She reached out a hand and caressed his cheek. “She definitely did, cowboy.”

  He leaned in for one quick kiss that threatened to fog her windows.

  Ellen pulled away with a happy sigh and blew him one more kiss before she shut the car door and drove away with his heart.

  Chapter Nine

  Ellen strolled along the sidewalk between the office and her apartment on Christmas Eve. A feeling of sweet contentment settled over her like a warm, cozy sweater on a chilly winter day. Christmas cheer surrounded her as she meandered past store windows full of garlands, twinkling lights, and holiday displays.

  Her feet carried her to the window of a bookstore full of children’s holiday stories. On impulse, she went inside and purchased two books for Missy. In the past few weeks, she’d grown quite attached to the little girl.

  Thanks to Burke’s efforts, John Hayes had found employment at the truck stop where the manager had allowed him to park his old car. Additionally, Burke had talked his landlord into letting John rent one of the houses he owned not far from the truck stop. It needed a lot of repair work, but was livable. In exchange for the work John promised to do on the place in his spare time, the property owner was willing to waive the rent and purchase the supplies. Burke assured John he’d be willing to help if he ran into projects he couldn’t do on his own.

  The only thing keeping the season from being perfect was the fact that CPS still hadn’t finalized the paperwork releasing Missy back into her father’s care.

  When Ellen and Burke had gone to visit the little girl yesterday and take her out to see the holiday lights in some of the ritzy neighborhoods in town, she’d been beside herself at not spending Christmas with her father.

  Until CPS gave the okay, John was supposed to stay away from his daughter. Burke had done everything he could, and Ellen had pleaded John’s case until she was blue in the face, but the person who pushed through the red tape didn’t really seem to care. At this point, it looked like it would be sometime in January before the daughter and father would be reunited.

  It broke Ellen’s heart to see Missy so distraught, but she didn’t know what to do about it.

  Last week, Burke had insisted they take Missy to visit Santa at the mall. Missy assured them she knew he wasn’t the real Santa, just one of the helpers who made sure requests were sent to the North Pole.

  With covert maneuvers that impressed Ellen, Burke somehow managed to tuck Missy’s letter to Santa in his pocket after she gave it to the mall Santa. Later, after he and Ellen had gone to dinner they returned to her place to watch a movie. Eager to discover what the child most wished to find beneath the tree Christmas morning, they opened the letter and read it. Ellen would have gone to great lengths to purchase whatever toy Missy requested.

  Instead, tears sprang to her eyes and Burke kept clearing his throat, as though emotion threatened to choke the air right out of him when they read Missy’s letter. The only thing she wanted Santa to bring her was her daddy.

  More determined than ever to make her wish a reality, Burke and Ellen had spent hours pleading John’s case, but their heartfelt testimony went nowhere.

  Resigned to making the best of the situation, Ellen had at least gained permission to take Missy home with her for Christmas Day. Her parents would love having the little girl at their home and Ellen’s extended family would make the child feel welcome. They’d even planned a surprise birthday party for Missy, complete with a cake for that afternoon.

  Burke had to work, but he promised to join Ellen as soon as he finished his shift.

  With plans to see him when he got off this evening, Ellen had arranged a special Christmas Eve dinner for just the two of them.

  Somewhere between bumping into Burke back in July and watching him shower Missy with genuine affection and sincere care, she’d fallen in love with the man. Thoughts of him lifted her heart, filled her soul, and made her dream of a long, happy future together. She smiled as she strolled along, envisioning future Christmas celebrations with Burke.

  A group of Victorian-attired carolers sang traditional holiday songs in front of a collective of eclectic shops. Ellen stopped and purchased a cup of steaming hot cider from a nearby vendor then joined the crowd in listening to the carolers. Cinnamon and apple aromas wafted up to her as she sipped the warm, spice-laden brew.

  In no rush, since she had the afternoon to herself, she continued strolling along, absorbed in the sights, sounds, scents and feelings of Christmas permeating the world around her.

