Her Mistletoe Protector

“Sorry, but we’ll have to walk in from here,” he said, grabbing the bag of clothes in one hand while keeping his weapon ready with the other. Just in case. “I’m afraid we’ll get stuck if we drive in any farther.”

“That’s okay,” Rachel replied, opening her door and pushing it against the brush. Joey climbed out right behind her as if eager to be out of the car. He saw Rachel reach for Joey’s hand, but when her son eagerly strode through the tall brown grass without so much as glancing at her, she let her hand drop back to her side.

“Be careful,” he called to Joey as he came over to walk beside Rachel, their feet crunching against the half-frozen brush.

“I hope there aren’t poisonous snakes around here,” she said nervously, as she followed her son’s progress down the driveway.

“December is too cold for snakes,” he assured her. He wanted to reach for her hand but sensed she was still angry with him. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t mean to upset you or Joey.”

“Then stop asking him questions about what happened,” she said wearily. “Don’t you think he’s been through enough?”

“I think you’ve both been through more than enough,” Nick said in a low voice. “But we can’t afford to relax now. For one thing, Morales knows we saw him and that you didn’t come to the barn alone.”

“He has the money, what more could he want?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure he planned to kill you both,” he rasped out.

Before Rachel could respond, Joey shouted, “There’s the cabin!”

Sure enough, Nick could make out the familiar log cabin through the bare tree branches. The place looked smaller than he remembered, but as long as the wood-burning stove worked, he thought they’d be fine.

“We’ll need to discuss this more, later,” he said quietly to Rachel. “For now, let’s get settled, okay?”

When she nodded, he lengthened his stride to catch up to Joey. Rachel didn’t want to believe she and Joey were still in danger, but he knew they were. And he vowed to do whatever it took to keep them safe.

* * *

Rachel explored the small kitchen area inside the cabin, relieved to note that there were plenty of canned goods, soups and stew for them to eat. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust, but nothing was outdated or spoiled. She frowned, knowing that the place needed to be cleaned but that it would be impossible without water.

“First we’ll build a fire to make it warm in here,” Nick was telling Joey. “Then we’re going to prime the pump outside.”

“What does that mean?” Joey asked, hovering near Nick as he stacked wood in the large wood-burning stove in the center of the room. There were dried leaves and twigs, too, and soon he had a roaring fire going.

“The well has to be closed up in the winter, or else the pipes will freeze,” Nick explained. “We’ll prime the pump to get the water running again. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Rachel watched Joey and Nick interact with a distinct male camaraderie. She knew her son longed for a male role model, which was one of the reasons she’d gotten him involved in sports like basketball. At least his coach was a decent role model for her son.

But to see Joey bond with Nick like this was worrisome. What would happen once this nightmare was over? When Nick went back to his job, leaving her and Joey to make a new life for themselves? She and her son might even have to move in order for her to find work.

The last thing she wanted was for Joey to be hurt again. He’d already suffered so much. The image of the way he’d reacted when Morales ripped the hood off his head was seared into her memory.

Granted, Nick wasn’t going to hurt her son on purpose, not the way Morales had. But she knew, with deep certainty, that her son would eventually be hurt just the same.

This was exactly why she hadn’t dated or tried to form any relationships with men. And even though she knew most men weren’t connected with the Mafia, she wasn’t sure she was ready to think about a relationship of any sort. Friendship, yes. But she’d stayed alone because she knew Joey was at a vulnerable and impressionable age. Avoiding relationships was easier than allowing Joey to get close to someone, only to be hurt if the relationship didn’t work out. When Nick and Joey went back outside to work on the pump, she grabbed several cans of stew and set them on the counter.

Nick wanted to talk later, and that was just fine with her. Because she wanted to talk to him, too. He had to understand that he needed to keep his distance from Joey.