Sweet Christmas Surrender Read online

  “Did she say where she was going, give you any clue?” Wes asked brokenly. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost her, not now. He didn’t get enough time with her. He wanted a lifetime and the weeks before he left wasn’t enough.

  “No, she said it was going to be safe,” Gary assured him. “So far the people the DEA have sitting on Leonard Chapel say he seems not to have a clue where she is either.”

  “So he doesn’t know he’s being watched?” Wes asked.

  “Right under his nose. He thinks he has it all under control, but one of his guards turned as soon as a DEA agent tagged him. He’s going to turn state witness, but they need more. The guy suddenly had to go take care of his ailing father and recommended his replacement, a good trustworthy friend.” Gary laughed sarcastically. “Who happened to be DEA. He’s a narcissist but not a smart one. He’ll be going down in less time than most so called criminal enterprises.”

  “So you think she’s safe?” Wes asked hopefully.

  “If she wasn’t we’d of known. Chapel would’ve brought her back to the house,” Gary answered. “He thinks he has that kind of control in Los Alamos. He didn’t understand he is a very small fish in a really big pond. He’s working with Mexican drug dealers. He should be happy when they arrest him, they’ll kill him when he can’t give them what he promised.”

  “Which is his own daughter,” Wes said angrily. “Do you know what she had to tell me?”

  “It’s not my place to tell you…” Gary began.

  “Please…” Wes pleaded brokenly. “Give me something, anything.”

  “She’s pregnant,” Gary said and chuckled. “You’re going to be a father.”

  “I’m going to be… to be a dad. Christine is pregnant?” Wes whispered. “Are you… is she sure?”

  “Positive,” Gary replied.

  “Oh God, I need to…” Wes shook his head. He was thrilled, excited, but so terrified for Christine.

  “What you need to do is authorize me to have a ring waiting for you when you get home and marry your baby mama,” Gary teased.

  “I already gave her a ring.” Wes laughed huskily. “Maybe I’ll get her a bigger rock. Promise me she’s okay.”

  Gary sighed. “I wish I could give you that, but I promise you, her only thought was that baby and how her father would never get to hurt either of them.”

  “Okay, I’ll wait for her call, email, or video.” Wes sighed. “It will kill me, but I’ll wait.”

  “I’m sure it will be soon,” Gary assured him. “She only has to stay there until you get home, and then you can baby proof your house and buy a crib.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” Wes sighed. “Shit, will she deliver before I get home?”

  “No clue, but eight months will fly by,” Gary said.

  “Thanks buddy, for everything. Keep me updated.” Wes ran his hand over his hair.

  “I will. You stay safe,” Gary replied.

  Wes pressed disconnect and looked down at his dusty boots as he sat on the side of his bed. A grin split his face. He was going to be a dad. Stay safe darling, I’ll be home soon, he sent the words out into the ether, wishing that she could hear. I’ll be home soon.

  * * * *

  St. George, Utah had some of the most beautiful rock formations Christine had ever seen. In the mornings the sun rose and crested over them in beautiful hues of oranges, reds, and yellows. In the evenings watching the sunset turn the clay into shadows and twilight claim the night was something she’d always cherish. She ran to the safest place she knew, her Aunt Martha, her mother’s sister. Long ago when she was a child there was an argument between her father and aunt about how he treated her mother. He told her to leave his house, and her aunt gladly accepted the offer. She begged Christine’s mother, her sister, to leave with her and take her daughter as well.

  It was already too late. Leonard had already beaten his wife down to submission, and she didn’t leave. Christine never saw her aunt again, and her mother never made contact. Even when she died, Aunt Martha wasn’t allowed to come to the funeral. In death her mother’s wishes to be cremated were not met, either. Her father exacted his control on that just to be cruel.

  Now she looked at the sunrise, and she knew that their lives would have been drastically different if her mother had left. She would be at Aunt Martha’s home by choice, not to hide, and her mother would be there for the most amazing thing to happen in her life. She was going to be a mother. Christine had another reason to be up early. She’d sent an email to Wes so he could be on video chat at a designated time. Her new laptop finally came in, and after a week she couldn’t wait to speak to him any longer.

