Susan Sleeman - Holiday Secrets

“Makes sense,” Gavin said. “But he needs to know the suspect is looking for something and will likely come back. And that he might have seen you, too.”

“I made sure Adam understands enough to know he needs to be careful. For the most part, he’s trying to act tough, but I can tell he’s afraid.”

Walt offered a kind smile. “Nothing to worry about. Gavin here has insisted on personally seeing you home tonight.”

Gavin nodded and met her gaze. “I just want to be sure you’re safely settled in, is all.”

“Thank you,” she said instead of trying to argue when she was so wiped out.

“We’ve got a deputy stationed outside your house for the night,” Walt continued. “Kendall will drive Adam to school in the morning and spend the day with him. After we have a clearer picture of what happened at the scene and have processed any recovered evidence, we’ll make a long-term plan.”

Her heart dropped. “Do you really think this will go long-term?”

Walt rubbed his forehead lined from hours of working the ranch beneath the hot Texas sun. “Can’t rightly say. Not when I don’t have enough information.”

“Regardless, it’s best to be prepared,” Gavin said.

She firmed her jaw, something she often felt like her slight stature forced her to do to be taken seriously. “I’d like to be in on all discussions about our protection.”

Walt nodded. “Let’s plan to meet over lunch here tomorrow. If you have to go anywhere before then, our deputy will follow you. That work for you, sweetheart?”

At his tender tone, she almost lost it. Walt was a hard taskmaster with Gavin, but once she’d started dating Gavin, Walt had in many ways become the father she’d always wanted. Until Gavin had left. Then she’d made a point of trying not to run into any of the McKades if she could help it.

“Can we meet at one? Adam only has a half day tomorrow, so I’ll need to pick him up from school early.”

“Kendall can bring him home.”

“I know, but I want to try to keep as much of our routine as possible to reduce his turmoil over losing Dad.”

“I completely understand,” Walt said. “Adam can have lunch in the kitchen with my parents while we talk. Mom will fill him up with her famous Christmas cookies.”

Lexie smiled her thanks.

“Are you ready to go?” Gavin asked.

She nodded. “Let me get Adam.”

She went to the dining room door and motioned for her brother to join her in the foyer. He started off at a good clip, his untied sneakers slapping on the floor, but then he spotted Gavin and slowed.

Gavin smiled. “Good to see you, bud.”

“We’re not buds.” Adam jerked open the front door and bounded down the stairs.

“Hey, wait up!” Gavin went charging after Adam to grab his arm.

The teen shook it off.

“Look, I get that you’re mad at me,” Gavin said. “You have every right to be, but I need you to stick close by me or any deputies escorting you. For safety reasons. Can you do that?”

Adam nodded, but his sullen expression remained. “Let’s just get going.”

“My car is over there.” Gavin gestured at his black SUV backed into a small parking area next to the house.

When they were on the road, Lexie glanced over the seat to where Adam glared at the back of Gavin’s head.

How had their lives come to this? To the point that she and her little brother were in serious danger? Bad enough that she had to deal with it, but Adam was just a kid.

Adam slammed a fist on his knee and jerked his head toward the window. She caught a glimpse of pain mingling with anger in his eyes. He’d taken the news of their father’s death harder than she’d expected, but part of the pain, and she suspected all of the anger, was her fault. Her breakup with Gavin had devastated Adam. He’d lost the male role model that he’d bonded with most. And now he had to deal with the emotions of losing a father who should have been that positive role model in the first place.

Lexie sighed. She would just have to limit Adam’s exposure to Gavin to make things easier for him. Just like she needed to limit her own exposure.

Right. Easier said than done when her gaze kept drifting to him. Settling on his broad shoulders and strong jaw. His long, masculine fingers as he rested his hand on the gearshift. And then there was the scent of his woodsy cologne, now mixed with the smell of hay and horses. At their lunch meeting tomorrow, she’d make sure he understood that he didn’t owe her anything and that if he wanted to go back to Houston, that was fine with her. But even as the thought popped into her head, she doubted it was okay.

“Grrr,” she said without thinking.

Gavin glanced at her. “Everything okay?”

“It’s nothing.” A big, fat nothing that was everything to her at the moment. She followed Adam’s lead and peered out the window, too.

The SUV rounded a narrow curve to where she’d parked her truck and trailer. Gavin pulled into the boarded-up gas station. The station had gone out of business when Mr. Engles had closed down his airstrip and barricaded access for vehicles beyond this point in an effort to keep out trespassers.

Gavin angled his vehicle to shine headlights on her truck before shifting into Park.

Exhausted, it took all her strength to push open the door and climb down, but she wouldn’t let Adam or Gavin witness her fatigue. It was a good thing Gavin had such a considerate grandfather who’d bedded Misty down at the ranch for the night. Lexie loved her horse, but was glad not to have to take care of her on top of everything else.

Gavin headed straight for her truck. Why, she didn’t know, but she didn’t have the energy to question him. She opened the SUV’s back door for Adam. He slid out, his shoulders sagging, his face downcast.

“I know this is hard.” She forced out a smile. “But we’ll get through it just like we get through everything else life throws at us. With our faith.”

Right. Faith. She felt like a hypocrite. Hers had pretty much been put on the back burner since their mom died, but she didn’t want to impact Adam’s faith journey by letting him know she had doubts on God’s faithfulness, so she put on a good front.

He gave her another sullen look and leaned against the SUV.

She stifled a sigh, something she’d been doing since he’d become a teenager and spread wings she’d had to clip at times. Aunt Ruth was a great mother figure, but Lexie felt pressure to fulfill her mother’s dying wishes. She’d known their father could get wrapped up in his practice and forget everything else, so she’d asked Lexie to make sure Adam was happy and well looked after.

She’d kept that promise and wasn’t about to let a killer or even Gavin’s attention make her shirk her responsibilities. She dug out her keys and started for the truck. She heard Adam’s shoes thumping on the concrete behind her.

Gavin approached the passenger door. He spun around, his gaze intense. “Back to the car. Both of you.”

Lexie looked past him to see her truck window shattered and the door standing open.

Her heart racing, she grabbed Adam’s arm and dragged him back to the SUV.

Gavin eased forward, his feet crunching over glass. She noted her truck’s dome light was out, so the person who’d broken the window had either turned it off or shattered it, as well. Lexie still had her hand on Adam’s arm, which shook under her grasp. Stepping closer to him, she slid her arm around his waist. He was nearly six feet tall now and she couldn’t place an arm around his shoulders or she’d do so. He started to shrug her off, maybe thinking he needed to be that tough young man again, but then stopped and moved a bit closer.

Gavin drew out his phone and turned on the flashlight app while still balancing his gun. He crept quietly around the truck, shining the beam in the surrounding shrubs and dense foliage. Then he moved to the horse trailer hitched to the back of her truck and peered inside.