Page 20 of Christmas in the Shadows

More silence passed, and then she asked, “So how long are you here?”

“I’ll probably leave the day after Christmas, if not sooner.”

“Sooner? I thought you came here for Christmas?”

A frown tugged at his lips. “Gilbert and I . . . we’re not close. I hope coming here wasn’t a mistake.”

Chelsea hoped that Tex coming here wasn’t a mistake either, but she didn’t say that out loud. It would be rude. And sharing that would make it seem personal.

She needed for him to think she’d gone on without him and done just fine.

She stuffed her emotions down.

Though Tex could have parked at Gilbert’s, and she could have easily walked over, he pulled into her driveway instead.

He turned toward her as he put his truck in Park. “Now, are you ready to tell me why you were in Gilbert’s office? I know youweren’t looking for some landscaper’s phone number. You’re not the type to break into someone’s house to find that information, and you’re too much of a control freak to let somebody else do that kind of work for you.”

Ouch. But he knew her well.

She licked her lips as she considered what to say. How much to share. As she wondered if she could trust Tex with the information.

Before she could answer, a shadow moved in her backyard.

Then a figure clad in black darted from the back of her house through the yard and into the woods beyond.

CHAPTER 6

Tex jumped from his truck and took off across the lawn. He needed to catch the person he’d seen leaving Chelsea’s house.

As the man cut through the woods, Tex went after him. But the guy had a good head start, and he was faster than Tex had anticipated.

Thankfully, he remembered these woods well. Remembered the slopes and the rocks as the landscape tapered down to the street below.

For a split second, Tex felt as if he were back in high school, and he and Chelsea were exploring.

Then present-day reality slammed back into his mind. This was no time to reminisce.

Instead, he continued pushing himself between the trees.

Just as he cleared the woods, he saw the figure in black jump into a dark-colored sedan. Three seconds later, he squealed away.

Tex stopped on the edge of the road, trying to get a glimpse of the license plate. But the guy was too far away.

His hands fisted as he watched the car disappear around the bend.

Who had that been? And what had the man been doing behind Chelsea’s house?

He’d have to figure that out later. Right now, he wanted to check on Chelsea.

He jogged back through the woods, his mind racing through possibilities of what might be going on. Well, at least he tried to race through possibilities. But really, he could come up with nothing. Not without more details about Chelsea’s life over the past twelve years.

Was that man some type of scorned lover coming to stalk Chelsea? Had she gotten herself into trouble? Was that why she’d been in Gilbert’s house?

He had no idea. But he was going to demand some answers soon.

He strode back to the truck.

As soon as Chelsea spotted him, she climbed out. Her eyes were wide and her motions tense as she hugged her arms across her chest. “Did you catch him?”

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