Holiday Hideout by Lynette Eason

least that had been her experience. Realistically, she knew that not all cops were like the ones she’d had to deal with, but how could you tell the difference?
    And she didn’t like learning things the hard way. With a sigh, she rose and walked to the window to stare out at the snow. “How many inches are you supposed to get?”
    “Just a couple today. More later.” He let her distract him from the intense conversation, but his eyes said they’d revisit it at a later time. “But it’s supposed to freeze tonight. So until it warms up later in the afternoon, we’ll be kind of stuck in the morning.”
    She whirled. “What about Fiona? What if the baby decides to come early?” Panic clawed at her throat in spite of Fiona’s earlier reassurances.
    “Hey.” His hands came up to rest on her shoulders. “It’s okay. We’ll get her to the hospital one way or another. She’ll be fine.” He shrugged. “Or if she has to have the baby here, Mom’s all prepared for that happening.”
    “But you just said we’d be stuck. Exactly how would she get to the hospital?” She ignored the comment about Fiona having the baby here. That just couldn’t be an option.
    “Stuck as in not taking any unnecessary chances. If Fiona needs to get to the hospital, we’ll get her there. As to the how–” he shrugged “—we’ll figure something out.”
    Abby swallowed hard. No, no, no. That wasn’t good enough. She needed him to have a plan, to be ready to put it into action if the baby came early.
    But he was saying, “Besides, Mom was a nurse. She can deliver the baby if push comes to shove.” He paused, then grinned as his words registered. “Pun intended.”
    Abby groaned. Not at the pun, but at the thought of Fiona having a home birth.
    “Seriously, Fiona will be fine.”
    His calm confidence caused the overwhelming dread to subside. “Okay, if you say so.”
    “Why the panic?”
    She swallowed, the weight of his hands burning into her shoulders. And feeling right. Good. “That obvious, huh?”
    He nodded.
    Abby shuddered. “My sister died in childbirth, a home birth,” she whispered. “She refused to go to a hospital. When she was seventeen, she was in a horrible car wreck and spent months in the hospital. She’s had a crazy fear of them ever since. And she…died. In childbirth. While all I could do was stand there and watch.”
    A low sound came from him and then his arms were around her pulling her close into his strong embrace. She inhaled the scent that she’d decided belonged exclusively to him and let him offer her comfort. Tried to soak in the peace that exuded from him.
    For a moment neither of them moved. Then Abby felt the guilt stab her for taking comfort from Cal when her sister was dead.
    Who was holding Reese? Who was offering him solace?
    She pulled away and from the corner of her eye caught sight of a flash. She blinked and looked out the window again.
    Another flash. Her stomach twisted. “Did you see that?”
    Cal looked. “What?”
    “There was a flash of something, like the sun reflecting off a metal object. I’ve noticed it a couple of times today.”
    He followed her gaze and frowned. “I didn’t see anything. You sure?”
    She shrugged. “It’s probably nothing.”
    Then they both saw it and Cal jerked her away from the window. Then reached over and closed the blinds.
    “What is it?” she asked, alarm spreading through her at his obvious concern.
    “I may be overreacting, but I think after your attack, you need to stay away from windows.”
    “Why?”
    “Because until I discover differently, I want you to assume the man who came after you will be back.”
    Abby gulped as Cal pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pressed a speed dial number. From off to the side, phone pressed to his ear, he used a finger to lift one of the blinds. His eyes intense, he stared out the window. “Zane, check the north pasture up by the ridge where the trees are. See if you find anything—and