Page 4 of Silver Hills' Christmas Miracle

“Where…” she began, then she coughed and pressed one hand to her chest. “Where are we going?”

“Protocol states that I take you to a safe house,” I replied, racing off down the street. “So that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Right,” Kitty replied softly. “A safe house.”

With one hand on the wheel, I split my attention between her and the road. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“What?” Kitty blinked hurriedly, then clasped both her hands in her lap.

“Kitty, did he hurt you?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head, sending her blonde hair dancing about her face. “No, he didn’t get close. You didn’t let him get close.”

While that was true, there had been a second when I couldn’t tell whether his outstretched arm had reached her or not. Relief warmed my chest, though I still ran an eye over her, looking for any signs of injury that she might not have felt, thanks to adrenaline. She looked fine, mostly—just shaken up.

“What will happen to him?” Kitty finally tore her gaze away from the road to look at me.

“Huh?”

“That man… what will happen to him?”

“He attacks you in the middle of the store and you’re concerned what will happen to him?” Her question wasn’t a shock, not really. In my time spent with Kitty since the summer, her big heart had been on clear display. She didn’t shy away from helping people and spent hours crying over cat videos on her phone. She was an empathetic person.

Even, it seemed, for people trying to hurt her.

“The rest of the security team will take care of him,” I explained carefully. “He wasn’t my priority. You were. Your safety is the only thing I care about. They will work with thepolice and he will be arrested. They will also conduct a sweep of the manor and the surrounding areas before giving the all clear.”

“Why the manor?”

“If he acted alone, there would be no threat. But if he had help, then we have to consider that his actions might have been a distraction, so the team will have to secure the manor and everything else before it’s safe to go back.”

“Wow.” Kitty chuckled dryly. “I didn’t get the impression he would do that.”

“Did you get the impression that he would try to stab you?” I asked sharply. Kitty flinched at my question, and her knuckles bled white from how tightly she was gripping her fingers.

“No,” she replied. “He was just… he was telling me that he’s losing business because the toxins from the construction are killing the fish in the water and it’s my father’s fault. I understood him, and I tried to tell him I was on his side, but he…” A quaver stole through her voice and she swallowed audibly.

“When people are in pain like that,” I said quietly, “reason and understanding aren’t what they’re looking for. They want to share the pain. Spread it to someone else, anyone else, just so they can feel like they’re fighting back.”

“And my father won’t even care about this. Not really.” Kitty shook her head. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Saving me.”

“It’s my job.”

“Really?” Kitty’s smile wavered, and then she turned in her seat to stare out her window. “Just a job,” she sighed.

Yes.

Just a job.

That was what I told myself each night Kitty entered my thoughts with those sparkling turquoise eyes of hers. It was whatI told myself each time her smile burst into my mind when I showered, and each time her laugh sent a fizzing tickle through my chest. It was a mantra I repeated each time she used one of her real smiles on me and a prayer I clung to each time she touched me.

While these past few months have been about keeping Kitty safe, part of me was drawn to her warmth and kindness.

And I couldn’t allow that to happen. She was my charge, first of all.

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