The Christmas Piano Tree: What's Christmas without a tree? (A Kissing Creek novel Book 1) by Jina Bacarr Page A

someone opened a door and let Old Man Winter in. That made him scramble to get his bearings back on. Footsteps? A bad feeling came over him, and then pinged his brain.
    Was it —
    Then a loud banging.
    Oh, shit. It was .
    Kristen stiffened in his arms, but she didn’t pull away. “Did you hear that?”
    “Must be the wind blowing the shutters back and forth,” Jared said, keeping his voice calm, but he didn’t believe a word of it. He’d gone into battle mode in an instant, trying to remember where the exits were, noting where he’d dropped his gear if he needed it, making a plan. An icy chill edged up his spine. The cottage stood by itself at the end of a winding road, no traffic this time of night. No close neighbors.
    “Are you sure? The storm is over,” Kristen said, confused. He held her tighter, waiting for her reaction. She’d figure out what happened in a minute and he had to be prepared to act.
    “Do you have a back door?” Jared asked, trying not to alarm her.
    “Yes, but who could— oh, my God, Rachel!” she yelled, pulling away from him and running to the back of the cottage, looking everywhere. “She’s not in her room. Rachel, Rachel!”
    Jared raced after her, his heart pounding. “Keep looking.”
    “She’s gone!” Kristen cried, pointing to the open back door. “Why, Jared, why?”
    Jared cursed under his breath, angry with himself for not paying attention to his instincts when he sensed they weren’t alone. Now he knew what they’d heard.
    A child in pain.
    But he’d been too involved in his own joy to think that a little girl might pop up out of bed, dry her tears, and go looking for her mother.
    He swore, yes, swore on everything he held sacred, that he wouldn’t rest until he found the child. But he couldn’t leave Kristen like this, shell-shocked and disbelieving. She’d already walked through hell. She didn’t need this.
    He wrapped his arms around her, trying to soothe her, his lips brushing her forehead, mumbling to her in low, soft tones not to worry, that Rachel would be all right. He didn’t know if she believed him. Her cheeks were deeply flushed and her lips had gone pale. She was shaking madly, her breathing coming hard and fast.
    Words weren’t enough. He had to find the little girl. Now . He knew what was going through her mind. The guilt eating her up alive. Him, even more so.
    Rachel had seen her mommy kissing Santa Claus and it shattered her world.

Chapter Seven
    Kristen couldn’t stop blaming herself as Jared grabbed his field jacket and gear and took off after her baby. Torturing herself with questions, always questions. Never answers. Why had she been so selfish, putting her own needs ahead of Rachel’s?
    Why didn’t she check on her?
    And why didn’t she tell the child the truth in the first place?
    She thought of running, rushing out into the darkness and snow, tried it actually, no coat, no scarf, just an urgency to find her child. Knowing she was suffering, knowing she could die out there. My God, the temperature had to be close to freezing.
    “No, Kristen,” Jared had said in a no nonsense voice, startling her. He’d gone after her and picked her up in his arms and carried her back inside the cottage. She’d never seen a man’s eyes look so fierce when he put her down. “I’ll go. You wait here in case Rachel comes back on her own.”
    Like hell she will , she’d shouted back, banging her fists on his chest, shaking so bad she couldn’t stop. He had no right to order her to stay here, no right at all. Rachel was her baby, her baby …it was her fault she’d run away.
    Then Jared did something she never expected. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. Not a passionate kiss, but just as powerful. Soft, tender. Taking the fight out of her. His heated breath warmed her, calmed her, because deep inside she knew he was right. She’d get lost out there and then he’d have two missing females to find.
    She let out a deep sigh. Ten