The Yuletide Rescue

by Margaret Daley

  “She likes to ski. She has changed her major twice, but right now she wants to teach elementary school. She also loves to watch sports and played soccer all the way through school. And she loves to read.”

  “All those can give you good choices for ornaments for the tree. I know a store we can go to for those.”

  David started restocking the shelves with boxes from his cart, except for the lights and garland. “Let’s go.”

  Twenty minutes later he positioned himself in front of a wall of unique wooden and hand-painted ornaments. While he studied them and picked several, Bree locked onto a biplane that would have been perfect for Jeremiah. She took if off the shelf when David was looking away. She couldn’t give it to Jeremiah, but she could give it to David. She went to the checkout and paid for it, then stuck it in her purse.

  When she found David again, he was in another part of the store. The small basket he carried was nearly full. The look on his face reminded her of the first time she’d come in to browse the beautifully handmade items.

  “Look at this. Chess pieces as ornaments.” David pointed to another area in the Christmas shop. “Dad would love this. Melissa, too. He taught her to play. She was getting good. Even beat him once or twice.”

  “Do you play?”

  “No, how about you?”

  She shook her head. “I like to do jigsaw puzzles. Every time I go to a village, I take one or two to work on in the evening.”

  “My dad does those, especially in the winter.”

  “Do you?”

  “No.”

  “You mentioned you like carpentry before. Does that take up all your free time?”

  “I also like activities outdoors, but I often carve. Sometimes I make a piece of furniture. I have a woodshop out back at my house. I’ve sold a couple of tables and chairs. Now I’m working on making a coffee table for my living room.”

  “I can’t picture you as a carpenter.”

  “What do you picture me as?”

  “An outdoorsman.”

  David started for the cashier at the front of the store. “I am. That’s one of the reasons I came to Alaska. There’s so much to see and do here.”

  “And having a plane allows you to do that.”

  “There are some places that having a plane makes it much easier to get to.” David blocked her view of the decorations he passed to the cashier to ring up.

  After giving the woman behind the counter his credit card, he grabbed the paper bag and headed toward the door. “I’m actually eager to get the tree up and see what you think of my selection of ornaments.”

  “What were they besides the chess pieces?”

  He winked at her as he opened the passenger door. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Did you get me one?”

  He nodded and backed out of the parking space. “I have a special one for you that I want you to put on my tree. I know you don’t have any family here, so I’m adopting you into mine this Christmas. I don’t want you to be alone this holiday.”

  A knot swelled into her throat from the sweet gesture. She had to swallow several times before she thought her voice wouldn’t crack when she said, “Gail and her husband, John, a lieutenant in the air force have invited me to their house for Christmas day. She’s the nurse I work with at the clinic. You met her at the café. We’re good friends.”

  “Speaking of the clinic, do you ski to work every day while there’s snow?”

  “No, but several times a week, weather permitting. It’s my exercise. Otherwise I just sit around and eat bonbons and drink hot chocolate.”

  “Please do me a favor.”

  “What?”

  “Drive to work or let me take you. You’ll be safer if you’re not out in the open on a trail.”

  The earnest look on his face urged her to agree. “I won’t ski to work anymore.”

  “Thanks.” A brilliant smile transformed his worried expression. “So eating bonbons and drinking hot chocolate appeals to you, too. Are you a chocoholic like me?”

  “Well, maybe just a tiny bit.”

  His gaze sliced to her as he turned onto his street. “I hope you’ll choose to do both. Go to Gail’s house and then come to mine.”

  “But it will be a family Christmas for you, Melissa and your dad.”

  “I may need backup with Melissa,” he said, pulling into his driveway.

  “I’m not sure my presence would be the best for you. Melissa might misread our relationship. You said she took her mother’s death hard.”

  After switching off the engine, David shifted toward her. “What is our relationship?”

  “Friends, of course,” she said quickly, as though stating it made it true. Frankly, she couldn’t shake the feeling it was much more, which was frightening.

  “Yes, friends.” He turned and opened his door. “Dad has fixed some soup and sandwiches for us while we decorate the tree.”

  If she kept seeing David every day and spending the evenings with him, her heart was going to be broken. There was part of himself he kept hidden. Even if she had wanted a relationship beyond friendship, she needed all of a person. She wanted a marriage like her parents’. Their closeness and love for each other had been infectious. Guilt gnawed at her, never giving her the peace she wanted. She’d thought she would have it with Anthony, but he’d died six years ago and taken her dreams with him. If only she hadn’t dared him to race her down that mountain...

  * * *

  “Are you two sure you don’t want to wait until Melissa arrives?” Bree asked as she watched the two men wrestle with putting the artificial tree together.

  “She never wanted to help with putting the decorations up, but she always enjoyed them. Besides, she won’t be here until two days before Christmas.” Don tossed a fake branch over his shoulder and pulled out another, trying it in the hole.

  “Dad, that isn’t right.”

