Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(55)

Garrett drove and held her hand, and would occasionally glance over at her and smile.

They stopped at a parking garage and switched out vehicles again. In it, there was a new manila envelope with new IDs and passports. Now their names were William and Elizabeth Rhodes.

“Up you go, Mrs. Rhodes,” he teased as he helped her into a big black pickup truck. He seemed light and happy, too. He sang with the radio as they left town.

About two hours later, she finally remembered something. “Oh, no! My chain!”

He laughed and touched her cheek. “You don’t need the chain anymore, Sam. Now you have strings.”

Warmth shot through her body, and she nearly made them run off the road when she leaned across the seat to kiss him.

They stopped at a department store on the way to the new safe house. When she walked in the front door of the store, her stomach tightened.

“Jeez. It looks like Santa vomited in here,” she said, taking in the garland-wrapped poles at the registers, and the cashiers wearing elf hats. The place was crowded, even though it was after nine.

“Just a week until Christmas,” Garrett said. “Everyone waits until the last minute for everything. It’s such a huge waste of time.” He shook his head.

“You don’t celebrate Christmas?”

“My mom wasn’t into the Christmas spirit. She was, however, really into Christmas spirits.” He chuckled, but she saw the pain behind his dimples.

He’d told her his mother was an alcoholic, and now she could see it clearer—Garrett as a boy, taking care of his mother, when other kids were helping decorate for the holidays.

“Did you ever have a tree?”

“No.”

“Presents?”

“Sometimes.”

But not always. She could read between the lines. “Turkey dinner?” she pressed.

He shook his head, and got a cart. “Let’s get this over with.” He wheeled the cart toward the hair care aisle. “I need to touch up your roots.” Rubbing her head playfully, he added, “Please don’t pout, it kills me.”

She didn’t pout when he put the box in the cart. Being a redhead actually suited her, and the short style was easy to live with. What girl on the run wanted to spend hours fixing her hair?

His expression when he tossed two boxes of condoms in the cart made her laugh. Then he gave her a thorough look, and threw in a third box.

Holy crap. Did he not realize what that look did to her?

“It’s going to be a while until we’ll get to a store again,” he said, though she didn’t need a reason.

“Is there an oven at the new house?” she asked. She was already planning menus in her head.

“Yep. Two. Which means we can heat up two frozen pizzas at the same time,” he said proudly.

“And I can make us Christmas dinner.”

He looked at her blankly. “You know how to cook a ham?”

“Ham is already cooked, Garrett. You basically heat it up and throw some glaze on it, but yes, I know how.” She grinned. “I can also make mashed potatoes and gravy. Would you like sweet potatoes?”

“Can we have the green beans with the crunchy stuff on the top?”

“Sure. That’s easy.”

He hurried toward the grocery section, leaving her trailing behind.

After the cart was loaded with supplies for their special dinner, they selected regular food, too. Frozen pizza, canned goods, and cereal. Finally, they pushed the overflowing cart to the front.

When she got out her remaining cash, he started to laugh. “Don’t even think about it. Not going to happen.”

She sighed and put the bills back in her pocket. He was still shaking his head as he handed over the credit card, then pushed the cart full of bags out to the truck.

It struck her as they loaded the groceries onto the back seat that she had forgotten a major Christmas necessity. A gift.

She wanted to do something nice for him. Something special, to show him how much she appreciated everything he was doing for her. But how would she get it and keep it a surprise?

She had an idea.

When the last bag was shoved onto the backseat, she rubbed her arms in the cold air and looked around.

“Oh, crap. I forgot something,” she said, utilizing her high school drama club training.

“No problem.” He closed the door and turned to go back to the store.

“Wait. Why don’t you go over to the liquor store and get us some wine to go with dinner?”

“You can’t go back by yourself,” he told her. His arms were already stubbornly folded across his chest.

“But you’ve already checked the place out. I’ll be fine. I have my gun. I’ll only be gone for ten minutes. I’ll meet you back here.”

“Sam, if this is about personal girl stuff, it doesn’t freak me out.” He took another step toward the store.

She chuckled. “Yes, it does.”

“Okay. It does, a little. But it’s a fact of life. I’ll deal.” He was so gorgeous with his breath making little clouds in the cold air when he spoke.

She tried again. “We need to get on the road before the ice cream melts. It’ll be quicker if we split up.”

“I can see my breath. The ice cream isn’t going anywhere.” He stopped walking and looked at her. “What’s going on?”