he would do so, no questions asked.
Racing up the steps to the cabin, Max yanked the door aside, unprepared for what greeted him.
Grace and the two girls were in the den, with Ice-D and Cliff flanking a small bearded man wearing the typical orange jail uniform. Both dogs were in attack mode, waiting for his command.
“Are you all right?” he asked Grace as he scanned the room.
She nodded, and that was when Max realized her hands were tied behind her back. Both girls were sitting next to her. Their hands weren’t tied, but Max saw thick tears streaming down both of their faces. His heartbeat quadrupled at the pitiful sight.
Not allowing another second to pass, Max walked over to the man, who he assumed was Glenn and who had his back to him, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, both dogs backed off but remained alert, low, threatening growls deep in their throats.
“Don’t move!” Max wrapped his hand around the intruder’s neck and shoved him against the wall toward the door. Knowing the girls were watching prevented him from smashing his fist square in the guy’s face, so he opted for the next best thing.
Dragging him out the door to Grace’s van, he shoved him into the passenger side. “Move a muscle, and I promise you I won’t be as nice as I was in there.” He nodded toward the cabin.
Glenn, a stick of a man with a receding hairline, tattoo-covered arms, and several missing teeth, held a bony arm in front of him as Max crammed his fist in his face. Blood spewed from his mouth seconds later. “Bastard,” he spat out. “Those are my girls you got in that cabin! I came to get ’em! No woman’s gonna take what’s rightfully mine! You hear that?”
Max didn’t know the story behind Glenn’s claim and didn’t really care. “I hear you loud and clear, you worthless piece of shit.” Max ripped his belt off and used it to tie Glenn’s hands behind his back. The skinny man yanked and pulled, but Max was too strong for him. He shoved him against the seat, then used the seat belt to hold him in position. “Move a muscle, and I promise it will be your last twitch.” He jammed his fist into the man’s nose and heard the cartilage snap.
Glenn dropped his head to his chest, wincing in pain. Before the bound man could recover from the effects of the punch, Max raced back inside the cabin, knowing he had only a few minutes before Glenn wiggled out of the seat belt.
Without saying a word, he removed the piece of extension cord with which Glenn had tied up Grace. “Stay here and don’t do anything until I return.”
Grace nodded, rubbing her hands. “Hurry!” She wrapped her arms around both girls, who continued to whimper and cry.
The last thing Max heard before he raced out of the cabin was Grace telling the girls that everything was going to be just fine.
She’d promised.
Chapter 8
Three hours later, Max drove back to the cabin with good news for Grace and her charges.
Max entered the cabin and found Grace, along with the two girls and dogs, curled up on the sofa in the den sound asleep. And he’d thought they’d be waiting on pins and needles for his return. So much for that.
Ice-D and Cliff bolted off the sofa when they saw him. He rubbed both between the ears, then allowed them their usual licks to his face. “Okay, boys, that’s enough.” Max went to the kitchen. He saw that both dog bowls were full of water, and the food bowls were empty. He was about to load them up with dog food when Grace entered the kitchen.
“They both had three hot dogs apiece, plus a bowl of dog food. I don’t think they’re hungry.”
Max stopped and shook his finger at the pair. “You know I ought to turn you two out, make you work for your grub.” Both dogs whined, and Max fluffed the space between their ears. “Go on, you two.” The dogs complied, their muzzles lifted high in the air as they made their way back to the den.
“They’ve convinced themselves they’re kings today,” Grace said as she watched the dogs jump back onto the sofa, one on either side of the girls.
“They okay?” He motioned to the sleeping girls.
“As okay as they can be under the circumstances.” Grace eyed the poor things to make sure they still slept. “What happened? I was sure Glenn was gone for good. Stephanie had him arrested. He was in jail the last I heard.”
Max motioned for her to follow him upstairs.
“We can talk up here without waking them. Apparently, Glenn was being transported to Denver. The deputies driving him stopped in Grand Junction for a bite to eat. Thinking Glenn was as innocent and harmless as he claimed, they let him come inside to have his meal with them. He went to the men’s room, and that’s the last they saw of him.”
“This makes no sense! How did he know where to find Amanda and Ashley? I didn’t plan on any of this happening.” Perplexed, Grace dropped down on a small wooden chair.
“Those roadblocks last night, they were searching for him. He had no idea he’d find his girls here. As luck or whatever you want to call it would have it, I just happen to have the only house around here for miles. He must’ve walked all night and wound up here, the same as you. It’s a heck of a coincidence, don’t you think?”
Grace wasn’t sure what to think and told him so.
“I called the number you gave me and talked to a woman by the name of Juanita. Told her you were fine and that you’d be back as soon as possible.”
“Thanks so much, really. Juanita is my mother. I’m sure she and Stephanie were beside themselves with worry. Did you tell her the girls were with me and that they were okay?”
“I did.”
Grace was about to ask Max if they’d said anything else, but he piped up. “Your mother said Bryce was there. Said he couldn’t wait until Christmas Eve to see you.”
Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “Fantastic, I can’t wait to see him. It’s tough to schedule visits now that we live so far apart. I can’t wait to see him. It’s been almost a year. I can’t believe I let so much time pass. It’s just that—”
“You’d better leave before it starts snowing again. We’re supposed to get another two feet by nightfall. I promised your family you’d be home today,” Max said, staring intently into her verdant eyes.
Grace felt a little piece of her heart break at the thought of leaving Max behind. She barely knew the man, and what she did know she wasn’t sure she liked. Still, there was something about him.
She nodded. “You’re right. I know the girls are excited; they want to decorate the Christmas tree. I promised them they could.”
“I gathered as much,” Max said.
Before he could stop himself, before he had a chance to second-guess himself, Max pulled Grace into his arms kissing her softly on the mouth. Her intake of breath, shock or desire, surprised him because instead of pulling away, she kissed him back.
“Grace.” The sound of her name filled him with emotions that had been