  A display in the window of a florist shop drew her interest and she walked over to stand in front of it, amused by the colorful elves and glittering ornaments. The elves drew her thoughts back around to Burke and his teasing references to her as an elf.

  Lost in her musings of him, she failed to notice startled shoppers jumping back out of the way of a horse as it raced down the sidewalk, hooves pounding with each stride across the pavement.

  Suddenly aware of a disturbance, she turned and watched Burke and Sugar Bear hasten toward her. Ellen’s eyes widened as Burke seemed intent on reaching her.

  She’d never admit it to anyone, even Tara, that she’d always dreamed of a man riding up to her on a horse and whisking her off into the sunset.

  The sunset was a few hours off, but a thrill shot through her as Burke kept his gaze pinned to hers.

  “Ellen!” he called when he was just half a block away, waving to her.

  She tucked her purchases into the big shoulder bag she carried and returned his wave. Rather than stop, Burke bent down and clasped her upraised hand. He wrapped his other around her waist and hauled her up in front of him on the horse.

  “My word, Burke! What are you doing?” she asked, so stunned, she didn’t even notice the cheering crowd around them or the fact she’d wrapped her arms around him, pressing so close, she could practically taste the delicious fragrance of his skin.

  “Saving Mistletoe,” he said, and urged the horse to go faster. Instead of fighting through the crowded sidewalks, he guided the horse into the street, speeding past cars until he guided Sugar Bear onto a side street. An officer met them there and took Sugar Bear while Burke guided Ellen toward his pickup parked nearby.

  “Burke? What do you mean saving Mistletoe?” Ellen asked as he helped her into his pickup and rushed around to slide behind the wheel.

  “She ran away from the foster home. Apparently, she was there at breakfast then said she wanted to go color in her room. When they called her to come down for lunch, she didn’t appear. A search of the house found her gone along with her backpack. She left her suitcase.” Burke drove through the busy Christmas Eve traffic like a man possessed.

  Ellen cringed when he barely missed being clipped by a driver who wasn’t paying attention and pulled right in front of him on the narrow downtown street. Burke swerved, driving down the center of the street between the two lanes of traffic and kept going.

  Unable to find her voice, she glanced over at Burke. His jaw was set in a determined line and his hands clenched the steering wheel.

  She reached over and placed her hand on his leg, giving it a reassuring pat. “It’s okay, Burke. We’ll find her.”

  He squeezed her hand then brought her fingers up to his lips, kissing the backs of them before twining their fingers together and resting them on his thigh. “We will.” Sheepish, he looked at her. “I’m sorry. I should have called you, should have asked if you wanted to come with me. You mentioned you were going to walk around downtown this afternoon and window-shop, so it wasn’t hard to find you. I just assumed...”

  “No, Burke. I do want to come. I’m just surprised at the method you chose to bring me along.” The smile she offered him hinted at how much she enjoyed it. “You did make quite a spectacle downtown.”

  “It’s Portland. They are used to spectacles in every shape and size.”

  Ellen laughed. “That’s true. Now, how are we going to find Missy?”

  “Every available cop who can help is out looking for her. I think it’s a safe bet she’s going to try to get to the truck stop. She knows her dad is there. In case Missy does make it that far, John is staying there.”

  “Where do we start?” she asked, watching as Burke took an exit near the neighborhood where Missy’s foster family lived.

  “Pretend you’re six, scared, and mad. You know where the truck stop is, but you might not know how to get there. Where would you go?” Burke asked as he turned onto a side street.

  “I’d find a ride, someone who knows the way,” Ellen said. She turned to Burke again. “Do you think she has any money? She might try to get a cab to take her somewhere?”

  “I don’t know. What I do know is that she snuck out of the house, most likely right after breakfast. If it was me, I’d run until my legs got tired, then I’d try to figure out where to go.” Burke looked at her. “How far could you run as a kid?”

