AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So it was all over. Well and truly over.
And now there were six long days until she could return to Dallas and try to ignore the empty place in her heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY
AFTER PATROLLING the gaily decorated, crowded blocks of Main Street, Nathan headed toward the south end of town. With Christmas Eve just four nights away, holiday songs filled the air. Children were brimming with anticipation while their parents appeared rushed and distracted.
For Nathan, the holidays were now just another task to get through. The arrests down at the Sanderson plant and the arrival of the DEA and BCA teams had made headline news—far more excitement than Ryansville usually saw in a year—but now the suspects were in custody, and the state and federal agents were gone.
Sara was down at the DEA office in Minneapolis. And Nathan could only wonder how he’d been so wrong about her.
He’d been sure they had something together. A future. A partnership based on trust. But all along, she’d figured he might be just another suspect. She hadn’t cared for him at all.
Turning up Dry Creek, he cruised slowly past Stark’s Salvage as he did almost every day to check on how Leon was doing.
Up on the porch of the old house, Leon paused with a shovel full of snow, shaded his eyes, then dropped the shovel and waved vigorously with both arms, obviously trying to flag Nathan down.
Nathan slowed to a stop, then checked his rearview mirror as he backed up to the driveway. By the time he got out of the car, turned on the radio at his belt and notified dispatch about his stop, Leon was wading through the snowdrifts with a package clutched to his chest.
They met at the gate. “I’ll call and get someone out here to blow this snow out of your drive, okay?”
Leon nodded solemnly as he held a crudely wrapped bundle of papers folded into brown paper and tied haphazardly with twine. “For Sara. And for you.”
“A present? Thanks, Leon.” Touched, Nathan smiled at him, glad to see he looked clean and warmly dressed.
“It’s safe now. Not before.”
Safe? Maybe Leon had feared he and Sara wouldn’t wait for Christmas if they received his present too early. He probably figured such temptations were too difficult to resist.
“I know you’ll have some presents under the tree, too, when you go to Bernice’s place for Christmas Eve.” He smiled at Leon. “How are you getting along? Do you need anything?”
“I’m all right.”
“Good. I’ll save this package until Christmas, okay?”
Confusion filled Leon’s face as he seemed to ponder the concept of waiting to open a gift. Then he nodded and turned away to trudge back through the snow.
