Dream a Little Dream (Chicago Stars, #4)(117)

“What I can’t believe is that we offered to baby-sit these two little imps when we haven’t even been M-A-R-R-I-E-D for a full day.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror at Rosie and Chip. While Chip inspected a scab on his elbow, Rosie chewed contentedly on Horse’s paw. They had borrowed the Range Rover because it was easier than moving Rosie’s car seat. Now both children were sandy from their afternoon outing at the park.

“Cal and Jane have had them all morning,” Kristy pointed out, “and we only took them for an hour.”

He turned into the lane that led to the top of Heartache Mountain. “It’s our honeymoon, for pete’s sake. We should be making a baby of our own.”

Kristy smiled. “I can’t wait. But Cal and Jane needed a break. Today has been hard on everybody.”

“Speaking of hard . . .”

“Ethan Bonner!”


“Don’t you try to act all coy with me, Mrs. Bonner. I’ve seen your true colors.”

“You want to see them again?”

He burst out laughing.

“Why’d you call Kristy ‘Mrs. Bonner’?” Chip piped up from the backseat.

Ethan and Kristy exchanged guilty glances, then Ethan tilted his head toward the back while he kept his eyes on the road. “I’m glad you asked that, Chip. As a matter of fact, we want you to be the first to know . . . Kristy and I got married yesterday.”

“You did?”

“Yep.”

“That’s good. Do you know there’s lots of planets all over the place? And some of them are a trillion years old.”

So much for the importance of marriage to a five-year-old.

Kristy started giggling all over again. Ethan smiled at her, and love spilled from his heart. How could he have been blind for so long?

They turned the final bend that led to the cottage, and both of them saw it at once. Kristy gasped. “The garage is on fire!”

Ethan shoved his foot on the accelerator, and the Range Rover shot toward the cottage. A shower of gravel flew up as he braked. Kristy threw open the door and jumped out.

He slammed on the emergency brake and shot Chip a quick, warning glance. “Stay right here! Don’t move!”

Chip gave a frightened nod, and Ethan leaped out just in time to see Gabe and Rachel appear from the back of the cottage. While Gabe raced forward with the garden hose, Rachel rushed toward the outside faucet to turn it on.

Kristy was heading for the cottage. He followed her inside, and they whipped up several scatter rugs, then hurried back out with them.

As Gabe saw them coming, he thrust the hose at Rachel. “Keep the perimeter wet!” Ethan knew he was far more worried about the fire spreading to the cottage than the fate of the dilapidated old garage.

Gabe grabbed one of the rugs from Ethan. “You take the back. I’ll take the front.”

They separated, and began beating at several of the smaller brushfires. Ethan could have worked more efficiently if he’d been alone, but he kept looking around to make certain Kristy wasn’t getting too close to the flames.

Luckily, the ground was still damp from the rain they’d had early Saturday morning, and they soon had the fire under control. Nothing was left of the garage except a smoldering pile of rubble, but the cottage was safe.

Kristy turned off the faucet and Rachel dropped the hose. Ethan came up to them. “What happened?”

Rachel pushed a strand of hair back from her face with her forearm. “I don’t know. I was sleeping, then Gabe called me outside, and I saw the flames.”

“You’re soaked,” Kristy said.

She was bedraggled, too, in a wrinkled calico housedress that looked as if it had been slept in and a pair of men’s black rubber shower thongs.

“Look what I found in the weeds over there.” Gabe appeared holding the red plastic gas can that was always kept in the garage.

“Anything left in it?” Ethan asked.

Gabe shook his head and threw the can down in disgust. “I don’t care if I have to order twenty-four-hour surveillance. I’m getting to the bottom of this.”

Rachel squeezed Kristy’s hand. “It’s a good thing the two of you stopped by. We would have had a hard time putting it out by ourselves.”

“We came over to bring Chip back. We also have something to tell you.” Kristy exchanged a conspiratorial smile with Ethan, and then her eyes widened. “Ethan, we forgot. We left the kids in the car.”

“Kids?” Rachel moved toward the front of the cottage.

“We took Rosie, too,” Ethan explained, as the rest of them followed. “Jane and Cal needed a break.”

“What do you have to tell us?” Rachel asked.

Ethan smiled. “Maybe we’ll let Chip break the news.”

They rounded the cottage. Kristy drew in her breath, and then all of them froze.

The Range Rover was missing. And there was no sign of the children.



Bobby Dennis couldn’t get enough air. He kept opening his mouth and trying to suck more in, but it was as if his lungs had shrunk. Both kids in the back were crying, and the boy wouldn’t stop yelling at him.

“You let us out right now, o r Gabe is going to shoot you with his gun! I mean it! He’s got a million guns, and he’ll shoot you, then cut you up with a knife!”