Page 42 of Annika's Aurora

“Yours is too.”

“That’s nice of you to say.” Annika took the little girl’s hand. “How ‘bout we go find something to play on the jukebox while your daddy talks to my friends. I bet we can even talk Miss Jolene into giving us a few coins to feed the machine.”

“Absolutely!” Jolene affirmed, taking the girl’s other hand. Natalie also joined them.

“What kind of music do you like?” Annika asked the girl when they reached the jukebox. “This has a lot of Christmas songs in it right now. Do you have a favorite?” From the corner of her eye, she could see Mr. Petersen gesticulating angrily and she worried he could possibly pull his gun on them. With her heart in her throat, she watched as Logan stood with his hands up in front of him in an attempt to defuse the out-of-control man. “My favorite when I was your age was Rudolph,” she remarked, trying put her worries for Logan aside and focus on the girl.

“I like ‘The First Noel,’” she answered.

“Oh, that’s such a pretty one. Shall we see if we can find it in here?” Natalie pulled over an empty chair and had Rachel climb up so she could better see the labels while Jolene took a handful of coins out of the cash register behind the bar. She handed the coins to Annika while she took her phone out of her pocket.

“I’m calling her grandparents,” she explained. “They’ll come for her.”

“Good idea,” Natalie replied.

Annika turned her attention back to Rachel. “Do you know how to spell Noel?”

“N-O-E-L.”

“Perfect! So, let’s see if we can see that word anywhere in here.” She leaned closer to the machine but could still see the men arguing. She felt some relief seeing Graham and some of the other Nighthawks were now standing beside Logan, forming a united front.

Rachel hopped up excitedly and pointed to a label, her finger pressed to the glass. “There!”

Annika looked in the direction her finger was pointing. “Yay! There it is. Want to play it?”

She nodded. Annika handed her the coins to put into the slot then showed her how to punch the correct buttons for the song. “We get to pick out two more songs. What should we choose?” Annika asked just as Mr. Petersen took a swipe at Logan, who dodged the blow with ease. There was an audible gasp from the entire bar while her heart lodged itself in her throat. Rachel was about to look over her shoulder when Annika cried, “Ooh, how about this one?” she croaked, pointing to a random song to distract Rachel. She didn’t need to see her father being restrained by Finch and Jude.

“That one is nice. But let’s do Rudolph since that was your favorite,” Rachel told her.

“Aren’t you sweet,” Annika said, running a shaky hand down the back of her hair. She couldn’t help but notice how unkempt the girl looked and felt a pang of sympathy for her.

They chose their third song just as the men escorted Rachel’s father out the front door allowing Annika to release the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “I need help eating the rest of my fries, Rachel. Wanna come to our table and help me?” Rachel nodded. Annika had Rachel sit next to her after they returned to the tables, and together, they nibbled on her fries.

“Where did my daddy go?” she asked, looking around for him.

“He had to go do something. But don’t worry, your grandparents are coming to pick you up,” Jolene reassured the little girl. “You can hang with us until they get here.”

Annika dug in her purse for her brush and some hair ties. “I love your hair, Rachel. I used to play with my friend’s hair all the time when I was growing up. My favorite thing to do was braids. I had this one friend who had hair as long as yours. She always let me put it in braids for her. Can I do yours?”

Rachel’s face lit up. “Okay!” Annika’s heart contracted for the girl. She must miss her mother very much. Starting at the bottom, where the worst of the knots were located, Annika ran the brush through the long blonde strands, managing to brush it to a gleam. It needed a good wash, but the braids would have to do for now.

“What did you do today,” Annika asked as she divided the hair in half and started to do a French braid on one side of her head.

“Daddy took me to the beach!” she answered excitedly. “He let me play hoopy from school.”

“Hooky,” Annika corrected.

“That’s right. Hooky. That’s when you miss school for a day even though you’re not sick.”

“Yup. You’re lucky. I never got the chance to do that when I was your age,” Annika told her, starting the braid on the other side. “Was it a fun day with your daddy?” she asked, hoping it was everything the girl needed.

“It was awesome!” Then her shoulders dropped as sadness weighed her down. “It’s been a while since Daddy and I had any fun together.”

“How lucky you are that you had today then. I bet you’ll remember this day for a long time.” When she had finished, Jolene produced a mirror so the girl could see her handiwork.

“It’s so pretty!” she squealed, turning her head from side to side to see it better.

“I’m so glad you like it.” Annika watched the smile fade to sadness as she gazed at her image. “Can I tell you a story?” Annika asked, desperate to cheer her up.

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