Read Online Angels In Red by Adelle Laudan - Free Book Online Page A

even if she did, she’s been out there in some pretty nasty weather, for days...”
    Charles swallowed the lump in his throat.  I can’t stand around here and do nothing. “Let me at least see for myself.”
    “Okay. I can make that happen.”
    Should I phone her father?
    No, not until he checked it out. Besides, Kenneth would just tell him to take care of things and call when there was something concrete to report.
    Charles rushed out the door after the officer. Part of him wanted to know for sure, but the other half wanted to run the other way.
    He stepped out of the precinct into a virtual Christmas Wonderland. The whole town was abuzz with preparations for the Christmas Eve celebrations later that night.
    Jenna loves Christmas .
    He looked up at the sky. Please let it be a Merry Christmas.

    Jack had just tied down the tree to his sled when he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He took out his binoculars to find two police cars with lights flashing over the break in the guard rails. They’d find no sign of the Jag. It was completely buried under several feet of snow by now.
    He tucked the binoculars away and quickly finished tying up the tree.  He’d woken sometime later that afternoon with her still in his arms and, on a whim, managed to slip away without waking her. So focused on his surprise, he’d completely dismissed the fact Jenna had family. And whether she believed they cared or not, surely someone had to be praying she’d make it back for Christmas.
    There has to be. No woman like her goes through life unloved.
    Should I tell her? Am I selfish not to, at least until after Christmas Eve? She didn’t seem to be too concerned it was Christmas; in fact, she’d asked to stay longer. He looked back up the mountainside to find one of the cars gone, but the two remaining men seemed to be deep in conversation, standing on the ridge overlooking the steep incline.
    Even if they did match the paint to Jenna’s car, they wouldn’t be able to search with this much snow. He couldn’t even ride the sled out there right now. They’d have to wait for some of it to melt. Nothing would be conclusive until at least after the holidays.
    I’ll have to play it by ear. For now, he hoped Jenna would be pleased with a Christmas tree—the first one he’d had in over five years.
    The mouth-watering scent of bread baking reached him before he got to the cabin telling him she must have put the loaves he’d left to rise in the oven.
    Once he let the dogs off their lead, he put them in the barn to wind down and be out of the way. His mouth went dry with the realization he was excited to see her reaction to the tree.  He felt like a kid with a secret.
    He shook the snow from the branches and opened the door. “I’m back. Look what I found?”
    Jenna turned from setting two golden brown loaves on a wire rack; her eyes grew big. “A Christmas tree?” She took a couple of shaky steps, using the counter edge for leverage, and touched the boughs and sniffed the scent from her fingers. “It’s beautiful.”
    You’re beautiful.
    Her peaches and cream skin had a fresh-scrubbed tint and her now dry hair shone from a good brushing, falling in ringlets to frame her sweet face.
    Jack’s elation quickly dissipated as unease clouded her otherwise vibrant green eyes. Not exactly the reaction he’d hoped for.
    “I’ve been thinking, maybe I should at least make a phone call to let Charles know I’m okay.”
    His heart sank. It became painfully clear to him what he viewed as an intimate moment hadn’t evoked in her the intense emotions he’d experienced.
    I’m an idiot.  
    “Of course you’d want to be home for Christmas. I’ll just take this back outside.”
    “No wait.” She leaned heavily against the countertop. “Come sit with me for a second.”
    Jack’s walls went up, brick by brick with every step he took toward her.  Was it empathy or pity he saw in her eyes? Either way, he didn’t want her to stay