He held out his hand for the bag. There would be plenty of time to talk about what had happened later. For now, he needed to take her home and out of Tom’s way.
“I’ll hold your backpack while you find a box for everything you won at the auction. We’ll drop the journal into Fletcher Security on our way home. It will be safe there.”
Kelly went into her office and brought out a box. “After the police arrived I took the journal out of the vault. Apart from the painting of Mary Jackson, everything is in here.”
Tom looked at a text on his cell phone. “We’ve sent a patrol car to Nick’s home and gallery. Even though the painting isn’t in Bozeman, the people who broke into your building might not realize that.”
Tanner put his arm around Kelly’s waist and nudged her forward. “We’ll leave you to finish your investigation.”
Tom smiled. “Take care. I’ll talk to you both tomorrow.”
Kelly walked ahead of Tanner. She didn’t say anything as they made their way downstairs and into the cold morning air.
He unlocked the passenger door and took the box out of her hands. Her silence worried him more than any words could have. “I’ve got two spare rooms. You can choose which one you’d like to use.”
“Thank you for sharing your home with me.”
“You’re welcome. You’d do the same for me.” He left her backpack and box on the back seat and moved around to the driver’s side. “Everything is going to be okay, Kelly.”
“I hope so,” she murmured.
***
Tanner opened his front door and waited for Kelly. They’d called into Fletcher Security and put the journal, quilt, teapot and silver tray into the warehouse. Even if war broke out, no one would be able to get anywhere near them without Kelly’s knowledge.
He took his boots off and moved down the hallway. “I’ll show you where my spare rooms are. One of them has its own bathroom.”
Kelly stopped outside his living room. Her eyes widened. “You sure like Christmas.”
“I went overboard this year,” he muttered. His Christmas tree was ten feet tall and as wide as a bus. It was loaded with enough lights and decorations to do serious damage to anyone who tried to move it.
Kelly’s smile lightened his heart. She touched the garland he’d strung along the wall. “I thought Santa was the best part of Christmas for you.”
“I’m addicted to anything Christmassy.” He cleared his throat and kept moving. “This is my bedroom. You can choose either of the next two rooms.”
Kelly looked at the first room. “You decorated the bedrooms, too?”
“There’s a store in Banff called The Spirit of Christmas. When I was there in February they had a sale. I put last year’s decorations in the bedrooms to make me feel as though I needed what came home with me.” Tanner gave up being embarrassed. “Wait until you see the other room.”
Kelly looked in his third bedroom and smiled. “Wow. This is amazing.” She touched the Christmas tree, admired his snow globe collection, and peeked inside the bathroom. “Are you sure you’re not the real Santa Claus?”
“Christmas wasn’t that great when I was little. I guess I’m overcompensating now.”
Kelly’s smile disappeared. “I wish your childhood had been better.”
He tried to shrug off her words, but they filled a part of himself that he hid from the world. “At Christmas I surround myself with things that make me happy. It makes up for the not-so-good times. So…” He glanced at Kelly. “Which room will it be?”
She took her backpack out of his hands. “This one. It’s amazing.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’ll get some fresh towels from the linen closet. Do you need anything else?”
Kelly looked around the room. “No. This is perfect.”
By the time he’d made it back into her room, Kelly had turned the Christmas lights on.
“This is so beautiful. Thank you for coming to my rescue and offering me a bed for the night.”
“You’re welcome.” He handed her the towels. “If you need anything, just help yourself. Try to get some sleep.”
He left Kelly sitting on the end of her bed. At least she was safe. Tomorrow they could discuss what needed to happen next.
***
Kelly stopped chewing her cereal. Tanner was being his usual, stubborn self and not listening to anything she said.
She picked up her glass of juice. “I’m not staying with my parents. If I go there, it will take more than an hour to drive into town each day.”
“What about staying with Avery?”
“Avery is having issues with her parents. I don’t think the black sheep of the family would help her cause.”
“What have you done to be the black sheep?”
“Avery quit the program she was enrolled in at college and her parents aren’t happy. They think I’m a bad influence.”
“Because you own a successful antiques business?”
“No. Because I gave up my teaching job to do something I love.”
“Being annoyed because you changed careers doesn’t make sense.”
“Try telling that to Avery’s parents.”
Tanner put down his cup of coffee. “What about Hayley?”
“She’s getting married after Christmas and she’s more stressed than Rachel.”
“It’s only for a few nights.”
“This is ridiculous, Tanner. I got a fright last night, but I’m okay now. We know the security in my building works. If the people who broke in want the journal, they won’t come back again. Some bored kids with nothing better to do could have smashed open the front door.”
“It’s winter and someone broke into your building at two o’clock in the morning. They had a hammer and pry bar and made it to the workroom without tripping the alarm. They weren’t bored teenagers.”
Kelly covered a yawn with her hand. “Rachel and John are getting married tomorrow. Rachel’s apartment will be empty until the end of the month. She might let me stay there.”
“You’ll still be on your own.” Tanner said, buttering his toast.
