The girls, all seemingly talking at the same time, came down the hall and stopped at the top of the staircase.
“You aren’t ready, Dad.”
He quirked a grin. “Five minutes.”
She and Slade hurried up the steps and down the corridor. At the door to her room she peered at him heading toward his suite with long, purposeful strides. He turned as though he sensed her looking at him. Her heart throbbed against her ribcage. The snare of his gaze trapped her for a long moment.
The sound of laughter from the foyer broke their visual connection, and Elizabeth quickly opened her door and slipped inside the room. Leaning back, she splayed her hand over her heart, its thudding finally decreasing. But the intensity in his eyes stayed with her as she pushed away from the door and rushed to get dressed.
Slade came up behind Elizabeth in the barn as she bent over to lift the saddle. She was petite, and in order to saddle the horse, she would have to swing the saddle up over her head. Not an easy task. “Do you need help?” He hurried to take it from her.
“I can manage.”
He ignored what she said and took the saddle. After swinging it over the back of the tall gelding, he fastened the cinch. When he faced Elizabeth, anger marked her expression.
“What part of ‘I can manage’ do you not understand?”
“I thought I was…” The fury in her eyes scorched him and erased the rest of his words from his mind.
“You thought I couldn’t do it. I have before and I could have now. When I need help, I’ll ask.”
Who hurt her? The furious independence he’d glimpsed these past five days piqued his curiosity. Something major must have caused it. He didn’t know much about her outside of her professional credentials, and he suddenly realized he wanted to know more about her. Not just because she was the woman protecting the most important person to him, but because she genuinely interested him, all on her own.
After checking to make sure her saddle was how she wanted it, she glanced over her shoulder at him, then swung around toward him. “I’m sorry. That sounded harsh, and I know you were only trying to help. But I lift weights, and I’m capable of lifting the saddle.”
“I get it. You know how to take care of yourself. Were you always this way?”
“What way?” she asked innocently, but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Furiously independently and capable of taking care of yourself. I think if you were stuck on a deserted island you’d be able to find a way to get by.”
“Actually, I took a survival course where they dropped me in the middle of a desolate place, although not an island, and I had to find my way back to civilization with one bottle of water and a knife.”
“How long did it take you?”
“Two days—and one of those days was cold and rainy.”
“And you paid to do that?”
“Twice in the past three years. It’s a challenge, but nothing beats knowing you can survive off the land.”
“Remind me not to have you plan my vacation.”
“Do you take any?”
He chuckled. “That’s a good point. Not since my wife died. She used to force me to go, and I would gripe for the first day and then have a great time.”
“You’ve got it bad.”
“What?”
“Working all the time.”
“At least my vacations aren’t a test to see if I can survive off the land.”
“Yeah, because you don’t take any.”
Amusement danced in her eyes, making the past week’s events seem distant for a few minutes. His gaze zoomed in on her lips, and a constriction in his chest underscored the sight. He wanted to kiss her. That thought nearly bowled him over. He should take a step back—actually stand clear across the barn from her—but for the life of him, he couldn’t move.
In the background he heard Abbey talking to Brody and Jake coming in from the pasture with Cindy. But as far as he was concerned, he and Elizabeth were the only two that existed. He tore his gaze from her mouth and trekked upward to lock on her eyes, slightly wide, all amusement gone. In its place, a gentle light warmed their depths.
“Hey, Slade, Cindy and I would like to go riding with you all.”
His foreman’s deep, gruff voice, filled with laughter, drenched him as though he’d dumped a bucket of freezing water over his head. Slade veiled his expression as he twisted toward Jake. Several long seconds later, he connected with the merriment in his friend’s eyes, and heat rose in Slade’s cheeks.
“Sure. We aren’t going far. To the lake and back.”
While Elizabeth led her gelding out to the back and mounted, amazingly agile and with no help, he saddled his horse.
Jake kissed Cindy. “I’ll get your mare and bring her outside.”
His wife smiled. “Thanks, honey. It’ll be good to practice riding some more.”
Slade swung his attention away from the happily married couple and walked Ace of Spades, his black gelding, to where everyone was gathering to ride. Seeing Jake and Cindy together brought forward how much he missed having that kind of relationship with a woman. The casual touch or kiss, the silent communication conveyed in a look.
As he swung up into the saddle, the sunlight of an unusually warm November afternoon caught the gold of his wedding band. He needed to accept Catherine’s death and move on or he would probably never give his daughter the attention she needed.
But as he fell in beside Elizabeth, he knew that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to move on. The woman next to him interested him. He intended to discover who had hurt her. Who had chiseled that independent streak into her heart? And would he be the one who could help her heal?
An hour and a half later, when Elizabeth returned to the main house with Slade, Abbey and Joshua, she saw stacks of plastic containers scattered in the foyer and overflowing into the den and living room. Cinnamon-scented candles perfumed the air along with the aroma of baking cookies. Strains of “Joy to the World” echoed through the house, thanks to a state-of-the-art sound system.
Abbey covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, no, Gram has struck.”
