Chapter Two

“Hey, Sheriff!”

Chase muttered a curse under his breath and turned to look at the young officer jogging over to him. “Meyers, unless you’re about to tell me that the Grinch is robbing the bank, hit the road. Today is the first afternoon I’ve had off in three months. I’ve got no intention of getting lured back to work.”

“Uh, no, no, of course not,” the young man stuttered, almost tripping over his feet as well as his words. Chase leaned back against his Expedition and crossed his arms. He tried to look extra intimidating, in an effort to speed along the verbal rambling.

Downtown Shadow Creek was about as bustling as a little town could get at Christmas. It had all the things that tourists loved—cedar strung over shop windows, wreaths hung from each black coach lamp on the main street, and shopkeepers that outdid themselves with store displays. Even he had to admit, if he was into the whole Norman Rockwell scene, and he was not, it was pretty nice, and his daughter got a kick out of it. Seeing her face, hearing her laughter, made all of it worth it.

“So then what can I do for you?” Chase asked after a few seconds of Officer Meyers standing still, staring at him like he was going to ask him out on a date.

“I need to ask you something.” Chase frowned as Meyers kicked some snow around with his boot, and didn’t continue.

“Meyers, out with it. I gotta pick up my daughter in five minutes.”

“Right. Right. Um, so, the thing is, Mayor Mayberry came by the station and asked if you’d be willing to dress up as Santa Claus on the night of the candle lighting.”

Chase stared at the top of his head, his words not sinking in right away. “Excuse me?”

“You know, Santa. The man who dresses up in a red suit.”

“I know who Santa is.” The only problem with small towns, he’d discovered, was the sense of amity everyone had. So much so apparently that the mayor actually thought he would dress up as Santa Claus. He loved his job, but not that much.

Going into law enforcement had been a no-brainer for him. To serve and protect. That’s what he’d always done as a kid, as an adult. The town was small, the regional area rural and comprised of mostly decent people. There were aspects, certain people and types of crimes that made his gut twist and kept him up some nights, but that was all part of the job. “So why didn’t Mayberry ask me himself?”

“I think he might have been scared to, Sheriff.”

Chase scowled. “Why the hell are you here asking me?”

“He didn’t think you’d go for the idea and all the guys nominated me to come and ask you.”

Of course they did. Ask the rookie to come out and do their dirty work. That and probably the fact that Mayberry was Meyers’s uncle. If you weren’t related to someone in Shadow Creek, then your neighbor definitely was. Or your parents grew up together. He sighed as the young constable looked at him with a rather hopeful stare. Obviously, Meyers didn’t know him well enough. Santa, my ass. “I’m the sheriff, not a freaking sideshow. The answer is no. I’ll talk to your uncle.” Chase added that last part when it looked like the young officer was about to cry at the thought of having to speak with the mayor. He understood. Mayor Mayberry was a walking-talking Roly Poly doll. And once the man started talking, the verbal diarrhea continued indefinitely. The only one who talked more than the mayor was his wife, Marlene Mayberry.

Meyers smiled with relief and backed up a step. “Thanks, Sheriff.”

Across the street, a familiar brunette in a red coat entered his line of vision, slowing outside the Christmas tree lot. His gut clenched, a familiar feeling whenever Julia was around. “Go back to work, Meyers,” Chase said, jogging across the street without waiting for a reply.

When he’d seen Julia last night, the first time in five years, the love he’d had for her hit him in the gut. And then, as he’d done in the past, he’d swallowed it down.

He’d come to the conclusion before she came home for Christmas that he needed to stop feeling guilty about his feelings for her. He’d never done anything to let on that he was in love with Julia. Never to Michael, Jack, or Julia. It had been his secret and he’d been willing to go on his whole life without ever letting it out.

More than anything, more than his feelings for her, his wanting her, he wanted a happy ending for her. He wanted their little boy to be alive. He wanted Michael to be alive.

Nothing had ever come close to hurting more than when he found out about the accident. And then witnessing the pure hell Julia went through. He vowed to his friend the day of the funeral that he would watch out for her. But then she was packing up and tearfully trying to tell him why she couldn’t stay in Shadow Creek, and hell, he couldn’t blame her one bit.

But now she was back. And God, he’d missed her.

“Looking for a Christmas tree?”

