Her Holiday Hero Read online

  “He what?”

  She closed her eyes for a second. “This conversation is about you. Not me.”

  Like Jake, she could share only so much before she shut the door on what was going on inside. But that didn’t stop him from wishing she would say more.

  “Mom, aren’t you two coming?” Josh called from the entrance into the barn.

  She rubbed her hand up and down his arm. “Are you up for riding?”

  Jake glimpsed over Emma’s shoulder the eagerness in the kids’ eyes. “Actually, it’ll be a relief not to walk for a while.”

  “Okay. I see Abbey coming.” Emma rose.

  “I’ll be there in a moment.” Jake watched her move away from him, the whole time his hand gliding over Shep, the soft feel of fur beneath his palm.

  He cared for Emma. He needed to pull back emotionally from her. He didn’t want to hurt her. He had nothing to give a woman, and she deserved so much.

  He struggled to his feet as Abbey neared. He’d talked to her earlier about the PTSD therapy group but hadn’t said he would do it. He was nervous. Accepting the dog was one thing but once he participated in a group specializing in PTSD, he was admitting out loud that he needed intensive help.

  Abbey smiled at him and paused. “Are you going to ride with us?”

  “Yes.” He started toward the barn with her. “You have quite a nice training facility with Caring Canines.”

  “I couldn’t have done all of it without Dominic, my father and Emma. They all helped me tremendously. Have you considered joining our group on Monday evenings?”

  “I have and…” The word no wouldn’t come out of his mouth. In that moment he realized he would deeply regret not going. Exhaling a deep breath, he murmured, “Yes, I want to.”

  “Great. Will you start this Monday night?”

  “No, not until next week. This Monday is already full for me.” He realized he should jump right in, but he couldn’t go that far—not yet, but he hoped by next Monday evening he would be able to.

  When Jake neared the barn with Abbey, Josh and Madi came out with their saddled horses, followed by Dominic, leading two others behind him.

  He approached Jake and shook hands with him. “I’m Dominic Winters. Welcome to the ranch.”

  “I hear you’re one of the driving forces behind Caring Canines.” Jake took the reins of one of the geldings.

  “I don’t take any credit for it. That’s Abbey and Emma and their hard work.”

  “Not according to the two ladies.” Jake smiled.

  Dominic threw a look at his wife, his eyes softening. “Supplying the money is the easy part. Josh said something about showing you the stream and woods. It’s Madi’s special place.”

  “Sounds nice.” Jake caught sight of Abbey and Emma bringing their mounts out, their heads bent together as they talked.

  He drew in a long breath, full of the scent of horse, earth and leather. What tension still lingered from driving to the ranch vanished.

  Madi challenged Josh to a race, then both kids climbed onto their mares and spurred their horses forward. Dominic scrambled onto his gelding and hurried after the children.

  Abbey laughed. “We’ll spend the whole ride to the stream trying to keep up with the kids.” Then Abbey mounted her horse and left with Jake and Emma still standing in front of the barn.

  While Shep sat nearby, Jake swung up into the saddle and grinned. “I hope you know where this stream is.”

  “Yes, I’ve been there many times.” Emma mounted her mare and came up beside him. “But I’d rather take it nice and easy.”

  By the time Jake and Emma arrived at the stream with Shep trotting alongside, Josh and Madi had rolled up their jeans and were walking in the water that came up to their calves. Dominic and Abbey had spread out a blanket under a large oak tree. For a few seconds Jake looked at the couple and envied their idyllic relationship. There had been a time when he’d wished to have what they had. At the moment that dream seemed unattainable.

  He dismounted and tethered his horse to a branch, petted Shep for a few seconds, then made his way with Emma to the blanket. “You’ve got a beautiful place,” he said as he eased down, using the trunk to help him. Shep stretched out near him. “Emma told me you’re trimming your cattle herd and adding horses. How do you manage your ranch and a big business?”

  Dominic exchanged a warm glance with Abbey. “I have a wife who looks the other way when I have to work long hours. But mostly I’ve got good people who work for me, which lets me grab time with my family now and then.”

