In the Spirit of...Christmas and A Very Special Delivery: In the Spirit of...Christmas / A Very Special Delivery. Linda Goodnight
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mayo on a slice of bread, handing it to Jade to layer on the meat and cheese. “Did you know you have a guardian angel who is always with you?”
Shaking her head, Jade licked the mayo off one finger.
“Well, you do. Everybody does. But God has very special guardian angels that take care of children. Jesus loves you so much He tells your very own angel to keep watch over you day and night.”
“Even when I’m asleep?”
“Yes.” She chose an angel from the pile of cookie cutters. “That’s why you don’t need to be afraid of anything—ever. Your angel is always here, looking after you.”
Jade took the metal angel, studied it, and then pressed the shape into a sandwich. “Does Daddy have a guarding angel?”
Lindsey smiled at the mispronunciation. “He sure does.”
“Can I save this angel sandwich for my daddy?”
“Of course you can. We’ll make enough of everything so he can eat, too, when he gets here.”
That seemed to satisfy Jade, and Lindsey wished she were as easily comforted. Where was Jesse? Leaving Jade alone was so uncharacteristic of him. Had something happened? In the weeks of their acquaintance she’d grown fond of him, fonder than was comfortable, and the thought of something happening to him was unspeakable.
Agitated and filled with self-recriminations, Jesse stormed across Lindsey’s yard, hoping with everything in him that Jade was here. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so busy, so deeply enmeshed in the stacks of court records that the time had slipped away and he’d forgotten to pick Jade up from school until she was long gone. What kind of lousy father was he anyway?
Sushi bounded out to meet him, a good sign. His spirits lifted somewhat, though he’d feel better if the German shepherd bit him. He deserved to be punished. For all his searching, he hadn’t found a bit of useful information; not one single reference to any transaction between Charles Mitchell and Les Finch.
The day as gray as his mood, Jesse mounted the porch—and heard singing. A husky adult voice that sent an unexpected shiver of pleasure dancing along his nerve endings blended sweetly with a higher, childish melody.
Relief flooded him. Jade was here. Pausing at the open door, he could see the two through the glass. They were in the kitchen at the table, their backs turned, singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” while they worked at something.
He squinted, leaning closer. What kind of get-ups were they wearing?
With an inner smile, he waited until they finished their song before pecking lightly on the door. Two heads swiveled in his direction.
“Daddy!” Jade dropped something onto the table and clambered off her chair. She ran toward him, nearly tripping over a long, white dress that looked suspiciously like a well-used wedding gown. Taking a moment to hike the yards of wrinkled satin and lace into one hand, she stumbled onward, lime-green high heels clunking against the wooden floor.
Mood elevating with every step his baby took, Jesse opened the door and stepped inside the living room.
“My, don’t you look beautiful,” he said.
But Jade was having none of his compliments. She got right to the point. “The teacher made me ride the bus ’cause you didn’t come.”
“I’m sorry I was late, Butterbean. Your teacher did the right thing sending you to Lindsey where you would be safe and happy.”
“Where were you? I got scared. I thought you were dead like Mommy.”
A searing pain cut off Jesse’s windpipe. Of course, she’d think that. That’s why he always made a point of being exactly where she expected—to allay her well-founded fears.
Lindsey appeared in the living room. “Your daddy is here now, Jade, and he’s just fine.”
“Jesus took care of him the way you said.”
A serene smile lit Lindsey’s eyes. “Yes, He did.”
Jesse didn’t know what was going on with their talk of Jesus and decided not to ask. He looked to Lindsey, grateful for her care of Jade, but not wanting to tell her where he’d been. Wearing a hat with peacock feathers sticking out the top, and a rather bedraggled fake fur stole over someone’s old red prom dress, she looked ridiculously cute. If he hadn’t felt so guilty, he would have laughed.
“I’m sorry for putting you out this way.”
“Jade is no problem. But we were a little concerned about you.”
Exactly what he didn’t need—Lindsey’s concern, although he knew it was there, felt it day in and day out as she carefully avoided subjects she’d discovered were painful or taboo. Always, that gentle aura of peace and inner joy reached out to him.
“I had some personal business to handle which took much longer than I’d planned. Somehow the time got away from me, and by the time I rushed over to the school…” He lifted his hands and let them fall.
“Well, you’re here now.” Lindsey smiled that sweet, tranquil smile that changed her face to a thing of beauty. Jesse tried, but failed, to resist the pleasure that one motion gave him.
And then she made things worse by asking, “Are you hungry?”
An unbidden rush of warmth filled him from the inside out. Coming to this house and this woman was starting to feel far too natural and way too good.
“Come on, Daddy. Come see. We’re making a tea party, and I’m the queen.” Skirts sweeping the floor, Jade led the way into the kitchen and lifted an odd-shaped bit of bread from the table, thrusting it at him. “I made this guarding angel for you.”
“Tea, huh? And an angel sandwich.” He took the offering, examining the small figure with all due seriousness. “Sounds delicious. Anything I can do to help?”
Lindsey nodded toward a plate of fresh fruit. “You could slice up the apples if you’d like.”
“Lindsey.” Jade’s plaintiff protest drew both adults’ attention. She eyed her father skeptically. “He can’t come to the tea party without dress-up clothes.”
An ornery gleam flashed in Lindsey’s brown eyes. “She’s right, Dad. Tea requires formal attire.”
Before he could object on purely masculine grounds, Jade rushed off, returning with a purple boa, a tarnished tiara, and a yellow-and-black satin cape. “Here, Daddy, you can be king.”
Lindsey laughed at the pained expression on Jesse’s face and in return, received his fiercest glare of wry humor.
“I’ll get you for this,” he muttered under his breath as Jade dressed him, carefully twining the boa around his neck before placing the crown on his head with a triumphant—if somewhat crooked—flourish.
Lindsey wrinkled her nose at him and adjusted her stole with a haughty toss of her head. “Mess with me, mister, and I’ll find you a pair of purple plastic high heels to go with that dashing feather boa.”
Jesse surprised himself by tickling her nose with the aforementioned boa. “I’m the king, remember. Off with your head.”
She laughed up at him, and he realized how much smaller she was than he, and how feminine she looked in a dress, even a silly outfit like this one. Out of her usual uniform of jeans and flannel, she unsettled him. Lindsey was a pretty woman as well as a nice one.
One more reason he needed to find the answer to his questions and get out of here. He couldn’t get attached to a woman he’d eventually have to hurt.
For all his searching today, he’d found no record of this farm or the transaction between his stepfather, Les Finch, and Charles Mitchell. If he didn’t find something next time, he’d be forced to ask the clerk for information,