A Christmas Promise Read online

  “Is there anyone you’d like to call? You can use my phone if you like.”

  She stared at the phone for a moment, as if tempted, then shook her head. “No, thank you. I have a cell phone in my bag.”

  “Oh . . . okay.” James glanced down the road, wondering when the police would come and wondering about her reply. Why wasn’t she calling anyone?

  There was no one waiting for her to arrive somewhere? No one who needed to know what had happened to her? He found that curious, then thought maybe she just didn’t want to have a private conversation in front of him. That was possible, too.

  Red lights flashed in the rearview mirror. He turned to see a blue and white cruiser pull up behind his car. “Looks like the police are here,” he said. “Wait here, I’ll bring the officer over to speak to you.”

  James opened his door and climbed out as the uniformed officer tromped toward him through the snow. It was Tucker Tulley, James realized, a member of the church.

  “Reverend Cameron! For goodness’ sake. I didn’t know it was you out here.” Officer Tulley picked up his pace, running the last few steps. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. The other driver was alone. A woman. She seems to be okay but she’s pregnant. Doesn’t want to see a doctor, though. Maybe you should ask her again,” he added with concern.

  “I will,” Tucker said. He leaned over to peer into the hatchback. “Officer Tulley, ma’am. I’m just going to take some information and get you out of this weather ASAP.”

  James heard Leigh murmur a quiet greeting and politely answer Officer Tulley’s questions. She fumbled for a while, locating her license and car registration, James noticed, but otherwise seemed perfectly at ease and James wondered if he’d only imagined her anxiety earlier when he’d mentioned the police. Officer Tulley quickly took down his information and arranged for a truck to tow Leigh Baxter’s car to a service station in town.

  One fender on James’s car had a small dent, but he could still drive it. “Can I drop you somewhere?” he asked Leigh.

  “I’m not sure . . . is there a motel around here?”

  “There’s one up on the highway,” the police officer answered. “But the roads are getting worse. I don’t recommend going all that way out of town.” Officer Tulley turned toward James again. “Why don’t you take her over to Vera’s? She probably won’t mind putting Ms. Baxter up for a night.”

  Contrary to Officer Tulley’s optimistic impression, James knew that his landlady probably would mind. She did not like surprises, especially after eleven at night.

  Still, it did seem like the best and most logical solution.

  “Who’s Vera?” Leigh asked. “Is she a friend of yours?”

  “In a way. I rent a room in her house. But it’s a big place. I’m sure she has room for you.”

  “I guess that would be all right. If it isn’t too much trouble for her,” Leigh said.

  “She won’t like being woken up if she’s already gone to bed,” James said honestly, “but she’ll understand.”

  Officer Tulley offered to wait for the tow truck. James retrieved two pieces of luggage from the trunk of Leigh’s car and stowed them in his backseat. They were leather bags, the expensive kind with designer initials stamped all over them. Incongruous with her well-used-looking car, he thought as he climbed behind the wheel again.

  The turn to Vera’s house was barely a half mile farther down the road. Meadowlark Lane was unplowed and even harder driving than the Beach Road, and James wondered a few times if he was going to end up in yet another accident before the night was over. But he soon pulled up to Vera’s house and maneuvered his car as far up the curving drive as he could manage. He stopped the car with a deep sigh and turned off the engine.

  “Well done,” Leigh said quietly. She met his glance with a slight smile. He suddenly realized she hadn’t said a word for the entire drive and must have been sitting there terrified of what would come next.

  “I’m really not a bad driver. You just caught me at a real bad time.”

  She laughed at him and he realized that his answer did sound funny, though he hadn’t meant it that way. He smiled then, too.

  It had been a difficult night. He was glad to be home in one piece and able to laugh about the accident. It seemed so basic, so clichéd, but the night’s events had served to remind him that we never know what God has in store for us around the next bend in the road. Anything could happen at any moment. One’s entire life could change in the blink of an eye, in the time it took to draw a single breath.

  He glanced over at Leigh, wondering what she was thinking. She was probably just eager to get in from the cold, he realized.

