Page 103 of All I Want For Christmas

“Okay. Are you all right?”

“There's no power in the cabin. There's no electricity, the AC isn't running.” That seemed like a great excuse.

“Oh crap,” Becca said sympathetically. “Yeah, we’ll be right there. It'll take a little bit.”

Savannah knew that. Not only would they have to get down to the bayou where they could grab a boat, but then they’d have to drive all the way down here. But knowing they were coming was enough. “That's fine. Just get here as soon as you can.”

“Of course. We’re on our way,” Becca said, her voice softening.

Becca knew about Savannah's issues. She was the one friend that knew what actually went on with Savannah’s family. “Thank you.”

“See you soon.”

Chapter

Eleven

The call had taken much longer than he’d expected. He wasn’t supposed to be on call today at all, but sometimes the department needed extra hands. And when it came to a local man, who was now not only illegally trapping but stealing from other people’s illegal traps, the whole situation could have easily gotten out of hand.

Theo had been called in when his fellow agents had finally felt that they had enough information to go after all of the trappers.

But there was a two-hour surveillance period, an ATV chase that went on for ten miles, four arrests, and a crap-ton of paperwork between the time he left his cabin and when he climbed back up the porch steps.

The moment he opened his door, he knew something was wrong.

Savannah was not inside, though her towel from the night before was still there and one of his T-shirts was missing. He immediately went to her cabin, but she wasn’t there either, and all of her stuff was gone.

He called, he texted, and then he called and texted Becca.

All he got back from that wasshe’s fine and doesn’t want to talk to you.

Great.

He knew immediately what he’d done wrong. So he sent Savannah a final text:I would never abandon you. Give me a chance to explain.

He didn’t hear anything back from her, so he showered, then headed into Autre. He found Beau and Becca at Ellie’s bar. But no Savannah.

“Where is she?”

Becca looked up at him with a frown. “Back in New Orleans.”

“Is she alright?”

“She’s kind of pissed that you didn’t give her a ride back like you said you would.”

“I got called out to work. I left her a note. I was coming back to get her.”

“Well, she called someone else to pick her up.”

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something about the way Becca said that, or the way she was looking at him, that made him hesitate. It didn’t seem that Becca was upset that he and her friend had slept together or that he’d treated Savannah poorly the morning after. This seemed to be strictly about him not giving her a ride back to town.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“That she met all the stipulations of your agreement and that you were supposed to bring her back to Autre, but you just left her out there for no specified amount of time. She has a job, Theo. She didn’t plan her entire weekend around this stupid competition that you cooked up for her.”

“That’s all she said? She was just mad about the ride to town?”

“What else would she be mad about?” Becca’s eyes narrowed. “Did something else happen?”

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