A Family for the Holidays by Sherri Shackelford

fingers over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were lying when you said he was following me.”
    â€œI know.” The images at the edge of his vision shimmered like mirages. “Forget about Emil. Take the children back to St. Joseph.”
    â€œI can’t. He’s their grandfather. They don’t have anyone else.”
    The sheriff heaved him onto the street and he glanced over his shoulder. Lily clung to the door frame.
    She’d never survive in Frozen Oaks alone.

Chapter Four
    T he sight of Jake being dragged away to jail dominated Lily’s thoughts. The snow had ceased falling and sunlight glinted off the fresh layer of white. The restaurant was empty, the fire down to embers. The siblings remained huddled over their checkers game.
    She had no doubt Jake was many things, but he certainly wasn’t a thief.
    He’d known from the start she’d never shoot him. He could have turned the tables on her at any time. Though he was the obvious suspect in the disappearance of the children’s grandfather, she’d changed her mind about him after their last encounter.
    Why had he urged her to leave instead of taking the upper hand? Why not abscond with the boys when she’d fainted? He’d had a second opportunity when she’d held a useless weapon on him.
    She folded her arms on the table and buried her head in the circle.
    Events had transpired too quickly, and she hadn’t considered all the separate details. Something was off, but she’d been too determined to prove she wasn’t naive orphan Lily to notice. She’d seen that odd mixture of regret and longing in the outlaw’s eyes before the sheriff had hauled him away.
    She’d come to rely on the constants in her life. The barn swallows that nested beneath her window each spring. The familiar lonely ache in her chest each Christmas Eve. The smell of coffee brewing each morning. She’d never been able to wake fully without coffee, a trait she’d inherited from her father.
    She stretched out her arms and cupped her hands around the steaming cup before her.
    The coffee grinder she’d left back at the boardinghouse was her most treasured possession. As soon as she was old enough to reach the counter, the job of brewing had fallen to her. The one thing that had made her feel part of the family. She’d pour a measured scoop into the top and crank the handle. Then she’d open the tiny drawer and inhale the scent of fresh-ground beans. The aroma was inexorably intertwined with memories of her family. She’d never been able to separate the two, though she’d desperately tried.
    Sam exclaimed victory and kinged a checker piece.
    She needed a plan. She needed action. She needed an escape from all the drab autumnal colors oozing from the hotel parlor into the gloomy dining room.
    Peter turned toward her. “What are we going to do now?”
    â€œI don’t know yet. But don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
    The sheriff had jailed the gunfighter before he’d revealed his evidence. Either way, she’d removed Jake from her list of suspects in Emil’s disappearance. Despite Vic’s and Regina’s attempts to frighten her, he’d never once exploited his advantage.
    A part of her had thought Emil might return. They’d been delayed on their arrival; who was to say Emil hadn’t been delayed by the weather, as well? But with more days come and gone, her hope was dwindling. Which left her with one option: return Sam and Peter to St. Joseph and to the guardianship of the judge. And yet something held her back. She wasn’t prepared to declare Sam and Peter orphans just yet. Her stomach clenched. They deserved better.
    Vic appeared in the dining room and an insidious sense of misgiving gripped her. When he smiled, the pink of his gums contrasted dramatically with his white teeth and colorless pallor.
    He sidled over to her table and