Cranking the engine, he breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one.
Chapter Ten
“Ice cream, Daddy. Pleeease.” Jade, who’d begged to keep her costume on, bounced in the seat of the Silverado. She was still hyper, wired up from her very first Christmas program. With every bounce, her angel wings batted against Lindsey’s shoulder.
Lindsey awaited Jesse’s reply, hoping he’d see how much Jade needed a few more minutes of reveling in the moment.
Jesse shook his head as he turned on the defrosters. “Too cold for ice cream.”
The three of them had rushed across the schoolyard to the parking lot, eager to escape the cold wind after the brief, but chill-producing delay by the man who’d thought Jesse looked familiar. The truck was running and heat had begun to blow from the vents, but they still shivered.
“Hot fudge will counter the cold,” Lindsey suggested, casting a sideways grin at Jesse. “We gotta celebrate.”
“You’re no help,” he said, rolling his silver eyes. “But if you ladies want ice cream, ice cream you shall have. Let’s head to the Dairy Cup.”
A quiver of satisfaction moved through Lindsey. Jesse had enjoyed tonight, she was certain. But what had really stunned her was when he’d reached over and grasped her hand. For a second, she’d almost forgotten where she was, though she doubted Jesse had meant anything by it. Most likely, he’d reached for her in reaction to Jade’s thrilling grand entrance. Still, those moments of her skin touching his while they shared Jade’s triumph lingered sweetly in her mind.
As the truck rumbled slowly down Main Street, her legs began to thaw.
“I’ll be glad when the weather warms up again,” she said.
Jesse’s wrist relaxed over the top of the steering wheel. “Supposed to tomorrow, isn’t it?”
“Some. But there’s a chance of snow too.”
“Snow!” Jade exclaimed and started bouncing again. “Can we make a snowman?”
Lindsey patted the child’s knee. “Wouldn’t be any fun unless we did.”
Jesse glanced her way. “I have a load of trees to haul to Mena tomorrow. I hope we don’t get snow before that’s done.”
“If it snows, you can’t haul those trees. These mountain roads can be treacherous in snow or ice.”
“Might as well get the job done. I have some other business to take care of in Mena, too.”
His personal business intrigued her, though she would never pry. Several times he’d taken off an afternoon for “business reasons.” And just last Sunday at church someone had mentioned seeing him at the municipal building several times. What kind of business would require so many visits to the courthouse?
“Well, all right, stubborn. I’ll just pray the snow holds off.”
She managed to distract the wiggling Jade by pointing out the Christmas decorations visible everywhere. They drove past closed businesses gaily decorated with white stenciled greetings and flashing red and green lights. Fiber-optic trees rotated in some display windows, and attached to the light posts were giant candy canes that caught the reflection of car lights and wobbled with each gust of wind.
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