The Christmas Bell Tolls by Robin Caroll

Author:Robin Caroll [Caroll, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RC Productions Inc
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Eight

Despite the below freezing temperature outside, the heat in the cabin of Eva’s car sizzled.

“Thank you again for doing this.” Darren stared out the front windshield into the darkness. “I can’t tell you how much.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course. This is Savannah. I love her, too.”

Darren didn’t respond. Eva couldn’t tell if he was lost in thought, or just uncomfortable with her. She risked a quick glance at him.

“I didn’t know,” he finally whispered.

“What?”

“I didn’t know you love her.”

She snorted as she turned into the mall’s parking lot. “Don’t be stupid, Darren. Of course I love her. What did you think I was doing when we’d go places together?” She caught his expression as she whipped into an empty parking space.

Her heart tightened as she realized what he didn’t say meant. “Oh, you thought I was just humoring her to stay in your good graces?” She slammed the car into park and turned off the engine. “I thought you knew me better, Darren Timmons.”

“I’m sorry, Eva. I just…I don’t…I thought…”

She shook her head against his words, against the hurt resurfacing. “It doesn’t matter now. Let’s just go see what we can find out.” Eva opened the car door and stepped into the dark night, welcoming the cold air swirling around her as she moved toward the mall’s entrance.

Darren fell into step alongside her. He took gentle hold of her forearm, stopping her. “I’m sorry, Eva. I guess I’d just been burned by women who played nice with Savannah to get to me, but didn’t really care about her.”

“I’m not like that, and if you knew me at all, you would have realized that.” The hurt was raw all over again. Understanding now that she’d been falling in love with him made the depth of her angst much more profound somehow.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have. I knew you better.” He took a step closer to her, invading her personal space. “I know you better.”

The back of Eva’s eyes burned. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him. Not here. Not now. She forced a smile. “It’s okay. We can talk about this later. Let’s just go find out what we can to bring Savy home.” She didn’t wait for a reply, but shrugged out of his burning touch, broke free of his intense stare, and headed to the entrance.

He opened the door for her, then led her to the shoe store. As soon as they entered, he made a beeline for a specific salesclerk standing behind the counter. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-two or three with subdued auburn hair. Her makeup had been applied flawlessly and she wore a neat Ann Taylor suit. Her eyes widened just a bit as they approached.

“Do you remember me?” Darren asked.

She nodded. “You were here on Saturday. With your daughter.” She blinked rapidly, her eyelashes fluttering. “I saw her picture on the news. She’s the missing little girl, isn’t she?”

He nodded. “We need your help. We think her abductor was in the store at the same time my daughter and I were here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.