Christmas Peril: Merry Mayhem / Yule Die. Margaret Daley

Annie, who stood next to Sara in the entrance. “Nice meeting y’all.”

      When her cousin closed the door, she faced Annie. “Hon, what brought you to Christmas, Oklahoma?”

      Annie’s stomach constricted, her grip on her daughter’s hand tightening. She didn’t know how to answer Sara. The woman’s kind eyes made her long to share what happened, but words refused to take hold in Annie’s mind. How could she explain anything to Sara when she herself didn’t understand? This was her problem, not Sara’s. She’d always managed on her own in the past. This would be no different.

      Sara waved her hand. “When you’re ready, you’ll tell me.” Then using her cane, she headed toward the room off to the right of the foyer. “Come in, and make yourself at home.”

      Annie remained rooted to the floor.

      Finally Jayden tugged on her hand. “Mommy, okay?”

      Annie blinked and glanced down at her daughter—her whole life. Everything she did she did for Jayden. If they were in danger, she had to protect her daughter at all costs. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s go see what Miss Sara has to say.”

      “We could tell her we’re on an adventure.”

      “Let’s keep that a secret between us.” Annie placed her forefinger over her lips.

      Jayden pulled her down so she could whisper, “This house is big.”

      “Yeah, it is. I bet there are great hiding places in here.” She just hoped she never had to use them.

      TWO

      As Annie checked the meat loaf and placed the vegetable casserole in the oven, the doorbell rang. Jayden was so absorbed in her new coloring book she didn’t even notice when Annie hurried from the kitchen.

      Earlier she and Sara had talked and the older woman had shown Jayden the photos of Annie as a little girl and then given her one to put in her treasure chest. Annie had volunteered to cook dinner. Although Sara was a relative and had opened her home to her gladly, she wouldn’t freeload off her. She was determined to help her cousin as much as possible in exchange for giving her a place where she could decide about her future.

      A few seconds later, she swung the door open to the police chief standing on the porch with a puzzled expression creasing his forehead. His gaze locked on hers.

      “Did something happen?” she asked, trying not to react to the man. But for some reason her heartbeat accelerated, and it really had nothing to do with the assessing look he sent her. Although no longer in his uniform, the man commanded a person’s attention even wearing jeans and an Oklahoma University sweatshirt.

      His features smoothed into a grin. “No, just surprised to find you here.”

      “You are? You brought me here.”

      “Yeah, I did,” he said in a thoughtful tone. “Your car isn’t out front.”

      “I parked it around back by the detached garage.” No sense leaving it on the street for anyone looking for her to find. Little by little she was trying to learn caution, but she’d never even watched a crime show on TV or read a suspense book.

      “When I didn’t see it, I thought maybe you’d left.”

      “Nope. Sara insisted Jayden and I stay with her through the holidays. Come in.” Annie opened the door wider and stepped to the side. “Sara’s in the living room resting her eyes, she says, but I think she’s really taking a nap.”

      Caleb entered with his toolbox. “Ah, in her lounge chair, which she calls her command post.” He sniffed the air. “You’re cooking dinner?”

      “Yes, meat loaf.”

      “It smells great.” He followed Annie to the kitchen. “What are you coloring, Jayden?” Stopping next to the table, he peered over her daughter’s shoulder. “You like animals?”

      “Yes. We were gonna get a puppy for Christmas. I guess we won’t since we’re on an adven—” Jayden’s gaze flew to Annie, and her daughter snapped her mouth closed.

      Caleb glanced from her daughter to Annie. For a few seconds his forehead crinkled as though trying to come up with the right question to ask. Then a smile leaked back into his expression as he turned his attention to Jayden. “I have a dog. Ralph is a mutt and loves children. You’ll have to come visit him. He’s deaf, which doesn’t make him a good watchdog, so I’m glad not much happens around here.”

      Jayden twisted around in her chair and looked at Annie. “Can I see Ralph? I can finish coloring later.”

      Annie laughed. “Honey, I think Mr. Jackson means some other day. He’s here to fix a leak.”

      Her daughter’s pout descended. “We aren’t home now for me to get my puppy.”

      “We’ll get a puppy later.” When she knew what was going on and she had a game plan. Tomorrow she needed to go somewhere and use a computer. Maybe if she surfed around, she could discover what had happened to Bryan.

      “I’ll bring Ralph down tomorrow for you to meet him.” Caleb put his toolbox on the floor in front of the sink. “Will I interfere with you cooking dinner?”

      “No, I just finished preparing the meal right before you came. Great timing.”

      “I aim to please. Don’t let me stop you from doing whatever you need to do.” He knelt on the floor and opened the cabinet door, then reached in.

      Annie sat next to Jayden, trying her best to ignore the police chief’s presence. Taking up the crayon nearest her, she started to color until her daughter said, “A cat isn’t blue.”

      Annie glanced down at the paper and noticed what she’d done. “Oh, you’re right. Sorry, honey.”

      A commotion behind her drew her attention to Caleb. He took a wrench to the faucet, his movements a study in economical action. Transfixed for a moment, she watched until he peered back at her. One corner of his mouth tilted up, a gleam in his startlingly dark blue eyes. She’d always had a thing for blue eyes. Bryan’s had been—were—blue.

      Over the years her ex-boyfriend had schemed to get rich, tired of being poor, not supporting his daughter as he wanted. Going to meet his wealthy father had been his latest ploy to get rich quick. His mother’s death six weeks ago had affected Bryan. Before she’d passed away from a heart attack, he’d thought his father was dead. Not long afterward, he’d discovered he was very much alive and had lots of money. He’d intended to reintroduce himself and benefit from his father’s wealth. He’d never gotten the chance to tell her what had come of that meeting.

      “I’m partial to blue,” Caleb said with a wink, drawing Annie back to the present.

      Heat scored her cheeks, and she quickly returned to the paper between her and Jayden. This time she noticed the crayon she selected, making sure it was an appropriate color.

      It was only because she was in unfamiliar surroundings with an unknown future stretching before her and Jayden that her nerves were frazzled. Caleb had nothing to do with the fact that her hand quivered as she grasped the crayon and tried to color within the lines and was not succeeding very well.

      “I think that should take care of the leak,” Caleb said as he closed the cabinet door under the sink.

      Annie knew the exact second he stood behind her and looked over her shoulder. His spicy scent vied with the aromas of the cooking meat loaf and vegetable casserole.

      He pointed to the blue kitten left abandoned on the page. “There are some cats with a bluish tint to their fur.”

      “There are?” Jayden’s green eyes widened.

      “Yeah, Harriet, the receptionist at the station, owns one.”

      “Can I see it?”

      “I’ll