She shot him a surprised glance, looking over at him. “Oh, hey, Chase.” Her full lips pulled into a gorgeous smile and he cursed himself. He didn’t need to be noticing her mouth. He turned away to look at the lot full of trees.

“No, I just love the smell. I was out for a walk and thought I might do some Christmas shopping.”

“You walked here?”

She nodded. The tip of her nose was pink and her cheeks were rosy. “I had to. They have all been force-feeding me pies and cookies. This morning, I walked into the kitchen to find Edward sitting alone at the kitchen table eating pie. Minutes later Cassy comes in and he shoved the pie at me, and I had to pretend it was mine and eat it! I’m not going to fit into my clothes by Christmas.”

Chase laughed and tried not to sound like he was choking. He didn’t want to think of her figure. Julia thought it was some nonchalant ha-ha comment, while he thought of beautiful curves. Perfect curves. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” He wanted to add that he thought all her pounds were in the nicest places, but he had no intention of coming off like some sort of creep. Or someone who’d been in love with her since high school. Or like someone who hung her picture on the front of his refrigerator door next to Luigi the pizza guy. Dammit.

“I was thinking of dropping into Jack and Jill’s to pick up some gifts for Maggie.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about—”

“Are you kidding me? I love that old toy shop and I love that little girl of yours. It’s still there, isn’t it?” she asked, turning around to look in the direction of the town’s only toy store.

He clenched his teeth hard. He didn’t want Julia going into a toy store buying gifts for his daughter when she should have been going in there to buy gifts for her son. She had never stopped communicating with them, even the first Christmas after she left she always sent a card and a gift for Maggie. He followed her gaze and they stared at the little yellow building. The large window showcased a vintage model locomotive and even from across the road he could make out the elaborate toy village surrounding the moving train. “Yeah, that place is practically a landmark. Mrs. Bowman retired last year, but her daughter, Sabrina, took it over.”

Julia was smiling when she turned back to look at him. “Great, I haven’t seen Sabrina in years, I’ll be sure to stop by. Hey, aren’t you working today?”

He shook his head. “No, my afternoon off. I’m just waiting to pick up Maggie.”

She tucked her hands into her coat. “Oh that’s nice. She’s so sweet, Chase. I mean, you’ve done a great job raising her.”

He smiled back, thinking of his daughter. Maggie was the best thing in his life. She had drawn out all the good in him, forced it out of him until he became the father he was meant to be. And he owed it to her. He’d failed her once, by picking the wrong woman. He would never make that mistake again. “Thanks. She’s a pretty incredible kid, despite her father.” He laughed.

Julia looked down, her smile faltering. “I owe you an apology.”

He frowned. “For what?”

She looked up at him. “You were there for me and I wasn’t around when Sandy left.”

Wind whipped her red scarf around her neck and her dark glossy hair swayed just enough that it almost begged him to touch it. He stared into her eyes, into the most genuine eyes he’d ever seen. He shook his head.

“No. No you don’t owe me an apology. We were fine. We made it through. Edward, Cassy, and Gwen helped us more than I ever expected. They helped give Maggie the stability and the security she needed. They took on childcare and told me they would be the family I needed. Don’t you dare feel bad for leaving. I get it, Julia. You needed to survive and you did what you had to.” He owed the Baileys so much. They were the family he’d never had. They were the grandparents he could never give his daughter. He took a step closer to her, taking in the perfect skin, the tip of her nose pink with the cold.

“Thanks.”

Chase stood there, wanting to say more, but everything felt so awkward. He wanted to cut through the bull until all that was left was the way they were. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “I want to ask you for a favor.”

She nodded. “Of course, anything.”

“I want to move. I want to list our house and find something else,” he said, motioning to the school. “Do you mind if we walk over to stand by the school while we talk?”

“Sure, of course,” she said, falling into step beside him. He had an insane need to reach out and grab her hand, and if he were sappy, he’d love to think that this was their everyday reality. Walking to school to pick up their little girl and Maggie would run out, the smile on her face and the security in her eyes that of a child who’d never known the pain of having a parent walk out on them. Crap. Two days back in town and the woman he’d dreamed about since he was a teenager was now making him crave all those naive dreams he’d had when he was a boy, when he’d vowed to himself to do better than his parents had done by him. Thanks to Sandy, he’d failed Maggie, and all his dreams had turned to hell.

“I didn’t know you were thinking of moving.”