Through the clear plastic of the crates, Elizabeth saw lots of red and green objects. Christmas decorations. Maybe she could escape to her room until the festivities were finished. Judging from the grin splitting Joshua’s face, he would be fine with the decorating and could certainly protect both Abbey and Slade.
“This has been the first day without all the contractors and workers around lately,” Mary said as she came into the entry hall. “So are you all ready to decorate the house for Christmas?”
The cheerful words nudged memories of childhood holidays to the forefront of Elizabeth’s mind. She didn’t want to experience them again. She’d always been thankful Bryan didn’t care much for Christmas except to get presents. He didn’t even want to put up a tree. And then once she’d become a Christian, she’d focused on the reason for Christmas, not everything else that went with it. Celebrating with Joshua had been a quiet affair because he’d known how she felt.
As Mary took the tops off of several bins full of decorations, Elizabeth didn’t think the holidays would be a quiet time in the Caulder household.
“Does this bother you?” Slade whispered close to her ear.
His breath on her neck rippled down her length. “Why do you ask that?”
“You went pale when you saw all this.” He gestured toward the plastic containers.
“There’s a lot here.”
“I have a big house, and that isn’t it.”
She angled her head toward him, hoping she’d wiped all expression from her face, but when she glimpsed the interest in his eyes, their color like molten silver, her mind went blank, and she could tell from the flare in his gaze that her expression didn’t go neutral. She glanced toward the staircase.
Slade inched even closer. “Thinking of escaping upstairs?”
Intensity vibrated between them. She did want t
o escape, not just because of the decorating, but because she didn’t like the feelings Slade’s nearness generated in her. As though she couldn’t control her responses to him. As though they were more than employer/employee. As though there weren’t someone out there wanting to harm Abbey and possibly him—even her.
The doorbell rang. Elizabeth flinched, not expecting the sound. Her hand went to her holster. Joshua started forward to answer the door, but Mary moved faster, reaching for the knob first. Joshua’s hand covered hers, and Mary blushed.
“We’re going to need some help since we’re behind schedule, so I invited Jake, Cindy and Brody to supper and to help get us ready for Christmas.” Mary swung the door wide, not giving Joshua time to check the peephole.
As the Colemans entered, Joshua murmured to Mary, “Always check who’s at the door even if you’re expecting someone.”
Mary stabbed him with a look. “You’ve got this place locked down tighter than a cookie in a toddler’s fist.”
Elizabeth smiled as she heard her uncle reply, “Nothing is one hundred percent secure, and I’m being paid to protect you all, so let me do my job.”
The sound of Mary’s huff wafted to Elizabeth as she turned away. Her gaze collided with Slade’s amused one.
He leaned closer, his scent of the outdoors encasing her in memories of the afternoon riding with him. “Now you’ll have to stay since Brody is here.”
“I thought you’d cleared him.”
“As Joshua just pointed out, you can’t be too cautious.”
“You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?” Mere inches separated their mouths, and Elizabeth couldn’t stop thinking about that.
As Mary began giving out bins and directions on what to do, Slade whispered, “What about the holidays bothers you?”
“The commercial aspects of Christmas,” she said quickly, using her pat statement for whenever anyone asked her.
Slade studied her face for a long moment. “I’m sure that generic answer is part of it, but that’s not all.”
“We could use your help, Slade, Elizabeth.” Mary pointed to two containers at her feet. “These go in the den. Brody has gone with Jake to get the tree from storage. After supper I thought we would put the ornaments on the tree, but we’ve got a lot to do before that.”
“You use a fake tree?” Elizabeth asked as she hefted her bin and walked toward the den.
“According to Mary, a fake tree can stay up longer and isn’t as messy.” He stopped just outside the entrance into the room. “But really, she’s allergic to pine. Catherine was, too, so we have always had an artificial one.”
“That makes sense if you’re into all this.” Elizabeth moved through the doorway first, the whole time conscious of Slade’s attention on her. This was going to be a long evening.
When supper was finished and most of the garlands and other decorations were up, Slade helped Mary by carrying a tray of hot chocolate into the den while she brought her oatmeal-raisin cookies. The past few hours as he’d helped to get the house ready for the Christmas holiday, he’d managed mostly to forget someone had targeted his daughter, even gone after Elizabeth because she was protecting Abbey. But then he would catch sight of Joshua or Elizabeth, wearing their guns in holsters at their waists, and the whole past week would crash down upon him.
Mary set the goodies on the game table. “Are you all ready to tackle the tree? We’ve got tons of ornaments to put up.”
Elizabeth’s eyes grew round as she took in the multiple containers of Christmas balls. “I know you have a large tree, but you’re gonna need at least one or two more for all these.” She swept her arm across her body.
“Which reminds me, I bought a new tree for the living room. Our ornament collection keeps growing each year. Elizabeth is right. This one—” Mary flipped her hand toward the ten-foot artificial pine standing in the corner near the fireplace “—won’t hold them all anymore. Jake, Brody, can you go get the box in the garage and put that one together in the living room in front of the large picture window?”
“Yep,” Jake said and sauntered out of the den with his brother.
Cindy ambled toward the game table, took a deep breath and said, “This looks and smells delicious. Jake has raved about your hot chocolate on more than one occasion. I can’t wait to try it.”
