Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Rancher for ChristmasHer Montana ChristmasAn Amish Christmas JourneyYuletide Baby

by Brenda Minton

  Better to give them both some room. Let the air cool between them.

  “Mama, you drive?” Henry asked from the backseat.

  Heather laughed. “I suppose I ought to be driving, since we’re sitting here in the car and all. We’d best get home and unload these groceries.”

  She turned the key in the ignition and took another quick glance in the rearview mirror before backing out of her parking space.

  She didn’t know why she noticed the man parked at the far end of the lot, leaning on a nondescript white sedan.

  A subtle movement, perhaps? Leftover survival instinct?

  Despite his shaggy hair and unkempt beard, Heather immediately recognized him. Cold blue eyes turned her stomach. Lightning flashed before her eyes, thunder rumbled in her chest and her breath twisted as if caught up by gale-force winds.

  “Oh, God, save us,” she whispered, her words very much a prayer. She ducked out of sight before she’d given it a second thought.

  Adrian.

  What was he doing in Serendipity? He was supposed to be in jail.

  Had he seen her? Recognized her? How had he found her? A lucky guess that she’d gone back to her hometown?

  He’d probably seen her. He’d appeared to be looking right at her when she’d spotted him.

  What to do? What to do?

  The children. She’d inadvertently put them in danger. If they were with her, Adrian could harm them.

  She had a permanent restraining order against him. Technically, he wasn’t legally allowed to get as close to her as Sam’s small parking lot afforded. But a restraining order was nothing more than a piece of paper when it came to an angry, drunken man. Adrian had never been much for following the law even before he’d gone to prison, and she had no reason to believe he’d do so now.

  She locked the doors and scrambled to locate the cell phone in her purse, all without lifting her head above the height of the dash.

  “Kids, we’re going to play a little game right now,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. She closed her hand around the phone and hiccuped in relief. “Everyone duck down in your seat until I say ‘peekaboo.’”

  “What’s wrong?” Jacob asked, ever astute and sounding slightly offended. He was too old to be playing peekaboo with his mother.

  “Please, Jacob, just do as I say. I’ll explain when I can.”

  Her breath lodged in her throat and her heart hammered as she dialed 911 and waited for the operator to pick up.

  What if Adrian approached the vehicle? How would she keep the kids safe? She didn’t dare even spare a backward glance to see if he was coming toward her. If somehow by the grace of God he hadn’t already seen her, she didn’t want to accidentally tip him off.

  “What is the nature of your emergency?”

  “I think I’m being followed. My ex-husband is out of prison. I have a permanent restraining order against him but I don’t feel safe.”

  “What is your location?”

  “Sam’s Grocery. The parking lot. I’m in a silver SUV. I have my three children with me. Please hurry.”

  “A unit has already been dispatched. ETA less than a minute.”

  Another reason to be grateful for small towns. But a lot could happen in a minute.

  “Mom?” Jacob spoke again. “Who is following us? Did you just call the cops?”

  “Yes, honey, and they are on their way to help us. I’ll explain it all to you, I promise, but right now we need to stay low and wait for the police to get here.”

  She jumped when someone rapped on the driver’s-side window but was relieved to see Slade McKenna nodding at her. She’d never been happier to see red and blue flashing lights.

  She rolled the window down a crack. “Slade. Thank you for coming so fast.”

  “Where did you see your ex-husband?” Slade cut straight to the chase with no formalities.

  “He’s directly behind me, at the far end of the lot. Blond hair. Beard. He’s driving a white sedan, although he was out of the vehicle when I saw him.”

  Slade glanced in the direction she indicated and frowned. “Keep your doors locked and your head down. Stay right where you are until I return.”

  Tension crackled through the air as Heather counted every heartbeat. Her own breath sounded painfully loud. In what seemed like hours later but was probably only a matter of minutes, Slade returned and once more tapped on her window.

  He pressed his lips together before speaking. “I’m sorry, Heather, but there’s no sign of him.”

  “What? No,” she disputed, regaining her seat and turning to look over her shoulder. “He’s right—”

  But the space where the white sedan had been parked was empty. She scanned the lot, hoping to point him out so the police officer could arrest him, but Slade was correct.

  Adrian was gone.

  Had she been seeing things? The Adrian she knew had always taken great pride in his clean-cut appearance. It was one of the ways he fooled everyone. But the man she had seen, unkempt and bedraggled, had looked every bit the criminal he was, and for that reason was that much more intimidating.

  No, she wasn’t mistaken. She’d seen him. And if he’d seen her, then not only her safety but the safety of her children was at stake. How could she ever possibly have thought of adopting these precious children and putting them in danger?

  “I didn’t imagine him.” She couldn’t have.

  “No, of course not, Heather. I totally believe you. He was here. I’ve radioed the station and put out an APB on the guy. He’s not going to get very far. We’ve got all our eyes watching for him. And we have a patrol car scheduled to run down your block on an expedited basis, okay?”

  That Slade believed her—that the police believed her—gave her a measure of comfort but no real confidence. Adrian was a smart man. If he wanted to confront her, he’d find a way to do it. He’d get around the police somehow.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t nab the guy for you today. Is there anything else I can do for you? Just name it.”

