Her Mistletoe Protector

She hadn’t known about Nick’s sisters. And she realized there were probably a lot of things she didn’t know about Nick.

Curious, she opened the book and scanned the various chapters. It wasn’t easy to decipher the meaning of the writing since, according to the title page, it was written in the Authorized King James Version.

“What are you reading?” Joey asked, coming over to sit next to her on the sofa.

She glanced down at her son, remembering the conversation he’d had with Nick before breakfast. It had nearly broken her heart to hear Joey describe how alone he’d felt in the dark room where Morales had kept him. She realized now that she’d done her son a disservice by not teaching him religion. “This is a Bible, which is a collection of God’s words,” she explained, hoping she was describing it right.

“Are there stories in there?” he queried, leaning over to see for himself.

“Yes, there are,” she replied, although she wasn’t sure exactly where they were. She vaguely remembered some Bible stories from her childhood, but how to find them in this huge book?

She opened the Bible to the New Testament, and the pages opened to the Gospel according to Saint John. “‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,’” she read out loud. Joey leaned against her, seemingly content so she continued, “‘The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.’”

Soon, she got into the rhythm of the words, and the lyrical quality of the text helped her to relax. So intent was she on reading that she didn’t hear Nick return.

When she glanced up, she saw him watching her, a gentle smile on his face. She stumbled over the next sentence and then stopped.

“You sound like you’ve been reading the Bible your entire life,” he murmured, admiration reflected in his gaze.

She felt herself blush. “I hope it’s okay that I’m reading your mother’s Bible,” she said. “I found it on the bedside table in our room.”

“She’d be thrilled,” he assured her. “John’s Gospel is one of my favorites. Although you also might try the book of Psalms—those are where I go when I need to reconnect with God. Or we might want to review the Gospel surrounding the birth of Jesus, as that’s what Christmas is all about.”

“All right,” she agreed, thinking that this was the first time in her entire life that she’d had a conversation about the Bible with a man.

Actually, with anyone. Yet she found it wasn’t the least bit awkward, at least with Nick.

Joey scrambled off the sofa and ran over to Nick. “Did you find any deer in the deer bed?” he asked, the Bible stories forgotten.

“Nope, didn’t see any deer there today,” he said with a wry smile.

She frowned and set the Bible aside. “What did you find?” she asked, sensing there was something bothering him.

He shrugged. “Could be nothing, but I think I’ll call Jonah, just in case.”

She did not like the sound of that. “Just in case what?”

He hesitated. “Just in case the bit of fabric I found outside doesn’t belong to a hunter poaching on my uncle’s land.”

* * *

Nick tried Jonah several times before he connected with his friend. “I might need some backup,” he said bluntly.

“What happened?” Jonah asked.

In the background he could hear Mallory’s voice but not exactly what she was saying. “I found some fabric stuck to a tree branch about fifty feet from the cabin. Can’t be sure it’s a random hunter or someone who could have followed us.”

There was a moment of silence. “I want to help you, Nick, but Mallory has been having contractions. She says it’s probably false labor, since she’s not due until next week, but I’m not willing to take the chance.”

“Hey, no problem,” he hastened to assure his friend. “Stay with Mallory, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Maybe you should call for backup? Or, find another place to stay,” Jonah suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.” Neither option thrilled him. He trusted his boss but didn’t want to bring in anyone new. And if they left, he’d have to use his credit card, since he was almost out of cash. If the Mafia was involved, they likely had the ability to track them that way. Not to mention, he rather liked the coziness of the cabin. “Take care of Mallory, and call me if I’m going to be an honorary uncle.”