  “Wait right there; I’ll help you up to the side door.”

  James came around to the passenger side and helped Leigh out of the car, then grabbed her bags from the backseat.

  Vera always left the light on at the side door that opened to a mudroom and then the kitchen. She kept the large house spotless. If she was still awake, the prospect of melting snow on her clean floors was probably sending her into a tizzy.

  Surprisingly, the door swung open as they approached. “Reverend Cameron . . . is that someone with you?” Vera called out. Her voice sounded puzzled and alarmed, and he could barely keep a smile from his face as he imagined her panicked thoughts. Why would her boarder be coming home at this hour . . . with a woman on his arm?

  “Yes, Vera. It’s me.” When he got a bit closer, he added, “I had a little car accident on the Beach Road. This poor lady was my victim. Her car had to be towed, and the motel being so far, I thought maybe she could stay here.”

  “Oh, dear. What a terrible thing. Thank heavens you’re all right.” Vera opened the door wider and stepped aside so that Leigh and James could enter. Dressed in her bathrobe and slippers, with a scarf tied around her pin curls, she wielded her beloved sponge mop like an armed guard.

  “I hope I’m not putting you out, Mrs. Plante,” Leigh said quietly.

  James watched Vera stare at Leigh, her expression pinched. He could see that Vera did feel put out but her better nature was battling valiantly, trying to help her live up to the virtues she held so dear. Rather than judging her harshly, James thought she should get extra credit for trying so hard.

  Finally, Vera sighed and stepped back. “Well, it is an emergency. We’ll have to make do.”

  James nodded in agreement, relieved that she had not made a fuss.

  “Here, give me that wet coat. You’re dripping all over the place,” Vera said a bit sharply. Leigh just smiled and slipped off her coat then handed it to her hostess. He watched Vera hang the coat, then mop up around their feet. Then James noticed Vera’s eyes widen as she realized that Leigh was pregnant.

  “Oh! Sit down, dear!” Vera said suddenly. “I mean, sit down on this bench and take off those shoes,” she added in a softer tone. “Give them here. I’ll put them on the boot tray. They need a bit of newspaper inside to dry them out, too.”

  “Thank you very much.” Leigh watched as Vera expertly stuffed wadded balls of newspaper into her shoes.

  James took off his parka, hung it on the coat tree, then added his wet boots to the tray.

  Vera instantly began mopping up around his feet again. “What a mess. I don’t want anyone to slip. . . .”

  “Here, I’ll do that.” James took the mop. There really wasn’t much snow on the floor, but he knew it would make the older woman feel better.

  “Can I make you some tea?” Vera asked Leigh kindly. “Or maybe some nice tomato soup and crackers? Are you hungry?”

  James suppressed a smile. Vera was clearly moved by Leigh’s plight. Tomato soup and crackers was his landlady’s notion of a real treat.

  “No, thank you.” Leigh shook her head and smiled. “I guess I’d just like to get some sleep, if that’s okay.”

  “Yes, of course. It’s very late. You must be tired. And what a shock, to have an accident in your condition. Just follow me and I
’ll find a nice comfortable room for you,” Vera promised as she led Leigh upstairs.

  James put the mop on its proper hook in the utility closet and soon followed with Leigh’s bags. After mulling aloud a bit, Vera finally picked a room for Leigh on the second floor, toward the back of the house and adjacent to a bathroom.

  “I made up the bed fresh this weekend, expecting my sister Bea who’s down in Gloucester. Then at the last minute, she canceled on me. But here you are, so it’s just as well. Just goes to show, you never know. There’s a reason for everything,” Vera chatted on as she showed Leigh the room.

  Leigh gazed around, taking in the pink flowered wallpaper, matching curtains and quilt, and an oval area rug at her feet, also edged by a border of flowers. A milk-glass lamp sat on a small night table that was covered by a piece of lace-edged linen. Judging from Leigh’s clothes and luggage, James had a feeling that Vera’s surprise guest was used to finer surroundings, but still she seemed pleased.