  As Jake sat and listened to the others, their conversation occasionally sprinkled with laughter, his dream taunted him. It would never happen if he didn’t admit to his problems and do something about them. Coming out to the ranch had shown him he couldn’t remain hiding in his house if he wanted to get better.

  *

  “I had the best time today,” Josh said from the backseat as Jake pulled out onto the highway leading into Cimarron City. “What about you, Jake?”

  His headlights sliced through the darkness, making Jake realize he had stayed longer at the ranch than he had intended—and had enjoyed it. The quiet had appealed to him. “My favorite part was the ride. I’d forgotten how nice it was to be on the back of a horse.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. And the barbecue dinner was great.” Josh yawned. “How about you, Mom?”

  “I always love coming to the ranch. It was nice seeing Nicholas at dinner. He’s growing so fast. Before Abbey knows it, he’ll be one.”

  Jake looked at Emma. In the soft lighting she appeared content, relaxed, luring him to join her—let everything go and relish the moment. He sighed, loosening any tightness gripping him. Today he’d come the closest to feeling normal since the ambush. His hands gripped the steering wheel. The second he thought that word a picture of the mountain village crept into his mind. He shoved it away—not wanting to go down the path that led to memories.

  “So what was your favorite part?” Jake asked to keep the conversation going, his mind focused on the two in the car with him.

  “The big slice of cherry pie with vanilla ice cream at the end of dinner,” Emma said with a laugh. “I probably shouldn’t have had it, but it was delicious.”

  “Yeah, that was good, but racing across the field was my favorite part.” Josh’s voice slurred with sleepiness.

  “Mine was seeing where your mom worked and the different dogs being trained.” When there was no response from Josh, Jake peered at him through the rearview mirror. “He’s fallen asleep.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. He was up early practicing his self-defense moves and lifting those five-pound weights you gave him to use. He’s taking this seriously. I usually have to drag him out of bed in the morning.”

  “I’m giving him a new exercise each lesson, and he’s promised me he won’t do it until I tell him he’s got the right technique. I’ve been stressing that’s more important than how much he lifts.”

  “I’m sure Josh will follow your directions, but it wouldn’t hurt for me to see the exercises and the right techniques so I can keep an eye on it.”

  Jake came to a halt at the four-way stop sign and glanced at her, the way the streetlight angled across her features, throwing part of her face in the shadows, but not her eyes. They were trained on him. “That’s a good suggestion. But not only how he does it, watch that he doesn’t do it too much.”

  “Maybe I should take up weight lifting.” She raised her arm and flexed her muscles. “I doubt you can feel much there.”

  He reached out and squeezed gently on her upper arm. “It wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Is that your way of telling me I have no muscles in my arms?”

  “There’s a muscle somewhere in there.” He chuckled. “If you didn’t want me to tell the truth, you shouldn’t have asked.”

  Headlights from the car behind flooded the Ford. Jake pressed his foot on the accelerator and went across the intersection. Two minutes later, he parked in Emma’s driveway and started to get out of his car.

  “You don’t have to walk us to the door.”


  “Yes, I do.”

  “This isn’t…”

  “What?”

  “A date.”

  “We didn’t think we were going to be gone this late. Your porch light isn’t on. I’m walking you to your door.” Climbing from the vehicle, Jake began to skirt around the front of the Fusion when Emma hopped out and opened the back door.

  A pungent, nauseating smell suffused the air. Rubbing his nose, Jake scanned the area.

  “What’s that smell?” Josh asked as he scooped up Buttons and trekked toward his house.

  “Don’t know. It seems to be coming from our…” Emma’s words sputtered to a stop. Her hand clasped over her mouth and nose.

  “Gross.” Josh mounted the steps.

  With his leg throbbing, Jake limped after Emma and Josh. “Stop, Josh.”

  The boy turned toward Jake.