  “That was a while ago, Burke, and I was much more interested in playing with dolls and reading books than running around outside with the neighborhood hooligans.” Ellen tried to think back to when she was Missy’s age. “Once, Liam and I were playing and he challenged me to a race. One of his friends yelled ‘Go!’ and we ran and ran and ran. When we both stopped, we were exhausted and lost. My aunt finally had to come looking for us. We were both scared and never did anything like that again.”

  “Can you recall how far you went?” Burke asked as he turned down another side street.

  Ellen realized they wouldn’t find Missy on a main thoroughfare. She’d likely try to keep from being spotted, if someone hadn’t already picked her up. What if some pervert dragged her into his car. What is she’d been hurt? What if...

  After a few calming breaths, Ellen tried to remember how far she’d raced with Liam. “We ran from my aunt’s house to the closest drive-in. My aunt bought us ice cream cones after she spent five minutes lecturing us about our poor decision-making skills and scared us both witless with the possibilities of what might happen if we tried anything similar in the future.” She looked at Burke. “It was about a mile, I think.”

  Burke raised an eyebrow her way. “Impressive. You must have some great running legs hiding under those winter clothes.” He reached down, like he planned to lift the hem of her long, red plaid skirt.

  She smacked his hand and pointed to the street in front of them. “If she ran a mile from the foster house, then where would she go?”

  “Let’s find out,” Burke said, driving to the foster house. It was on a dead-end street, so they drove from it to the stop sign, trying to decide which direction Missy might have gone.

  “This way,” Ellen said, pointing to her right. “She knows we turn this way to go to your house and it’s close to the truck stop.”

  Burke turned right and they drove slowly down the street. “I think she would have just run, not worrying about where. She would have wanted to put distance between her and them before anyone noticed she was gone.”

  “Okay. Then where?” Ellen glanced around as they neared an intersection.

  Burke continued going straight. By now, the sun had been replaced with dusk and the temperature steadily dropped.

  “What if she’s just gone, Burke? What if she’s...”

  He kissed her fingers again and gave her a reassuring look. “Don’t say it. Don’t even think it. Missy has to be fine. That kid... she’s... she managed to finagle her way into my heart and if something happened to her...”

  Ellen released a tight breath. “Then we’ll find her.”

  Twenty minutes later, Burke checked in to see if anyone had spotted her, or managed to talk to anyone who’d seen her. No one had any clues. Nobody reported seeing a little girl in a green coat with a purple backpack running down a street alone.

  They pulled up to a stoplight and Ellen glanced across the street. She sat up, one hand pressing against the dashboard as she strained to see through the dark.

  “Burke! Look!” She pointed across the street to a bit of red, barely visible at the base of a tree. The red could have been anything. A Christmas decoration, a leaf bag, a bit of trash, but it was the first twinge of hope she’d experienced since Burke told her Missy was missing. She hoped it was one of Missy’s red mittens.

  The second the light turned green, Burke roared across the intersection, pulled up on the sidewalk and shone the headlights toward the tree.

  Ellen jumped out of the pickup before he brought it to a full stop, racing over to where the little girl curled into a ball with a hand thrown over her eyes to block the light.

  “Leave me alone!” Missy shouted swinging her hands, as though she could defend herself against any assailant.

  “Missy!” Ellen grabbed one red mitten-covered hand, then the other. “Missy, it’s Ellen. Burke and I came to find you!”

  “Ellen?” Missy stopped fighting against her and opened her eyes. Tears rolled out of them and across the little cheeks before she launched herself into Ellen’s arms, sobbing.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. We’ve got you. You’re safe.” Burke knelt beside them as he called in the news Missy had been found. He started to take Missy from Ellen, but she refused to turn her loose. While Ellen knelt in the cold grass with the child, Burke placed a call he’d hoped to avoid. Perhaps it was time for a Christmas miracle to set things right.

  “Let’s get inside the pickup where it’s warm,” Burke said. He helped Ellen stand as she continued to hold Missy close against her.

