“Oooaff.” Tom Weatherby winced as if she’d hurt him.
“Sorry, Tom.” She laughed. “I seem to be literally bumping into you a lot these days.”
He nodded and smiled at her. “You really need to learn to watch where you’re going.”
She put up a finger and wagged it at him. “Maybe you should stop sneaking up on me. Come with me, I’m in search of brownies.”
He followed her, and Gridlock followed him. A little peeved, Gridlock reminded Jade that she’d promised to talk to Tom about resuming their daily run.
Belatedly, Jade kept her word. “You know, Tom, you can run with Gridlock again. He’s in fine shape, and he misses it.”
Surprised, Tom looked at her sharply. “I keep forgetting you can do that. Please tell him that we’ll get back to it tomorrow morning. We’ll start slowly.”
“I don’t know that he’ll let you do that. He’s raring to go.” Jade patted the dog with enthusiasm. She smiled up at Tom. “I really enjoyed the Christmas pageant. You did a great job, even if you are a rather skinny Santa Claus.”
Magically, Ernestine appeared at Tom’s side. She shook her head. “Santa Claus isn’t as fat as they depict him. Everyone’s watching their weight these days.” She looked Jade up and down. “You, my child, are too skinny. But you’re a good girl, and I love you.” She kissed Jade’s cheek and walked away.
Jade and Tom exchanged amused glances.
He said, “I think Ernestine got into the egg nog.”
Just Finishing up his conversation with Travis’s father, Sam turned and looked at Tom. “Oh hey there, Tom.” They shook hands. “Ernestine tells me that you’ve offered to drive her home. That’s nice of you. She’s had a bit to drink.”
Tom laughed. “Yeah, Jade and I were just commenting on that. I’m happy to drive her anywhere she wants to go. I like her very much. She’s been good to me.”
“That’s the best recommendation you can get around here. One kind word from Ernestine, and you’re in.”
Jade said, “And being an excellent principal and all around upstanding citizen isn’t enough?”
Sam laughed. “Still, in New Crescent nothing beats Ernestine’s seal of approval.”
“She just told me that I’m a good girl and she loves me. I feel honored.”
Sam put his arm around her, “You’ve always belonged in this town, Jinx.”
Tom excused himself to go get something to eat, and Sam escorted Jade to a chair in the living room. He pulled another chair close to hers and with that simple action he created a private world for the two of them.
“I had it out with my parents.”
She looked concerned, but he shook his head and reassured her that he was okay.
“I put them on notice. I’m going to do all I can to clean up Daniels Pharmaceuticals. A company like that doesn’t have to be a plague on the world. It can do so much better. It can lead the way. Set the example. I want to use it to help people instead of exploit them.”
Jade was overwhelmed. “What about the clinic? You’re doing good work there too.”
“The clinic is where my heart is. I’ll always have that. But this thing with Daniels is a long term proposition. I found out from the evil geek I bought that my father has sanctioned some unimaginable experiments on animals.”
Jade shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to know the particulars.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on telling you. I wish I didn’t know myself. I won’t burden you with the knowledge as well. I warned Satan and Cruella that if they didn’t put a stop to that part of their activities, I’d destroy the company instead of saving it.”
“Are you sure you’re prepared to do that?”
Sam shook his head. “I don’t want to destroy anything, but I will if necessary. The Old Families will support me. Travis’s Dad just assured me of that. The Old Families will carry the board of Directors.”
Jade frowned, puzzled. “But how could they? Your parents are both from Old Families. They’d be turning against one of their own. What did Ernestine say?”
“She’s staying silent on this one, but she keeps on telling me that it is my responsibility to stop this creature who’s stalking you. So I figure the two must be linked.” Sam took her hand, and he waited for her to speak.
“Funny, Ernestine’s told me the same thing. I guess we’re in this together, huh?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, not really, but you have to stop trying to protect me.”
He shook his head. “You can’t ask that of me. I’ll always protect you.”
She grinned ruefully, shaking her head. “Okay, I can accept that, but you cannot keep anything from me. I can help. Maybe you’ll need
my
protection.”
“I won’t keep anything from you.” He smiled crookedly. “Jinx, aren’t you a little small to be my protector?” He spilled his drink when he leaned over and kissed her.
* * * *
Much later that night, Jade walked up to bed. She didn’t stick around to help with the cleanup, but rather left it to Chase. She took him at his word when he said not to worry about it. She didn’t and neither did Reggie.
It was still after 1am when Jade finally made her way to bed. Since she’d been staying with her brother, she didn’t feel right about inviting Sam to spend the night with her, no matter how much she wanted to. It looked like Chase was getting used to the idea of his friend and his sister together, but Jade didn’t want to press her luck. As she pulled the covers up and rested her head on the pillow, she spared a fleeting thought for Michelle, but with determination she forced the thought away. Sleep came almost immediately for the first time in too long.
* * * *
Its prey traveled in groups of three now, making the hunt more challenging. It watched as people left McCann House and got in their cars. Only dogs chased cars. It was far superior to the animals, their blood offended it. The other night, that stag had tainted the kill. A lowly animal wasn’t worth killing.
Soon it would end. After mating, the creature would hunt only in the city where its prey was plentiful and easy to dispose of. New Crescent was becoming a little too dangerous, they were getting close and still it hadn’t taken the green eyed one. It had to mate before the New Year. Blood was no longer assuaging its hunger, but that didn’t stop it from biting down on its own gnarled hand. It drank, but was left unsatisfied. Silently the creature moved closer to the house. Could it take three?
The next morning Jade ate a breakfast bagel in a very quiet house. Chase and Reggie hadn’t put in an appearance yet. She finished her breakfast, rinsed her plate and was getting ready to leave when Chase finally strolled in.
