His Christmas Redemption

by Danica Favorite

  “I’ve been thinking along those lines a lot,” Chad said. “That’s why the idea of bringing in investors appealed to me so much.”

  “If you don’t need to buy me out, do you really need the capital?”

  “If we want to expand as we’d been talking about,” Chad answered.

  The old Lance, who’d only had the business to look forward to, had been all for that plan. “What if we don’t expand? Will it kill us to keep the business as it is? We do all right. Maybe if we scaled back a little, stopped working crazy hours, took actual vacations, we’d enjoy our lives.”

  Expressing those ideas brought a deeper peace to Lance than he’d imagined it would.

  “You and Erin are getting back together, aren’t you?” Chad asked.

  That seemed to be the direction everyone was pushing them in. Even though it seemed obvious to everyone else, Lance still couldn’t see a clear way to making things work with her.

  “It’s more complicated than that. We still have a lot of issues, and even if we were to work through them, I can’t see her leaving this place. Our company is in Denver, which is a two-hour drive in good weather.”

  “You could work remote,” Chad offered. “You don’t need to be in the office every day.”

  “I can’t believe you’re encouraging me to get back together with Erin. You two have never gotten along.”

  “She and I have different priorities. For her, it’s family. For me, it’s my business. But since you’ve been divorced, you haven’t been as good at what you do. I didn’t realize how much better she made you. Since you’ve been with her, I see the old Lance.”

  He felt like the old Lance. He hadn’t realized how much he missed him. So how could he keep it?

  “So you’d be willing to work with me if I stayed here?” Lance asked.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Chad said. “I’m just glad to have my old friend and partner back.”

  They talked more about the investors and how to deal with the embezzlement scheme.

  When Lance and Chad were done talking, Lance pulled up the number for Janelle and called her.

  “Hi Janelle. It’s Lance Drummond.”

  For a moment he thought she was going to hang up on him. “What do you want?”

  “I understand you were let go from the company.”

  “I didn’t steal anything. But Chad wouldn’t listen. Why would I steal from you guys? That place is like family to me.”

  The anger in her voice made him feel even worse. “I’m sorry. As you know, I’ve been on a leave of absence. But I saw what happened and looked into it. I think there’s something deeper going on. It’s clear, from what I’ve seen, that you couldn’t have been involved. I’m sorry about what happened. Chad is, too, but he was afraid you wouldn’t take his call. I know we were wrong, but it would mean a lot to us if you came back to work. We’ll even give you back pay for the time you weren’t working.”

  He heard sniffles on the other end, like she was crying. “You don’t know what this means to me,” she said. “No one would hire me with the accusation under which I was fired. We weren’t sure how we were going to pay the mortgage, let alone pay for Christmas. Thank you for taking the time to look into it and for clearing my name. I’ve been praying that the truth would prevail, and it has.”

  They discussed details and, even though Lance had never thought of himself as much of a Scrooge, he did feel like the old man finding his redemption for giving a family their Christmas back.

  It was strange, he’d just spent almost two weeks doing the kinds of Christmas things he thought he hated. But something in him had changed during that time, and now it felt good to be part of spreading Christmas cheer.

  When he left his room, he figured he ought to check on the boys, who’d been quiet the whole time he’d been on the phone. Out of respect for their surprise, he knocked on the door and stood outside. “Boys? Can I come in?”

  A few moments later Dylan opened the door. “Yes?”

  Lance peered inside. Ryan wasn’t there. “Where’s your brother?”

  Dylan shrugged. “I don’t know. He got mad at me because I wouldn’t let him use any more glitter on Aunt Erin’s present. It already had way too much. So he stormed out like a baby.”

  Lance went into the family room where Erin was sleeping to see if Ryan had gone to snuggle up next to her, which he often did when he was feeling lonely or sad. But Erin was still sound asleep by herself.

  Lance went through the entire house, looking for the little boy, but he wasn’t there. The second time he passed the back door, he noticed it wasn’t latched properly.

  Had Ryan gone outside?

  Lance went back to the boys’ room. “Did your brother go outside?”

  Dylan looked up from whatever he was drawing. “I don’t know. Maybe. I wasn’t supposed to be watching him.”

  No. Lance was.

  And he’d gone into his room to take a call to deal with work when he should have been watching his nephews. Now Ryan was gone.

  “Please, Dylan. This is important. I can’t find your brother. Where might he have gone?”

  Dylan shrugged. “The barn, maybe. We’re not supposed to be in there without a grown-up, but sometimes a cowboy needs to be with his animals to have a good think.” Then the boy snorted. “Or to pout over stupid glitter.”

  The barn. Of course. Ryan was always talking about the animals and constantly asking to go out there.

  “Thanks,” Lance told the little boy as he ran out of the room.

  When he got to the barn, it was empty, save for the animals Ryan loved.

  No one ever told you how easy it was for a child to disappear. He’d spent years being angry with Erin, blaming her, calling her irresponsible. And now he’d done the exact same thing.

