CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER
2
G
inger Lewis followed the driveway around to the back of the Driftwood Guest House and parked her 4Runner in an empty spot. She recognized two of the other cars there, which meant security was somewhere on the property and the doctor was still here.
Crap.
She swallowed her fear and focused on what really mattered. Inside was a family that needed a little help this holiday season, and she and Max had a job to do.
She needed to get herself together.
The first time she’d been here, she’d been terrified and hurting—physically and emotionally. Eighteen years old, going on forty-five.
Ginger took a deep breath, tasting the salty tang of the sea that always permeated the air here and letting the ocean smells and the fresh air anchor her in the present. She wasn’t that scared young girl anymore. At twenty-three, she was a grown-ass woman. Strong. Independent. And most important—safe.
She owed all of that to the woman who owned this place.
Ginger grabbed the Santa hat from the seat beside her and jammed it on her head. Her giant mop of tight curls was currently dyed a bright orange, which maybe wasn’t her most successful colouring experiment. But she’d been looking to brighten things up, and against the warm brown tones of her skin, it wasn’t too bad. She’d never been much of a hat girl, but she’d promised Anna she’d play her role to the fullest, and so she would.
Ginger got out of the car and opened the passenger-side door, sticking the antler headband on Max and making sure the dog’s cheerful red scarf was firmly in place before she let her jump out. She laughed as Max howled in protest when her paws hit the cold snow. Her baby was a wuss.
“C’mon, Max. No whining. It’s Christmas, and you’ve got a very important job to do.”
Max whimpered and tried to hop back into the SUV, but Ginger knew she couldn’t get back in without help, so she just grabbed the bag of presents from the back seat and slammed the car door. “It’s showtime, baby.”
While the snow wasn’t quite as deep near the ocean as it was in town, there was still a layer of white over everything. Ginger shivered. It was an unusually snowy winter for Rivers End, and while she didn’t love the snow, she did love the way the dusting of white made everything look new and fresh and clean.
Someone had been shovelling, and Ginger was thankful the walkway was cleared enough for Max to make her way through the snow easily, even on her short little legs. Tongue lolling, Max tried eating some snow and shook her head with a sneeze.
Ginger laughed. “It’s not ice cream, you goof.” She made her way carefully up the ramp to the back door, boots crunching the coarse salt that had been sprinkled down.
As expected, the blue door swung open just as she reached it, and Max bolted past her into the house, likely in pursuit of the first warm lap she could find. “Max! Come back here and wipe your paws.”
“Don’t worry, floor’s a mess already.” Chase Erickson closed the door behind her and reached out to take her bag of gifts. He placed it on the kitchen counter and helped her off with her jacket before enveloping her in a massive hug.
Over the past few years, she’d come to know many of the people who worked for GND Security, and despite his size and an overabundance of muscles, Chase was one of the good guys. She always felt safer, knowing he had her back.
“Haven’t seen you for a while, Ginger.”
“Work was pretty crazy leading up to the holidays. Justin was determined to get the latest Princess Puzzle game launched and into the app store before the holidays, so we’ve all been living at the office. But I think what you’re really missing are these.” She reached into the bag of gifts and pulled out a tin of gingersnaps. Her mom had named her Ginger because when she was pregnant, all she’d wanted to eat were the crunchy little ginger cookies. Now Ginger was known around town for her cookie deliveries.
Chase’s eyes lit up at the sight of the cookie tin, and they both laughed when his stomach growled. “Those things are like crack. I’ve been suffering from withdrawal symptoms since we last saw you at the office.” He popped the top off the tin and shoved a cookie into his mouth, munching happily. “Don’t tell Gareth these are here. I’ll make sure I get my share before he can scarf the rest.”
Ginger pulled a second cookie tin out of the bag and nodded towards the living room. “Hey, it’s Christmas. I figured you each deserved your own stash. Is Anna in there with Gareth?”
Chase shook his head, his expression turning serious. “They’re upstairs with our guest and the doc.”
“How bad is it?”
He lowered his voice and glanced towards the living room, where a small girl was playing by herself on the carpet. “Judging by how exhausted both the doc and Gareth look, and the fact that I’m hanging out with Kelsey here instead of having a chaotic Christmas with my giant family, I’d say it was pretty touch and go last night. I don’t think we’re through with the worst of it yet.”