  Bree scooped up the directions to the tree and waved them in the air. “If you two would stop and read these, you’ll have it together in no time.”

  David glanced up. “What?”

  “Directions. They fell out when you grabbed all the pieces.”

  “When we finish with this, I think you should keep it up year-round. A cut real tree is so much easier.” Don took the paper from Bree and studied it.

  “Until the needles fall off, usually all at once. I’ve got the perfect closet for this thing.” David looked over his father’s shoulder at the directions. “I didn’t see these numbers.”

  Bree retrieved a branch near her and pointed to the end of it. “Right here.”

  “Oh. That should make it a little easier.” David took it from her and immediately found the slot it fit in.

  Bree shook her head and backed away while the two men hurriedly stuck branches in the center pole. “I’m glad the lights are new and not left over from last year. I can’t imagine what you guys would do with a bundle of knotted lights.”

  Don snorted. “I’d never do that. I have a system.”

  David roared with laughter. “I remember that one year you threw a snared mess away and went out and bought new lights.”

  Don glared at his son. “I learn from my mistakes. Where do you think my system came from?”

  Bree leaned against the back of the couch, relishing the moment with David and his father. For a brief while she felt like a member of a family. She longed for that, but the risk was just too high for her.

  Fifteen minutes later, David swept his arm toward the fake tree. “There. Put together with lights on it. I told you we’d get it done.”

  Bree checked her watch. “But it’s time for me to go home now. I have work tomorrow.”

  David swiveled toward the clock on the mantel. “It’s only sev
en. We’ve got time, and you can still be home at a reasonable hour. Besides, you haven’t seen all my ornaments or the one I got with you in mind.”

  Don pushed himself to his feet. “You two work on that. I’ll fix the hot chocolate tonight. David told me you were a chocoholic. Welcome to my club. Love the stuff. So does my son. That he did inherit from me.”

  As she helped David put the pieces of a chess set on the tree, he yawned. “Are you sure about me staying? That’s the third time tonight you’ve done that.”

  One corner of his mouth quirked up, a dimple appearing in his cheek. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Why?” she asked. As for herself, she’d finally gotten the rest she’d needed.

  “I worried about you. I don’t think you should be alone. Just in case.”

  “In case what?”

  “What if someone is after you? We can’t ignore the white helicopter.”

  “Pirates.”

  David finished hanging a rook and faced her. “We don’t know that’s what’s going on.”

  “Why else did they take the plane unless they wanted it? Maybe they assessed they could repair it. The front end didn’t go into the water. At least I don’t think so, or they would have had a hard time getting it out.”

  But David was unconvinced. “You could stay here, or I could stay at your place until the police figure out what happened to Jeremiah.”

  “No. I think he had a heart attack, and I don’t want to make this into more than it is. Besides, my gun is right beside my bed.” She remembered the momentary panic the night before but didn’t tell David about that. He’d worry even more and insist she not be alone. She’d been living on her own for several years and was doing fine. Nor did she want to interrupt his time with his family any more than she already had. “If we find out Jeremiah was murdered, then I will consider it. Okay?”

  “A deal.” He shook her hand. “I’m going to give Chance a call and see if he can hurry the autopsy along.”

  With a heavy sigh, Bree looked toward the ceiling. “Do something, God.”

  He pulled out his cell phone. “I’m sorry I’m being a pain, but I didn’t rescue you to have something bad happen.” He began punching in numbers.

  “What do you think? You’re responsible for me? You aren’t and—”

  David waved her quiet. “Hi, Chance. This is David. I’m checking to see what you’ve heard about Jeremiah’s autopsy. Call me. I’ll be up—” he pointedly looked at Bree “—late tonight.”

  Bree pressed her lips together and tried not to laugh. She couldn’t contain it. “You don’t play fair.”

  “I play to win.” His smile dazzled her.

  “I thought you two would have the tree decorated by now. I waited as long as I could,” Don said as he came in carrying three mugs. He gave one to both of them.

  For the next hour, they drank hot chocolate and decorated the tree. Then Bree remembered she had the ornament for David in her purse. She went to retrieve it from the hall table and when she returned, she was struck by the white lights blazing as though the tree were on fire.

  “I think you have enough lights.” Bree handed the tissue-wrapped plane to David while she gave Don an ornament of a moose to symbolize Alaska. “I hope when you put this on your tree in the next years,” she told Don, “you remember me.”

  Don smiled warmly. “I won’t forget you.”

  David remained quiet, staring at his gift. When his gaze locked with hers, he murmured, “I love this. I used to have a model of this kind of plane when I was a kid.”

  “Good. Now put them on the tree, and it will be complete.”

  “Not quite. I wanted an ornament that would remind me of you, so I got you this.” David bent over and pulled something from the paper bag.

  Bree opened the box to reveal a small stethoscope. “I love it.”

