Her movements stiff and panicked, Jill snatched her keys from her shoulderbag as she tried to walk as normally as possible toward her worn-out car. There had to be a way to get Holly into her car seat without giving that sinister looking man a chance to grab her. The stroller could be abandoned if need be.Telling herself to be calm and not to overreact, Jill shuffled the bag of bread and her purse down to her wrist as she unlocked the car door. Too frightened to look up to see if she’d been followed, she tossed her things to the car floor. Swiftly, she picked Holly up and fastened her into the car seat, all the while acting as though she weren’t petrified out of her wits. Risking a quick peek, she saw that the man had gone into the bakery and was locked in confrontation with the shop girl. Jill could see her head moving back and forth in an emphatically negative response to whatever the man was asking her. He glanced toward Jill’s car, pointing purposefully. Jill grabbed the stroller

Dustin awakened to the sound of pounding on the front door. He’d spent an uncomfortable night in front of the fireplace, which was now letting in drafts of cold air. Cursing to himself, he got up to open the door.‘I should have known it’d be you. You’re going to have to get your own eggs and sausage out of the kitchen. I’m not cooking, and nobody else is awake,’ Dustin grumbled at Marsh.‘Breakfast sounds good, but actually I need to talk to you. You look like hell. Didn’t you sleep last night?’Dustin scrubbed a hand over the prickly growth on his chin. Lord, he needed a shave and a shower. ‘No. Orange juice?’Marsh glanced into the parlor as he walked by it. Dustin knew he hadn’t missed the blankets on the floor. He went into the kitchen, mentally bracing himself for Marsh’s question.‘Heat go out upstairs or something?’‘No,’ Dustin growled. ‘I spent the night in front of the fire because I thought it was a cool thing to do.’‘Hm.’ He looked at Dustin closely. ‘Why do you have pin

Whatever minor easing of tension they’d managed to achieve had reverted to friction again. She couldn’t help thinking that the Reed Ranch might not be her home much longer.It was a very painful thought.Dustin was letting Rooster pick his way along a stream when he heard Marsh’s loud whistle. He returned the signal, then waited for his friend to appear. Moments later he did, astride one of Dustin’s geldings.‘You must have news or you wouldn’t have ridden out here to find me,’ he said.‘Yep. And I’m a damn good friend to do it, too.’He pulled his hat a little further down over his eyes to shield them from the light. Marsh had managed to park himself in the path of west-riding sun. ‘Give me the bad newsr.’‘They’re gone, Dustin. Sadie and her mother have left town. They’ve had their mail routed to a post office box and canceled their newspaper.’‘Where did they go?’Marsh shrugged. ‘No one seems to know. Or else they’re not telling. Would your mother have an idea of where any of Vera

‘Hi, son,’ he said.Joey jumped onto the plank bench and dug into a dinner roll. Dustin sat next to his son, glancing up to find Jill smiling at him, that big gorgeous smile of hers that he loved.‘I’m learning,’ he told her.‘Yes, you are.’He didn’t want to think about how good her praise felt. Instead, he said, ‘Well, what should we do this evening, since we’re basically houseboimd?’Jill’s delicate brows arched inquiringly.‘If not for Holly’s sake, then the weather would have us shut in.’ Dustin tucked into a big helping of mashed potatoes.‘Was Marsh concerned?’ Jill asked with a protective look Joey’s way.He knew she was trying not to voice too much in case of upsetting his son. Dustin slid a careful look at Joey before nodding. ‘He’s going to have extra patrols tonight.* He cleared his throat, wishing he could say more to soothe her but Joey’s presence made it difficult. ‘We should just be on our guard.’Joey glanced up, looking back and forth between the two of them. ‘So,’ J

‘Jill, dear, are you going to be okay?’Eunice’s worried face hovered behind Jill in the mirror. Her face was bruised, swollen definitely, but nothing was broken. The pimch had landed under her eye and across from her nose on the cheek-bone, so although it had felt like her face had been shattered at the time, Jill knew she was fortunate not to be undergoing cosmetic surgery tonight.‘I’m fine, Eimice,’ she said, applying another cold compress to her face. ‘I’m starting to get a little sore in my arms and legs, but that will pass, too.’ She sighed deeply, looking down into the washbasin as she rinsed the cloth out. ‘I just wish somebody would call and tell us that Holly is safe.’Eunice patted her shoulder. ‘The Christmas season means believing, Jill. I believe that Holly will be back here soon, snug in her little basket. I can’t imagine anything else.’It was the season to believe, and if ever they could use a miracle, now was definitely the time. ‘I just keep hearing her cry . . .’