He glanced over at her as they stood a bit further away from the group of waiting parents. “I mean, I don’t want you to have to work over Christmas or anything. It’s not a rush. I know you’ve got your agency back in the city, I just thought—”

“Hey, I’d love to,” she said, her hand on his arm. His muscles flexed at the friendly touch, causing an avalanche of unwanted feelings. “I didn’t realize you were thinking of selling the place.”

He scraped his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. I think it’s time to close that door on Sandy, you know? I feel like I need a new place. A fresh start. It’s been long enough.”

“Does she ever call?”

“Nothing. I stopped waiting for her to come back after a year.”

“God, I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about Sandy. He didn’t want to be standing out here in a crowd. He wanted to be alone with Julia. He wanted to hear everything about the last five years. Her job, her life back in the city, and if he were brutally honest with himself, he wanted to know if there was a man in her life.

He glanced over at her and she was still staring at him with those green eyes of hers. “It’s okay. I’m over it. And I’ve done my best to make sure Maggie is over it, though sometimes I think I’m deluding myself. A kid will never get over a parent walking out.” He knew that from personal experience. That hole, that bullet wound that could never properly heal, because the bullet remained inside. That’s what it was like.

“Maggie is happy and well-adjusted, it’s so obvious.”

He nodded. “I hope so. I did my best. That’s part of the reason I want to find a new place. I want her to have a home that’s only filled with happiness.” He tossed aside the memories of that first year. He’d been a wreck. She’d been a wreck. But they’d managed. He learned how to be a single dad, and the two of them were their own little family. And the way his little girl looked at him made him feel like he’d done okay. It had taken two years to win back the trust that Sandy had robbed Maggie of, and if he ever saw her again…

“Well, it’s easy for me to pull up a bunch of listings.”

“I know the place I want.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “On Tall Pines Street, there’s a log house that looks like it needs some work. But it has a view of the mountains. It’s got a huge backyard for Maggie. Four bedrooms. Big old front porch. It’s out of town but a short drive in for me. It’s vacant and it has been for almost a year.”

“It sounds perfect, Chase. How about I look it up and call the listing agent to make an appointment?”

“I bet you can already guess who the listing agent is,” he said with a groan.

She smiled. “Marlene Mayberry?”

“The one and only.”

“This should be fun,” she said with a laugh. “It seems she still has the real estate market cornered in Shadow Creek.”

“The Mayberrys still own half the town. No sign of retiring yet. Maybe if they can convince one of their kids to move back to town, they could pass off some of their assets and step down.”

“I don’t think any of their kids could stand living under their dictatorship,” Julia said under her breath.

He nodded. “You’re probably right.”

“I’ll talk to Marlene and set something up. What’s your schedule like?”

He grunted. “Non-stop, but you get me a time and I’ll make it happen. Can you try and get something soon? I was thinking since it’s vacant, maybe I could surprise Maggie with it for Christmas.”

Her mouth opened. “By Christmas? That’s so much work. You have to pack and—”

“I’ll hire a company.”

She nodded. “Of course. I think that’s so sweet of you, it will make for an unforgettable Christmas, and you both deserve it,” she said, her voice lowering to a whisper. “Okay, I’ll give them a call and be careful not to let on that we really want it and hopefully we can get in to see it tomorrow.”

We really want it. He knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but for a second he let himself imagine what it would be like to be there as a family, all three of them. He shrugged that thought off. He needed to get a hold of himself. And as for deserving an unforgettable Christmas, well hell, no one deserved it more than Julia. “You’re sure you don’t mind working while you’re here?”

“This isn’t work, trust me. This is fun. It’ll give me something to do. And I’m showing Gwen and Lily a retail space tomorrow too—and of course when I called the office to book the appointment, I found out that Marlene has that listing as well. Looks like I’ll be overdosing on the Mayberrys soon, thanks to all of you.”

He barked out a laugh. “Sorry about that, though I gotta say, I’m really happy for Gwen and Lily, glad they’re finally going through with it.”

“I know, me too. All we need is Jack to come home.”

He nodded. He missed his friend. He heard from Jack every now and then, a quick email, nothing more. Only Chase and Gwen had been around after Michael and Matthew died, the only ones there to offer Edward and Cassy support. But he didn’t resent Jack, and he knew his friend was going to have to face hell when he finally came back to town, especially when he saw Lily again.