Mary picked up a large mug with chocolate syrup drizzled over a thick mound of whipped cream. “Here, enjoy. Take a cookie, too.”
“I will. Thanks.” Jake’s wife snatched up several treats and took the drink from Mary.
Mary passed out the hot chocolate. “You might let it cool a little while we get started.”
“Where do we start?” Elizabeth said to Slade, putting her mug down on a coaster on the coffee table next to her.
“Pick a box and just begin putting up the decorations.”
“No special place you want certain ones?”
“No. Wherever there’s a place for one. As you’ll gather, when we’re through, you’ll hardly be able to see the tree.”
Abbey knelt by a box with her name scribbled on top. Carefully she lifted the first ornament out.
“Catherine made those for her, giving her a couple each year. She always puts them on the tree first.”
Elizabeth faced Slade. “Ah, should we wait until she finishes?”
“No, we’d be here an extra hour if we did. You can help me put on the ones that Abbey made.”
“Are you sure? Don’t you want to put them on by yourself?”
He laughed. “You haven’t seen the amount.” He gestured toward two boxes.
“All of those?”
“Yep, she got into it, more than her mother. I miss Abbey making me one. She hasn’t done it in several years.”
After Mary drank some of her drink, Cindy took a tentative sip of her hot chocolate, then another one before she stooped next to a container with their collection of expensive ornaments given to the family over the years.
Elizabeth looked where he was staring. “Those are beautiful.”
“Yeah, but they go on last if we have enough room. I’ve gotten a lot of them from suppliers, people who want my business. Family ornaments come first.” Slade watched Cindy pick up a stunning glass ball decorated with jewels and crystals.
Cindy held it up, her gaze fastening to his. “I’ve never seen such a gorgeous ornament.” She started to put the ball back in the container when she flinched, her face screwing up in pain.
Mary rushed toward the trash can in the corner at the same time as Cindy rose to her feet, her face going white. His mother-in-law fell short of making it as she began to throw up. Cindy bent over, the glass ball slipping from her fingers, as she also was sick. The sound of the ornament shattering propelled Slade into action. Elizabeth was already halfway to Cindy.
He moved toward Mary. Two people sick at the same time. What was going on? With all that had happened lately, a sense of foreboding inundated Slade as he assisted Mary toward the hallway.
Hilda emerged from Mary’s bedroom.
Flanked by Slade and Abbey, Elizabeth pushed off the wall outside the older woman’s suite. “How is she?”
Hilda glanced toward the closed door. “Fine, now. She’s not sure what happened. She’s tired and going to rest.”
“Can I go see her?” Abbey asked, worry furrowing her forehead.
“Just a moment. She may already be asleep.”
“Thanks, Hilda, for helping Mary.” While his daughter went in to see her grandmother, Slade grabbed Elizabeth’s hand. “We need to talk.”
As he descended the staircase to the first floor, his fingers still around hers, he slanted a look toward her. “Could what happened in the den be connected to the other threats and attacks?”
Joshua, waiting at the bottom of the steps, answered. “I intend to find out. I collected a sample of the hot chocolate they drank—actually, a little from all the mugs, as well as other things we ate and drank. But since none of us got sick but Mary and
Cindy, I’m pretty sure whatever did this was in the hot chocolate. I’ll have it checked for poison, but it makes me think of syrup of ipecac. I knew someone who was bulimic and used that. Happens quickly. Usually a person feels okay afterwards, just maybe a little lethargic.”
Slade’s cell rang, and he quickly answered it. “So she’s all right, then.” He listened, then said, “Good. Thanks, Jake, for letting me know. Tell Cindy she doesn’t need to worry about the ornament. It can be replaced.” When he hung up, he said to Joshua and Elizabeth, “Cindy was more worried about breaking the expensive decoration than the fact that she threw up. I need answers. Fast.”
“It’s a holiday weekend, but I can call in a favor and get the samples analyzed quickly. We should have some idea what got into the drink by tomorrow. I’m calling my partner and having him come pick up the samples.” Joshua walked away from them as he withdrew his phone.
“How did this happen?” Pacing, Slade plowed his fingers through his hair.
“A good possibility is that the pantry was tampered with when the person broke into the house.”
Slade stopped and spun toward her. “Then we need to throw out all the food that was open. I can’t take the chance something else has been doctored.”
“Let’s wait until we get the lab results back.”
Slade glanced up the stairs. “How’s Gram?”
Abbey came down the steps. “She made me promise we would finish decorating the tree. I told her we would.”
“It’s not the same without her,” Slade said.
“She’s coming down in a little while and told me she expected the tree at least half completed by then.” Abbey moved toward the den, but before disappearing inside the room, she peered back at her dad and Elizabeth. “Are you two coming? We need to get Joshua and Hilda, too. I don’t know how she thinks we can get it done with so few people.”
When Abbey vanished into the den, Elizabeth shook her head. “Wouldn’t it be easier to pay someone to decorate the house?”
“Don’t ask that question in front of Mary or Abbey. I did once, and believe me, I never will again.” Slade clasped her arm and tugged her down the hallway. “Come on. This will be fun.”
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