  “What a pretty room. Your sister missed out,” Leigh said.

  “Didn’t she, though!” Vera shook her head in agreement. “I’ll leave a fresh set of towels in the bathroom for you, and that closet is empty if you want to unpack a few things.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure I’ll be very comfortable.” Leigh watched James put her bags by a wooden chest at the foot of the bed. “Thanks for bringing up my bags,” she said to him.

  “That’s all right. Good night now.” He glanced at Vera, hoping to convey that it was time to leave her newest guest alone.

  “I won’t wake you for breakfast, though I usually serve at half past seven,” Vera added as she followed James out of the room.

  “Half past seven sounds fine.” James caught Leigh’s eye and they shared a brief, secret smile. Leigh bid them both good night again and shut her door.

  ALONE IN THE ROOM, LEIGH SAT ON THE EDGE OF THE HIGH, OLD-FASHIONED bed, listening as Vera’s scuffling steps retreated to a room nearby. She heard James climb the stairs to the third floor and then his steps echoed down a hallway above.

  Her hands moved automatically to her stomach, where she felt the baby’s fluttery kicks. She thought again of the accident and the way James had urged her to visit a hospital. She’d come very close to giving in. But it was the same old problem, a choice between two evils: to take a risk with her baby’s health . . . or to risk losing her baby altogether.

  Showing her fake identification to Officer Tulley had been stressful enough. Going through that a second time in one night, especially in some hospital emergency room, would be pushing the odds. She had to move along as if invisible, without leaving any trail, any imprint, any chance for discovery.

  Besides, Leigh had a strong feeling that the baby was just fine. She was almost positive she’d know if something were amiss. Still, as soon as she had a chance she would find a private doctor and make sure, she promised herself.

  She rested her hand on her stomach. “You’re all right. I know you are,” she said softly. “I’d never let anything happen to you. You’re all I have. Don’t worry. I think we’ll be fine here. It feels safe.”

  It did feel safe. James Cameron and Vera Plante both seemed so trusting; she wasn’t worried about them. Though it was disorienting to end up in this strange place. She wasn’t even sure where she’d landed. Cape Light, the police officer had said. She hadn’t noticed the town on her map. Now she pulled the Massachusetts state map from her bag and studied it again. No Cape Light; it was just another dot on the shore road she’d chosen in lieu of the highway. Maybe that hadn’t been such a smart idea, since at that point the snow was already coming down heavily, but she hadn’t been willing to take any chances. She was almost sure a car had been following her from the highway rest stop. So now she was lost and stuck without a car, at least for a day or two. Had she just imagined someone following her? Had it been worth all this trouble?

  It was worth whatever it took to get away, an inner voice insisted. Whatever it took to keep her baby safe.

  Leigh dug her phone out of her purse and turned it on to check her messages. She found a new one and quickly played it back.

  The warm, familiar voice of her friend Alice greeted her. “It’s me. I had a call today, your cousin Eileen, in Canada. She said you mustn’t go there right now or even call her. A private detective came to her house today. She has no idea how they found her. Martin must have given them an old address book or something, and they’re just tracking every single name down at this point. Anyway, she’s afraid that her house is being watched now. She was even afraid to call you directly. I feel so badly for you, honey. It seemed like such a good plan. . . .”

  Leigh fought down a stab of panic. She’d been counting on Eileen as her haven and Canada as the place where she would safely give birth to and raise her baby.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Alice’s distressed voice went on. “Wherever you are, be careful. Call me when you can. I just hope you’re all right.”

  Leigh clicked off the phone, caught in a familiar sense of dread and frustration. She felt like a mouse trapped in a maze: she would come so close to escaping she could practically smell freedom; then she would turn and hit another dead end. She felt tears well up and took a shaky breath. By tomorrow, she would have reached Bar Harbor and boarded the ferry. It just wasn’t fair.

  What was she going to do now? Martin’s investigators were everywhere and sooner or later, he’d bring the police into it. She was almost sure of that. His family liked to keep things quiet, and he rarely went against them. But he must be desperate now, she reasoned, desperate and irrational.