  “I appreciate your help, Slade, and there’s no need to apologize. You got here as fast as you could.” Other than assigning her a 24/7 police escort, which was completely beyond the scope of Serendipity’s police department, there was little Slade could do.

  Or maybe there was something. “There is one thing. Is there any way for you to find out when and why he was released from prison? I thought he still had at least a few more years to serve before he’d be eligible for parole, which is why I was doubly shocked to spot him here.”

  “Where was he imprisoned?”

  “Colorado.”

  “I’ll get that information to you right away. We’ll pick him up as soon as we see him and get him locked back up again. He’s already violated your restraining order, and if he’s out of a prison in Colorado, it’s a good bet he’s broken his parole.”

  If they caught up with him. If they could catch him.

  Those were pretty big ifs.

  Adrian had contested their divorce when she’d filed, but there was little he could do about it from prison. She hadn’t wanted anything from him and she hadn’t taken anything other than her clothes and what was left of her dignity.

  He was frightening when he was angry. And if he was here—in violation of his parole and his restraining order—then he was angry.

  But she wasn’t the same woman Adrian had intimidated for all those years. She had found a renewed sense of strength, hope and faith, thanks in large part to her relationship with Shawn.

  All the angst and awkwardness she’d been feeling earlier over their kiss dissolved with the gravity of these new circumstances. She had some serious decisions to make about her life, and there was one person in this world who’d had a real glimpse of the depths of her heart, one man who would truly understand what Adrian’s abrupt arrival in her life meant for her and the children.

  Already more than halfway home, she turned her car around and headed for Shawn’s ranch.
>
  *

  Shawn had picked up his phone to call Heather at least a dozen times in the two days since they’d had their moment and he’d replaced the phone without actually making the call every time.

  He’d never been in this position before. He’d never expected he would come to feel the way he did about Heather, and he didn’t want to scare her off with the intensity of his emotions. And the worst of it was that he wasn’t sure he could mask how he felt. And even if he could, he still wasn’t certain he would be able to step up and be the man Heather needed him to be.

  He did what he always did when he needed to think—went out to the barn to tend the animals. He might not talk out loud to them the way Heather had done in her youth, but there was a certain amount of comfort in the routine of pitching hay and even in mucking the stalls. Noelle seemed to like being strapped to his chest and contentedly watched what he was doing.

  At least he was learning how to please one of the women in his life.

  How was he supposed to hide his feelings for Heather when he wanted to shout them from the mountaintop? If he had his way, he’d scoop her clear off her feet, swing her around and laugh and hug and sing.

  Well, okay, maybe not sing. He didn’t want to send her off screaming with her hands over her ears.

  Heather had done such a number on him that he felt as if he were floating. Walking on clouds. Who knew that all those overly romanticized stories about falling in love were actually true?

  Kissing Heather—now that was a game changer.

  For him, at least.

  For her? He couldn’t begin to guess.

  She’d taken his hand and pulled him through his past, helped him to finally acknowledge all that had happened. Hopefully he would finally be able to start working through it. The problem was, he didn’t know how to perceive the kiss that had followed that wonderful talk. She was such a generous and compassionate woman. Was that why she’d kissed him? Had she just so completely empathized with his situation that she’d got caught up in that whirlwind?

  She’d certainly given him enough food for thought where permanently adopting Noelle was concerned—and she’d made him promise not to make any rash decisions. Nothing compared to a good woman challenging a man to step up and face adversity head-on. He was definitely thinking about it now, opening his mind to the possibilities of the future.

  All the possibilities. He just didn’t quite know what his life would look like yet. He felt as if he were on the verge of a discovery that hovered just out of his reach. There were blank spaces he had yet to fill in.

  The sound of car tires crunching on the gravel in his driveway not only surprised him, but also gave him a moment’s hesitation. He wasn’t expecting anyone, and the last time he’d had an unanticipated visitor, it had been his father.

  Just what he didn’t want to deal with today.

  Steeling himself for the worst, he tossed one last pitchfork of hay into the nearest horse’s stall, shifted Noelle to fit more firmly against his chest, adjusted his hat lower on his brow and exited the barn. If it was his dad, it was better just to get the confrontation over with.

  But it wasn’t his father’s beat-up vehicle that had pulled up in front of his house. It was Heather’s SUV, and she had all her kids with her.

  He didn’t care that she’d come unannounced. In fact, he was relieved. If she was here then she wanted to see him. And if she wanted to see him…

  A smile split his face and his pulse burst to life, and he knew exactly why. He was seeing his favorite people. Heather and her children made his life here on the ranch complete.

  He’d been trying to fill in the blanks in his life, but until he saw Heather, he hadn’t realized that the missing pieces of the puzzle were the people who’d come to mean more to him than anything in the world.

  He rushed forward to open the door for Heather, trying not to give away the gymnastic backflips his heart was currently performing. He wanted to tell her everything he’d learned about himself—and how he felt about her—but this wasn’t the right time or place. They had their little tribe with them right now, and that was what was important.

