Christmas Haven (15 page)

“Suggest away.”

Mom shot Julie a proud smile.

“Convince him to study for his GED and find him a mentor. I suspect he’s very bright and would pass the GED on the first try. You only need to score fifty percent to pass.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“And what about a job outside of the inn?”

Caroline sighed. “He’s got a reputation in town ever since he put a monkey virus on my mechanic’s computer.”

“Why not use his brilliant computer skills to help people? He’s been helping Lana with her business computer. She’d be a reference. Sketch could print up cards and go to Chamber of Commerce meetings to network. A few choice clients would really boost his self-esteem. You build that up and he’ll get to the point where he wants to go to school to become a software engineer.”

Caroline put down her roller, walked across the room and
gave Julie a hug. “Thank you, thank you so much for seeing the goodness in Steven.”

“They’ve all got goodness, we just have to look a little harder with some.”

Caroline went back to rolling cream-colored paint on the wall and Julie smiled to herself. It felt good to offer insight and advice, to focus on the possibilities for Sketch instead of the dire circumstances of a boy destined for tragedy.

The back door slammed shut announcing Morgan’s arrival. She sat up, excited to see him.

Watch it, girl.

“I like the mentor idea,” Mom offered, rolling paint.

“Yes, but who would be brave enough to take on a kid with his attitude?” Caroline said.

On cue Morgan wandered into the living room.

“Morgan is perfect,” Julie said.

“Excuse me?” Morgan raised an eyebrow.

Julie blushed. “We were talking about finding Sketch a mentor.”

“Ah, right. And I fit the job description because…?”

“You’re someone to be admired, Chief,” Mom chimed in. “You’re a reliable, quality human being.”

“Thanks, I think.” Morgan eyed the living room, already brightened by the first coat of paint. “You ladies do good work. I should be paying you by the hour.”

“You just keep my daughter safe. That’s payment enough,” Mom said.

“I plan to.” He sat on the couch next to Julie.

“Any word from Ethan?” Julie asked.

“Nothing today. He’s probably got the day off.”

Unfortunately, as they both knew, her stalker didn’t take days off.

Morgan reached over and touched her hand. “I’m sure he’ll call the minute he has any news.”

For half a second, as she gazed into his colorful eyes, she
wondered how she could have left this man. Their connection was so powerful, so pure.

Her cell vibrated, shocking her out of the tender moment.

She slipped it out of her pocket. “Hello?”

“Julie, it’s Helen from work.”

“Helen? How did you get this—?”

“William is in the hospital, thanks to you.”

TEN

J
ulie clenched the phone. “What?”

“He was attacked by people looking for you. What have you gotten yourself into, and how could you put the rest of us in danger like this?”

“I didn’t—”

“Save it. Here, he wants to talk to you.”

“Jules? What is it?” Morgan said. But she couldn’t focus on anything but William.

“Julie?” William said in a raspy voice.

She stood, pacing across the living room with nervous energy. “What happened?”

“I was leaving work last night and two guys grabbed me. They wanted to know where you were but I told them I didn’t know.” He coughed and the line went quiet for a second.

“William?” She clutched the phone.

“He can’t talk right now,” Helen said. “But he wanted to let you know he was okay, which he most certainly is not. What kind of trouble did you get into?”

“I don’t know exactly. I didn’t mean—”

“Grow up and take some responsibility for yourself. Your cute blond highlights and effusive smile can’t get you out of this one. I don’t really care what you’re into, just stop involving the rest of us, you self-absorbed, arrogant princess.”

“Helen, don’t,” William said in the background.

“No, it’s about time someone told her how we—”

“Julie, ignore her,” William said into the phone. “She’s worried about me.”

“What’s your condition?”

“Broken ribs, concussion, sprained arm. Nothing serious.”

“You were attacked because of me! William, I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay, truly. Stop it, Helen.”

“I want to talk to her,” she said in the background.

Julie wasn’t sure how much more scolding she could take. She was beating herself up enough for the both of them.

“Can you behave?” he said to Helen. “Okay, Julie, I’m going to pass the phone to Helen. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, but I wanted to let you know about the attack. I didn’t tell them anything other than you were staying with an old friend. I hope I didn’t blow it.”

