The Billionaire's Christmas Baby(28)

No one was going to find her out here. Even if Jackson looked for her, it was impossible to find a person in this. She needed to find her way back on her own. She had been in trouble before. She could do this. She could find her own way back—despite the fact that merely moving her legs through the snow was becoming more and more laborious. There was no way a blizzard was going to be her ending. Emily needed her.





Chapter Seven



Jackson piled the wood logs on the porch and stomped his feet, snow tumbling off his boots. He was used to winters like this, growing up in the North. He actually had a few fond memories of his dad, before his mother died. His father had been kind and patient. Jackson would follow him out to the barn and watch as he’d chop wood for the fire. As a kid, he didn’t quite grasp how dangerous the weather was, though his father had drilled into him how deadly it could be.

Jackson stretched his arms wide, feeling better having worked off some of his frustrated energy while getting the firewood. He hadn’t thought about anything other than Hannah and her accusations. He had never gone from desire to pure anger in a matter of minutes with anyone in his life. Hannah knew how to push all his buttons. She’d made his idea about giving his niece money sound like he was a villain. The more he thought about what she’d said the more he realized how she was right. She got to him. Everywhere.


The glow of the fireplace from the porch made him stop for a moment. For a second he could have sworn he smelled his mother’s baking. And for a moment, he didn’t know why, he let himself stay in the past. He remembered when he’d race into the house after school, his mother stopping him with a smile and shake of her hand, reminding him to take off his shoes. That feeling of love that was always there drifted through him. His little sister would worship him and tag along with him. When did it all go wrong? Why hadn’t their father been stronger for them? He could see all their faces, smiling, laughing around the dinner table.

It had been years since he’d let himself think back to those days. Jackson cursed under his breath knowing his mother would be horrified if she knew he rejected his only niece, his only family because of his anger toward his sister. He rejected her grandchild. That didn’t make him much better than his father, did it? He stamped his feet and fisted his hands so tightly they were painful. He knew what he had to do because no matter that he’d changed his name, he was still his mother’s son and she had raised him better than this.

Jackson blinked back the moisture in his eyes that he knew must be from the ferocious wind, and not some overzealous emotions. He cleared his throat and mentally braced himself for his next encounter with Hannah.

He knew something was wrong the second he walked into the eerily quiet house. He strode down the hallway to Hannah’s bedroom. His eyes narrowed in on Emily, who slept contentedly, but there was no Hannah anywhere. Then he heard the sound of paws scratching the back door and he strode across to the back room, not bothering to take off his wet boots or coat. Sure enough, Charlie was outside on the porch scratching at the door. A sick feeling gripped him as he opened the door and Charlie barked furiously at him. Charlie shook himself clear of snow and continued to bark. The porch light was on, Hannah’s coat and boots were gone, and Charlie had been outside by himself.

He cursed and whipped open the back door, making sure Charlie stayed inside. Genuine fear for Hannah propelled him to act fast as he spotted a half-tied rope on the deck banister. There were no footsteps in sight, which didn’t surprise him. Between the pace of the falling snow and the ferocity of the wind, it would be impossible to track someone in this. He secured the rope and ventured down the steps.

Jackson yelled her name over and over again, squinting against the harsh onslaught of snow. Adrenaline coursed through him as he continued to call out for her, his voice hoarse from the strength of his yell. He swung the floodlight in a circular motion, trying to catch a glimpse of motion. The yard immediately behind the house was free from trees, but he knew if she walked more than thirty feet, the forest would start and would be a deadly maze. If she went in there…he forced himself to stop thinking about how unlikely finding her would be as the minutes ticked by.

He circled the flashlight again and paused for a second, thinking he spotted a flash of color. He moved the light slowly, praying for the first time in his memory for help from above. And there it was. Red. Her pom-pom hat. He kept the light focused on the patch of red and moved as quickly as he could through the snow. He called her name over and over again and came in closer, until finally he could see her face. She screamed out his name and tried to move toward him.

It was the sweetest damn sound he ever heard.

He knew at that moment that Hannah Woods meant a hell of a lot more to him than he wanted to admit. The need to protect her overwhelmed and consumed him. He didn’t question it, he didn’t analyze the why. All he knew was that he needed her in his arms. He could tell from how slowly she moved that he’d arrived just in time. He swallowed up the remaining distance between them in a few strides. When she was right in front of him he saw how red her face was and the blue tinge to her lips.

“You okay?” He wrapped his arms around her and felt her hands clutch his coat.

She nodded against his chest, but he wasn’t convinced. “Hold on, sweetheart,” he whispered, the endearment coming naturally, though he’d never said it to anyone before. He leaned down and picked her up. Instead of protesting like he half expected, she just curled her face into his neck and wrapped her arms around him.