  Even though he wasn’t sure God would listen to him, he closed his eyes and prayed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Erin was having the most wonderful dream. She and Lance were hiking in the mountains, the way they used to, and he was smiling down on her with such love that—

  “Erin!” Lance was shaking her awake.

  So much for her dreams.

  She stretched and looked around. It was getting dark outside. She’d obviously slept a lot longer than she’d intended. As she tried adjusting herself to being awake, she caught the panicked look on Lance’s face.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Ryan is missing.”

  What did he mean Ryan was missing?

  “I don’t understand,” she said. Her head was still groggy from sleep and the pain pill. “How can he be gone?”

  Lance looked stricken. “I just went to check on the boys and he’s gone. I don’t know what happened.”

  A sick feeling hit her stomach. Why had she taken the pain pill? Why had she left the boys with Lance? He was always going on about how irresponsible she was, and now she’d just proved it again.

  Wait a minute...

  She didn’t lose Ryan. Lance did. Not only was her nephew missing, but all those years of listening to him blaming her...

  As much as she wanted to shake him and ask him how he could do such a terrible thing, they had more important things to worry about.

  Erin took a deep breath and said a prayer that they’d find Ryan quickly and safely.

  “When did you see him last?” Erin asked, feeling eerily calm.

  Her heart was shattering in a million pieces and yet she felt a stillness unlike the suffocating panic she’d felt when she’d discovered Lily missing.

  Because this time, she knew what to do.

  No one should ever have to know that.

  But Erin did.

  And she was going to make sure that, this time, her loved one would be found safe.

  Lance hadn’t answered her ques
tion. She stared at him hard. “When was the last time you saw him?”

  He might be a grown man, but Lance wore the expression of a little boy who’d been caught doing something wrong.

  “A while ago. The boys were in their room, working on a Christmas project,” he said. “When I went to check on them, Ryan was gone. Dylan said he got mad and stormed off. I can’t find him anywhere in the house. I noticed the latch to the back door open, so I checked the barn, but Ryan wasn’t in there, either.”

  Whatever grogginess she’d been feeling before was gone now. Erin jumped up. “He knows not to go outside by himself. But if he and Dylan were fighting, he might have gone somewhere to hide. I’m surprised Ryan didn’t come to me.”

  Usually, if the boys were fighting, they were eager to tell on each other. But if Erin had been sleeping, Ryan might not have wanted to bother her. So why hadn’t Ryan gone to Lance?

  “And you didn’t see Ryan leave?”

  Something wasn’t right. Not just because Ryan was missing. Lance was being evasive. Which meant there was more to the story than he was telling.

  And it could mean the difference between finding Ryan alive... No, she wasn’t going to consider the alternative.

  “When did you last physically lay eyes on him?” Erin asked, trying to get a better answer out of him.

  Lance pulled out his phone and stared at it. “An hour ago, maybe a little longer.”

  By his answer, she knew that the “little” was probably not so little. He was covering up the fact that he wasn’t watching them like he was supposed to.

  “What were you doing? You should have had full view of the boys’ room from the kitchen. You would have seen him leave.”

  Lance shook his head. “I went to my bedroom to take a call. The boys kept coming in the kitchen and being noisy.”

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “Chad.”

  The calm she’d been feeling exploded into a million little pieces. Everything that had been wrong in their marriage...in their lives...

  No wonder he hadn’t been able to give her a straight answer about how long Ryan had been gone.

  Erin shook her head. She couldn’t deal with the betrayal now. She took a deep breath to focus on what was more important—finding her nephew.

  “How long were you on the phone?”

  “An hour and a half,” he admitted slowly.

  The words had barely gotten out of his mouth before Erin turned and called down the hall. “Dylan!”

  Dylan peered out of his room. “I told Uncle Lance I don’t know where he is. He’s probably off hiding, being a crybaby.”

  “That’s not how we talk about our brother,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t know where he might be?”

  “No,” Dylan said, sounding annoyed. “Now can I finish working on my picture? Ryan was getting glitter everywhere, and this is for Mr. Ricky. Real cowboys do not have glitter all over their pictures.”

  Erin nodded and he went back into his room.

  She went through the house, searching everywhere she could think of, calling out Ryan’s name. Lance trailed helplessly behind her.

  “I already looked in those places,” he said. “I was hoping you knew of a different hiding place he liked.”

  “We need to call 9-1-1,” Erin said, feeling calmer than she thought possible.

  “Are you sure?” Lance asked. “We only started looking.”

  With Lily, he’d been angry that she hadn’t called sooner. She stared at him, hard. “Every minute we wait is a minute wasted,” she said, pulling out her phone and dialing.

  She gave the operator their information in precise terms. Last time she’d been yelled at for being too hysterical. No one could accuse her of that, not this time. Every mistake she’d made when Lily died played in her head and she wasn’t going to make them again.

