"Well, that should be fun."
"Will it be fun? Or will I be opening a door that should stay locked?"
"It doesn't have to be that dramatic."
"It doesn't have to be," she agreed. "But somehow I think it will be. Because that man…he gets under my skin, Keira. I should hate him. And I do hate him. But I also kind of like him. Oh," she groaned. "Why does he have to be nice now? Why does he have to be so damn good-looking? Why couldn't he have gained a hundred pounds or lost his hair or broken his gorgeous face?"
Keira laughed. "Because then it would be too easy. Frankly, I think it's good you have to deal with him. Ever since he came back, you've barely dated anyone. Everyone is so boring to you. Jake is not boring, and maybe you have unfinished business."
"I'm not sure I want to finish it."
"Well, one way or another, I think you're going to have to."
Chapter Nine
Jake had more fun than he would have thought playing Santa Claus, and he had to admit he was happy to see the annoyance on his dad's face when he finally showed up and realized who had taken over his role. He took a break to remove the costume while his dad went to talk to Hannah. When he was back in his street clothes, he left Santa's house and the costume inside and walked over to the toy booth. His father, who had been hovering nearby, gave him a brief nod, which he returned, and then his dad went to change.
Brett was playing in the back of the booth with a sleepy golden retriever, who belonged to one of the other elves, while Hannah and Keira were spreading holiday cheer with their goodie bags.
"Can I help?" he asked.
"You've done enough," Hannah told him quickly. "Thank you for playing Santa."
"It wasn't bad. I made some mental notes on some of the Christmas wishes. I jotted them down on a piece of paper that I left in Santa's house. Some of the kids were vague, but there were a few who were very specific. I'm not sure what you can do with them."
"We'll share the wishes with the parents."
"Nice job," Keira put in, a twinkle in her eyes. "I never thought I'd see you stepping into your dad's shoes."
"I prefer to think of them as Santa's shoes."
"Either way," Keira said with a laugh, as she moved away to talk to some friends and their kids.
"It was nice to have you step in for your dad," Hannah said. "I think Davis was a little stunned that you'd agreed."
He shrugged. "I don't really care what he thinks."
She frowned. "I wish you two could get along."
"What does it matter to you?"
"Well, maybe it doesn't matter to me, but I'm sure it bothers your mom and your brother. I do remember a time when you and your father had a good relationship."
"That was so long ago I can barely remember." He knew Hannah didn't understand, because he'd never told her why he and his dad no longer got along, and he couldn't tell her now. "Let's talk about our date," he said, changing the subject. "Where do you want to go?"
"The date is not going to happen any time soon."
"But you're not getting out of it. We have a deal."
"I never renege on a deal, but I need to deal with Brett and Kelly first." She stopped abruptly, her gaze filling with worry. He turned and saw who had created so much stress in her eyes. It was Adam. And he was walking purposefully toward them.
Hannah licked her lips and put a steadying hand on the counter.
"It's going to be okay," he said quietly.
"You don't know that."
She had a point. "You're right, but it's always best to stay positive."
"Hello, Hannah, Jake," Adam said. "Do you have a minute to talk?"
Hannah looked over her shoulder at Keira, who clearly sensed something serious was going on.
"Go," Keira said. "I'll take care of Brett."
Hannah gave Keira a grateful look and then they followed Adam into a shadowy part of the park away from the carnival. She probably would have preferred to do this without him, but since she hadn't told him to go, he was going to stay close.
"Have you found my sister?" she asked.
"Not yet," Adam replied. "But I do know more about her life since she left Whisper Lake fifteen years ago, and I want to fill you in."
"Okay. What do you know?"
"Kelly got married five years ago to Travis Hill, an army lieutenant who was killed in action three months after the birth of their son, Brett."
"Oh, no," she whispered, putting a hand to her mouth. Brett's father was dead. That was terribly sad.
At her emotional reaction, Jake couldn't help himself. He moved closer, taking her free hand into his, and she let him.
"Kelly and Brett were living in South Carolina at Fort Jackson when Travis died," Adam continued. "After that, they moved to Florida for a while and then to Colorado Springs eighteen months ago."
"I can't believe Kelly came back to Colorado," Hannah said. "She always wanted to live by the ocean. I figured she'd ended up at a beach somewhere."
"She did for a while. When she got to Colorado Springs, she got a job as a checker at a grocery store. I spoke to her boss, Tracy Vaughn. Ms. Vaughn said Kelly was a good worker, and she had no problems with her until about two months ago when she abruptly quit, saying the hours weren't good for her because she was a single mother. She had gotten some work she could do from home and no one at the market saw her again after that. She gave me Kelly's last known address, and I had an officer from the Colorado Springs Police Department check it out. Her landlord said she saw Kelly three weeks ago putting suitcases into her car. She said she was taking