  “I want my daddy,” Missy sobbed. “Please, I just want my daddy.”

  “I know sweetie,” Ellen said, tears filling her eyes.

  Burke took Missy and set her inside the pickup then helped Ellen climb onto the seat. Rather than return to the foster home or to the police station, Burke continued driving toward home.

  Ellen gave him a questioning glance, but he just nodded his head once and kept driving.

  When they pulled off the freeway and turned into the truck stop, Missy looked out the window and squealed. “I love you guys! I get to see my daddy now!”

  “You sure do, honey,” Burke said.

  Missy practically climbed over Ellen in her haste to reach her father. Ellen opened the pickup door and Missy raced toward the door of the truck stop. Before she reached it, John Hayes ran out, swinging his daughter into his arms and raining kisses down on her cheeks.

  “Now, that’s what I call a Merry Christmas,” Burke said, stepping beside Ellen and draping his arm across her shoulders.

  She sidled closer to him and smiled. “I agree.”

  Chapter Ten

  Burke handed Ellen a cup of Christmas tea and sank down on the floor beside her. The two of them leaned back against the couch and watched the lights twinkle on his tree. A fire crackled in the fireplace and Christmas music played softly in the background.

  Ellen couldn’t have envisioned a more perfect, romantic setting, even if the evening hadn’t gone anything like she’d planned.

  After watching the tearful reunion of Missy and John Hayes, she and Burke had stayed there until the sheriff arrived. He received a call from an unhappy judge who wanted to know the name of the nincompoop at CPS who refused to let a little girl spend Christmas, as well as her birthday, with her father. The judge declared it fine for Missy to stay with John, but did request they make an appearance in his court after the New Year.

  Ellen knew good and well it was Burke who made a phone call that resulted in the judge stepping in. When she pressed him about it, all he’d say was that the judge owed him a favor.

  Although she expected Burke to have to head back to work to finish his shift, he assured her the officer who took Sugar Bear had agreed to trade shifts, so Burke was now stuck working both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

  At the moment, Ellen didn’t care. Once Missy left with her father, with a promise to see them both tomorrow, Ellen went home with Burke. She’d thought they’d feed Lovey and head back to her apartment, but the rain that started to drizzle right after they arrived at the truck stop turned to snow.

  It never snowed in Portland. When it did, the traffic went nuts and people freaked out. The radio announcers encouraged people to get off the roads and stay home, stay wherever they were to avoid being out on the slick roads.

  “Our lovely Christmas Eve dinner is waiting in my fridge to be cooked,” Ellen said as she took a sip of the fragrant tea.

  “We can eat it the day after Christmas,” Burke said, handing her a plate full of cookies his mother had mailed him. He’d had to keep Bella from eating them all when she breezed by on her way home from college. Ellen happened to be there that evening and enjoyed meeting Burke’s lively young sister. The two women had laughed and joked, mostly at Burke’s expense, but they’d definitely hit it off.

  Ellen took a peppermint cookie and bit into the soft treat. “Mmm. These are so good. I need to get the recipe from your mom.”

  “She’d love to share it with you,” Burke said, eating a cookie in two bites, then setting the plate back on the coffee table.

  He grew quiet and Ellen looked over at him as she took another sip of tea. Smoldering blue eyes clashed with the liquid amber fire burning in hers. He took the cup from her hand and set it on the table before burying his fingers into the silky tresses of her hair.

  “I should probably get going,” Ellen said, starting to rise. If she stayed any longer, she wasn’t sure she could resist the temptation of Burke. His masculine scent mingled with the pine fragrance of the tree and the spicy sweetness of her tea. The room was warm and cozy, the perfect place to wait for Santa or hide from the storm blowing outside.

  Burke pulled her back down, settling her across his lap.

  “No running away tonight, Elf. Haven’t you been listening to the forecast? There’s a blizzard blowing outside.” Burke smiled at her and she felt her blood begin to heat. “I think you should stay right here, with me. We’ll hunker down, under the weather.”