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Sheriff McCain, Joshua, Jake and a couple of the guards came to help.

  “One of my deputies notified me that he picked up Cindy. He’s taken her into custody.”

  Elizabeth peered at Jake, and even in the dim light from the various flashlights she could see the anger that tensed his face. She knew the look of betrayal and the pain he would go through because of Cindy. But she couldn’t worry about that just now. Finding Slade was all that mattered.

  Minutes later the last piece of wood was flung away from the storm cellar’s opening. Elizabeth reached out a trembling hand and pulled on the latch. Please let him be alive, Lord.

  Taking her flashlight, she went first down the ladder. The eerie quiet wrapped about her as though it were a shroud. What if he hadn’t remembered the cellar? What if…

  Her sweeping light as she moved forward in the narrow tunnel fell upon a mound of dirt and debris that collapsed from one wall and part of the ceiling of a small room. Trapped beneath it lay Slade, eyes closed, part of his body still visible.

  She rushed forward as Joshua and the sheriff came down into the shelter. Kneeling as close to Slade as possible, she placed her fingers at the side of his neck. The beating of his pulse was an answer to her prayer. Thank You, Lord.

  “He’s alive. Let’s get him out of here.” Elizabeth tore at the debris that held him captive.

  In Slade’s hospital room hours later, Elizabeth stood back, leaning against the wall while Abbey hugged her father, tears streaming down her face.

  “I’m so sorry I left my room to meet Brody. I didn’t think anything like this would happen.” She gulped in a deep breath. “I never imagined Cindy…” The rest of her sentence faded into the silence as the teen swiped the wet tracks from her cheeks and stepped back.

  “Honey, I thought our place was safe. Although you and I will talk about the fact that you sneaked out of the house to meet a boy, I’m just glad it’s over.”

  With a few cuts and bruises on his face and one nasty bump on his head, he looked exhausted but wonderfully alive to Elizabeth. The doctors had insisted he stay the rest of the night for observation before they let him go home tomorrow—she glanced at her watch—correction, later this morning.

  “Dad, I’ve never been so scared in my life. I—” Abbey snapped her mouth closed, tears slipping from her eyes again.

  Slade took her hand. “Me, too. All I wanted was to make sure you were all right.”

  “You—” Abbey paused “—traded yourself for me—I love you, Dad.” She threw her arms around him again and kissed him on the cheek.

  “I love you, hon. No matter what.”

  Mary came forward. “I don’t know about you, Abbey, but I’m ready to go home and get some sleep. Besides, your dad needs to rest because now that everything is back to normal, I intend to have the Christmas open house after all.”

  Slade groaned, but a grin plastered his face.

  “We’ll be back to pick you up.” Abbey gave her father another kiss, then started for the door. She stopped in front of Elizabeth and said, “Thank you for everything you did for me. I’m alive because of you.” Abbey embraced Elizabeth, then left the room.

  Elizabeth swung her attention to Slade, knowing he was looking at her. She felt the caress of his gaze deep in the marrow of her bones. She shoved herself from the wall and covered the space between them. “I’d better be going, too.”

  He grasped her hand before she turned away. “Don’t. Earlier, before your dog—who’s getting a big steak, by the way—interrupted us, I told you I love you. When you didn’t reply to that, I let it go for the time being. But after what nearly happened tonight, I’m not letting another minute go by without talking to you about how I feel and seeing where we stand. Life’s too short. I found that out tonight when I was faced with dying.”

  And she’d faced his death tonight, too. She never wanted to go through that again, especially when she hadn’t told him how she felt earlier. “I agree.” Cupping her other hand over his, she moved as close to him as possible. “I don’t know if I would have said anything earlier, because for the longest time I’ve been afraid of loving another person after my dad and Bryan. The risk just seemed too much. Then I almost lost you tonight, and I knew it would be far worse to not grab hold of the gift you’d given me for fear of what might or might not happen. Even if my father never calls, I tried and I’ve forgiven him. I need to move on.”

  He started to say something. She placed her finger over his lips. “With you. I love you, Slade Caulder. You’re nothing like Bryan, but then I’m not like I was when I married him. I know how important it is to stand up for myself, to be me, not some vision someone else has of me. Can you accept me as I am?”

  His eyes lit with a silver fire. “That’s the only way I’d accept you. I don’t want you any other way. I love the woman I’ve gotten to know—strong, independent and caring.”

  “What about my job?”

  “I’m not going to kid you and say I’d be ecstatic to have you protecting others, putting your life on the line, but we can work something out. God didn’t bring you into my life without a plan for us to be together. He’ll never abandon me.”

  She took his face in her hands and kissed him. “We’re two smart people. I think we can come up with a compromise.”