  A tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her that even if she’d done all those things right, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. But she had to believe that she’d learned something in all of this. The only way she could have prevented what had happened to Lily was to have not taken a nap. And with Ryan, her nap...

  A sob caught in the back of her throat.

  No. She wasn’t going to blame herself.

  How could Lance do this to them? After all the accusations, the anger, how could he have lost Ryan? But business had always been more important than anything else.

  “Erin?” the operator said. “It’s going to be okay. Ryan’s in my son’s class at preschool and I’ll be praying for him. Sheriff Steele isn’t far from your house. He’ll be there soon. Just stay on the line with me until he gets there.”

  The blessing of a small town. With Lily they’d just been a statistic. Here, Ryan was a person they all knew and loved.

  Keeping the phone glued to her, Erin continued looking around the room, hoping something would give her a clue as to where Ryan had gone. She spotted one of his slippers behind one of the smaller Christmas trees. She shoved the tree aside, hoping he’d just been hiding there and fallen asleep.

  But no boy.

  Just his slipper.

  Even though Lance had said he’d already checked the barn, Erin should check again. It was one of Ryan’s favorite places, and Lance probably didn’t know all of Ryan’s favorite spots.

  She should have known that the barn held an irresistible temptation an unhappy little boy couldn’t resist. No matter how many times they’d told Ryan not to go into the barn without an adult, he always seemed to find his way there. The little boy didn’t seem to understand the dangers.

  Just like Lily.

  A pang of grief hit her, threatening to make her collapse.

  No.

  She wasn’t that person anymore. She’d find Ryan and he’d be okay.

  She went into the mudroom and, sure enough, his boots and coat were gone. At least he’d thought that much through.

  Maybe, if he was being that rational, he’d follow their other safety rules.

  She pulled on the plastic cover made for her walking boot, but Lance stopped her. “Don’t. I’ll go. Stay on the line with the operator, so you can protect your foot.”

  “Like you protected my nephew? I don’t think so.”

  He flinched and she almost regretted her words. Setting blame for Lily’s disappearance and death had gotten them nowhere. Yet the pain over losing their daughter was so fresh, it was like it was happening all over again. Only it was her nephew, her sister’s child, she’d been entrusted to keep safe, and she’d failed.

  Tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to pray but couldn’t find the words.

  The operator’s voice sounded smoothly through the line. “Please, Lord, be with this family.”

  The prayer gave Erin the strength that she needed. She appreciated the calm voice on the other end trying to provide her comfort. But she couldn’t sit around and do nothing.

  She handed Lance the phone. “You can keep her updated. I know his favorite places in the barn. I’m going to look for him.”

  Erin wrapped the tape around the top of her boot and then reached for her coat.

  Lance put his hand on her arm. “Don’t. Please. I know I let you down, but I’ll make it right. You can’t put yourself at risk, too.”

  She pushed his hand away. “Weren’t you the one who told me that after Lily died, nothing would be right again? I can’t do that to my sister.”

  He held the phone out to her. “Someone has to be here when the police arrive.”

  She gave him the coldest look she could muster. “Then you stay. And you can explain to them how you lost my nephew.”

  As she stepped out onto the porch, she saw the familiar truck of Margaret Cooke, their neighbor, pulling onto their driveway. As the truck screeched to a stop, her father, Frank, jumped out.<
br />
  “Did you find him?”

  “No. I was just headed out to the barn to look. How did you know?”

  Margaret groaned. “You know Dad. He listens to the police scanner for entertainment.”

  Frank cackled. “And it was good, too. The McDonald brothers were shooting off bottle rockets again. Mrs. Willis was having a cow.”

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Erin couldn’t help smiling. The McDonald brothers were known for their pranks. She and her sisters used to joke about the boys...

  A sob escaped. She’d been trying so hard to hold it all in, but what if Ryan wasn’t okay? What if Ryan never got the chance to finally pull an epic prank on his brother?

  Margaret patted her back gently. “It’ll be okay. Dad and his buddies are on the search-and-rescue team with Pastor Roberts, and if they can find idiotic backcountry skiers who ignore avalanche warnings, then they can bring Ryan back safely, too.”

  As Erin nodded, she noticed Frank letting his old hunting dog, Blue, out of the back of the truck.

  Ryan loved playing with Blue when they went over to the horse rescue center that Margaret ran. Maybe the site of the beloved dog would coax him out of wherever he was hiding.

  “It’ll be easier if you can give me something with his scent,” Frank said. “Does he have a favorite toy or stuffed animal?”

  Erin wiped the tears away from her face and nodded. “Lily bear. I’ll go inside and get her.”

  She stepped through the door, where Lance was still on the phone with the operator. “Tell her that Search and Rescue is here. We’ll be fine.”

  She ran into the boys’ room, where Lily bear was sitting on Ryan’s bed. A fresh wave of grief hit her when she laid eyes upon it. Dylan looked up from his coloring.

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

  She couldn’t bring herself to answer the little boy’s question. But as she picked up the bear, she took a deep breath to calm herself then turned back to him.