“That’s not a reindeer.”
Ginger looked down into the sticky face of four-year-old Kelsey and nodded. “Technically, you’re right.” She looked at Max, curled up on the floor beside Kelsey, reindeer headband askew and tongue lolling.
“Is Max a dog?”
Ginger choked on a laugh.
Poor Max.
“Yes, she’s a bulldog.”
“Why’s she called Max if she’s a girl?”
“It’s short for Maxine, but she won’t come if I call her that, because she knows I only use her whole name if she’s in trouble.”
Kelsey nodded. “I only get called Kelsey Lynn if I’m in trouble.” The little girl scooted her bum over a bit closer to Max and reached out a tentative hand, being careful to protect her candy cane from Max’s reaching tongue. “I don’t like being in trouble.” She pulled her hand back and looked up at Ginger with a worried look. “Does she bite?”
Ginger shook her head. “No. As long as you’re gentle, she’ll be very patient. She loves when people pet her.” She wanted to reach over and brush Kelsey’s mess of golden curls out of the way of the candy cane, but she didn’t want to startle her.
Kelsey reached out again, barely touching Max, and then a smile lit up her face and she settled into petting Max’s soft fur. “She looks poky, but she’s not. She’s soft like my dog Jenny.”
“Is your dog here too? Maybe she could play with Max.”
Kelsey shook her head. “She’s not here. She had to go to heaven when my dad kicked her too hard.” The little girl didn’t look up, just kept on petting Max.
Ginger swallowed the lump in her throat and said a silent thank-you to whatever angel was watching out for this little one. She could see the bruises poking out from beneath the sleeve of Kelsey’s too-big pyjama top where a large hand had grabbed her, and there was another on her cheek.
She knew from personal experience—and the way that Kelsey was sitting very carefully—that there were more bruises in places less likely to be noticed by nosy strangers. She’d had plenty of them in her day.
It made her blood boil that anyone could hurt this sweet little girl, but when she met Chase’s eyes, she could see that the girl was well protected now, at least. He was firmly in bodyguard mode, looking even more like an action figure than usual. No one was getting by him.
Like Ginger, Kelsey was alive and one step closer to being safe. If her mother made it through the next few days, they would both get a chance at a new life. She knew first-hand what that was like.
Ginger owed her life to Gareth, Chase’s boss, who had been a cop in Greenbriar at the time. One of Clint’s neighbours had heard her screams and called the police, and Gareth was the one to take her statement when she eventually woke up in the hospital.
Gareth—aka Officer Rockford—had turned up again a few days later with Anna, who had brought Ginger here to Driftwood House.
Speaking of angels…
“Ginger! How wonderful to see you, dear.”
She smiled and stood so she could give Anna a proper hug. “Merry Christmas, Anna.” She pulled a gift wrapped in red and silver from her bag and passed it over, using it as an excuse to give Anna a once-over. Her long silver hair was pulled back with matching silver clips, her glasses were on her head instead of her face, and the worry lines that Ginger recognized all too well were deep grooves today. Anna wasn’t a young woman anymore, but Ginger had never thought of her as old. Today, she looked every one of her sixty-three years.
With a glance at Kelsey, Ginger lowered her voice. “You look tired.”
Anna sighed and nodded. “It was a very long night. If you’d asked me last night, I would have said there was no way Carla was going to make it. But Doc Liam seems to have worked a Christmas miracle for us. He says if she can make it through today, she’ll recover… physically, anyway.”
They both looked over to where Kelsey sat curled up around Max, wearing the dog’s reindeer antlers. Max licked Kelsey’s face and she giggled, making all three of the adults watching over her smile.
Even though Ginger had never met the woman upstairs, she knew Carla had a chance with this team pulling for her.
Anna shrugged and wrapped an arm around Ginger’s waist to give her a comforting hug. “Carla’s strong. She’ll do everything she can to stick around to protect her little girl.”
Ginger resisted the urge to point out that it wasn’t always about strength. Her mother would have fought like hell to survive if she’d had a chance. But a bullet had taken that choice from her when she’d walked into the middle of a convenience store robbery on her way home from work.
