Christmas Stalking

by Margaret Daley

  “Well, yes. I know He’s there, but I’m not sure He’s that interested in my day-to-day life.”

  “Oh, He is.”

  “Then where was He when I was growing up? Having to raise myself? Take care of my brother because our mother couldn’t be bothered?” She finally said the questions that had plagued her ever since she gave herself to Christ.

  “Look at the type of woman you’ve grown into. You’re strong. You can take care of yourself. You help others have peace of mind when trouble happens in their life. I for one am thankful you came into my life. Sadly, an easy road doesn’t usually hone a person into what they need to be.”

  The door finally opened, and Colt hurried inside, stomping his feet. Snow covered his hair and coat. “I forgot something in the Jeep and went out to get it.” After shrugging out of his heavy jacket, he put a sack on the table near the chair he settled into. “It’s really snowing now. Too much more and we’ll have whiteout conditions.”

  “It sounds like the weatherman got it wrong.” Ellie eyed the bag. “What did you forget?”

  “A surprise.”

  “You know a bodyguard doesn’t like surprises.”

  “This is a good one.” He quirked a grin, his eyes sparkling. “You and Winnie have to wait until Christmas morning.”

  “It’s a present? I didn’t get you anything.” An edge of panic invaded Ellie’s voice. A gift from him made their...friendship even more personal.

  “It’s nothing. And I don’t want anything. That’s not why I’m giving you this.”

  Winnie laughed. “Ellie, enjoy it. Colt loves giving gifts. He’s just like his grandfather. I used to be able to find out what it was before Colt gave it to me. But not anymore. He’s gotten quite good at keeping a secret.”

  “So, Winnie, what are we having for dinner?” Colt combed his fingers through his wet hair.

  Winnie gave him a look. “Are you suffering from hypothermia? You want me to fix dinner?”

  Colt chuckled. “Not if I want to eat anything decent. I was teasing you. Ellie and I will cook dinner for you.” He rose and offered Ellie his hand.

  She took it and let him tug her up. “You do know I don’t cook a lot for myself. I’m not home that much.”

  “But I cook. We all take turns on the ship, and if we weren’t accomplished, we quickly learned or the rest of the crew threatened to toss us overboard.”

  Ellie examined the contents of the refrigerator. “Grilling is out,” she said as she glanced back at Colt. “Which, by the way, I am good at. So I guess the steaks can wait for a less snowy day.”

  “From the looks of it outside, I don’t know that’s going to happen before we leave. We can use the broiler in the oven.”

  “So how are we going to get out of here if it snows that much?”

  “We have a snowmobile in the shed out back and skis.”

  “Winnie skis?”

  “She did when she was younger, but she’ll use the snowmobile. How are you on skis?”

  “Never tried it. I live in flat country.”

  “We have some cross-country skis. Flat country is fine for that.”

  “But the way down isn’t flat. I might not make a pretty picture on skis, but I’ll do what I have to.” She took the meat out of the refrigerator. “Okay, steak it is. I can actually prepare them and put them in the broiler. So what are you gonna cook?”

  His chuckle spiced the air. “I see how this is going to go. I’m going to do most of the work. I thought you said you could cook.”

  “Simple things like steaks. Let’s say you’re the head chef and I’m the assistant. Believe me, you all will be much better off.”

  “Well then, let’s make this simple. Baked potatoes and a salad.”

  “I’m all for easy.”

  Surprisingly Ellie found they cooked well as a team, and by the time they sat down to eat she’d laughed more at the stories Colt told her about life on the research vessel than she had in a long time. Her jobs were serious and left little room for the lighter side of life.

  “I’m glad you two talked me into coming up here,” Ellie said when Winnie finished her blessing. “I’ve worked a lot in the past few years and have had little downtime. I needed this and didn’t even realize it. No bad guys out there stalking a client. That’s a nice feeling”

  Winnie agreed. “That’s how I’m looking at these next three days. A minivacation that I needed a lot. I’m too old to work as hard as I have been with Endless Youth. But it’s mostly done, and I’ve accomplished what Thomas and I set out to do all those years ago. Once the company goes public, I’m stepping down as CEO of Glamour Sensations.”

  Colt dropped his fork on his plate. “You’re finally retiring? I’ve been wanting you to slow down for years.”

  Winnie pursed her lips. “I would have if a certain young grandson had decided to use his degree in chemistry and come into the business. I figure Harold can take over the CEO position until he grooms someone for the job.”

  Ellie picked up on the sudden tension that thickened at the table between grandson and grandmother. She swallowed her bite of mushroom-covered steak and said, “What are you going to do with all your free time?”

  “I won’t completely turn the company over without keeping an eye on it. But I figure I could knit, read, wait for great-grandchildren.”

  Colt’s eyes popped wide. “Winnie, now I know why you insisted on coming up here. Did you have something to do with all this snow, too? We won’t be going anywhere until it stops. Visibility is limited.”

  His grandmother smiled. “I have a lot of skills, but controlling weather isn’t one of them. I figured the circumstances were just right for me telling you this now rather than right before you go back to the Kaleidoscope. You’ll inherit my shares in the company so you’ll have a stake in it.”