“No, you did great. Take care of yourself.”

“You, too.”

A second later Helen came back on. “Don’t let him fool you. It’s worse than he’s letting on.”

“How much worse?”

“We don’t know. We’re waiting for results from an MRI.”

“Keep me posted?”

The line went dead and Julie stared at her phone.

“Jules?” Morgan stroked her back.

Mom and Caroline had put down their rollers and closed ranks.

Julie looked at each of them, fighting back tears, tears of regret for putting her friend in danger.

“Someone attacked my friend William. They were looking for my location. He’s in the hospital.”

“But he’s okay?” Morgan asked.

“I’m not sure. He says so, but Helen claims it’s more serious than he’s letting on.”

“Helen?” Morgan said.

“She’s the one who called, she…” She took a deep breath. “She let me have it for getting William involved in this mess.”

Morgan framed her cheeks with gentle hands and looked
deep into her eyes. “You did no such thing. I will not permit you to blame yourself for what happened.”

“He’s right, honey,” Mom said, putting her arm around Julie. “This isn’t your fault.”

Anger rushed up her chest. She stepped away from Morgan and Mom and paced the living room. “It if weren’t for me, William wouldn’t have been attacked.” She spun around to face them. “What if they track me down? Hurt one of you, or Lana? Argh!” She fisted her hands and anxiously tapped them against her hips.

“We’re taking every precaution to prevent them from hurting you or anyone else in your family,” Morgan said.

“How about informing the Community Cares group about the situation?” Caroline said.

Julie stopped pacing and eyed her. “Then everyone will know how badly I messed up.”

“It will help us close ranks to protect you,” Mom said. “It’s like Neighborhood Watch on overdrive. It worked great last year when Arthur suffered from a head injury. He’d get confused and wander around. Nearly everyone in town knew about his condition and we all pitched in to protect him.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Morgan said.

“I’ve got a better one.” Julie planted her hands to her hips. “I disappear.”

“Oh, honey,” Mom said. “We’ve talked about this. Running never solves anything. Your problems follow you until you face them head-on.”

“And I will, but not here, where I’m putting all of you in danger.”

“Knock it off,” Morgan said.

The room went quiet.

“I’m tired of you feeling sorry for yourself, getting scared and running away,” he said. “I’m not letting you get away with it this time. You’re going to stay in Port Whisper and let us protect you. Got it?”

Morgan had had enough. He snapped, right there in front of Jules, Edith and Caroline.

For a brief second he worried that he sounded too much like his father: domineering and overbearing, bordering on violent.

“He’s right,” Edith added. She didn’t look shocked or frightened by his outburst. She looked appreciative.

“I can call Anderson and ask him to call an emergency meeting of Community Cares,” Caroline offered.

“Sounds good,” Morgan said, not taking his eyes off Julie.

She had that panicked look, the kind an animal has right before sprinting away from danger.

“I’ll speak with the mayor and village trustees to let them know what’s going on,” Morgan said.

“Do I get a say in this?” Julie crossed her arms over her chest.

“If you’re speaking from your intellect, not your emotions,” he said. Perhaps it was too harsh, but it was the truth. Leading with emotions meant disaster on so many levels. Especially where Morgan and Julie were concerned.

“I appreciate what you’re all trying to do,” Julie said.

“But?” Morgan pressed.

“The first thing I have to do is visit William in the hospital.”

“That’s not your intellect talking,” Morgan said. “It’s not safe.”

“We went to Seattle to check out my apartment and visit your dad,” she protested.

“No one knew we were coming,” Morgan said. “This time there’s a reason for you to return, and if these guys are smart they’ll be staking out the hospital.”

“It’s heartless not to go,” Julie protested. “He’s my friend, and he needs me.”

“You need to stay safe.” He admired her loyalty, but leaving Port Whisper was not wise.

Edith accompanied Caroline into the kitchen to make the
call. Julie continued her frustrated pacing of the living room. She wandered to the front window and turned to him, a hardened look in her eye.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she said.

“What?”

