CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER

7

“S

ara?”

It was the barely restrained panic in Isaac’s voice that caught Jenna’s attention. She was out back in the woodshed spray-painting snowflakes for her big surprise. She grabbed her crutches and ducked out the door so he wouldn’t come in and see what she was doing.

“Jenna, is Sara with you?” He visibly deflated when Jenna said she hadn’t seen her. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Oh God. I can’t find her anywhere.”

Jenna tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach at the thought that her brother might have something to do with Sara’s disappearance. “Would she go in the woods?”

“I don’t think so. She did that once last year and I had to get all the neighbours to help find her. She went out just before dark and scared herself pretty good. I can’t see her pulling that stunt again.”

“Where all have you looked?”

“Every room in the house, twice. I’ve been to all the cabins, and all her favourite hide-and-seek places. She isn’t here.” He paced back and forth, wearing a large patch in the snow.

“The last time I saw her she was colouring at the living room table. Maybe an hour ago.” Jenna started towards the house slowly.

“She can’t have got that far. I was only in the kitchen making lunch for fifteen minutes or so. I thought she was still working on her project. I shouldn’t have left her alone but she wanted it to be a surprise.” Jenna could see the panic on Isaac’s face. She wanted to reach out and comfort him, and cursed the crutches that kept her hands tied.

“It’s not your fault, Isaac. Sara’s smart, and I’m sure she’s fine. We’ll find her soon.” She stopped at the door to the house. “I’m not much use searching outside, so why don’t you take the truck and head down the road a ways towards town and see if she’s there, or if anyone has seen her. I’ll search the house again as best I can and make sure there’s someone here if she shows up.”

And try to track down my brother to make sure he had nothing to do with this.

She didn’t think Eli knew where she was staying, but it was possible. And she didn’t know what he was capable of.

If her brother had done anything, she was never going to forgive herself.

Isaac wrapped her in a huge hug, and she could feel him collect himself. “Thanks, Jenna. I’m really glad you’re here.”

She was right where she wanted to be, too. Jenna really hoped he still felt that way once they found out where Sara had gone.

It wasn’t at all the right time to dwell on it, but she really did like the feel of his arms around her.

“Okay. Now go find your girl.”

Jenna dialed

the number her brother had been calling her from, but got no answer.

She hobbled around the house, checking everywhere that looked like a good hiding spot, methodically making her way from room to room. She kept calling out for Sara along the way, but no small voice answered.

That sick feeling in her stomach hadn’t gone away. Just the thought of anything happening to Sara because of her had her eyes welling up. She hadn’t known the little girl for long, but she already felt so protective of her. She reminded Jenna a lot of herself when she was a kid: lots of heart, and always working on some crafty project or other.

Please, please let Sara come back unhurt. I promise that I’ll make sure she has the best Christmas ever, if you just bring her back in one piece. And please let my brother have nothing to do with this.

Trying to keep herself busy while she waited for Isaac to come back, Jenna awkwardly bustled around the living room cleaning up the art supplies.

When that was done, she was still too wound up to sit, so she headed into the kitchen. Isaac had been making ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and hadn’t quite got through the process. Jenna put the finishing touches on the sandwiches, and then peeled and chopped some carrot sticks to go along with them. Surely if lunch was ready and waiting they would both walk through the door any minute. It was flawed logic maybe, but feeling like she was doing something helped keep her calm.

Jenna smiled as she put the veggies on the table, thinking about what a good dad Isaac was. He made sure Sara had everything she needed, and that the lack of a mom in her life didn’t mean she missed out on much.

If Jenna’s mom had made half the effort Isaac did, would it have been enough to keep her brother on track? Maybe a positive male influence would have helped. Or maybe he was just born wild. Her brother wasn’t one to talk about his feelings, and their interactions over the past few years had been limited to him asking for money, and Jenna bailing him out of whatever scrape he was in. He had a real knack for getting in trouble. He always had. Jenna had helped him out in the past because she felt like she owed him; he’d kept her out of scrapes when she was younger. But she didn’t know the man he had become, and didn’t much like what she

did

know.

A sound on the porch caught Jenna’s attention, and she crutched her way over to the door.

“Sara!” Jenna dropped her crutches and scooped the little girl up for a big hug. “I’m so glad to see you! Please, don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I’m sorry, Jenna. I just wanted to mail a letter to Santa.”

Jenna lost herself completely as two little girl arms wrapped themselves around her neck.

“I found her on the side of the road, walking back this way from the mailbox.” She could hear the relief in Isaac’s voice, but he was still a bit shaky.

Thank goodness her brother hadn’t had anything to do with Sara’s disappearance. She wasn’t taking any chances, though. She would stick to Sara like glue and make sure that if her brother did track her down, he couldn’t use her attachment to Sara to get what he wanted.

Isaac watched

Jenna and Sara ice the last of the gingerbread shapes, and felt the ball of fear that had sat in the pit of his stomach all day finally unravel. There was nothing worse than knowing your child was in danger. But she was back, and she was safe.

Through the whole process, Jenna had been right there beside him. She hadn’t panicked, and her calm response had helped him keep it together.

He marvelled at how easily Jenna slipped into their lives. Everything they had done through the holidays was made more special by her contributions.

He was sorry that Jenna had been hurt, but he wasn’t sorry it had forced her to stay with them. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do when she left next week.

That was a lie. He knew exactly what they were going to do. They were going to miss her. Sara would miss her, and if he were being honest with himself, so would he. He was trying to keep his distance, but her every action and look made him like her more. And he was haunted by their kiss the other night.

Isaac had kept his distance since then because he wanted to protect Sara from getting involved and missing Jenna too much when she left. But he’d also been trying to protect himself, and it looked like he had failed miserably on both counts.

Instead of focusing on that, maybe he should follow his daughter’s example and just make the most of the time they had together.

It was Christmas Eve, after all, and he’d like to think he’d been a pretty nice guy all year. Maybe it was time to be just a little bit naughty.