Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Rancher for Christmas\Her Montana Christmas\An Amish Christmas Journey\Yuletide Baby (68 page)

But he had to be sure—that she was sure. He was caught up in the moment, and she might be, too. If she was, she might not really be ready, and she might not know how to put the brakes on. He couldn't begin to imagine everything she'd been through, and so he didn't know quite how to proceed.

“There are only two people in this room right now,” she said, the timbre of her voice a low purr. She clutched his shirt and pulled him forward, closing whatever distance had been left between them. “Well, except for the baby, and she's asleep.”

She chuckled against his lips. It was the laughter that relieved Shawn of any anxiety he was feeling.

He kissed her slowly but thoroughly, softly exploring every inch of her lips. He let her set the pace while he simply reveled in her—her touch, her taste, the smell of roses.

This woman was meant to be cherished, honored and loved by a man with his whole heart. She was all that was good and right in the world, and the fact that she had chosen him, at least for today, that it was
his
arms she'd allowed to shelter her, made him feel honored and blessed, as well.

And when she sighed and deepened the kiss, time stood still.

Chapter Nine

H
eather opened the hatch to her silver SUV and let Will Davenport handle loading her groceries so she could concentrate on getting the children buckled into their seats. Sam's Grocery was located on the corner of Main Street with a designated lot in the back for the customers to park. And fortunately for Heather, it also provided a handsome ex-military man who was married to the owner and guaranteed her customers got first-class service.

Getting personalized assistance was one of the perks of small-town Serendipity that Heather liked and appreciated—the special service at Sam's Grocery, for example, where her groceries were not only bagged for her but toted to the car, making shopping that much less of a hassle, especially when she had the children with her.

“Thank you so much, Will,” she said out the window when he tapped her hood in the universal sign for “good to go.”

“My pleasure, Heather. We'll see you next week.”

Heather glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror and smiled softly. Little did Will and his wife, Samantha, know they would be seeing her sooner than that. She was planning to shock everyone—herself most of all—when she attended church on Sunday morning.

It was high time her children started Sunday school, especially since she now intended for them to stay in Serendipity on a permanent basis. It was her new opinion that every child should be brought up in a church—as long as it was the kind of church pastored by a man like Shawn O'Riley.

She touched her lips, remembering the tender way he'd kissed her. In the chapel, of all places—which might have been shocking were it not so sweet. They'd been interrupted by Noelle's fussing before long, anyway.

Her heart flared to life every time she thought about his lips on hers—thoughts that had occurred with striking regularity in the two days since she'd last seen him. But doubt quickly extinguished the flames.

When she'd kissed Shawn, she'd been absolutely, 100 percent certain of what she was doing. She would not have approached him otherwise. In the years since her divorce, she hadn't had the least bit of desire to be held by a man, much less be kissed by anyone. If anything, she was revolted by the mere thought of it. And yet with Shawn it was different.

With him, everything was different.

She was a little embarrassed at the enthusiasm with which she'd initiated that particular string of events. It was so...
forward
. Especially for her.

And it wasn't as if she'd missed the fact that he'd hesitated.

More than once.

The more often she replayed the scene in her mind, the clearer it became. He'd verbally tried to stop her, or at least slow her down, but she hadn't even let him speak. She'd quite literally thrown herself at him, taking his arms and placing them around her waist. He hadn't fought it, but she wasn't sure he would have taken that step on his own.

She'd so desperately wanted to feel his strength that she'd given no thought to the awkward position she'd placed him in—or the awkwardness she herself would face in the aftermath. Her cheeks heated with shame even thinking about it.

What must he think of her?

She didn't know for certain, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to speculate on the issue. He hadn't called her in two days. He was probably avoiding her.

Granted, she hadn't tried to get in touch with him, either, but it wasn't because she didn't want to see him. Quite the opposite, in fact.

There was no going back for her. All she wanted in the world was to step right back into the warmth and safety of his strong arms and feel the tenderness of his embrace. But she'd already made a fool of herself once. She was in no hurry to repeat the humiliating ordeal.