  EPILOGUE

  In the early evening on Christmas eve, Elizabeth stood in the den near the decorated tree with Mary. “You’ve outdone yourself. I can’t believe you threw this open house together in such a short time. The turnout has been great. I didn’t know you all knew so many people.”

  “It’s been a Caulder tradition for years. And this year, especially, we have something to celebrate. With Cindy in jail, my family is safe again and life is back to normal.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “As normal as it can be with a sixteen-year-old girl.”

  “True. I’m glad so many of her friends are here, too.”

  “And Brody.” Elizabeth glanced toward the young man with Abbey. The night of the showdown with Cindy he’d only suffered a concussion like Slade. Otherwise, he had been all right and had been back at the ranch the next day, too.

  “Poor Jake. I’ve invited him to share Christmas dinner with us tomorrow. Him and Brody.” Lifting her glass of red punch to her lips, Mary took a sip and looked around until she found Joshua. “Also your uncle.”

  “Yeah, he told me. Is there anything I should know about you two?”

  “Who knows?” Mary murmured with a wink.

  “Everyone, can I have your attention?” Slade stood in front of the fireplace, which was strung with garlands. When the room of guests quieted, Slade continued. “I have an announcement.” Then he crossed to Elizabeth and tugged her toward the mantel.

  A blush stained her cheeks at being the center of everyone’s attention. “What’s this about?”

  Slade knelt on one knee, took hold of her hand and withdrew a ring from his pocket. “Elizabeth Walker, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  The heat of her face rivaled the warmth from the blaze in the fireplace. She knew he loved her. She loved him, too—so much that she’d gone into the security consulting business with her uncle so she didn’t have to travel much or put her life on the line for a client. But she hadn’t expected this. Slade was a private man and to do this so publicly was out of character. “I—I don’t know what to say” was all she could think to utter, she was so surprised by his proposal.

  “‘Yes’ would be a good start.”

  “Yes. Yes.”

  Slade rose and slid the ring onto the third finger on her left hand.

  “Kiss her,” a female shouted. Elizabeth was pretty sure it was Abbey.

  Someone else said the same thing, and in a few seconds the crowd was chanting it.

  Slade pressed her against him, his arms wrapping around her. “We can’t disappoint them.”

  “I agree.”

  He took her lips in a deep kiss that erased all past hurts. Only the future la
y before them—together.

  Dear Reader,

  Christmas Bodyguard is the first in my series called Guardians, Inc. This series is about women who have chosen to be bodyguards. It has been interesting coming up with circumstances where the woman is the protector and then having the hero match her. In this series, the women and men are both equally strong characters who know how to deal with dangerous situations.

  I love hearing from readers. You can contact me at [email protected] or at P. O. Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101. You can also learn more about my books at www. margaretdaley.com. I have a quarterly newsletter that you can sign up for on my website, or you can enter my monthly drawings by signing my guest book on the website.

  Best wishes,

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  Trust is important in a relationship. Elizabeth didn’t know how to trust because of her past relationships with her father and Bryan. Has anyone caused you to distrust him/her? Why? How did you settle it?

  Slade and Abbey were faced with someone wanting to hurt them. Have you ever been really scared? How did you deal with it?

  Slade didn’t think the Lord heard his prayers, especially when his wife died. Have you ever thought that? What did you do?

  Slade dealt with his grief by throwing himself into work rather than turning to the Lord and his family. How have you dealt with grief in the past?

  Abbey’s relationship with her father is rocky. Part of that is because she is a teenager trying to become independent, but the other part is that she doesn’t think he loves her like he used to because he pushed her away when Abbey’s mother died. Do you or someone you know have a similar relationship with a parent? How have you or that parent dealt with the situation?

  Elizabeth couldn’t forgive her father. She never felt loved or valued as a child. Her past ruled her life. Is there something that happened in your past that has done that to you? How can you get past that?

  Abbey’s life was in danger. This was hard for Slade to handle. When life seems impossible, what do you do? Who do you turn to for help?

  Who did you think was after Abbey and Slade? Why?

  The villain was motivated by revenge. How can we get past wanting to hurt someone we thought hurt us?

  When Elizabeth’s ex-husband left her, she was forced to start over. Have you ever needed a fresh start in life? Did it help you? If not, what did you do next to make your life better?

  Elizabeth was verbally abused by her husband. She’d molded her life around her husband’s needs and demands. Have you ever been in a situation like that? What did you do to form a healthier relationship?

  How would you deal with having your child kidnapped? Who would you turn to?

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7663-9

  CHRISTMAS BODYGUARD

  Copyright © 2010 by Margaret Daley

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

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