Christmas Getaway by Tina Leonard and Marion Lennox Anne Stuart

groomsmen were taken away in handcuffs, but a couple escaped, along with Morrissey. Everybody saw Tommy Morrissey shooting, but there were other shooters,mass chaos. Until we know more, we’re keeping everybody in the wedding party protected.”
    â€œWhere’s Molly?” Sam demanded.
    Jean leaned forward so she could hear every word.
    â€œWe’ve got her covered. She wasn’t hit. Like I said, she’s fine. We’ll take care of your girl—you just take care of the maid of honor. Unfortunately, they’re on to her.”
    Jean’s breath left. She felt faint. Sam clicked the phone off.
    â€œFeel better?” he asked.
    â€œWhy did you grab me and not your sister? You should’ve protected Molly!”
    â€œMolly was covered. I trusted the men who were looking out for her. Our information suggested you had inadvertently become a problem.”
    He must be confusing her with someone else. She was in no danger.
    â€œNo one would want to hurt me!”
    â€œWe think Connor might have discovered his cover was blown at the rehearsal dinner. He ran, and his henchmen must have figured he’d left them holding the bag.”
    â€œNone of that has anything to do with me.”
    He didn’t answer, which infuriated her. He simply didn’t understand that they needed to be worrying about Molly. She must be in shock—what bride wouldn’t be with a shoot-out at her wedding? “Where are you taking me?”
    â€œTo my ranch. I can keep an eye on you there.”
    She started to protest, then remembered the person on the phone had requested that Sam get her “far away.” Yet she wasn’t exactly comfortable about being on a ranch out in heaven-knew-where. All she had was this stupid dress—not that clothes were the most pressing of concerns, but what she wouldn’t give for a worn pair of jeans and maybe some UGGboots. And she was Molly’s maid of honor, right? Supposed to be taking care of the bride on her big day? “There’s no place else I could stay?” Preferably somewhere away from Sam’s watchful vision, so she could go find Molly and make sure she was really all right.
    He turned onto the highway and hit the gas, putting distance between them and the ruined wedding. “Until the coast is clear, you’re my guest.”
    Guest. “Just for a day,” she said, scrambling to sound normal, as if she hadn’t just been at a wedding where guns were fired. It was the only way to calm herself.
    He didn’t say anything. “Poor Molly,” Jean said. “Her wedding day ruined. What was that about groomsmen in handcuffs?”
    â€œSeveral men at the wedding had concealed weapons. You didn’t notice the bulges under the jackets?”
    â€œI can’t say that I did.”
    â€œWe’d already made some phone calls,” Sam said, “to check for gun permits. It seemed suspicious for firearms to be at my sister’s wedding. I mentioned it to a buddy. Some cops were called in to quietly keep an eye on things. They were the guys who weren’t wearing tuxes. They stayed out of sight until the shooting started.”
    â€œMaybe it was a mistake,” Jean suggested. “It doesn’t make sense that this wedding would be targeted. A wedding is supposed to be a happy, romantic occasion.” She still couldn’t accept that criminal activity had disrupted her best friend’s ceremony.
    He pulled into a truck stop. “We have a two-hour drive ahead of us, in case you’re interested.”
    She glanced around at the packed truck stop. “What are we doing here?”
    â€œI’m going to grab some water bottles and snacks in case you get hungry. There aren’t tons of fast-food places along the highway, and I’m presuming you don’t want to go out to eat in what you’re wearing.”
    She glanced down at her dress and shook her head. “Nor you,