Page 11 of Christmas Past
They were supposed to lead to answers.
And didn’t.
Staring at the woman in front of him he knew only one thing for sure.
He needed her.
And so he was going to have to play this her way.
Until she gave him what he needed.
Chapter 5
“Let’s go back inside.” Chad Andrews,SheriffChad Andrews, wasn’t asking.
Bella didn’t want the man in her house.
Ever again.
He hadn’t been sincere in his quest tounderstand.
He’d played her. Just like everyone else in her life. Because she felt their hearts. Trusted in their goodness.
Because she’d always wanted to believeinnate goodness lived inside people. Not because she had agiftthat told her it was there.
The uniformed man invading her space didn’t care about that. Or her. He didn’t wait for her response, either.
With a hand at her back, he led her inside.
She went, more quickly than he’d intended, just to get ahead of that hand.
She didn’t want him touching her again.
When she’d been talking to him…he’d seemed to really understand. To care that she felt such intense emotions. That she had to deal with a mind that conjured them up.
He’d asked her to talk about them.
And then had actually taken her hand to help her through them.
For a few minutes there, she’d let herself believe the man she’d met at the creek two years before was the real Chad Andrews. And that, somehow, he’d realized that the woman he’d met – her – had been as real as he was.
Fool. She was a darned fool.
Once inside, she shed her poncho and her boots, prepared to go about her day. He could go where he liked.
But he was going without her.
He didn’t shed his jacket. He hadn’t zipped it either, the whole time he’d been running like a ninny around her yard. He sat back on the stool, his dark hair a little wet – whether from snow or exertion she didn’t know.
Or care.
“Bella, please. I’m begging you. If Camille is hurt, there’s still time to make this right…”
With her back to him as she prepared to make herself a cup of tea, she froze.
Felt that lightning strike again. And slowly turned, propping herself up against the counter.
“Camille?” He'd named her imaginary girl?