“Well, apart from staying with you, I don’t have any choice.” She glared at the smile on his face. “I am not staying here. As much as I love your Christmas decorations, mom and dad would disown me if I stayed here on my own.”
“Maybe you don’t need to.”
“Would do you mean?”
Tanner bit into his toast. “One of your brothers could stay here, too. I’ve got enough room.”
“That’s even worse than me staying with my parents.”
“It’s your best option. Think about it and let me know what you decide before lunchtime. I’ll need to get more groceries if I’m going to have visitors for the next week.”
“Week! I can’t stay here for a week and neither can my brothers.”
Tanner didn’t look impressed. “Once your parents hear what happened they’re going to insist you stay with them. It’s your choice.”
Kelly didn’t have a choice. Even if the road into town remained open, an hour’s drive each way in the middle of winter was plain dangerous.
“Okay—I’ll stay with you. But I get to choose which brother joins us—and it’s not going to be Luke.”
Tanner smiled. “That’s fine with me.” He looked at his watch. “I need to leave for work in ten minutes. Do you want me to drop you off at your store on my way through?”
Kelly nodded. “That would be great. I just need to get my backpack and then I’m ready.”
For some reason, Tanner looked incredibly happy. She didn’t know whether it was because she wouldn’t be staying in her apartment on her own or because he’d found the solution to her accommodation problem.
He wouldn’t be so happy when he saw how messy her brothers were. Because apart from having the most amazing Christmas decorations she’d ever seen, Tanner’s home was spotless.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
If Kelly didn’t know better, she
would have sworn there was a conspiracy going on in her family.
By ten o’clock, she’d convinced her brother, Ethan to stay at Tanner’s home with her. By eleven-thirty, Luke had called, wanting to know what was going on.
Her hurried explanation, between customers, obviously hadn’t gone down well with her oldest brother.
He was now standing beside her while she wrapped orders, demanding to know the real reason she wanted to stay in Tanner’s home for a week.
She stuck tape on another box. She’d never been a good liar and her brother knew it. “I told you before. I want to paint my apartment. You know how much I hate the smell of wet paint.”
“Why don’t you move back to the ranch?”
“It’s too far to drive each morning. The ice and snow have made the roads dangerous and they’ll only get worse. Ethan works in town—he’ll be happy to stay with me.”
Deciding which of her brothers would benefit the most from staying in town had been easy. Ethan worked at Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply. Leading up to Christmas, the store was open longer. If he stayed in town, Ethan could work more hours and squeeze in a social life.
Luke didn’t agree.
“No one paints their house this close to Christmas.” His eyes narrowed. “I thought you were leaving it until April and getting all of us to help?”
“You’ll be too busy on the ranch. I’ve made a good profit this month, so I can afford to pay someone to paint my apartment.”
“I still don’t like the idea of you staying at Tanner’s house. Neither does mom and dad.”
“They know?”
“Of course they know. What did you think Ethan was going to do? He can’t exactly sneak out of the house without anyone knowing.”
“Did he tell them it was only for a few days? I’ll still come home for Christmas.”
Luke frowned. “Are you sure nothing is going on between you and Tanner?”
“Positive.”
Avery came into the workroom. “Can you give me a hand, Kelly? Mr. Cleave would like more information about the Chinese fans.”
She left Luke in the workroom and hoped he didn’t badger Avery for more information.
By the time she returned from helping Mr. Cleave, Luke had wrapped five parcels. “You didn’t need to do that.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “You’re busy. While you were gone I came up with a solution.”
Kelly wasn’t sure she’d like her brother’s solution. He had a tendency to think outside of the square and come up with crazy ideas that suited him.
“I’ll stay at Tanner’s with you.”
“That’s not a solution,” Kelly spluttered.
“Ethan’s a pushover. He’ll spend more time at Charlie’s Bar and Grill than at home with you. I’m your best bet to keep mom and dad happy.”
Kelly narrowed her eyes. “What’s in it for you?”
“I want to make sure you’re okay. There’s no other reason.”
“That’s not what usually happens.”
Luke looked offended. “I don’t have ulterior motives.”
“What about when you became a volunteer firefighter?”
“That was different,” he muttered.
“Did you think we wouldn’t know that Betty-Sue was your main reason for volunteering?”
Luke picked up another parcel. “I wanted to give something back to the community.”
“And spend time with Betty-Sue.”
“I can’t help it if she just happened to be on duty when I was there.”
“She was there every time you were. I remember because I was there, too.”
“You followed me everywhere.”
“Not anymore—I grew out of my obsession. You need to do the same and give me some space.”
“I’m not obsessed, just worried.”
Kelly’s eyes widened. “I know why you want to stay in town, except this time it’s not Betty-Sue. Doesn’t Melissa’s parents live in Bozeman?” Melissa was Luke’s latest girlfriend. She lived and worked in Billings, but with Christmas only a few days away, she would be coming home soon.
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “You have a devious mind.”
“I learned everything I know from you. Well?”
