Page 5 of Holiday Grief

There was another shift inside him, one he didn't quite understand as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight against his chest.

Chapter Two

June 1st

3:40 P.M.

The sound of something scraping against glass made Jasmine shriek, and she jumped about a foot in the air.

Since she’d been making a snack, peanut butter on bread, and had the jar and a knife in her hands, both went cluttering to the floor as her fingers curled into fists and automatically sprung up ready to defend herself.

Every single little sound made her jump these days.

It had been a really long couple of weeks.

Despite multiple assurances from the cops and the DA, she still wasn’t convinced that she wasn’t going to be charged with murder for killing the man she now knew as Rupert Brooks. A known rapist, already out on bail when he’d applied with a fake resume for the job as Santa at her farm, he had also been wanted in the rapes of two other women in the area.

Nobody seemed to care that he was dead.

Nobody but her at least.

And she didn't care in the sense that she was upset he was dead, just that she had been the one to do it, and even though she’d been defending herself there was a part of her that felt she had to be punished for it.

Whenever her phone rang—which given she ran a business was often—or there was a knock at her door—less common but more scary—her heart began to race, her palms grew sweaty, and she prepared to be told she was being arrested.

Just payment for past sins as far as she was concerned.

Another scrape filled her quiet kitchen, and this time she realized it was just a tree brushing against the window.

Nothing to worry about.

No one coming to hurt her.

The kitchen door suddenly banged open, and she screamed as she spun toward it to find Detective Adam Abram standing there, his weapon in his hand.

Even though she’d been expecting it, knowing she was about to be taken into custody had her heart racing.

Still, she deserved it, and Adam had been nice to her so she didn't want to make this harder on him.

Lowering her hands, which were still in fists and up protecting her face, she held them out so he could cuff her.

Adam’s dark eyes softened, and he holstered his weapon. “Keep telling you, green eyes, that you're not going to be arrested.”

“But I killed someone.”

“You killed the man raping you to protect yourself,” he corrected. “Now I heard you scream. What's wrong?” His gaze roamed the room as though searching for a threat, and Jasmine felt her cheeks heat.

“Oh, I keep forgetting to trim the branches on the tree by the window, it keeps scratching against the glass and startling me,” she admitted. Although she didn't know the man well, he’d been nice to her the night she’d been assaulted, holding her while she cried and riding in the ambulance with her to the hospital. He’d stayed while she’d been examined and endured the rape kit, then arranged for a female officer to stay with her overnight and bring her home the next day. Since then, he’d come by occasionally to check in on her, and he was always so careful to keep his distance while also working to put her at ease and even to make her laugh.

Something she’d actually done despite believing it was impossible after she’d committed the most atrocious of sins.

Adam tutted. “You should have told me, I would have taken care of that for you.”

Jasmine frowned at him. “Why would I have told you?” It was something she could easily take care of herself, and even if she couldn’t, she had ground maintenance staff she could ask. The only reason she hadn't was because she was avoiding contact with people as much as she possibly could.

“Why wouldn’t you?” he retorted. “I put my number in your phone and told you to call if you needed anything.”

“I thought you meant if I was like … in need of a cop.” What else would he have meant? Wasn’t like they were friends or anything. Barely even acquaintances. He was a nice guy, sure, and he felt sorry for her, she got that, but he had his own life. Why would he care about coming over to cut a branch off a tree for her?

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