Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 18

SERENA

Coffee was my salvation the next morning, after a fitful night’s sleep. I ended up cuddling up next to my little angel, needing to be close to her before I could settle down. But even then, my mind wouldn’t shut up. Between worrying about who might be following us, what I would do if they tried to take my baby, and the way Storm rushed over to make sure we were okay, I was a hot mess.

What was that about, anyway? Did all lawyers do that for their clients? I didn’t think so. But what did I know? I’d never been in a situation where I needed a lawyer before, so this was foreign territory for me.

His calming presence and sound advice gave me the reassurance I needed to keep from stuffing our clothes in a bag, loading Sadie into the car, and taking off. I didn’t want to leave. We loved this town, and I had a business to run. But I was terrified of losing Sadie. She was everything to me.

Storm showing up here last night proved to me how much the people in Moonlit Lake looked after one another. If I left, I would lose that. It would be just us. And I didn’t know if I was enough to protect Sadie all on my own.

Leaving Sadie at daycare today was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I briefly told Gemma what was going on, and that only myself or my mom had permission to see Sadie. I was tempted to list Storm, since he had become I trusted. But he was only my lawyer, and picking up your client’s kid was way beyond an attorney’s scope.

Gemma held a baby in one arm and rubbed my arm with the other. “Don’t worry, Serena. Sadie will be safe here. The door is locked during the day, and the backyard is fenced. We always have staff watching, too. Sadie is never unsupervised here, I promise you that.”

“Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.”

In my shop, the flowers were a balm to my nerves. I relaxed more and more as I breathed in the familiar scents and let their healing energy wrap around me like a blanket. A steady flow of customers gave me a welcome distraction.

“Hello, Mr. Williams. What can I do for you today?”

“Well, I’m in the doghouse again. I’m hoping some of your flowers might help me to get out of it.”

“How in the doghouse are we talking? Do you need a mistletoe truce, a poinsettia pardon, or a Hail Mary Christmas miracle?”

“Probably better go with the latter.”

“Oh boy. Well, I know just the thing. Give me about twenty minutes to put it together.”

“Thanks Serena, you’re a lifesaver.”

“I’m happy to help. Besides, Mr. Williams, as much as I hate to tell you this, your lack of filter might very well fund Santa’s workshop this year.“

“Ha! I wouldn’t doubt it. At the rate I’m going, I’ll probably pay for your daughter to go to college.” He laughed and leaned against the counter. “Maybe I should just set up a standing order for you to deliver an apology every week. Proactive instead of reactive, you know?”

“Not a bad idea. Let me get this put together for you first.”

Pulling out all the flowers I had in stock that represented forgiveness, I created a humongous bouquet of white tulips, white daisies, white orchid, and lily of the valley. I added sprigs of pine and holly to make it festive. Then tied it all together with a gold bow. It was a stunning arrangement, if I had to say so myself.

I brought the arrangement to the counter and set it in front of him. “Here you are, Mr. Williams. Do you think this will do the trick?”

“I sure hope so.” He handed me his credit card to pay the bill, then picked up the massive arrangement and headed toward the door. “Thank you so much, Serena. We’ll talk later about setting up regular deliveries.”

I rushed to get the door for him, since the flowers were an armful and pretty much blocked his view. “Alright. Good luck.” I hoped he found his way to his car safely.

By the end of the day, I was barely standing. Grateful we were having dinner with my mom tonight, so I didn’t have to think about cooking. I picked Sadie up from daycare, and was relieved to hear it was just a normal day there.

In the car, Sadie filled me in on every little thing that happened while we were apart. “Justin is such a meanie. He kept throwing snow at us when we were playing on the swing set, and then when we decided to make a snow fort, he kept knocking it down.”

“Maybe he just wants to play with you. Did you ever ask him to play?”

“But I don’t want him to play. He’s mean.”

“Maybe he just needs a little love and kindness, like the Grinch.” I said, taking advantage of this teaching moment while I had her undivided attention in the car. “You reminded me the other day of how the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes. Remember? Maybe that could happen to Justin.”

She turned to look out the window, apparently thinking about what I said. If anyone could get a bully to change his ways, it was my sweet Sadie.

“Hey, Sadie. I was thinking that maybe after supper at Nana’s, we could go driving around to look at Christmas lights. Would you like that?”

Looking at the lights had been on my list of fun things to do with Sadie, and tonight it would also be the perfect diversion. A nice relaxing drive, without any crowds, listening to Christmas music in the car. Just what I needed.

Sadie shrieked and raised her hands to the roof of the car. “Yes! I love Christmas lights. It’s one of my favorite things.” She looked out the window. The sun was just starting to set. “Will it be dark out? It’s hard to see the lights during the daytime.”

“By the time we’re done eating, it will be dark.”

“Goodie. I can’t wait to tell Nana.”

My mom cooked spaghetti, a special recipe she learned on a trip to Italy. It was Sadie’s favorite meal. Sadie ate two full servings and ended up with red sauce all over her face from slurping noodles.

After taking a bite, Mom leaned back in her chair, dramatically closing her eyes and throwing her hands in the air. “Ahh… This… is… DIVINE!” she sang out opera-style. “If I do say so myself. I could die happy right now.”

“Don’t die, Nana. It’s almost Christmas.”

“That’s just a saying, Sugarplum. I was just expressing my gratitude for this delicious food. Wasn’t it yummity, yum, yum?”

Sadie patted her tummy, a joyful grin on her face. “Mmm-hmm! The yummiest of yummy. I could have eaten the whole bowl.”

I got a wet washcloth from the kitchen to wipe the sauce off her before she got it all over everything. “Alright, Betty Spaghetti, let’s get you cleaned up so we can go in search of the best lights.”