The confidence that had propelled her into Shawn's arms had faded quickly once the kiss was over, replaced by her usual insecurities. Was she fooling herself to believe she and Shawn might have a future together? Was it even fair of her to ask him to take her on, given his lack of confidence in his parenting ability and her commitment to her children?

Better to give them both some room. Let the air cool between them.

“Mama, you drive?” Henry asked from the backseat.

Heather laughed. “I suppose I ought to be driving, since we're sitting here in the car and all. We'd best get home and unload these groceries.”

She turned the key in the ignition and took another quick glance in the rearview mirror before backing out of her parking space.

She didn't know why she noticed the man parked at the far end of the lot, leaning on a nondescript white sedan.

A subtle movement, perhaps? Leftover survival instinct?

Despite his shaggy hair and unkempt beard, Heather immediately recognized him. Cold blue eyes turned her stomach. Lightning flashed before her eyes, thunder rumbled in her chest and her breath twisted as if caught up by gale-force winds.

“Oh, God, save us,” she whispered, her words very much a prayer. She ducked out of sight before she'd given it a second thought.

Adrian.

What was he doing in Serendipity? He was supposed to be in jail.

Had he seen her? Recognized her? How had he found her? A lucky guess that she'd gone back to her hometown?

He'd probably seen her. He'd appeared to be looking right at her when she'd spotted him.

What to do? What to do?

The children. She'd inadvertently put them in danger. If they were with her, Adrian could harm them.

She had a permanent restraining order against him. Technically, he wasn't legally allowed to get as close to her as Sam's small parking lot afforded. But a restraining order was nothing more than a piece of paper when it came to an angry, drunken man. Adrian had never been much for following the law even before he'd gone to prison, and she had no reason to believe he'd do so now.

She locked the doors and scrambled to locate the cell phone in her purse, all without lifting her head above the height of the dash.

“Kids, we're going to play a little game right now,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. She closed her hand around the phone and hiccuped in relief. “Everyone duck down in your seat until I say ‘peekaboo.'”

“What's wrong?” Jacob asked, ever astute and sounding slightly offended. He was too old to be playing peekaboo with his mother.

“Please, Jacob, just do as I say. I'll explain when I can.”

Her breath lodged in her throat and her heart hammered as she dialed 911 and waited for the operator to pick up.

What if Adrian approached the vehicle? How would she keep the kids safe? She didn't dare even spare a backward glance to see if he was coming toward her. If somehow by the grace of God he hadn't already seen her, she didn't want to accidentally tip him off.

“What is the nature of your emergency?”

“I think I'm being followed. My ex-husband is out of prison. I have a permanent restraining order against him but I don't feel safe.”

“What is your location?”

“Sam's Grocery. The parking lot. I'm in a silver SUV. I have my three children with me. Please hurry.”

“A unit has already been dispatched. ETA less than a minute.”

Another reason to be grateful for small towns. But a lot could happen in a minute.

“Mom?” Jacob spoke again. “Who is following us? Did you just call the cops?”

“Yes, honey, and they are on their way to help us. I'll explain it all to you, I promise, but right now we need to stay low and wait for the police to get here.”

She jumped when someone rapped on the driver's-side window but was relieved to see Slade McKenna nodding at her. She'd never been happier to see red and blue flashing lights.

She rolled the window down a crack. “Slade. Thank you for coming so fast.”

“Where did you see your ex-husband?” Slade cut straight to the chase with no formalities.

“He's directly behind me, at the far end of the lot. Blond hair. Beard. He's driving a white sedan, although he was out of the vehicle when I saw him.”

Slade glanced in the direction she indicated and frowned. “Keep your doors locked and your head down. Stay right where you are until I return.”

Tension crackled through the air as Heather counted every heartbeat. Her own breath sounded painfully loud. In what seemed like hours later but was probably only a matter of minutes, Slade returned and once more tapped on her window.

He pressed his lips together before speaking. “I'm sorry, Heather, but there's no sign of him.”

“What? No,” she disputed, regaining her seat and turning to look over her shoulder. “He's right—”

But the space where the white sedan had been parked was empty. She scanned the lot, hoping to point him out so the police officer could arrest him, but Slade was correct.

Adrian was gone.

