A tall man in a navy-blue police uniform came into the store and grinned at the woman behind the counter. Annie breathed a sigh. Then she remembered Bryan’s warning, and tension whipped through her.
The police officer’s gaze swept the store as though checking to make sure everything was all right before settling first on Jayden then Annie. The sharp, assessing look moved down her length before coming back to her face. A smile crinkled the corners of his cobalt-blue eyes and lit their depths with a glitter. He nodded a greeting toward her.
Uncomfortable with his scrutiny, Annie turned her attention back to the cashier. “I need directions to Sara McLain’s house on Bethlehem Street. Do you know her?” She was over a thousand miles from Crystal Creek. This man had nothing to do with what had happened in Florida.
The older woman glanced behind Annie.
“Maybe I can help you.” The police officer stepped up to the counter a few feet from Annie. “Sara’s a neighbor of mine.”
“Oh, good, you know where she lives. My name is Annie Madison.” Which was true but Madison was her middle name. She’d decided the first night on the road that was the name she would go by as a precaution in case anyone was looking for Annie Coleman.
“I’m Caleb Jackson, the police chief of Christmas.” He offered his hand.
She fit hers in his and shook it. “Nice to meet you. Can you give me directions to Sara’s?” Annie snagged her daughter before she wandered toward another rack with chips. “I’m her cousin.”
“Cousin?” Skepticism sounded in his voice. “She’s always talking about her family. I don’t remember her mentioning you.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” She hated explaining herself to a stranger, but she didn’t need the police chief becoming suspicious.
A grin eased the wariness from his expression. “Sara will be thrilled. She was just talking about how none of her nieces or nephews could come for Christmas. Have you ever been here?”
“Yes, the last time was when I was ten during the holidays, but I don’t remember much about the town, except all the lights downtown and the huge Christmas tree in the park.” She glanced out the large picture window, a blanket of clouds darkening the late afternoon. “I need to talk with Sara this evening and then find a place to stay. My daughter is tired and hungry.” She hoped Sara would let her stay with her, but she hadn’t seen her in years and she might not open her home to her. If that were the case, she didn’t know what she would do. Her money was limited. Fear, always present since she’d last heard from Bryan, wormed its way deeper into her mind.
“Sara fell a few weeks ago. She could use some help around the house, but she hates asking anyone to. Maybe you are an answer to a prayer. I’ll show you where she lives. You can follow me.” He turned to the lady behind the counter. “I just need a cup of your coffee, Marge.”
“Already have it for you.” The woman took the dollar the police chief set on the counter.
“Ready, Mrs. Madison?” He snatched up the cup.
“It’s Ms. Madison. I’m not married.”
She’d never been married. Although Bryan and she had discussed marriage when she discovered she was pregnant in college, she’d decided against it when he was arrested for driving under the influence. Too many red flags kept popping up in their relationship. When she’d met him as a freshman, he was an upperclassman with arresting blue eyes and an easy smile. He’d whisked her off her feet, and she’d given herself to him. She deeply regretted her choice back then, but one good thing had come from it: Jayden.
Taking her daughter’s hand, she started for the door. “I appreciate you showing me where Sara lives. I probably could have wandered around until I stumbled onto Bethlehem. I remember what a big deal the holidays are here in Christmas.”
“Yeah, the town grows at this time of year. We get people from all over Oklahoma and the surrounding states visiting during the season. We go all out.”
“The thing I mainly recall is the festival of lights,” Annie said as she helped Jayden into the back and slipped behind the steering wheel of her ten-year-old Ford Mustang.
“We added fireworks about twelve years ago.” He shut her door and strode toward his police cruiser.
As she followed Caleb Jackson through the town, holiday spirit was evident everywhere she looked. Every street’s name had a Christmas theme: Noel Avenue, Candy Cane Lane, Mistletoe Street, Nativity Road. Usually Christmas had little meaning for her. She only celebrated it for Jayden’s sake.
Although Bryan tried to help as much as he could, it had been a struggle supporting her daughter on an office manager’s salary. She was thankful when she called her employer, Ron Adams, that he’d been understanding about her suddenly taking some time off. She’d been with him for five years, and this was a slow time of the year for his roofing business. She hoped by the first of the year that she could go back to Crystal Creek and her old life. She wanted to believe that Bryan was all right and there had been no reason for her to flee.
Six blocks off the main street through downtown where one store after another dealing with Christmas edged the thoroughfare on both sides, the police chief turned onto Bethlehem. Large houses—some Victorian, all decorated for Christmas—lined the street.
He stopped in front of one of the Victorian homes, painted a powder-blue, with a black wrought-iron fence along the sidewalk. The lot Sara McLain’s place sat on was at least half an acre. In fact, all the houses on the street had sizeable yards. Memories of running and playing on the lawn flashed into her thoughts. She remembered feeling safe here.
Annie stared at the three-story structure with a Christmas tree positioned in the center of a floor-to-ceiling window facing the street. White lights draped the pine with gold bows and white ornaments. “We’re here. Remember, your last name is Madison, honey. It’s important you don’t forget.”
“Why, Mommy?”
She didn’t want to tell her daughter the reason, but she had to say something or she would continue to ask. “That’s our new last name now. We’re on an adventure and in disguise.”
“Oh, great!” Jayden unsnapped her seat belt and hopped from the car, hugging her doll.
As Annie climbed out, she heard Caleb Jackson introduce himself and ask her daughter, “What’s your name?”
Annie stiffened, gripping the door handle.
“Jayden Madison.”
Annie expelled a deep breath and rounded the front of her Mustang. She knew he was a police chief, but the words don’t trust anyone, especially the police had kept her up most of the past two nights, listening to every sound passing her motel room door.
His gaze captured hers. “This is Sara’s.”
“Yeah, I remember playing here, making—” Annie pointed toward a spot in the front yard “—a snowman right there.”
“A snowman. I wanna make one.” Jayden looked up at the sky. “When’s it gonna snow?”
Caleb chuckled. “In Oklahoma,