“Be terrified all the time, and guilty. It’s draining.”

Morgan took her hands. “In these situations, when everything looks lost and I don’t know what to do…I pray.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he placed his forefinger on her lips. “Just humor me. I’m going to say a prayer and all I ask is that you take a moment to ground yourself with the feel of my hands holding yours, okay?”

She shrugged.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Dear Lord, we pray for strength to see us through the challenging days ahead, and we pray for guidance to help us make the best decisions to keep Julie safe. Praise be to God, Amen.”

He opened his eyes and was surprised that Julie’s face was still bowed. He waited a second, giving her time, hoping she’d found solace in the moment.

She sighed and opened her eyes, but didn’t let go of his hands. He searched her eyes.

She shot him a half smile. “Okay, that wasn’t so bad.”

He gave her hands a squeeze and let go. “I’m glad. Now, let’s strategize security measures. What did William tell his attackers?”

“That I’d moved in with an old friend.”

“That’s vague enough.”

“But if they figure out I grew up in Port Whisper—”

“Let go of the fear, Jules. It’s the enemy of both intellect and emotion.”

“Wow, don’t you sound mature,” she teased.

“I’m taking off, kids,” Caroline said, walking into the living room. “Thanks again for your advice about Sketch, Julie. And thanks, Morgan, for offering to mentor Sketch.”

“I did? When?” He shot her that charming smile.

“Your mom’s making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Enjoy.” She hugged Julie and left out the front door.

“Meatballs,” Morgan said. “I’m never going to let you guys leave.”

For a second he wondered if his comment made Julie uncomfortable.

She smiled and said, “I know what you mean. I’m going to miss Mom’s home-cooked meals. I should probably offer to help.”

“Good idea. I’ll get changed.” He headed for the stairs, strategizing more ways to tighten security around Julie and her family without making them feel like prisoners.

“Morgan?”

He glanced at her.

“Thanks again, for everything.”

“I told you, no thanks necessary. It’s my—”

“—job, I know. It’s been a long time since I could depend on someone like this.” With a cute shrug, she turned and went into the kitchen.

He was going to say it was his pleasure to protect her, not his job. It was probably a good thing she’d interrupted him. He sensed she was still guarded when it came to their relationship, both past and present.

Climbing the stairs to the second-floor office, he realized the possibility of a present-day relationship with Jules had worked its way from dream to reality. But could he leave his post as police chief and follow her into the city?

He shut the office door and stared into the mirror above the dresser. “You’re nuts,” he said. He had no reason to think she was opening her heart to him again.

No reason except for that amazing kiss. Gripping the wooden dresser, he remembered the feel of her soft lips; their sweet taste had haunted him all night. It was a kiss of thanks, mixed with desperation. Suddenly the taste grew bitter in his mouth. He didn’t want her kissing him out of gratitude or fear.

Did he want her kissing him at all? Wasn’t that just another
open door to disaster? Undoubtedly. He wasn’t a foolish man, but Anna had pegged it: although he’d dated Anna, his heart still belonged to another woman.

Morgan and Julie’s connection hadn’t died completely, and he knew after a few more days, she’d feel it, too, if she hadn’t already.

“Stay focused on the case,” he scolded, unbuttoning his uniform shirt. He’d just given her the lecture on emotions clogging a person’s judgment. He’d better take his own advice and shelve these runaway thoughts until they found the perps who were after her.

Then, after everything died down, perhaps he’d test the waters and get a sense of whether there was a future for them. If he spotted red flags along the way, he’d let it go once and for all.

But he needed to try one more time, or he’d always wonder.

A few days passed with no word from Ethan. Julie used the lull to cajole Morgan to take her to see William in Seattle, but he wasn’t giving in. When Julie called, William had been discharged from the hospital, so his injuries weren’t as serious as Helen let on.

She wasn’t leaving Port Whisper until this case was resolved and he knew she’d be safe. There was no arguing with him.

By Wednesday, she was losing her mind. She’d read all the cozy mysteries Caroline had brought over and refused to watch daytime television. Mom still wouldn’t let Julie help with the remodeling or meal prep.