Unsurpassed by Charity Parkerson

couldn’t stop. If something was going on with Aubree, he needed to know,
even if it meant questioning a child. Trina nodded while staring at the corner.
“Un-huh. He shows up every day. He’s very big,” she explained holding her arms
out wide to aid her description. “And he says lots of bad words to her. He says
she only cared about sick kids and not sick old people then he calls her ugly
names. I don’t like him, and it’s not true. Aubree cares about everybody, even
the mean nurse who doesn’t let me watch anything except the educational
channel.”
    Drew gripped the arms of the chair until his knuckles
protested. “Does he do anything else?” Even to his ears, Drew’s voice sounded
hollow.
    Trina went back to twisting her bracelet. “Yesterday she
said something and he got really mad. Aubree doesn’t know I can see her from
here with the door open,” Trina added shooting him a panicked look.
    “Don’t worry,” he said attempting to sound soothing in spite
of his boiling blood. “I won’t say a word. What happened yesterday?”
    Looking relieved, Trina dropped her gaze to her lap again.
“He said, ‘if you ask him to do it, he will. He’ll give you whatever you want,’
and Aubree told him no. She said, ‘Everyone uses Drew. I love him and I won’t
be like everyone else.’ His face turned scary and he pushed her against the
wall. It was really hard too because she hit her head.”
    The edges of the room turned dark as Drew lost focus. He
would kill him. Max had been here terrorizing Aubree and she hadn’t said a
word. He’d put his hands on her. Max was a dead man. “If he goes away, Aubree
will smile again all day. Can you do it or am I wasting my Christmas wish?”
    Every single word Trina spoke sounded as if it was coming
through a tunnel, but he nodded. “I definitely can,” he promised, and Trina
looked over at him, smiling. Clenching both arms of the chair to keep from
storming out, Drew forced his voice to remain level. “Are you sure there’s
nothing I can bring you for Christmas? I’ll take care of Aubree for free if
you’d like something as well.”
    She scrunched up her face again as she answered. “If you
want to surprise me then I won’t complain about whatever you bring me.”
    “You have a deal,” he said, coming to his feet. He tried
hard to move as slowly as possible even as his mind raced in every direction.
    “It’s okay for you to hug me.”
    In spite of his rage, Drew couldn’t help but be charmed by
the little girl as he leaned over and carefully hugged her. He was hyper-aware
of his strength in comparison to her frail body, but it was obvious she had
enough inner strength to make up the difference.
    With a final wave, he headed out. As soon as he was out of
sight, he stormed from the building pulling off the hat and beard as he went.
It was time to take care of Max. Nobody touched his woman and lived to tell
about it.
     
    Aubree peeked in Trina’s room and a hint of disappointment
set in when she realized she’d missed saying goodbye to Drew. “I see Santa has
already left.”
    Trina nodded. “He is Santa, so he’s very busy today.”
    Aubree pursed her lips to keep from smiling at Trina’s
matter-of-fact tone. She was convinced the girl was going to grow to be quite
the character. “Did you make sure to ask for lots of new stuff?”
    “He’s going to surprise me.”
    “Good choice,” Aubree agreed. “I like surprises.” Glancing
over she caught sight of the television. “Sheesh. Are you on the educational
channel again? Be a child, chickee,” Aubree ordered flipping it to the cartoon
channel as Trina giggled.
    Despite her best efforts, Aubree spent the rest of the day
worrying. Even though she knew Drew had a lot to do, it wasn’t like him to
leave without saying anything. It niggled at the back of her mind making it
hard for her to concentrate. By the time she made it home that night, she
barely remember anything she’d done or said all