He still looked a little sleepy but there was an edge to his voice. “You’re going to work today?”
She nodded. “Why wouldn’t I go into work today?”
“You had a pretty late night.”
She looked at him, puzzled by his behavior. “What’s that got to do with whether I go in to work or not today? I don’t make my own hours. You know that.”
He shrugged. “I just thought you would have booked this morning off because of the party last night. I’m sure Sam wouldn’t mind.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t, but animals need care every day whether I got a good night’s sleep or not.” Jade knew he had something more to say.
He sauntered over to the fridge and opened the door. Over his shoulder he said, “You seem to be getting along well with Sam these days.” He tried to sound casual, but Jade wasn’t convinced by his nonchalant tone.
She narrowed his eyes at him. “Sam and I have always been friends.”
“Friends, yes. You had a big crush on him at one time.”
Jade didn’t have time for Chase’s suspicions, but she respected him too much to treat his concern flippantly. “Yeah, I had an enormous crush on him when I was a kid, but what I feel for him now is anything but childish.”
Chase nodded. “I thought so.”
“Do you have a problem with that?” Not waiting for his response, she continued, “Because if you do, we need to discuss it. With all due respect, brother mine, this is my life, and you can’t live it for me.”
“Wow, and I haven’t even raised a concern yet. Hell, I haven’t even raised an eyebrow.”
Jade laughed. “I appreciate your self-discipline.”
“I know you all think I’m going to have a problem with you and Sam, but that’s not how I feel. There is not a man in this world I trust more than Sam, but his experience far outweighs yours.”
She scoffed. “How do you know how much experience I’ve had? For all you know I’ve hooked up with every available man up and down the eastern seaboard.”
Her brother shook his head sadly. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
She punched his arm. “I’m not thirteen anymore. I’m not a virgin.”
Chase winced. “I really don’t want to know about this.”
She laughed. “Now look who’s being ridiculous. You brought this up. Do you want details about my relationship with Sam?” Jade began to enjoy herself. “He has this way of kissing me right here…” She pointed to her neck.
“Stop right there! Too much information…too…too much information.” He shook his head over and over again then he treated her to his special smile. “Okay, sis. I’m okay with it. But you do realize you’ve both put me in an untenable position. To him I want to say, ‘hurt her and I’ll boil your genitals in oil’ but I can’t because he’s like my best friend…a brother. You’re my sister…my sister, my brother…the whole thing just confuses me.” With a wave of his hand he pleaded, “Go, please just go…I can’t talk about this anymore.”
She giggled with delight at his helplessly dazed expression and kissed him on the cheek. As she walked out, she yelled, “I love you, big brother…I don’t care what anybody says, I love you…”
* * * *
Jade walked into the clinic and smiled at the Christmas decorations, one more reminder of the season. It really was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It was cold and crisp outside. Snow had dusted everything like icing sugar on a donut. The last song she’d heard on the radio as she exited her car was
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.
Remembering the hippo pancakes Sam had made her at breakfast one morning, she hummed the whimsical song as she entered the kennel.
“Yeah, I think we could find room for a hippo in the barn.” Sam laughed. “You sing rather well, Jinx. I hope you’re warming up for your performance this weekend at the Sinclair’s Christmas party.”
She froze, and her stomach dropped to the floor. She looked down half expecting to see it throbbing at Sam’s feet. “I forgot about that.”
He walked over to her and dropped a fast but thorough kiss on her lips. “I haven’t forgotten about your much anticipated return to the song stage and neither has anyone else. I think it will be the highlight of the evening.”
“I want to yell at you, but I have to save my voice.” On tiptoe she grabbed his shirt front and pulled his lips towards her. She kissed him this time just as thoroughly as he’d kissed her moments ago.
She jumped when the intercom sounded. There was an emergency. Sam picked up the receiver. “Tell me where.” While he was on the phone, he gestured to Jade, and she instantly understood what he’d need. She hurried to pull together the supplies he’d indicated. She could tell this was serious.
“Jensen’s dog has been hit by a car. Let’s go.” They rushed to his truck. On the way there Sam told her all he knew of what had happened.
“Jensen’s dog Charlie is a Corgi. His human family can trace his roots back to Morgan Goode’s dogs in the early 1700’s. He’s shy and a little neurotic. Charlie is high strung and afraid of just about everything. He got scared and ran out in front of a car. Wisely, they didn’t want to move him.”
“Did they say if he’s conscious or not?”
“No. I didn’t want to waste the time.” He glanced at the back seat and lifted a shoulder. “It looks like our system is working. You picked out exactly what I figured we’d need and all I had to do was hold up a couple of fingers. Genius, Jinx.”
She smiled with pride. “We make a good team.”
* * * *
Again, Sam worked a miracle in Jade’s eyes. They got the little dog back to the clinic, and Sam performed emergency surgery. He’d been at it for hours. Jade didn’t know how he did it. The amount of concentration and skill required to save the dog’s life humbled Jade. It looked like Charlie was going to make it. Sam didn’t show a flicker of fatigue until they sat in his office where he dropped heavily into his chair.
Jade couldn’t help but express her admiration. “That was amazing, Sam.”
He laughed self deprecatingly. “It wasn’t brain surgery.”
“No, it wasn’t, but the Jensen children are going to be very happy that you can do what you do.” She raised an eyebrow. “Not bad for a guy who claimed his only goal was to waste his massive inheritance.”
“There’s only so much money you can spend and stay human. Look at my parents. No one would ever accuse them of being compassionate. They are definitely not a positive force in this world. In fact, my parents are actively exploitative. They’re a cancer.”
“Do you feel you have to make up for their actions? Sins of the father sort of thing?” Curious, Jade leaned forward in her chair, waiting for his answer.