  “I bought two stethoscopes. One for this tree and one for yours. I tried to find a medical bag, but the store didn’t have one.”

  “I haven’t got one like this. It’ll fit in with my other medical ornaments. Thanks. And I haven’t forgotten you owe me a duffel bag,” she teased him.

  “I intend to go back when the snow thaws in the spring and check thoroughly.”

  “I told Melissa I would send her a picture.” Don moved back and snapped the photo with his cell phone. “I think she’s looking forward to a break. This last semester she had some tough classes.”

  Bree peered at David, whose jaw was set in a hard line. She could easily read his mind. He was upset that his father knew more about his daughter than he did.

  But David recovered quickly and took out his own phone. “I think I’ll take a picture to show Ella I really did get a tree. My assistant won’t believe that I agreed to have one. She tried to get me to buy one right after Thanksgiving.”

  As David took the photo, his cell phone rang. The sound surprised him, and he dropped the phone but recovered it before it hit the floor. He answered quickly. “What did you find out?” His forehead creased. “Really? Are you sure?” A long pause. He finished the call with, “She’s right here. I’ll tell her.”

  Bree grew tense. It had to be Chance with the results of Jeremiah’s autopsy.

  SEVEN

  “Was that Chance?” Bree asked David the second he disconnected the call.

  He nodded. “There was no indication that Jeremiah was poisoned or that his death wasn’t anything but a heart attack.”

  “So he died from natural causes,” his dad said. As Don contemplated the news, he rubbed his chin, a habit he had when he wasn’t sure about something.

  “What aren’t you saying, Dad?”

  “Just a hunch. I don’t think whatever is going on is over.”

  “What’s going on?” There was a frantic tone to Bree’s question.

  His father shrugged. “Probably nothing.” He waved his hand in the air then pivoted and headed for the hallway. “Ignore this old cop who looks for the worst in everything.”

  When he left the room, Bree asked, “What do you think?”

  “At this point you may be right. Pirates salvaging the plane.” He shook his head. “I don’t know if the plane could have been salvaged, though. I didn’t get a good look at all the damage. My single thought was getting you out of there. But we can’t dismiss the fact that someone broke into Jeremiah’s house, looking for something. What was on his tablet? Is anything else missing?”

  “We may never know that. I’m sure I don’t know everything he had, and I haven’t even had the time to go back there to search further. Maybe tomorrow.” She averted her gaze, staring off to the side of David. “I need to go through his possessions but...”

  He took two steps and crowded into Bree’s personal space. The pain behind her last words wrenched him. “I’ll help you. You don’t have to do it alone. Unless an emergency comes up, I can work tomorrow with you on Jeremiah’s house.” He reached out and took her hands in his to still their trembling. “Chance is still looking into the helicopter I described to him. Something might come up to shed light on what’s going on.”

  “I know I’ve said this before, but I hate to take you away from your dad. He’s only here for the month.”

  “Don’t worry. He’ll be the first to suggest I help you.”

  She expelled a loud breath. “Thanks. I haven’t been able to go back inside his house. I’ve been using the excuse of work to avoid what I need to do. I know I have to meet with the lawyer soon about Jeremiah’s will and give him an account of what Jeremiah has in the house...” Her brows knitted. “But are you sure? Jeremiah’s house can wait if—”

  David pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh. If it will make you feel better, I’ll bring Dad along. This is right up his alley. And he might have insight into what happened. He
’s the cop in the family, not me.”

  “Only if he wants—”

  He stopped her doubts by kissing her, pulling her against him and winding his arms around her. When they parted, he touched his forehead to hers. “For the twenty years before I retired, my life was directed by others. I spent a good part of that career in combat situations. Now I can do what I want, and I want to help you. I have chosen to oversee Northern Frontier Search and Rescue because I get a lot out of helping others—the kind of help I want to do. Okay? Do we have a date to clean Jeremiah’s tomorrow afternoon?”

  Her eyes shone, and she gave him a nod. The appeal in her look enticed him to kiss her again, but he held back. She needed a friend now more than anything, and he wasn’t sure he was good at anything more than that.

  * * *

  The next afternoon Bree stood in the middle of the chaos in Jeremiah’s living room while David walked with Don through the small house. She didn’t know if she could do this. The disarray before her seemed like frenzy driven with a touch of panic and rage. The room mirrored her emotions—disorderedly and in disrepair.

  When she was a child, her mother used to read her nursery rhymes, and she’d always felt sorry for Humpty Dumpty who fell off the wall and shattered into pieces. That was where she was at the moment. On top of the wall, teetering.

  Lord, what’s going on? Why has this happened? Why did You take Jeremiah, too?

  David and his dad entered the living room as Don noted, “This is going to take a while.”

  Shutting the door on the feelings nipping at her composure, she swung around and plastered a neutral expression on her face. “That’s an understatement. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this? David and I did a little the other day, but as you can see, it didn’t make much of a dent in the mess.”