  “What’s this about great-grandchildren? This is the first time you’ve bought that up in a long time.”

  Winnie pointedly looked at Ellie before swinging her attention to Colt. “Just a little reminder. After all, I’m getting up there. These threats made me realize I won’t be around forever. I need to make plans for the future.”

  Colt’s eyebrows slashed downward, and he lowered his head, as though he was enthralled with cutting his steak.

  “The threat is over and you should have many years before you, Winnie,” Ellie said, trying to defuse the tension vibrating in the air.

  “I’m planning on it, but it’s in the Lord’s hands.”

  The rest of the meal Winnie and Ellie mostly talked, with a few comments from Colt. What part of the conversation had upset him? Ellie wondered. The part about Harold becoming CEO or the great-grandchildren?

  At the end Ellie rose. “I’ll take care of the dishes. That I know how to do at least. When I was first in the army I was on mess duty a lot.”

  “Colt will help you,” Winnie offered. “You’re our guest. We certainly can’t let you do it alone.”

  As Ellie walked into the kitchen she heard Colt say in a strained voice, “I know what you’re doing, and you need to stop it.”

  “Stop what? If you want, I’ll help her.”

  The sugary sweet sound of Winnie’s voice alerted Ellie to the fact that the woman was up to something, and she had a pretty good idea what it was. When Colt came into the small kitchen, his expression reflected his irritated mood toward his grandmother. Ellie worked beside him in silence for ten minutes.

  As she washed the broiler pan, she asked, “What’s going on with you and Winnie? Are you upset about her retiring and Harold taking over?” She didn’t think that was it.

  “I’m glad she’s retiring, and Harold’s a good man. Don’t tell her, but lately I’ve been thinking about what I need to do. I don’t see me living on a research vessel for years.” />
  “So you might help with the company?”

  “Maybe. I have an obligation that I need to finish first to the research team.”

  “Then what has you upset? And don’t tell me you aren’t. It’s all over your face.”

  “She hasn’t played the great-grandchildren card in ages. I thought she’d learned her lesson the last time.”

  “What lesson?”

  “Come on. You’re smart. Don’t you see she’s trying to play matchmaker with us?”

  “It did cross my mind, but I think it’s cute.”

  “Cute! The last time she did, I went out with the woman to make her happy. On the surface she seemed all right until we stopped dating and she began stalking me. That’s one of the reasons I took the job on the Kaleidoscope. It’s hard to stalk a person in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It turns out I’ve enjoyed the work I’m doing and the woman went on to marry and move to New York, but Winnie isn’t usually that far off reading people.”

  “We’re all entitled to a mistake every once in a while. Besides, she had your best interests at heart—at least in her mind.”

  “I told the lady I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship. She was and didn’t understand why I wasn’t. Hence the stalking to discover why she wasn’t Mrs. Right.”

  “Don’t worry. I don’t stalk. I protect people from stalkers. And I’m not interested in a serious relationship, either. So you’re perfectly safe. Your grandmother’s

  wiles won’t work on me.” Ellie wiped down the sink. “So if you know that your grandmother has done that in the past, why did you talk me into coming this morning when I voiced an objection?”

  He blew out a frustrated breath. “Because I like you. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, and I didn’t like the idea that you would spend Christmas alone.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “Do you? Winnie needs to realize a man can have a friendship with a woman. She keeps insisting Harold is just a friend, so surely she can understand we can be friends.”

  Ellie laughed. “You don’t have to convince me. Just Winnie.”

  “Yeah. Besides, after Christmas, I’ll go back to Kaleidoscope and you’ll go on another assignment. We’ll probably be halfway around the world from each other.”

  “I agree. Forgive the cliché, but we’re like two ships passing in the night.”

  “Exactly.” He draped the dish towel over the handle on the oven. “And I think I’ll go in there and explain it to her. Want to back me up?”

  “Sure.”

  Colt stalked into the great room and found it empty. He turned in a full circle, his gaze falling on the knitting project in the basket by the chair his grandmother had been sitting in. His forehead crinkled, and he covered the distance to the hall, coming back almost immediately. “She went to bed. It’s just you and me, and it’s only nine o’clock.”

  “I think that was her intention.”

  “I know.” A chuckle escaped Colt. “And I’ll have a serious word with her tomorrow. In the meantime, want to play chess or checkers?”

  “I can’t play chess, so it has to be checkers.”

  Colt retrieved the board and game pieces and set it up at the table where they had eaten their dinner. “I’ll have to teach you how to play chess. It’s a strategy game. I have a feeling you’d be good at it.”

  “Maybe tomorrow. After the past few weeks, I don’t want too tough a game to play tonight.” Ellie took a chair across from him. “After an assignment I go through a mental and physical letdown, and after a particularly hard job, I almost shut down for a couple of days.”

  “Is this your way of telling me you’re going to lounge around and do nothing but eat bonbons?”

  “If you have any, I might. I like chocolate.” Ellie moved her red checker forward.