  Sometimes she felt desperate, too, almost wishing she could just disappear off the face of the earth. Her life seemed such a mess. Sometimes she didn’t think she could ever set it straight again.

  But she couldn’t think that way, she reminded herself. Not with the baby inside of her, her burden and her joy.

  Okay, her plan to stay with Eileen on Prince Edward Island was derailed, but maybe she could still go north. Another route perhaps, to someplace where nobody knew her? Or maybe south again? She had some money from trading in her new car for an old one, but she would need most of it for the baby. She was no longer insured and she knew how many thousands it would cost to have the baby in a hospital, and that was assuming everything went smoothly. She’d gone without eating anything today except a roll and coffee, just to save for gasoline. She had a credit card but couldn’t use it. It was just too risky. Her ID didn’t even match anymore.

  But I’ll think of something, Leigh told herself. Some way around him. Maybe not tonight, but something will come to me.

  It just had to.

  She couldn’t let him win.

  Leigh suddenly felt so tired, weary to her bones, her mind a blank, gray screen. She stretched out on the bed and pulled the quilt up around her shoulders. I’ll just rest for a few minutes, she told herself. Her head had barely touched the pillow before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  JESSICA MORGAN STOOD IN THE DARK, STARING OUT AT THE FALLING snow covering the land behind their house. The soft white coating made everything outside look different. That’s the way winter was; it changed everything, she thought.

  She had imagined her life would be different by now, too. That was the problem. She’d floated through the summer with an image in her head, a vision of how it would be once the holidays came. How happy she and Sam would be, preparing for their baby. But it hadn’t turned out that way at all. She had lost the baby in September, just as the nights began to cool and the leaves turned color and dropped to the ground.

  Fall had come and gone, and now winter had arrived. But she knew she was not over the shock of her miscarriage.

  Jessica tightened the belt on her robe. She touched her stomach, perfectly flat. She should have been . . . what, six months by now? She had pictured herself in maternity outfits and Sam’s big shirts around the house. Working on this room, picking out paint and wallpaper, ordering baby fur
niture. Instead, the room stood empty and bare. Waiting. The way she felt inside.

  It wasn’t rational but she felt as if she had failed.

  Suddenly the holidays loomed up before her, Thanksgiving less than two weeks off and Christmas not far behind. She had no spirit this year for the season. She wished she could hide out somewhere until it was all over. She hadn’t felt that way since the year her father died. She couldn’t imagine how she would get through it.

  “Jess? Are you okay?”

  Sam stood in the doorway, staring sleepily at her. She was embarrassed that he had found her here again, but in another way, glad of it.

  “I’m all right. I just couldn’t sleep.”

  He walked over to the window and put his arm around her, then gently kissed the top of her head. “Worried about something at work?”

  Jessica shook her head, avoiding his gaze. He knew why she came in here all the time when she couldn’t sleep. He just didn’t want to say.

  Sam sighed and pulled her close. “Oh, sweetie, it’s okay. We’ll have a baby soon. We need to be patient, that’s all.”

  Jessica pressed her head against his shoulder and nodded. Her throat was too tight to speak. What if they couldn’t have a baby? What if it just didn’t work out for them? Sometimes that happened to couples. She knew it did. Sam wanted children so badly and she was so afraid she would disappoint him.

  “It looks like the snow is stopping,” she said finally.

  “I hope so. We certainly got enough of it. Guess I’ll go dig your mother out tomorrow.”

  “That’s sweet.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Not that she’ll thank you for it.”

  Sam laughed. “I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t call the police and report a burglar.”

  “Come on, Sam. She’s not that bad.”

  “No comment.” Sam leaned back and smiled down at her.

  “I guess you could stop by at Dr. Elliot’s and see if he needs any help, too,” Jessica suggested.

  “Don’t worry, Ezra is already on my list. I might bring Darrell Lester along. He could help me, maybe earn a few dollars.”