  “Let me check everything out first. Come stand by your mom.” To Emma, Jake continued, “Give me the key to the house. I’ll turn on the porch light. It’s hard to see exactly what has happened.”

  Jake took the key from her trembling hand and headed toward the stairs, using the penlight he carried to scope out the area before him. Piles of trash and feces littered everywhere he shone the light. He gagged but kept moving forward to turn on the security lamp so he could inspect the damage.

  Chapter Nine

  Emma held her nose, trying to block the smell. Her stomach roiled. “Josh, go back to Jake’s car with Buttons and stay there.”

  “But, Mom—”

  “Please.”

  He stomped across the yard toward the Ford, mumbling.

  As he slammed the car door, the security light flooded the porch. Jake came out of her house, surveying the porch area. A frown carved deep lines into his face, and he locked gazes with her. “Do you think Josh can go to your neighbor’s while I clean this up?”

  “You mean while we clean it up.”

  “In a war zone, I’ve smelled some pretty bad things before. After a while, it won’t be as bad.”

  “I’ve changed diapers and cleaned up after my son got sick. We’ll do it together.”

  “Where are your trash bags, shovel, rake, broom, dustpan and plastic gloves?”

  After she told him the location of each item, she hurried to the car. “You’re going to stay with Miss Baker for a while.”

  “This is Liam’s doing.”

  “We’ll talk about that later.” She rang her neighbor’s doorbell, and when Miss Baker answered, Emma explained to the older woman what had happened.

  “You know I thought I heard some racket about half an hour ago—like dogs getting into my trash can when I leave it out, except that tomorrow isn’t trash day so it wasn’t out.”

  “Did you look and see anyone?”

  Miss Baker shook her head. “I was watching my favorite TV show, and it was getting to the good part. Sorry.” She stepped aside to let a pouting Josh into the house. “I baked some snicker doodles today. Want any?”

  Josh looked back at Emma then said, “Yes, ma’am.”

  “It may be a while.”

  “Hon, don’t worry about Josh and me. We’ll be fine.”

  Emma rushed back to her house as Jake reappeared on the porch with all the cleaning items. The obnoxious smells bombarded Emma’s senses, but the quicker they took care of this mess, the faster she could breathe clean air again. Jake took out his cell phone and shot some pictures of what had been done, then he placed a call to the police.

  When he hung up, Emma scanned the piles of rotten food mixed in with what had to be a bag of manure dumped throughout the trash. “Someone went to a lot of trouble.” On her porch wall, she spied words she wouldn’t repeat spray-painted across it. That would be the next thing she dealt with.

  “Yes. This isn’t a prank but pure rage and intimidation.”

  “What are we going to do about Liam and his buddies?”

  “Although we don’t have any proof it was Liam, I’m going to tell the police about the boy and the motives he might have for vandalizing our houses.”

  “Should we wait for the police to come?”

  “Yes. They’ll be here shortly.”

  “I’ve run out of things to do about those boys.” Frustration and anger overwhelmed her. She didn’t like feeling that way, but she couldn’t stop the emotions demanding release.

  Jake took her hand and led her down the steps. “Let’s put the dogs in your backyard. I could use some fresh air.”

  The feel of his fingers wrapped around hers soothed some of the fury building in her. As they crossed her front yard, the smells lessened.

  Jake slipped his arm around her shoulders and pressed her against him. “We’ll find a way to deal with the boys. I hope the officer will pay Liam and Sean a visit tonight to find out where they’ve been.”

  “They’ll retaliate against Josh.”

  “They’ll try, but I’m going to work with Josh and his friends. We aren’t going to make it easy for Liam and Sean to get back at them, and every time they harass us, we’ll call the police. I know a couple of officers I went to school with when I lived here. I’ll involve them if I need to.”

  When he said we or us, her tension eased a little more. She wasn’t by herself, trying to figure out what to do. And she also had the Lord. There were many times in history His people were harassed and threatened, and He came to their defense. Please help us, God. Not just for us, but for Liam and Sean. It’s time to turn their lives around.

