Page 63 of Silver Hills' Christmas Miracle

“I’ll call.” I smiled across at her. “All I need you to do is keep an eye on Kitty while I can’t.”

“Oh, for sure.” Melanie smiled. “It’s our annual Christmas dinner tonight, so I’ll be able to get all the low down on what her parents are up to.”

“I’m glad. I don’t like her being isolated like this.”

“Mmm.” Melanie hummed out her agreement. “Although the Yuletide Ball is right around the corner. If that goes well, maybe all your problems will melt away.”

“You think?”

Melanie shrugged. “I have no idea, but that’s the plan, right? Have the town overwhelm the ball and give Samuel no place to run to? Make him face the people, so to speak? Technically, you’re invited to that, too.” She reached under the bar and retrieved a crumpled poster, then slid it toward me. “Each one grants entry, right?”

“Shit. I hadn’t even thought of that.” I straightened up suddenly. “I’m going to need a suit. A good suit.”

“This late in the game?” Melanie chuckled. “You’ll be getting a regular old funeral jacket at this rate.”

“It’ll have to do. And it gives me the perfect excuse to talk to Samuel. He won’t be able to run from anyone at the gala, and that’s all I need. Melanie, you’re a star.”

“Oh, I know!” She tossed her hair and laughed. “Although I’m not sure what I did.”

“What you always do.” I drained my glass and slid from my stool. “You spoke sense.”

“Alright.” She laughed, waving at me as I hurried away. “I’ll take it!”

Melanie was right about many things, mainly that the suit collection I was faced with was sorrowful. Kitty had worked hard to make sure everyone in town got access to good suits and dresses for the ball, and nearly everything of worth had been snatched up. With Kitty’s dress in mind, I settled for a gunmetal grey suit with a red shirt and white tie. Fashion was never my strong suit, but matching the colors to her dress felt like the right thing to do.

She was mine, and now I didn’t care who knew about it.

Suit secured, complete with black shoes, I headed back to my motel room as the sun sank beneath the horizon and cold snapped at my ankles.

It never felt this cold in the cities. There was definitely something more bitter about winter in nature.

Back inside, I hung my suit up on the door and took a quick shower, which was interrupted by a call from my lawyer. She didn’t have great news, but it wasn’t terrible, either. As I suspected, the contract was pretty watertight, and Samuel would be well within his rights to claim sleeping with his daughter was a breach of that. The only thing in my favor was doubting work conditions and treatment.

That was going to take a while.

I paced my room and gave her a quick rundown of Kitty’s accident as well as the protestors invading the meeting. My lawyer was clear. It would be difficult but not impossible to make this work. I had to be committed, and I had to be prepared for Samuel to play dirty.

It turned out that my lawyer had asked around, and Samuel was known because in the spring, a few construction workers had attempted to take him to court over unsafe working conditions after the flooding, and they had been ground into the dust over things as small as toilet breaks.

After our conversation ended, I flopped down onto the bed and once again gazed up at the ceiling. Maybe hoping for Samuel to get a wake-up call was a fool's hope. Maybe there really was nothing we could do and this was just who he was now. Not the man I had befriended. He was cold now, driven by power and greed and the approval of all the leeches locked onto the highway deal.

If it was a losing battle, then I would still fight it alongside Kitty.

For her. And our baby.

Sleep came quickly after I had been awake for over twenty-four hours, and I fell into a dreamless darkness while still damp from my shower. By the time I woke up, my neck was stiff, my head was cold, and it was pitch black inside and out.

A tune played out from my phone as someone called me, lighting up the room with flashes of blue and yellow light. Reaching for the device, I eased myself up with a yawn and pressed the phone to my ear, half expecting to hear my lawyer again.

“Hello?”

“Rook, thank God,” Melanie gasped breathlessly.

I was wide away instantly. “Melanie? What’s wrong? Why do you sound so out of breath?”

“I’m running,” she gasped. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, Rook, but something is wrong.”

“With you? Are you okay?”

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