  “If it’s day here, isn’t it night in Afghanistan?”

  Aunt Martha walked into the kitchen wearing a powder blue robe with yellow flowers all over it. Her gray hair was braided in a long braid over one shoulder and her wispy bangs brushed the right side of her face. She was taking it well, having Christine show up on her doorstep. After Christine told her everything she was adamant that she stay until Wes came home.

  “Leonard will never show up here,” she said firmly. “He doesn’t know where I live, and if he finds out and steps one foot on my doorstep I’ll get out my shotgun.”

  She was set up in a guest bedroom, and for the first time in days she took a breath of relief. She emailed Gary though his cloud email, just to be secure, and he replied, telling her everything that was going on. She tapped her finger against her chin, thinking about getting a doctor and moving all her work over to this new computer from an external hard drive. She still had to make a living, even in hiding. She hoped it was over soon. Christine wanted to enjoy being pregnant and sending Wes pics and updates as the months went by.

  “Chrissie?” Her aunt used her nickname when she didn’t get an answer.

  “It’s always easier at night, in the day he has to fly more and they scramble really quickly in emergencies,” Christine explained.

  Aunt Martha walked over with two mugs and gave a delighted shiver when she sat down. “This reminds me when I dated a fly boy after Pearl Harbor. I was sixteen and he was so dashing. We had a totally scandalous affair.”

  “At sixteen?” Christine took up her cup, took a sip, and grimaced. “Decaf.”

  “In those days it was totally acceptable for a sixteen year old to date someone who was twenty-one,” Aunt Martha pointed out. “Decaf is all you get until you have the baby and if you breastfeed a few months after that. You should really consider a midwife clinic instead of a doctor. They are more family orientated.”

  “I like that idea,” Christine said.

  “Oh, and Grant is coming over for dinner. You’ll like him,” Aunt Martha said.

  “Oooh, is this the Sheriff you’re dating? My, my, Auntie you are a vixen,” Christine teased.

  Her aunt playfully slapped Christine’s hand that lay on the table. “Oh, shush. We like each other’s company.”

  She grinned. “Should I put my ear phones in when we go to bed?”

  Aunt Martha winked. “Oh no sweetheart, we’ll go to his house for that. I want him to meet you, and you can tell him everything going on with your father. You can trust Grant, he reminds me of Sam Elliot. Trust me when I say, he’ll watch out for all of us.”

  “Okay, then I trust him too,” Christine said firmly. They needed more allies while she hid out for her own safety. Just then her computer played a tune to let her know Wes was calling via video chat. She looked up at her aunt. “It’s him.”

  Aunt Martha smiled widely. “Then answer it, dear.”

  She pressed the button, and in a few seconds Wes’s face popped up on the screen. He looked amazing. Unable to resist, she reached out and touched like it was his face.

  “Darling,” he said huskily. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded as emotion clogged her throat. “I miss your face so much.”

  “Where are you?” Wes asked.

  “In St. George, Utah, with my aunt. My m
om’s sister.” Christine turned the screen. “Say hi, Auntie M.”

  “Don’t call me that dear, I’m not from the Wizard of Oz,” Aunt Martha said. She wiggled her fingers at the screen. “Hello, and my, you are a handsome one.”

  Wes chuckled. “You’re a hot looking woman yourself.”

  Aunt Martha winked. “Chrissie, I like him.”

  Christine turned the laptop back to face her and shook her head. “I like him too, Aunt Martha.”

  “I’ll go watch the news while you talk.” She got up and left the room.

  “Okay.” Christine turned her attention back to Wes. “Hi, baby.”

  “I was worried. I almost went AWOL when I didn’t hear from you,” Wes said huskily.

  “I had to go, and I know he has some guy who can trace technology, that’s why I stopped using my regular emails and all that,” Christine explained.