“Melissa arrives tomorrow. But that’s not why I’m offering to stay with you and Tanner.”
Kelly didn’t believe him. When Luke couldn’t look you in the eye, something wasn’t right.
He finished wrapping the parcel and surveyed her workroom. “You need help.”
“Jackie will be back from lunch soon and Avery started three hours earlier than usual. We’ll be fine.”
He glanced at the clock on the wall. “I can wrap another couple of orders. All I need are the sticky labels.”
Kelly handed him the labels and watched his hands fly across another parcel.
She picked up a box and pulled some Christmas wrap off the roll. “Luke?”
“Mmm?”
“I do need my apartment painted.”
“I know, but paying a contractor to do it now doesn’t make sense. You’re hiding something, little sister, and I plan on finding out what it is.”
Luke didn’t have to wait too long. Tanner and Detective Callahan chose that moment to walk into the workroom.
Tanner glanced from her to Luke. “Are we interrupting something?”
Luke stepped forward and shook Tanner’s hand. “No, you’re not. Kelly was being deliberately evasive. I think you’re about to tell me what I want to know.”
Tom Callahan held out his hand to Luke. “That all depends on Kelly.”
Everyone looked at her. She scowled at her brother. “Fine, but you have to promise not to tell mom and dad.”
Luke pulled out a stool and sat down. “Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”
Kelly heard the front doorbell ring. “I have to make sure Avery is okay.”
“Jackie is back,” Tanner said. “She’s happy to look after the store with Avery while we’re here.”
Kelly sat down and thought about everything that had happened since she’d last seen Luke. It seemed so unreal. If she had a hard time believing one journal could cause so much upheaval she didn’t know how her brother would feel.
As she told him about the Jackson family and their theory that Alexander Jackson might have murdered his brother—a man who may not have been his biological brother—Luke’s face dropped into a hard mask. By the time she told him what had happened early this morning, he looked as though he was ready to explode.
Detective Callahan’s update only made things worse. The police hadn’t found the person or people who had broken into her store. His best suggestion was to stay somewhere else for a few days until they had more information.
So much for a merry Christmas. Kelly had a feeling she was about to be kept under lock and key.
She should have gone with Detective Callahan this morning. From where she was sitting, the cells in the Bozeman Police Department looked incredibly inviting.
***
Tanner parked his SUV opposite the Holy Rosary Church. He hadn’t been inside a church for more than a year.
Today, John and Rachel were getting married. He checked his watch and looked at Kelly. She’d pulled her hair into a fancy bun and left wispy locks of hair falling over her shoulders. She was even more beautiful than usual.
Kelly glanced at him as she took off her seatbelt. “You look worried.”
“Weddings make me nervous.”
“Why?”
He held onto his keys. “People have different expectations when you’re thirty-seven years old and single. Every grandmother this side of the Rockies has a granddaughter she wants me to meet.”
“I’ll run interference. If I see an older lady making a beeline for you, I’ll whisk you onto the dance floor.”
“You’re too kind.”
“That’s what Avery tells me. Come on hotshot—it’s time to find a seat before the bride and gro
om arrive.”
“Don’t open your door just yet. Luke’s pulling in beside us.”
Kelly turned to look at the big, red truck coming to a standstill beside Tanner’s SUV. “The only good thing about my brother staying at your home is that he doesn’t snore.”
“He isn’t that bad.”
“It’s only been one night,” Kelly muttered. “He can outstay his welcome really fast.”
Tanner shrugged. “He’s your brother.”
Luke had arrived at six o’clock last night. He’d bought a dinner of Thai take-out for everyone and a huge bag of groceries.
The groceries had been Kelly’s idea. She’d told Tanner in no uncertain terms that they weren’t staying without contributing to the household expenses. Her terms had been simple. Take the food and rent money they were giving him or she would go home with Luke.
He knew her options were limited. Her antiques store would be open until nine o’clock each night leading up to Christmas. He didn’t want to make her life more stressful than it already was—and navigating along the interstate in pitch black darkness would be more dangerous than driving to his home. So he agreed to her terms and enjoyed Thai take-out for dinner.
He locked his SUV and held Kelly’s elbow as they made their way into the church. After they’d found a seat, Kelly took off her cape.
“My friend Becky did all the flower arrangements,” she whispered. “The church looks amazing.”
Tanner hadn’t noticed the flowers. He’d been too distracted by the red satin gown and fluffy white shawl that appeared from beneath her black cape. She looked like the best type of Mrs. Claus he’d ever seen.
He looked away from her big, green, eyes. He didn’t know how he was going to survive living with her.
Luke nudged his sister. “Where did they get roses at this time of the year?”
Tanner took a closer look at the church. The floral arrangements on the altar and the posies and ribbons decorating each aisle were incredible. Unlike other weddings he’d been to, the flowers were all bright colors. Red, orange, yellow, and bright pink.
Kelly leaned toward her brother. “John had the flowers flown in especially for the wedding. Becky spent the last two days creating the arrangements.”
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