  Emma scooped Buttons into her arms while Shep walked beside Jake. At the gate to her backyard, she put Buttons down and the dog hurried away, but the German shepherd didn’t want to leave Jake’s side.

  In the stream of light from her kitchen window, he smiled at her. “I guess he doesn’t care that the place stinks.”

  “Think about those cadaver dogs who work with the police looking for dead bodies. If they don’t mind that, the porch won’t be a big deal for Shep.”

  Jake’s laughter shivered down her—a wonderful sound she hoped to hear more and more. “And their sense of smell is much better than ours. To each his own, I guess.”

  His presence made her forget for a few minutes what they needed to clean up. He moved nearer and framed her face with his hands, the look in his eyes soft, appealing. “I had a nice time today. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I was comfortable at the ranch. I enjoyed meeting Abbey and Dominic. Madi and Josh are fun to see together, playing, kidding each other. Almost like brother and sister.”

  Warmth suffused her face from his caress as he brushed her hair back, his fingers combing through the strands. “I like to feel this,” he said. “Until lately I didn’t realize how calming a touch could be.”

  Neither had she. Emma wanted to melt against him, cling to him. Somehow she remained upright, but his nearness was quickly unraveling her composure. Her heartbeat hammered a mad staccato against her rib cage. Her breathing became shallow, her total focus on the man only inches from her. She wound her arms about him to steady herself.

  Slowly, almost hesitantly he bent toward her mouth and claimed it in a kiss that rocked her. This man who had been a soldier, capable of taking care of her, protecting and defending, gently possessed her with just a touch of his lips against hers.

  She didn’t know how long she would have stayed there at the side of her house enfolded in his arms, enjoying the feel of his lips on hers if Shep hadn’t barked. She blinked, dazed, trying to orient herself to the here and now.

  Jake’s arms slipped away from her. He leaned down and whispered, “The police are here.” The words flowed over her cheek.

  “Police?”

  “Yes, Emma.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead and began limping around to the front yard.

  She watched him, reliving every second of the past ten minutes. Step by step. Touch by touch. She sagged against her house for a moment, composing herself before heading over to talk with the police. The trash on her porch didn’t bother her nearly as much as before, not when she thought about the kiss Jake and she had shared.

  *

  Jake sat at Emma’s kitchen t
able, needing to go home and take a long, hot shower to rid himself of the stench. He would when she came back from talking to Josh and making sure he went to bed. Nursing a cup of coffee, he replayed kissing Emma and wondered where in the world his brain had been. No good would come of starting that kind of relationship with her. She deserved a whole man. He wanted her friendship—and he wanted much more.

  How would he back away from a woman who had come to mean so much to him? Lord, any suggestions? One that won’t hurt her.

  Nothing came to mind—except the touch of her mouth on his. If Shep hadn’t barked, he would never have known the police had pulled up.

  Although her footsteps were faint sounding, he heard her coming. He finished the coffee in one long swallow and rose.

  “Did Josh finally go to sleep?” Jake asked when Emma came into the kitchen.

  “Let’s say he acted like he was, but I won’t be surprised if he’s still up. He had a hundred questions about what the police said, what to do about Liam and Sean. A few I could answer. Most I couldn’t. I doubt the police can do much.”

  “At least the officer’s going by both boys’ houses to find out where they have been in the past few hours.” Jake took his empty cup to the sink.

  “I thought I would go around the neighborhood tomorrow and see if any of my neighbors saw something. I think from what Miss Baker said, I know what time this happened.” Emma crossed the room and went into the garage.

  Jake followed her and stood in the doorway, watching her kneel in front of a cabinet and search it until she found a can of paint and a brush. “What are you doing?”

  She glanced up. “I’m going to paint the porch.”

  “Now?”

  “I can’t have people see what’s written on the wall out there.” She rose.

  “Get another brush. I’ll help you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “No, but it’s late. If I help, it’ll be done twice as fast.” Jake covered the space between them and took the can and brush. “I’ll be out on the porch.”