Julia turned to a group of women, her gaze narrowing as she looked back up at him. “Is that your personal fan club over there, Sheriff?” Her lips had turned up into a mischievous little smile and he searched her eyes for even a spark of jealousy. Of course it wasn’t there and how pathetic was he for wishing? He glanced over at the three women who made a habit of being around wherever he was.

He shrugged. “No fan club.”

“Chase, I remember exactly what you were like before Sandy,” she said, lifting her brows and pursing her lips. How freaking happy was he that she was teasing him? Back when they all hung out together, one of his favorite things about Julia was her ability to tease. She had a sharp wit and she observed things like no one else he knew.

He crossed his arms over his chest, smiled down at her, and then took a step closer because he couldn’t stand back. Chase had waited forever for this woman, and now she was back, even if it was only for the holidays. He heard her breath catch slightly and her green eyes lit in a way that told him she was very aware of him as well—and hell if that didn’t make him as happy as a teenager asking a girl out on a first date. “Really? And what exactly was I like?”

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, an adorable smirk on her face. “You had your blondes-only club as I recall.”

He choked down his laugh. Yeah. That had been after he discovered all brunettes reminded him of Julia. And he hadn’t wanted to go to bed with a woman while he was thinking of his best friend’s wife. So he’d stuck to blondes. No way in hell would he ever tell Julia that. “Well, I was young and cocky.”

She nudged her chin in the direction of the women. “So it’s merely a coincidence that those women are all blondes?”

He nodded and rolled back on his heels. “What can I say, that’s who I attract I guess. It’s the cross I bear.”

Her squeal of laughter made him smile, as did the way she leaned a little closer to him.

He fisted his hands and shoved them into his pockets, because he didn’t trust himself to not pull her in close. “And the whole cop thing seems to appeal for some reason.”

She gave him a sidelong glance, turning away just as he caught a glimpse of something in her eyes. “I couldn’t imagine why. So they’re part of the Sheriff Donovan fan club?”

“No fan club.”

She looked down for a moment. “Chase, you always had a fan club.”

“I’m not into the whole dating scene.” Her head snapped up and he held her gaze. He wanted her to know that. He wasn’t a guy who was carefree anymore. He didn’t consider himself single, not with a daughter, and hell, there was no one he wanted more than Julia.

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Really?”

He gave her a quick nod. “The last thing I want is for Maggie to be confused. I don’t want her seeing me with a woman that won’t be around forever.”

Several moments went by and they just stood there. Her hand was close to his and he wanted nothing more than to tug her close to him and finally hold her and kiss the woman he’d wanted for so many years. There had always been something or someone in the way. Even now, there was the memory of his best friend, the man she’d loved more than anything. How the hell could he compete with the memory of the perfect man?

The front doors of the red brick school burst open and kids ran out, scattering across the yard, interrupting his thoughts. He waved as he spotted the bright pink pom-pom on the top of Maggie’s hat. His daughter’s eyes connected with his and that feeling he always got when she smiled at him, filled his chest. She was running over to them, and he knew she was excited that Julia was there too.

“Daddy!” she yelled and he picked her in a big hug, but seconds later she was squirming out of his arms to say hi to Julia.

“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said to Julia who reached out to hug her.

“I’m so happy to see you too, sweetie.” Julia backed up a step, folding her arms across her chest and even before he looked into her eyes he sensed the distance she put between them. “I should let you two get on with your afternoon off.”

“Come with us! Daddy said we’re going tobogganing.”

Julia glanced up at him, and he realized he was actually holding his breath. He may have even been more excited than his daughter. “That sounds like fun, thank you so much for inviting me, Maggie. But I’m going to have to pass this time because I have a few errands to run.” She was frowning, the regret etched on the side of her lips.

He squashed his disappointment and held out his hand for Maggie, feeling better as her small hand clutched his. He and Maggie had gotten along fine for years.

“It’s okay, Auntie Julia. Don’t feel bad, you didn’t know. Maybe we’ll see each other tomorrow.”

“I’m looking forward to it, sweetie.” Julia leaned down and gave Maggie a kiss and then looked up at him. “I’ll, um, be in touch as soon as I get an appointment time.”

He nodded, watching as she walked through the crowd of people by herself.

Julia was the only woman he’d trust with his daughter’s heart.