She saw Jake and his father exchange a look, and then Jake said, "That might change. It turns out we're a better team than I thought."
"Jake has a lot to tell you," Davis added.
She didn't know what that meant, but seeing that the anger was gone between them, she felt very hopeful that they might be finding their way back to the relationship they'd once had.
"I want to hear it all," she said. "But we need to get Kelly to the hospital."
"That won't be happening for a while," Jake said. "A tree fell across the road and the bridge is down."
"Are you serious? How did you get here then?"
"Jake found a way," his dad put in. "He's very resourceful."
"So are you," he told his father. "You drew Tom's attention without managing to get yourself shot."
"You needed a distraction; I gave you one."
"So, what are we going to do?" Kelly asked.
"We'll stay here until help comes," Davis told her. "Don't worry, Kelly. I will take care of you and your baby until we can get you to the hospital."
"You're being so nice to me, Dr. McKenna—all of you are," Kelly said, her eyes tearing up once more. "I don't deserve it. I abandoned my family years ago. And then I came back and left my son for Hannah to take care of." Kelly's gaze sought hers. "I thought you might hate me, Hannah."
"I could never hate you. You're my sister."
"But I left you behind."
"It hurt," she admitted. "But we were all in survival mode after Dad died."
"I made so many mistakes."
"We've all made mistakes," Davis interjected. "It's what you do after that, that matters."
"He's right," she told her sister. "We all make mistakes, and we hope that we can do better and maybe eventually someone forgives us." She looked at Jake. "Or we forgive them."
His eyes darkened. "You said that might take a miracle."
"Well, I think we got one. And as you told me a few days ago, it is the season for miracles. We even have a newborn." She smiled, suddenly realizing the best part of all. "And this year I also get to help Santa Claus deliver one little boy his only wish—to get his mother back for Christmas."
"Is that what Brett wanted?" Kelly asked, her eyes tearing up once more.
"Yes. He adores you."
"He's my heart. It was hard to leave him, but I had to get him to safety."
"You did what you needed to do," she told her sister. While she still had mixed feelings about Kelly's disappearance so many years ago, she did believe her sister had done the right thing when she'd left Brett in her care.
"I thought about you a lot over the years, Hannah," Kelly said. "I've been following you online. You don't post much, but sometimes your friends do, and you're in the picture."
"Following my life online would never tell you the real story," she said. "There's a lot you missed, Kelly…a lot with Mom."
"What happened with Mom?"
At that question, she realized that Kelly hadn't known how bad their mother's drinking had gotten. "Too much to get into now," she murmured. "But people tried to find you over the years, and they never could. I guess you changed your name after you got married."
"There's a lot you don't know, too," Kelly said with a heavy sigh.
Seeing how exhausted her sister was, Hannah knew this wasn't the time to fill each other in. "We'll talk later. You should rest."
"I'll get my bag," Davis said. "I left it on the porch."
As they left the bedroom, her gaze went to Tom Washburn, who was lying in a pool of his own blood. Jake picked up the heavy afghan on the back of the couch and covered Tom's body. "Thank you," she said, relieved not to have to look at his face.
Davis collected his medical bag, then went back into the bedroom.
Needing some air, she stepped out onto the porch, happy to see that the storm had abated. It was a little past five, but it was no longer snowing, and dusky light was breaking through the thinning clouds. She was less happy to see that the road leading to the cabins was piled high with snow. It could be a while before anyone could get to them. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. "I still don't have a signal."
"Neither do I," Jake said, taking a look at his phone. "But I spoke to Adam on my way up here. I told him everything you told me. He was in Black Falls at that time, but he said he would send Brodie here and an ambulance."
"That was a long time ago, wasn't it?"
"Yes. They must not be able to get through."
"Can they do what you and your father did?"
"That would be dicey. We used part of the tree that knocked out my truck as a bridge. I'm sure Brodie could get across, but there's no way Kelly and Violet could make it." He paused, and then stepped forward, putting his arms around her.
Her heart sped up once more as she gazed into his warm brown eyes. "I was worried about you, Jake. I was afraid you'd come in and Tom would hurt you before you even knew he was there. I shouldn't have texted you. I shouldn't have involved you."
"Are you serious? Of course you should have texted me. And you gave me enough information to be cautious in my approach."
"I'm so glad you're all right, although your face is kind of bruised."
"I'm pissed he landed even one punch. But you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." He gave her a searching smile. "Did you mean what you said in there—about forgiveness?"
She smiled back at him, certain in her answer. "Yes. I forgive you, Jake."
"Really? You're not just high on adrenaline and relief?"
"No. I forgave you a
