with her or Nick dead, the bad guys wouldn’t be able to gain access to the mansion or to Rosie.

  Cautiously, she edged out the door. When no bullet slammed into her, she let out a relieved breath. She could only guess that the bad guys planned to infiltrate the grounds when the gate opened for the fire department. She’d make sure that didn’t happen.

  Collin joined her. “There are fire extinguishers in the greenhouse and two extra-long hoses. We keep the water temperature tepid for the plants.”

  Grateful for the assist, she led the way to the glass-enclosed structure. Inside the greenhouse, warmth encased her. She barely spared a glance at the beautiful blooms used to decorate the inside of the mansion and the long rows of vegetables growing in planters. Collin reached a cabinet and flung the doors open. Inside were multiple types, shapes and sizes of extinguishers. Two coiled, heavy-duty hoses hung on hooks.

  “Take two extinguishers and protect the house from cinders,” Kaitlyn instructed Collin.

  “Let’s grab the hoses,” Nick said as he stormed into the greenhouse. “We can do this.”

  Kaitlyn nodded, appreciating his can-do attitude but concerned for his safety. “You should be inside.”

  “Don’t start with me, Kait,” he said as he reached for a hose. “We’re doing this together.”

  Marveling at his audacity and bravery, she tucked away the approval and hoisted a hose over her shoulder.

  “This way.” Nick, with the other hose over his own shoulder, led her back outside and through the snow to find the water faucet that had been encased in a foam-and-plastic cover to keep it from freezing. He yanked the cover off. “We’ll have to hook the hoses together to reach the tree line.”

  She nodded. They worked well together as they connected the ends of the two hoses.

  She fumbled with the hose and pulled, straining to make the slog with the connected hoses across the snow-covered lawn toward the trees at the back of the property. Heat rolled across the frozen yard, melting the snow. Smoke rose high into the sky, black and curling. The snapping of pine needles catching on fire echoed through the air.