Page 14 of Christmas Cove

“You’re very welcome.” Leo clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Now, what else can I do?”

“You aren’t kidding about this fog, are you?”

“Time’s ticking,” Leo said and tapped a finger on his bare wrist where a watch would sit if he wore one.

“I just need to make that phone call really quick.”

“I don’t need to turn this place over right away and you can make your call once we get back from this little errand.”

“If you’re sure.”

He nodded, and something in his strong and calm body language made America want to know just what he was on about.

She tied her boot laces and pulled the sweater over her head, careful to not get her lip stain on the white knit. She stood and spun around, looking for where she had put her coat, and stopped when she got back to Leo. Standing by the door, he held her coat out to her.

“You look...good,” Leo said. “I hope that’s okay for me to say?”

Heat hit her cheeks, and she tucked a tendril behind one ear. “Thank you...for getting my coat. I always know where everything is when I’m at home, but here...”

“Organized much?” he said and helped her into the red puffer.

“I like things predictable,” she said. “Do I need to bring anything?”

“Just you,” he said and opened the door.

“You’re not going to murder me or something? Are you?”

“Ouch!” he said and held his arm out for her to take. “Do you trust me?”

America had a dozen chances and a dozen reasons to turn him down, but like a tide being drawn into shore, she took his arm. “I do,” she said.

CHAPTER10

America grippedthe over-window handle so tight that her knuckles turned white. Leo’s truck bumped along a gravel track. No amount of cuteness could make up for the truck’s fifty-year-old shocks.

“Relax. We’re nearly there,” Leo said and patted her knee with his right hand.

“Hands on the wheel,” she said, and just in time.

The truck lost traction for a moment and they skidded sideways on the slick ground. Leo braked and pulled the truck to the side. Outside the window, America saw only bare trees and brown bushes. Their vibrant fall colors had long since fallen off. The sun, low in the sky, shone through the sticks and cast web-like shadows across the ground around them.

Leo got out of the truck, walked around and opened the door. He took her hand and helped her out. The ground was not only wet, but squishy from years of plant buildup mixing with the soil. It reminded her of the play surface at the park she used to go to as a child.

“Are you sure you aren’t going to murder me?” she said with a wink. His hand came around the small of her back and guided her away from the truck. “Where are we?”

Leo led her through the bushes to a small overlook, long forgotten by time. “You asked me last night about what happened to Christmas...”

“This is the something bad?” she asked.

He nodded, and she sensed the same sadness in him that she noticed the previous night.

“See that? To the left? That’s the cabin you’re staying in. And there, that’s where we met on the dock.”

From the new vantage point, America could see the grassy plain and a rocky shoreline. “This used to be a lake? The cove?” she said. “What happened here?”

Leo turned away from the scene and leaned his bum against a weathered railing. His eyes glassed, and he stared into the space over her shoulder. He took a moment before giving an answer.

“A few years ago,” he began. “There was a terrible nor’easter storm.”

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