  “What else do you like?” Colt made his play, then looked up into her eyes, trapping her with the intensity in his gaze. Electrifying. Mesmerizing.

  “Protecting people,” she somehow managed to reply. “I really do like my work. Making sure a place is secure. Trying to figure out all the ways a person can get to another.”

  “I can understand liking your job. I like mine, too.”

  “What do you like about your job?”

  “Finding unique species. Trying to preserve the ocean. The challenge of the job. That’s probably what I like the most. I want a job that forces me beyond my comfort zone.”

  “We have a lot in common.”

  Colt answered her move by jumping her red checker. “You said you became a bodyguard because you want to help those who need protection. Why is that important to you?”

  “King me,” Ellie said when she slid her first red piece into his home base. “Because my twin was bullied. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen to others if I could do something about it.”

  “He was but you weren’t?”

  “No. I had a rep for being tough and not taking anything from anyone.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “How did you get that reputation?”

  “By standing up to the people who made fun of my brother. Toby was slow. He was the second twin. He became stuck in the birth canal and was deprived of oxygen, which caused some medical and mental problems.”

  “When did you start championing him like that?”

  “When we started school. Kindergarten.”

  “What did your parents think?”

  Ellie looked at the board and made a move without thinking it through. With his next turn, Colt jumped her pieces until she had to crown his black checker.

  “Obviously the subject of your parents isn’t one of your favorites,” he said. “Like me.”

  Ellie swallowed the tightness in her throat. Recalling her past never sat well with her. “No. I never knew my father. He left my mother when Toby and I were born. He never once tried to get in touch with us. And for different reasons from your dad, my mother was less than stellar in the parent department. I basically raised Toby and myself. I didn’t have grandparents like yours.”

  “So you and I have another thing in common.”

  There was something about Colt that drew her. She hadn’t wanted to admit that to herself, but she couldn’t avoid it any longer. They were alike in a lot of ways even though their backgrounds were very different. He came from wealth and was college educated. She’d graduated from high school and had been educated on the job in the army.

  Ten minutes later Colt won the checkers game. She wanted to think it was because her mind hadn’t been on the game, but that wasn’t true. He was good and she wasn’t. She hadn’t played since she was a kid and the old man next door used to challenge her. She hadn’t won then, either, but she had enjoyed her neighbor’s conversation about the different places she could see around the world. So when the U.S. Army recruiter came to her school, she’d thought it would be a good way to go different places.

  “Another game?” Colt asked.

  “No, one beating in a night is enough. My ego can only take so much.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “I have a feeling your ego is just fine.”

  “Okay, I hate to admit that Winnie has the right idea about going to bed early. What’s even nicer is that I don’t have to walk through the house and check to make sure we are locked up tight. No one in their right mind would come out on a night like this.” Ellie made her way to the window and opened the blinds to look at the heavy snow coming down.

  “Near blizzard conditions,” Colt said close to her ear.

  The tickle of his breath on her nape zipped through her, but she stayed still. There was nothing stopping her from turning around and kissing him. No job. No threats against Winnie. This was her time that she’d chosen to spend with Winnie and Colt. His presence so near to her tingled her nerve end
ings and charged her, demanding she put aside her exhaustion and give in to the feelings bombarding her from all sides.

  “Yes, I haven’t seen this much snow in a while.” Her reply ended in a breathless rush.

  “It makes this cabin feel even cozier.” His soft, whispered words caressed her neck.

  She tensed, trying to keep herself from leaning back against him.

  “Relax. We’ll be perfectly fine in here. If we need rescuing, people know where we are and will come when we don’t show up the day after Christmas.”

  His teasing tone coaxed the tension from her. She closed the blind and swung around at the same time she stepped away. “I think I can survive being snowbound in a large, warm cabin with enough food for a week. My boss doesn’t expect me to come into the office until the day after New Year’s.”

  “I wish I could say the same thing. I have to get back to the ship.”

  His comment reminded her of their differences. She was a bodyguard. He worked on a vessel in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Not conducive to a relationship. “Good night, Colt.”

  “Coward.”

  “Oh, you think?” She’d been accused of being many things. Being a coward wasn’t one of them.

  “When it gets personal, you leave.”

  “That’s what this is?” She drew a circle in the air to indicate where they were standing.

  He moved to the side, sweeping his arm across his body. “Good night, Ellie. We’ll continue our conversation tomorrow when you’re rested.”

  On her way to her bedroom, the searing heat of his gaze drilled into her back. Every inch of her was aware of the man she’d wanted to kiss but didn’t. It was better this way. Now she only had a few more days and she could escape to Dallas.

  Ellie hurriedly changed into her sweatpants and large T-shirt then fell into bed. She expected sleep to come quickly. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Colt. At some point she must have gone to sleep because the next thing she realized a boom shook the cabin, sending her flying out of bed.

  TEN

  Ellie fumbled in the dark for her gun she kept on the nightstand out of habit. When her fingers clasped around it, she raced into the hallway at the same time Colt came out of his bedroom.