Christmas Hideout. Susan Sleeman

       THREE

      Hearing Emilie’s giggle coming from the kitchen, the deputy’s—Matt as he’d told her to call him last night—chuckle deep and rumbly, Nicole sagged against the door and sighed out her fear. When she’d woken up to find Emilie missing, she’d been certain Grady had somehow found them and gotten to her daughter to take her as a bargaining chip. He’d never threatened Emilie, but after seeing the knife last night, Nicole had no idea what horrific things Grady was capable of doing.

      Their laughter died off. A long silence followed.

      “What’s wrong?” Matt asked, his voice laced with concern.

      “I miss Mommy. But she needs to keep sleeping. She’s tired because we had to go away from Grady. He wants to hurt Mommy.”

      “Did she tell you that?” Matt’s tone held surprise.

      “Nuh-uh. I heard her talking to Aunt Piper.”

       Oh, Emilie. I thought you were sleeping. Baby, I’m so sorry.

      Nicole had been so careful not to let Emilie know what was going on with Grady, and until this, she’d succeeded because Emilie still had thought Grady was a good guy and wondered why he didn’t visit them anymore.

      “Don’t worry, princess,” Matt replied, his tone restrained. “I’m a deputy. Do you know what that is?”

      “Police.”

      “Sheriff’s department, and I won’t let anything bad happen to your mommy. Not today. Not ever.” The vehemence in his tone cut clear through Nicole, and she could hardly believe she’d happened upon a cabin with a deputy who cared enough to come to their rescue.

      He seemed like such a good guy on the surface, and she wanted to believe he meant what he said. But at first Grady had doted on Emilie, and he’d promised to care for them, too. Look what happened with him. And now, thanks to Nicole letting him in their life, she would need to have a difficult discussion with her three-year-old, who was way too young to hear about bad people like Grady in the world.

       Oh, God, why? How could You let this happen?

      Okay, fine. God wasn’t responsible. She was.

      Here she was, blaming Him when she needed His guidance. She’d known what she was doing when she’d said yes to Grady. Sure, just because he wasn’t a man of faith it didn’t in any way mean he’d turn out to be a stalker, but she’d known about God’s warning in the Bible not to yoke herself to an unbeliever. She’d ignored that and followed her attraction to Grady. She’d made her own trouble and needed to work it out on her own. Only then could she feel good about resuming her relationship with God.

      For now, she’d stay strong. For herself. For Emilie. And not trust in another man, even a man like Matt, who seemed like a good guy.

      She drew in a breath of air and stepped into the kitchen, where bright aqua cabinets greeted her like sunshine on a cloudy day. The countertops were well-worn and held a big white farm sink. Gingham curtains hung on a large window. The room looked like a kitchen from the past, when times were simpler and families gathered every day around worn farm tables like this one.

      Emilie sat on Matt’s lap, stabbing a fork into chocolate chip pancakes. So the guy could cook, and he took the time to make breakfast for Emilie. That one thoughtful act drew her to his side, and she knew she had to guard against that. And guard against how she was responding to the picture the two of them made.

      Emilie looked so small next to his broad shoulders and muscular arm wrapped around her waist. A surprising sense of peace flooded Nicole, and she swallowed hard to keep from forgetting her vow of a moment ago not to let this man sway her good sense.

      Emilie looked up and smiled, and Matt’s lips tipped in a wide grin, too. He really seemed to be enjoying his time with Emilie. The scene was so precious to Nicole. A scene she’d often imagined after Troy passed away. He was such a caring and compassionate man and would have been a good father. A wonderful one, in fact.

      What kind of father would Matt be? If this scene was any indication, a good one.

       See, those are the kinds of thoughts you need to stop thinking.

      “Hi, Mommy,” Emilie said but didn’t hop down for a hug the way she normally would.

      Her daughter was very outgoing and precocious. Nicole wasn’t at all surprised that she’d come downstairs and seemed to be having a good time with Matt but she didn’t much like that Emilie had been so trusting.

      “Matt made pancakes,” she gushed as if it was the most awesome thing in the world. “And he said we could ride horsies if you said it was okay. Is it okay, Mommy? Is it?”

      Nicole didn’t appreciate being the one who had to say no.

      “I’m sorry,” he said as if reading her mind. “She said you were afraid of horses, and I didn’t want your fear to keep her from riding.”

      Great. So he thought she was putting her desires first, and she was a bad mother on top of everything else. That would make it far easier to ignore her attraction to him.

      She stepped over to the table and dropped onto a chair to look at Emilie. “We won’t be here long enough for you to ride.”

      “You’re not planning to leave, are you?” Matt asked. “Not with...you know.”

      “We’ll be going once my car is fixed, and I figure out a way to pay for it and the cabin for last night. Hopefully that can happen today.”

      He frowned. “If what you told me last night is true, I don’t like the thought of you two driving off unprotected.”

      Right. If what she said was true. He still didn’t believe her.

      Was it because Grady was a cop, or because Matt just wouldn’t believe anyone until checking them out? Though she’d learned that law enforcement officers had suspicious personalities, she’d foolishly hoped Matt would’ve thought about this overnight and would’ve realized she was sincere. Not that it mattered if she was leaving today, but she still didn’t want him to think she was a liar.

      “What’s unprotected mean?” Emilie asked around a mouthful of pancakes.

      “Never mind, honey.” When Emilie turned her attention back to her pancakes, Nicole slashed a hand across her throat to tell Matt any additional discussion of Grady was forbidden.

      His frown deepened but then cleared, as if he had iron will to change his emotions in a moment. The same way Grady could change, too. Like a chameleon. She lifted her shoulders and prepared for a different personality to appear.

      “The first thing we should do is get your car towed into the local garage,” Matt said. “If it would help, I’m glad to call them while you eat breakfast.”

      Okay, so the same guy. Kind and considerate. Could she trust that? Did she want to trust it when it could be the first step in buying into a facade to gain her cooperation?

      Seriously, she was such a hypocrite. She wanted him to trust her, but she wasn’t willing to trust him. But she had Emilie to think about. She opened her mouth to say she could make the arrangements, but a local deputy would likely have some pull with the garage and might get her car looked at today.

      She forced out a smile. “I’d appreciate you calling the garage. And I appreciate you making breakfast for Emilie. That was very kind of you.”

      “No