A Forever Christmas(52)

“Thirty days,” Rick repeated. “Otherwise, I’m locking you both up—in the same cell.” Inserting his key in the lock of his prisoner’s door, he looked from husband to wife, then back again, waiting. “So is it a deal?” he asked.

Having no choice, Ben nodded sheepishly. “It’s a deal.”

“Deal,” his wife grumbled, spitting the four-letter word out.

Rick paid no attention to either tone, only to the promises that had been given. “That’s what I like to hear,” he told both parties as he pulled open the cell door.

Ben never took his eyes off his wife, watching her fearfully, as he exited the cell.

As the sheriff walked out with his deputies, his former prisoner and Ben’s wife, he was surprised to find someone waiting for them in the office.

“Hi,” Angel greeted them brightly. “I heard your voices so I let myself in. I hope you don’t mind,” she said to Rick.

“Not at all. Is there something I can help you with, or are you here to see Gabe?” Rick asked, and then he couldn’t help adding, “What is that insanely delicious aroma?”

“Well, that’s actually kind of the reason why I’m here,” Angel confessed. She placed her hand on top of the old-fashioned wicker basket she’d set down on the desk closest to the door: Gabe’s desk. There was an equally old-fashioned red-and-white-checkered cloth covering the length of the basket. It did nothing to suppress the warm aroma.

Gabe quickly crossed to her side. The conversation with Alma was still very fresh in his mind. Had someone tried to get in contact with her? Focusing strictly on her and not on the food that she’d obviously brought, it was hard to miss the concern in his voice.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

The question caught her off guard. She looked at him quizzically. “No, why should it be?”

Alma stepped forward. “I think he’s trying to say that it’s the middle of the morning and he’s wondering what you’re doing here at this time.”

Angel grinned at the man who so easily sent her pulse racing with just a touch. “I didn’t know you came with subtitles,” she said to him. “We were running late this morning,” she reminded Gabe with a pleased smile.

Having alternated between making love and decorating the tree for half the night, they’d both slept through the alarm this morning and barely had time to get dressed before they were due at work. In the interest of time, breakfast had been a casualty.

“So I asked Miss Joan if I could bring you breakfast once the rush was over. Miss Joan said she’d only agree if I made enough for everyone in the office,” Angel explained, pulling the checkered cloth from the basket. “So I did.”

“I really do love that woman,” Rick enthused, his mouth watering already.

“A word to the wise. Better not let Olivia hear you say that in that tone,” Alma warned her boss with a laugh.

It was no secret that his attorney wife was out of her element in the kitchen. “When I met her, Olivia thought a stove was just an extra flat surface she could stack her legal papers on. I love her in a completely different way than I do Miss Joan,” he explained even as he began to dig in.

Pleased, Angel finished unpacking everything she had brought to feed Gabe, the other deputies and the sheriff. Having arranged the different platters on the desk, she stood back to watch everyone dig in.

Conversations, laughter and a feeling of well-being permeated the office. Lingering and taking up the plates that Angel pressed into their hands, even Ben Walker and his wife seemed to be getting along.

Angel observed it all and smiled, contented. She’d never felt happier in her life. Deep down in her soul, she knew that for a fact, even if the life she was referencing only spanned three weeks.

She caught herself offering up a small prayer that nothing would ever change—even though she knew it probably had to.

But for now, everything was perfect and she was very, very grateful. And especially that she had Gabe.

Plate in hand, he sought her out and affectionately pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re the best,” he told her just before he started eating.

So are you, she thought, deciding to tell him that when they were alone.

That made two things she needed to tell him when they were alone, she thought.

A smile of anticipation curved her mouth.





Chapter Fourteen