  “Gary is going after him. Honey, I wish I was there to help and or punch him in the face,” Wes said. “He thought trying to hurt him would scare him off. Gary is like a Rottweiler when he gets going. He won’t stop.”

  Christine smiled wickedly. “I want him to bury that man. I can’t believe he was going to try to use me as a gift for one of his criminal friends.”

  “With what you’ve collected it gave the authorities a good start,” Wes said. “Now tell me about our baby.”

  “There’s nothing to tell yet. I’m just a few weeks along, not enough even for a heartbeat or anything.” Christine’s heart welled up with joy hearing his words.

  “Are you happy?” Wes asked.

  “I’m ecstatic.” Christine met his beautiful blue eyes. “How about you?”

  “I’m even more happy that you’re carrying my baby than when you said yes to marrying me,” he answered. “Show me the baby belly.”

  She giggled. “You know it’s still flat as a board and you can’t see any bump, right?”

  “I don’t care,” he said firmly. “I want to see.”

  Christine stood and held up the shirt to her pajamas, exposing her stomach to him. “There, you see, nothing.”

  “Hi baby inside the woman I love’s belly,” he said.

  “No ears yet.” She pointed out as she sat down.

  “I want to be home before he or she is born,” he said huskily.

  “When I see a doctor or midwife, I’ll let you know when I’m due, daddy,” she said.

  “I like that word coming from your lips, say it again,” he encouraged huskily.

  She leaned closer to the screen. “Daddy.”

  “God, I miss you baby, I’m aching to be close to you.” Wes reached out and put his hand on the screen.

  “I miss you too, come home soon,” she begged.

  “As soon as they say ‘Sergeant Wesley Kent, you can leave,’ I’m on the first transport out to come to you,” he promised. “I’ll come to Utah and we’ll get married there. You’re not going back to New Mexico until I’m there to protect you.”

  She blew a kiss at him. “I’ll watch over both of us. I emailed you the landline and my new cell number. Aunt Martha got it so I didn’t have to use my name and the landline and the address.”

  “Okay, I’ll talk to you in a few days,” Wes said.

  “Text me as much as you can?” Christine asked.

  “Every free minute I get.” Wes blew her a kiss. “Love you, darling.”

  “I love you right back,” Christine replied.

  When the screen went dark she sat back and sighed. It was all going to be okay, she felt it in her bones. Wes would come home to her, and they’d have a life together with their baby. All she had to do was keep off her father’s radar until the cops got him. But Leonard Chapel would find a battle if he ever showed up in Utah, from her aunt and from her. Christine was going to protect her and the baby no matter what, and for the first time in a long while she wasn’t alone in the fight.

  Chapter Six

  It was May of the New Year and everything had fallen into a kind of secure routine. She was thirty weeks along and the roundness of her belly was definitely pronounced. She talked to Wes three times a week as the seasons turned from winter, then spring, and now summer. Her due date was early October and as she lived with her aunt, she found a peace she hadn’t been given in a long time. Gary said her father was still actively looking for her. He even tried showing up at his job and found that Gary in person was a formidable one.

  Cutting the brakes in secret was one thing, but to face the man a person didn’t go so well. As far as Gary told her, her father was showing signs of fear and breaking. The case was coming together, and a grand jury was going to be convened soon. He was going down, so they had to be careful because a cornered animal was most dangerous. She sat on the bed with the sonogram pictures in her hand, talking to Wes on one of their weekly chats.

  It was hot, and she’d found a love of pureeing her own fruit and making frozen treats. Summers were hot in Utah, and while they had the cool breezes sometimes a heat wave could be sweltering. Her midwife said summer was not a happy time for pregnant women since they tended to overheat because of the extra weight. She’d watched her body change and grow fuller with life, and she liked the feeling of the baby moving and experiencing all the different stages of pregnancy, even though she was getting bigger and it was getting harder to move.

  “What flavor are you having?” Wes asked.