  The right time would come. He just knew it.

  His smile widened even more, if that were possible. His whole world was opening up. It was as if the day had suddenly dawned on him and he could see everything around him, crystal-clear and sparkling.

  Until he saw Heather’s face.

  She wasn’t smiling. Her eyes were glassy and red. Her complexion had faded to a pasty white. And she was visibly shaking.

  The ground dropped from under him as he reached out his arms to steady her. “Heather, honey, what’s wrong?”

  Her lips thinned and she shook her head. “Not here.”

  The children. Of course. Whatever was bothering her, she didn’t want to share it with the kids around to hear.

  He opened the back door and unbuckled Henry while Heather used the opposite door for Jacob and Missy. With his heart in his throat, Shawn herded the three out to the back to play with Queenie, and then he settled Noelle in her crib. Thankfully, she was sound asleep and probably wouldn’t waken from her nap for a while.

  He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what Heather had to say. Both grief and determination were evident in her gaze, and she hadn’t yet said a word.

  This was serious.

  He joined her in the kitchen and poured each of them a cup of coffee, and then slid onto the chair opposite her. Neither one of them spoke, and tension was thick in the air between them.

  She was unhappy. It sliced his heart into tiny pieces to see her this way. Especially if he was the cause of it.

  Maybe she was trying to figure out a way to let him down easy. Had she spent the past two days wondering how to gently tell him to take a hike?

  He couldn’t stand to see her this way. He wanted to reach out to her, to thread his fingers with hers, but he was afraid that would be exactly the wrong thing to do in these circumstances—whatever they were.

  He should just make it easy for her.

  “About the other day…” he started, then stopped and tried to clear the huskiness from his throat. How did a man apologize for a moment that he considered one of the best in his life?

  “I saw Adrian.”

  Her declaration hung in the air for a beat and then plunged into his lungs and gutted his rib cage.

  “What did you say?” He must have heard her wrong. “I thought Adrian was in prison—for a long time yet to come.”

  “Yes, well, evidently not.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, anxiety and, above all, anger.

  “Tell me.” Shawn didn’t think twice about reaching across the table and taking her hand. Not now. Her fingers clung to his like a lifeline.

  She related the story of how she’d seen Adrian in the parking lot of Sam’s Grocery. How he’d been staring straight at her but hadn’t approached. How she’d called the police but the man had disappeared.

  How she knew he’d be back.

  Shawn’s determination to protect her grew with every word she spoke. If this Adrian guy thought he was going to stalk Heather or intimidate her—or worse—he had another think coming.

  Shawn wasn’t about to let Adrian anywhere near the woman he loved.

  “Why do you think he’s here?” Cold settled into Shawn’s gut and the muscles across his shoulders tightened. With the amount of adrenaline pumping through him, he hoped she wouldn’t feel him quiver.

  “Honestly, I have no idea. I didn’t think he’d be out of prison so soon. It’s in his best interest to stay as far away from me as possible.”

  “You’d think.”

  “But he’s not. Which means he’s got a real problem with me. Who knows what a man in that state of mind might do? He’s already broken his permanent restraining order, and probably violated his parole, as well. I requested advanced warning for his parole hearings, but somehow I didn’t receive that notice. Maybe there was a glitch in the prison system. And the
most frightening part of this whole experience was that I had the kids with me in the car. To think that their being with me might put them in any danger— It makes me sick to my stomach.”

  She wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Shawn’s gut was roiling.

  “What are the police doing about it?”

  “Everything they can. Slade said they put out an APB on him, and I was able to give them quite a bit of information as to what they’re looking for. They’re scheduling a patrol car to run by my house on a regular basis. If they see him and pick him up, he’s going straight back to jail.”

  “That’s not good enough.” Shawn shook his head vehemently. “You and the kids aren’t safe as long as that guy is lurking around.”

  “No,” she agreed. “We’ll never really be safe. Not ever. I thought after the divorce I wouldn’t have to see Adrian again, but now I realize I’ll never be rid of him. Even if they send him back to prison, he’ll eventually get out again. Everything has changed now.”

  For the worse.

  Shawn wasn’t about to let Heather lose everything she’d worked so hard to gain.

  “I can’t have someone watching over me 24/7, so I’m really out of options. I feel like I ought to hold off on signing those adoption papers.” Her hazel eyes flooded with tears. “He’s going to be a permanent nightmare for me.”

  Adrian’s threat would haunt her for the rest of her life.

  Shawn couldn’t let that happen.

  “There’s another way.”

  The revelation didn’t dawn on Shawn—it knocked him over. The solution was simple. Right before his eyes.

  “Yeah? What’s that?” She sounded unconvinced, but he supposed he would, too, if he were in her position.

  “Marry me.”

  “What?” She practically choked on the word.

  “Marry me,” he said again, emphasizing each syllable.

  She made a sound halfway between a chuckle and a sob. “Nice try, mister. Thank you for your attempt to lighten the mood.”

  Lighten the mood? Did he not look serious?

  She wasn’t getting it. For a man who communicated for a living, he was doing a poor job of it. Marrying him would fix everything. He had to make her see that.