That bullet had seriously narrowed down Ginger’s choices as well. When she lost her mother, she was totally alone. She figured out one thing pretty quick, though: it was better to have no family at all than a shitty one.
She’d bailed on her first foster family as soon as her foster father started paying her a little too much attention, and she’d done well enough, taking care of herself. But eventually, a string of bad luck and worse choices landed her in an abusive relationship that had kept its hold on her for years. Until that awful night when Gareth had found her battered and bleeding on the floor of Clint’s apartment.
Who could have predicted that the worst night of her life would lead her here?
Now she had more family than she’d ever imagined. Not just Anna and the team at GND Security—the whole town of Rivers End had taken her in when she’d needed somewhere to heal, and then somewhere to belong.
She’d spent the past few years giving back every chance she got. She had her own part to play in turning things around for Kelsey and her mom.
Ginger picked up her bag of gifts and shook it. “Oh my goodness! It appears there are more presents in this bag.”
Kelsey looked up hopefully when a box with a giant silver bow came out of the bag.
Anna smiled and played along. “Indeed? And who are they for? Is that one for Max?”
Ginger checked the tag and shook her head. “Nope. Not for Max. The tag says it’s for Kelsey.” The little girl’s eyes went wide as Ginger handed over the package.
“Merry Christmas, Kelsey.” She wasn’t sure how merry it was going to be. But it was definitely one the little girl wasn’t likely to forget.
“Can I open it now?”
“Sure you can. It’s Christmas morning, right?” Kelsey nodded solemnly.
Hopefully the giant stuffed bunny in the box would give Kelsey something soft to hold onto, something to look after and help keep her brave when she needed to be.
Lord knows, having Max to take care of was what had kept Ginger sane. Anna had known that would be the case when she’d taken Ginger to the shelter, “just to look.” Ginger had fallen in love on the spot, and they’d brought Max home with them less than a week later.
Ginger pulled out another box, smaller this time, and handed it to Kelsey. “This one’s for your mom, okay? Can you give it to her when Anna says she’s ready for visitors?” Kelsey nodded and gripped the package with one hand, while the other clutched her bunny to her chest. The charm bracelet inside the box was maybe a bit old-fashioned, but Ginger had seen it in the shop while she was waiting for the papers this morning and couldn’t resist buying it. It was a great reminder that their new life would be built one piece at a time, and she’d seeded it with three silver charms with words on them: strength, courage, and love. They would need all three to get through the next little while.
The last thing in the bag wasn’t wrapped. Ginger passed the brown paper envelope over to Anna, who let out a breath when she saw it. “It’s all there: ID cards, and a birth certificate for Kelsey.” Sometimes, a shady past had its uses.
Anna smiled and gave Ginger a quick, hard hug. “Thank you. I know what you risk to do this for us.”
Ginger just shook her head. “It’s the least I can do. Everyone deserves the chance for a fresh start.” She’d vowed to do everything she could to help other women get the same chance she’d been given. Even if it meant backtracking slightly into her old life from time to time. She owed her friend Maggie big-time for both the presents and the rush job on Christmas morning. While Maggie had prepped the papers, Ginger had browsed the gift shop. It was more than just a convenient cover for her real business. Maggie had some nice things in the store and it did a brisk business of its own.
“I’ve got to go back upstairs and take this to Carla,” Anna said. I think it’ll help her to know she’s got a future waiting for her. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
“I’ll be back before New Year’s Eve. You still up for the usual?”
Anna nodded. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather spend the night out with your friends?”
“Nope. You know I love spending that night with my two best girls. Even if one of them drools way too much and hogs the couch.”
As Anna gave Max a quick scratch behind the ears and headed up the stairs, Ginger watched Chase settle gently onto the carpet with Kelsey. He was driving the little toy cars around, careening out of the way to avoid the giant rabbit stomping through the landscape. She loved the way he softened his whole presence to make sure Kelsey didn’t feel threatened and got right into the game with her.
Kelsey giggled, and Ginger felt relief wash over her.
“Okay, Max. Our job here is done. It’s time for us to hit the road so we make it to Christmas dinner on time.”