Had she been seeing things? The Adrian she knew had always taken great pride in his clean-cut appearance. It was one of the ways he fooled everyone. But the man she had seen, unkempt and bedraggled, had looked every bit the criminal he was, and for that reason was that much more intimidating.

No, she wasn't mistaken. She'd seen him. And if he'd seen her, then not only her safety but the safety of her children was at stake. How could she ever possibly have thought of adopting these precious children and putting them in danger?

“I didn't imagine him.” She couldn't have.

“No, of course not, Heather. I totally believe you. He was here. I've radioed the station and put out an APB on the guy. He's not going to get very far. We've got all our eyes watching for him. And we have a patrol car scheduled to run down your block on an expedited basis, okay?”

That Slade believed her—that the
police
believed her—gave her a measure of comfort but no real confidence. Adrian was a smart man. If he wanted to confront her, he'd find a way to do it. He'd get around the police somehow.

“I'm sorry I couldn't nab the guy for you today. Is there anything else I can do for you? Just name it.”

“I appreciate your help, Slade, and there's no need to apologize. You got here as fast as you could.” Other than assigning her a 24/7 police escort, which was completely beyond the scope of Serendipity's police department, there was little Slade could do.

Or maybe there
was
something. “There is one thing. Is there any way for you to find out when and why he was released from prison? I thought he still had at least a few more years to serve before he'd be eligible for parole, which is why I was doubly shocked to spot him here.”

“Where was he imprisoned?”

“Colorado.”

“I'll get that information to you right away. We'll pick him up as soon as we see him and get him locked back up again. He's already violated your restraining order, and if he's out of a prison in Colorado, it's a good bet he's broken his parole.”

If
they caught up with him.
If
they could catch him.

Those were pretty big
ifs
.

Adrian had contested their divorce when she'd filed, but there was little he could do about it from prison. She hadn't wanted anything from him and she hadn't taken anything other than her clothes and what was left of her dignity.

He was frightening when he was angry. And if he was here—in violation of his parole and his restraining order—then he was angry.

But she wasn't the same woman Adrian had intimidated for all those years. She had found a renewed sense of strength, hope and faith, thanks in large part to her relationship with Shawn.

All the angst and awkwardness she'd been feeling earlier over their kiss dissolved with the gravity of these new circumstances. She had some serious decisions to make about her life, and there was one person in this world who'd had a real glimpse of the depths of her heart, one man who would truly understand what Adrian's abrupt arrival in her life meant for her and the children.

Already more than halfway home, she turned her car around and headed for Shawn's ranch.

* * *

Shawn had picked up his phone to call Heather at least a dozen times in the two days since they'd had their
moment
and he'd replaced the phone without actually making the call every time.

He'd never been in this position before. He'd never expected he would come to feel the way he did about Heather, and he didn't want to scare her off with the intensity of his emotions. And the worst of it was that he wasn't sure he could mask how he felt. And even if he could, he still wasn't certain he would be able to step up and be the man Heather needed him to be.

He did what he always did when he needed to think—went out to the barn to tend the animals. He might not talk out loud to them the way Heather had done in her youth, but there was a certain amount of comfort in the routine of pitching hay and even in mucking the stalls. Noelle seemed to like being strapped to his chest and contentedly watched what he was doing.

At least he was learning how to please one of the women in his life.

How was he supposed to hide his feelings for Heather when he wanted to shout them from the mountaintop? If he had his way, he'd scoop her clear off her feet, swing her around and laugh and hug and sing.

Well, okay, maybe not sing. He didn't want to send her off screaming with her hands over her ears.

Heather had done such a number on him that he felt as if he were floating. Walking on clouds. Who knew that all those overly romanticized stories about falling in love were actually true?

Kissing Heather—now that was a game changer.

For him, at least.

For her? He couldn't begin to guess.

She'd taken his hand and pulled him through his past, helped him to finally acknowledge all that had happened. Hopefully he would finally be able to start working through it. The problem was, he didn't know how to perceive the kiss that had followed that wonderful talk. She was such a generous and compassionate woman. Was that why she'd kissed him? Had she just so completely empathized with his situation that she'd got caught up in that whirlwind?