clutched at his face. Before he could retreat farther, she readjusted her hands on the broom and swung with all her might. The blow hit him on the side of the head.
He stumbled but caught himself and snarled, “You’re going to pay for that.”
“I don’t think so!” she yelled.
Before he could take another step, she drew back, and with the full weight of her body, she slammed the end of the handle into his abdomen. She didn’t give him time to collect his wits before she took a deep breath and delivered a hard thrust to his Adam’s apple.
A gurgling sound erupted from his throat, and he grabbed at his neck in obvious pain as he backed away. His chest heaved as he tried to breathe, but she didn’t give up. She advanced on him, continuously jabbing and thrusting the broom, as he turned to run from the room. “Get out of my house!” she screamed with each step she took.
He tried to flee from the blows, but it was no use. She was a mama bear protecting her young, and she wasn’t about to let this man who’d sneaked into her house in the middle of the night hurt her or her family.
As he stumbled into the hallway, she followed him, still wielding her makeshift weapon, delivering blow after blow. With another cry of pain, he turned toward the stairs, but she was ready for that. She drew back and landed a direct hit on his kidney. A strangled cry of pain let her know she’d delivered a punishing stroke.
His back arched, and his foot slipped from the top step. Panting for breath, she stood at the top of the stairwell and watched as he tumbled down the stairs. He landed at the bottom with a loud thud and lay there for a split second before he pushed to his feet. Slowly, he turned his head, gazed at her on the landing and shook his fist.
“This ain’t over!”
She glared back at him and raised the broom again. With a muttered expletive, he hobbled to the door and rushed out into the night. Unsure what to do, she stood still, afraid to move. What if he came back? She might not be able to fight him off the next time. Her mind raced with thoughts of what she could do to protect herself and the babies. She knew she needed to call the police, but her frantic, chaotic thoughts kept her frozen in place. She was only able to move when she heard the cries of Emma and Ethan coming from their bedroom.
Turning, she ran to her bedroom, grabbed her cell phone and rushed back to the twins. By this time, they were both howling at the top of their lungs. She flipped the lock on the nursery’s door and rushed to give each of the babies a swift kiss before she dialed in a call to nine-one-one.
The operator answered right away. “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”
“This is Holly Lee,” she gasped. “I’m at Tumbling Creek Ranch on Ridge Road. A man just broke into my house.”
“Is the man still there?”
“No. I was able to fight him off, and he ran out the front door.”
“Where are you now?” the operator asked.
“I’m locked in one of the bedrooms upstairs with my niece and nephew.”
“Help is on the way,” she said. “Keep the door locked and stay there until you hear the officers arrive. I’ll remain on the phone with you until they get there.”
Holly reached out and gave each child a hug with her free arm as she continued to clutch the phone with her other hand to her ear. “How long is it going to be?”
“Don’t worry,” the operator said. “They’re only a few minutes out. Is your front door unlocked?”
“I—I think so. That’s the way the man left.”
“Then just hang on and talk to me until the officers get there.”
The soothing tone of the operator’s voice calmed her as she tried to quiet the babies. “It’s okay,” she crooned as she planted a kiss on the head of each one. “Aunt Holly isn’t going to let anything happen to you.”
Emma’s cries turned into a soft sob as she looked up at her. Tears filled her big blue eyes, and she stuck her thumb in her mouth. Ethan held up his arms in invitation to be picked up. Holly wanted to grab them both up and hug them to her chest, but she still had the phone to her ear. Try as she might, she hadn’t yet mastered the technique of picking both babies up at one time. How had her sister managed?
The thought of her sister brought tears to her eyes, and she looked down at the twins, who’d become so important to her in the last few weeks since her sister’s and brother-in-law’s deaths. Their children were the only family Holly had left. What if that man had hurt them tonight? The thought made her stomach roil.
“Ma’am, are you still there?” The operator’s voice jerked her from her thoughts.
“Yes, I’m still here.” She hesitated for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief. “I hear the police sirens now. I think they’re almost here.”
“They are. They should be inside your house in the next few minutes.”
The sound of a car screeching to a halt in front of the house split the air, and then she heard the front door slam open, followed by footsteps pounding up the stairs. “Holly! Where are you?”
When she heard the familiar voice, her grip on the phone loosened, and she barely caught it before it slipped from her hand. The locked door rattled as the person on the other side tried to get in. “Holly! Are you in there? Open up.”
Her arm dropped away from the protective hug around Ethan, and he erupted in cries. “Shh.” She smiled as she shushed the babies and pulled the phone closer. “Someone’s here now, and I’m going to hang up. Thank you for staying on the line with me.”
“I’m glad I was able to help. Now, go let the police in.”
Holly ended the call and took a deep breath before she walked to the door. When she reached to unlock it, she hesitated and bit down on her lip. She should have known he’d come, but she’d been so rattled that she hadn’t expected him. She took a deep breath and opened the door to face the man she hadn’t seen in ten years.
* * *
Cole raised his hand to pound again but stopped as he heard the lock click. Then the door eased open and Holly stood there. All he could do was stare at her. Of course, he’d seen her from a distance at her sister and brother-in-law’s memorial service, and he’d seen her picture splashed across newspapers’ front pages, television screens and social-media sites many times over the last several years. But this was the first time he’d had a chance to see her up close since she’d left for Nashville ten years ago to pursue her dream of becoming a country-music star. She hadn’t changed that much. Her hair was a shade lighter, not quite the honey-blond color he remembered from their first day of school when they were children. There were also stress lines around her blue eyes, but that was to be expected.
With the release of her latest album, Traces, that had already gone platinum, he couldn’t imagine the pressure of promotions and public appearances so soon after her sister’s and brother-in-law’s deaths. He’d seen her on a late-night talk show last week and had wondered how she was doing as he studied her body language.
Now, as they stared at each other, he had to remind himself that he was there in response
