Page 1 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

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“Mommy! Turn off the ceiling lights!”

Sadie Pennel couldn’t help but smile at the excitement pouring off her daughter in waves as she hung the last ornament on the Christmas tree. A heady warmth burrowed into her chest, and she fought the urge to pull Amelia into a hug before shutting off the living room lights at Safe Haven Women’s Shelter.

Not like her rambunctious six-year-old would stop for one second and let her mama get in a quick cuddle.

“What do you say?” she asked, hovering her hand above the switch.

Mrs. Collins, the owner of the shelter, chuckled. She’d hung her wire-framed glasses around her neck with a bright red chain and situated a Santa hat on the side of her head at a jaunty angle. “She’s shaking like a tick on a dog’s tail. She just might explode if you don’t get them living room lights off so we can see this Christmas tree in all its lit-up glory.”

Amelia giggled and bounced on her toes. Her dirty blond pigtails swayed with the motion. “I’m not a tick.”

Sadie rolled her eyes and grinned. Over the past year, she and her daughter had spent countless hours at the shelter, volunteering their time and talents to help women and children in need. Amelia had wrapped the people they’d come to call family around her finger in no time. “Tick or no tick, I still need a please.”

“Please, Mama.” Amelia pressed her hands into a prayer pose under her chin.

Another shelter volunteer, Marie Robinson, stood beside the tree with her squirming baby on her hip and the plug for the Christmas tree in her free hand. “You better hurry. Even Nora’s getting anxious.”

“Fine, fine.” Sadie flipped down the switch, drowning the room in darkness for a few seconds before colorful twinkly lights bathed the room in a warm glow.

Sadie smiled, a peace she’d searched for her entire youth nestling over her shoulders like a warm blanket. Green garland was wrapped over the stair railing with big red bows and homemade paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling in front of the built-in bookshelves. Red and white knit stockings waited to be filled above the fireplace, the flickering flames adding to the festive ambiance.

Amelia squealed and ran to Sadie, wrapping her arms around her. “So pretty!”

Sadie smoothed her palm down Amelia’s back and fought tears prickling the corners of her eyes. Most people took moments like this for granted, but not her. She’d grown up bouncing from run-down homes and sketchy houses to countless shelters as her mother struggled to stop the cycle of abuse she’d been caught in most her life.

Things like tree lightings and quiet evenings with hot cocoa and a roaring fire hadn’t existed. She’d been lucky to go to bed on Christmas night—or any night for that matter—with a fullstomach. When she’d gotten pregnant with her own daughter, Sadie had vowed to give her more. To be more.

And now, she was determined to teach her daughter they had an obligation to show kindness and compassion to others. To help mothers and their children the same way people had stepped in to help her and her mother so long ago.

Marie snuggled her baby close and sighed. “You’re right, Amelia. This is the most beautiful Christmas tree I’ve ever seen.”

Sadie understood the catch in Marie’s voice. Only months before, Marie had stayed at the shelter as a mother in trouble. Now she was a woman in love with a bright future ahead. She had brought a whole new path for support to the shelter and given Amelia another surrogate sister to dote on, which delighted her to no end.

“Nora’s first Christmas will be a great one.” Mrs. Collins stroked the chubby baby’s cheek then squeezed Marie’s hand. “And so will every other one that follows.”

Sadie wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment and soak up the positive vibes, but she had a room to ready for a woman arriving in an hour. “Glad we got this done and we can give everyone something cheerful to enjoy. This time of year is even harder to take that first step away from a tough situation. Amelia, be a good girl while I run upstairs and make sure we have everything in place.”

“Mrs. Collins said we could bake cookies. Can we do that now? Please?” She drew out the last word into a cheerful whine only an excited child could pull off.

“It’s getting late, honey. Close to bedtime. We’ll have to head home soon.”

Amelia’s face fell. “I want to stay here.”

The sentiment was one Sadie heard every time they had to leave the shelter and head back to Water’s Edge. Their small town was only a fifteen-minute drive from where the shelterwas located in Pine Valley, Tennessee, but Amelia often acted as though their house was on another planet. After spending so much time in Pine Valley, Sadie had considered moving to the place that now felt like home.

But she liked having some distance between where she worked and the place she could fully be herself and let down her walls. Focus solely on her daughter and the people at the shelter who depended on her.

“Knock, knock. I come bearing gifts.”

The sound of her fellow deputy’s voice chased away all the happiness glowing inside Sadie. Tommy Wells stood in the doorway in his wrinkle-free uniform and a sack of goodies dangling over his shoulder. Snowflakes dampened his brown hair and his charming smile made dimples flash on his cheeks.

If she didn’t find him so irritating, the combination of wholesome officer of the law and pretend jolly toy maker would be endearing. Instead, her guard instantly went up. Tommy represented all the carefree, flirty men who used whatever they had at their disposal to get ahead in life.

Just like all the men who used her mother then left her behind when she was no longer needed.

No, sheriff’s deputy or not, Tommy Wells was a man she couldn’t trust. And she planned to stay as far away from him as possible.

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