“She shouldn’t be alone if some psycho is after her.”
“Reid –”
“Either tell me where she is or I’ll find out myself.”
“Reid –”
“For God’s sake, tell me, Sophie. I’m not going to let Lucy go through this alone.”
Tension stretched between them, then Sophie finally replied. “You’re right. We should all be together on Christmas.”
“Sophie –“
“Let me call Lance and my mother. If Lucy can’t be here, we’ll go to her tomorrow.”
“All right. I’ll call Maddie and Chase,” Reid said. “We’ll take Christmas to Lucy.”
But when he hung up, his imagination went crazy with awful things that this freak might do to Lucy if he found her.
Reid didn’t know if he could wait one more day to see her.
Then again, he needed the time. He still didn’t have Lucy’s Christmas present…
Christmas Eve
All afternoon and into the evening, Lucy felt jittery. Every time the door opened to the common room, she jumped like a reindeer caught in headlights.
Now night had set in, Christmas Eve was upon them, and the excitement over the Secret Santa gifts and the program was mounting.
Red and green streamers draped the walls, the Christmas lights glittered, and everyone had contributed party foods, decorative cupcakes and Christmas punch for the celebration after the show.
One Secret Santa gift remained on the table. Her name was on the card.
She glanced around the room where three residents were finishing decorating the stage, then through the picture glass window at the pool area, but didn’t see anything suspicious.
No sign of Emmet.
But when she opened the bag, she discovered a pair of sexy red stilettos.
Fear jackknifed through her. No one here knew about her obsession with shoes.
But Emmet did. In fact, he liked trying on her shoes and underwear.
She punched Wallace Bannister’s number, but his machine rolled to voice mail. “Wallace, it’s me, Lucy. I’m afraid Emmet’s found me. Please call me back.”
She tucked the phone in her pocket, then smiled as Mae tottered toward her carrying a blueberry cobbler. “Taylor, guess what! I’ve got a date tonight with Harry, the man I met in the obits! He must have liked my pie after all.”
Lucy laughed although guilt weighed on her for lying to these sweet people.
Moon strolled in dressed as Santa Claus. Billy and Nelda wore matching jingle bell shirts while DeEtte’s shirt glittered with blinking lights. The others filed in, all dressed in festive attire, the mood jovial as they gathered for the show.
For a brief moment, she wondered what her sister was doing tonight, if she and Lance, and Reid, and Maddie and Chase were all together, sipping drinks over dinner and making toasts to the holiday.
Tears threatened, but she blinked them back. She missed her family, but she loved the people here. And she would be home soon.
Would Reid be waiting?
Christmas music piped up, and she studied the guests as they entered, one eye open for Emmet.
Sue directed everyone to take their seats, and introduced the first act.
Four Silver Sneakers, DeEtte, Ellen, Sue, and Willene performed a tap dance to Jingle Bells, the bells on their shoes ringing. Laughter and applause rang out as they finished.
Act two featured Billy and Nelda who performed their own version of Ghosts of Christmas Pasts by reenacting some of the funniest holidays they’d spent together. In the first scene, they’d spent Christmas rubbing lotion all over their six children who’d come down with chicken pox. But the first holiday was the best – they were so poor they didn’t have money to buy a tree, so they chopped one down in the woods, but it was so lopsided they had to tie it to the wall with a belt to keep it upright. Then they cut Christmas cards and threaded them onto the tree for decorations.
Lucy’s heart churned with emotions. She wanted the kind of love those two shared.
Next, Moon played Here Comes Santa Claus on his spoons while his buddy
“Reid –”
“Either tell me where she is or I’ll find out myself.”
“Reid –”
“For God’s sake, tell me, Sophie. I’m not going to let Lucy go through this alone.”
Tension stretched between them, then Sophie finally replied. “You’re right. We should all be together on Christmas.”
“Sophie –“
“Let me call Lance and my mother. If Lucy can’t be here, we’ll go to her tomorrow.”
“All right. I’ll call Maddie and Chase,” Reid said. “We’ll take Christmas to Lucy.”
But when he hung up, his imagination went crazy with awful things that this freak might do to Lucy if he found her.
Reid didn’t know if he could wait one more day to see her.
Then again, he needed the time. He still didn’t have Lucy’s Christmas present…
Christmas Eve
All afternoon and into the evening, Lucy felt jittery. Every time the door opened to the common room, she jumped like a reindeer caught in headlights.
Now night had set in, Christmas Eve was upon them, and the excitement over the Secret Santa gifts and the program was mounting.
Red and green streamers draped the walls, the Christmas lights glittered, and everyone had contributed party foods, decorative cupcakes and Christmas punch for the celebration after the show.
One Secret Santa gift remained on the table. Her name was on the card.
She glanced around the room where three residents were finishing decorating the stage, then through the picture glass window at the pool area, but didn’t see anything suspicious.
No sign of Emmet.
But when she opened the bag, she discovered a pair of sexy red stilettos.
Fear jackknifed through her. No one here knew about her obsession with shoes.
But Emmet did. In fact, he liked trying on her shoes and underwear.
She punched Wallace Bannister’s number, but his machine rolled to voice mail. “Wallace, it’s me, Lucy. I’m afraid Emmet’s found me. Please call me back.”
She tucked the phone in her pocket, then smiled as Mae tottered toward her carrying a blueberry cobbler. “Taylor, guess what! I’ve got a date tonight with Harry, the man I met in the obits! He must have liked my pie after all.”
Lucy laughed although guilt weighed on her for lying to these sweet people.
Moon strolled in dressed as Santa Claus. Billy and Nelda wore matching jingle bell shirts while DeEtte’s shirt glittered with blinking lights. The others filed in, all dressed in festive attire, the mood jovial as they gathered for the show.
For a brief moment, she wondered what her sister was doing tonight, if she and Lance, and Reid, and Maddie and Chase were all together, sipping drinks over dinner and making toasts to the holiday.
Tears threatened, but she blinked them back. She missed her family, but she loved the people here. And she would be home soon.
Would Reid be waiting?
Christmas music piped up, and she studied the guests as they entered, one eye open for Emmet.
Sue directed everyone to take their seats, and introduced the first act.
Four Silver Sneakers, DeEtte, Ellen, Sue, and Willene performed a tap dance to Jingle Bells, the bells on their shoes ringing. Laughter and applause rang out as they finished.
Act two featured Billy and Nelda who performed their own version of Ghosts of Christmas Pasts by reenacting some of the funniest holidays they’d spent together. In the first scene, they’d spent Christmas rubbing lotion all over their six children who’d come down with chicken pox. But the first holiday was the best – they were so poor they didn’t have money to buy a tree, so they chopped one down in the woods, but it was so lopsided they had to tie it to the wall with a belt to keep it upright. Then they cut Christmas cards and threaded them onto the tree for decorations.
Lucy’s heart churned with emotions. She wanted the kind of love those two shared.
Next, Moon played Here Comes Santa Claus on his spoons while his buddy
Similar Books
Behind the Yellow Tape: On the Road With Some of America's Hardest Working Crime Scene Investigators
Jarrett Hallcox, Amy Welch