Sadie flapped her arms excitedly. “Nana! We’re gonna go see all the Christmas lights in the world. Wanna come with us?”

“Oof. I don’t think I have the energy to see all the lights in the world tonight. But you’ll have to tell me all about it.”

“I will.” Sadie jumped into my mom’s arms and gave her a big squeeze. “Love you, Nana.”

“I love you more. Have fun checking out the lights.” Mom kissed Sadie’s cheek before setting her down. “I’ll see you in a few days. Oh, before you go, Serena, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”

“Can it wait? I’m feeling tired all of a sudden and I promised Sadie that we’d look at the lights.”

Mom’s expression was more serious than normal, and she appeared a bit nervous to tell me whatever it was. But then brushed it off like it was no big deal. “That’s fine. I’ll stop by the shop tomorrow and we can talk then.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.” That was weird. But I’d learned to just go with the flow with my mom. Never understanding why she did the things she did. And I definitely didn’t need more bad news right now.

Sadie and I drove up and down the streets, taking in all the festive yard displays. Leaving my worries for another day and enjoying this time together.

“I love the blow-up Santas and Snowmen. Those are my favorites. What’s your favorite Mommy?”

“I’m partial to the ones with lights that are just one color. The one that had blue lights wrapped around every tree, and not just the pine trees but the birch and maple trees, too. I really liked those.”

We drove around a bit more, and I noticed Sadie yawning in the back seat. “Mommy, my tummy hurts.”

“We’ll head home then. You probably ate too much spaghetti.” I turned toward our street, away from the lights, when I noticed a car following behind us. It had been behind us for a while, but I assumed they were light peepers, like us.

I made a couple more turns, going completely around the block, and it was still behind us. My heart sped up. I couldn’t go home with them following us. The best thing would be to lose them.

Heading in the opposite direction of our house, I sped up and took turn after turn, trying my best to lose them. They make it look so easy in the movies. Not so much in real life. Especially on these slippery roads.

“Mommy, can you not turn so much? It’s making my tummy hurt more.”

“Sorry, sweetie, I’m doing the best that I can. Just close your eyes and try to rest a little, okay? We’ll be home soon.” I hoped. If we didn’t end up in Canada first.

My hands gripped the wheel so tightly my knuckles were white. I kept shifting my gaze between the road in front of me and the rear-view mirror. My heart pounded fast and furious, and I felt it through my entire head. My insides trembled so fiercely, I thought I’d puke.

I had to lose them. I had to get us to safety.

A quick right, then left and left and right. I was making myself queasy. Another couple of fast turns and it seemed like I lost them. I checked my rearview mirror once more time, to be sure. Just then, my car hit an icy patch, spun around and landed us square in the ditch.

The snow was deep, and our car was pretty much nose down in the snow, like a spear. All I could see through all but the back window was white.

Sadie mumbled in a sleepy voice. “What happened, Mommy? Where are we?” Her eyes widened as she looked out the window at all the surrounding snow. “Did we land in the North Pole?”

“Not quite. Our car just went into the ditch. Sit tight for a bit while I try to dig a path for us to get out.” I tried my door, but it was wedged with show and wouldn’t budge. I slid over the seat to try the back door. It was still under the snow, but I was able to push it open.

I slowly emerged from the car and climbed up the bank, peeking over the vehicle to see if there was anyone around. No one. I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed our followers had abandoned the chase. Thank goodness I’d lost them before getting stuck. Looking around, I didn’t really know where we were, but it was a pretty remote area. One house had a light on, and it wasn’t that far away. At least, there was somewhere to go. We wouldn’t freeze out here waiting for help.

Any other time, we would stay in the car and call someone to come and help us. But the temps were subzero already, and dropping. We only had one thin blanket, which wouldn’t keep us both warm. Leaving the car was risky, but so was staying out in the cold. Since there was a house close by, we were better off getting someplace warm and safe. And out of sight from whoever had chased us.

“Sadie, honey. Our car is stuck, so we need to get out and walk to the next house. Okay?”

“But my tummy still hurts, Mommy. Can’t we just go home?”

“When we get to that house, you’ll be able to lie down and rest. You’ll feel much better.”

I grabbed my purse, Sadie’s bag from day care, and the blanket from the back seat. Oh, and the emergency box of fruit snacks I kept in the car. We might need sustenance. After setting the bags on the road, I came back for Sadie. It would be tricky to get her out in this deep snow.

After unbuckling her booster seat, I sat on the seat with my back to her. “Climb on my back, Sweetpea. I’m gonna give you a piggy-back ride. How’s that sound?”

“Okay.” She climbed out of her seat and wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

“Ready? Hang on tight. This is gonna be an adventure.” My boots sunk deep into the snow with each step, but I held onto the car for support and made it out to the road. Not wanting to set Sadie down, I slung the blanket over her on my back. Then squatted to pick up the bags and began trudging down the road toward the house.

With each step, I prayed that the people in the house would welcome us, and give us a warm place to sleep tonight. I also prayed that whoever was following us didn’t come along while we were on the road. If they did, we’d be sitting ducks.

Once we got to safety, I’d call for help.

I quickened my steps, as much as I could with all I was carrying. My legs burned and my heart raced. The cold air froze my nostrils with each inhale, and clouds of white steam rose from my mouth with each exhale.

“We’re almost there, sweetie. Just a little bit further.”

Each step felt like a mile, and I had all I could do to keep lifting my two-ton boots to keep moving forward and avoid toppling into the snowbank.

When we finally reached the front porch of the house, I set the bags down and knocked on the door. A dog barked, and the door opened.

At that moment, Sadie turned away from me, and… “Blaaarghh.”