  Christine popped a spoonful into her mouth and answered, “Pineapple cherry.”

  “Watching you eat those are doing things to my libido,” he pointed out and groaned. “It’s been seven long months.”

  “I know.” She smiled. “I too have needs that only you can fulfill. My breasts are fuller, my body aches for… relief.”

  “You’re killing me.” Wes shifted in his seat and she smiled.

  “Two more months and you’re home,” she pointed out.

  “Speaking of that, we got our ship out date,” Wes said.

  She bounced happily. “Really, when?”

  “September eighteenth,” he answered.

  “The baby is due October fifteenth. You’ll be home in time,” she squealed.

  “To see him or her be born,” Wes finished for her.

  “I know what we’re having,” she said suddenly and met his gaze on the screen.

  “You do? I thought we weren’t going to find out,” Wes said slowly.

  “The midwives clinic gave me sonogram pictures and you can’t miss… it.” She winked.

  “It, as in the big it?” A slow grin spread across Wes’s face. She nodded and he said, “My boy!”

  She laughed. “Yes, do you want to see the sonogram picture?”

  “Heck yeah!” Wes was practically fist-pumping while she watched him.

  Christine shook her head and held up the picture for him to see and heard him whoop.

  She took it down to see him moving away. “Hey, where are you going?”

  “One sec,” he called.

  She watched curiously while she was eating her frozen treat and saw him open the door to his room then leave. He’s so odd, she thought with a smile. Wes came back and a crowd of soldiers and airmen were with him, all talking at the same time.

  “Okay, okay, shut up!” he yelled and turned to the screen. “Okay darling, show them the picture.”

  She was so surprised she held up the sonogram picture and they all began to cheer. “That’s my son right there,” Wes yelled over the noise and they were clapping him on the shoulder. He herded them out all talking and then closed his door behind them.

  “You needed to show them all your son’s boy bits?” she asked, bemused.

  “Hey, they needed to see that he is the man.” Wes grinned.

  “You will never see women walking around crowing, look at my daughter’s muffin.” Christine pointed at the screen with a spoon.

  He snorted. “Muffin, is that what you call it?”

  “I’m being polite on video chat,” she said primly and winced. �
�He is kicking up a storm.” She held her shirt up and showed him her tummy moving. “Look at him play soccer with my bladder.”

  Wes stared at her stomach intently. “That is amazing and frightening all at the same time. I keep expecting him to burst out like the ‘Alien’ movie.”

  Christine laughed. “Let’s hope not.”

  A siren went off and she heard the words, “Scramble, scramble, scramble.”

  He looked behind him before meeting her gaze. “Gotta go, baby…”

  “Yes, I heard, scramble,” she said and worried her lip with her teeth. “Wes, be careful please. I love you.”

  “I love you too, darling,” Wes said.

  He blew her a kiss and in a few seconds the screen went dark. She sat back in the bed looking out the window at the summer day while her baby kicked in her stomach. The wind blew the lacy curtains, and she could hear her Aunt Martha humming in the garden. She went downstairs to help her aunt harvest the zucchini that they would use to go with dinner tonight. Back in New Mexico she planned to have a garden after helping her aunt tend hers. As they talked and enjoyed the summer sun, she worried about Wes. It was the first time she saw him move and go toward danger. She prayed for his safety, and all the while his son seemed to kick and play in her belly.

  * * * *

  Maybe they had too much of a sense of safety and the freedom it brought. Her baby grew, nestled safely in her belly while August brought sultry heat. It also was the countdown for Wes to come home. It was early evening, and they were sitting on the porch of her aunt’s ranch style that was right in the center of the cul-de-sac roundabout turn. From there they could see every house and every car that turned into the neighborhood from the main street. When they saw two dark sedans turn she knew where they were going and why. Her aunt sat forward and took her cordless phone from patio table where it sat next to the picture of watermelon and kiwi juice they were drinking. Early evening in St. George and the sun was lower in the sky but still bright. When they pulled into the driveway, her aunt was speaking into the phone.