Shit. This had to end…right now. It was time for them to get going.
Hailey waited for the pair to finish decorating the snowman. There was just one part left—the carrot nose. She watched, heart squeezing, as Chase lifted her son up so he could stick the carrot stick in himself. Riley placed it with a satisfied expression, clapping his chubby hands together proudly.
“Do you mind if I borrow your phone?” Hailey suddenly asked, as an awful thought caught up to her. “I need to find someone to get my car off the roadside. I really don’t like the idea of leaving my car exposed for too long. It could get stolen, or…something.”
She bit her lip to keep from blurting what she wastrulyworried about. Because if Michael was on the loose, he might slash the rest of her tires, or find some way of tracking her, or even destroy it altogether, and then she’d have nothing at all…
“Don’t worry about it,” Chase said, catching her hand and giving it the gentlest of squeezes, and his touch seemed to anchor her. “I already went and got it, and took it to a friend who fixes cars up. He’s going to take a look for you, no charge. I hope that’s okay?”
His brow furrowed, like he was suddenly worried she mightnotwant her car fixed for free, and she nodded numbly. He cast a quick glance in Riley’s direction and lowered his voice.
“There weren’t any tracking devices, I already checked.”
She let out a deep breath, squeezing his hand in return. “Thank you.”
“I know I’ve said this already,” Chase locked eyes with her, “but you’re safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to either one of you. I promise.”
“If you’re sure, I mean, just a couple of days…”
Hailey both loved and hated how this man always managed to break down all her defenses. It wasn’t fair. She’d just steeled herself against this exact thing. How was she ever going to make it through these next few days?
“I am,” he nodded. “Besides, it might be nice to have some company for the holidays. My parents couldn’t make it out this year, so I was originally going to be spending Christmas alone.”
“Okay.” Hailey let out a sigh, then smiled. “How about I go inside and make us up some hot chocolate? It’s the least I can do, considering everything.”
“Hot chocolate sounds great. Can’t have young man getting too cold, can we now?” He beamed at the boy, then his expression grew more serious as he looked back to her. “I mean it, Hailey, it’s no problem you being here. I like having you both around.”
Both. He’d said both of them. And nothing about the way he was around Riley seemed faked. Her heart swelled, and she quickly cleared her throat.
“Thank you. Do you want me to bring him inside? Or did you guys want to make another snowman?”
“Nah,” Chase shook his head. “Go ahead, I’ll take care of him. Besides, we still need to finish up withthissnowman.”
“Oh, really? He looks finished to me. What are you planning on doing with him?”
Chase laughed. “We still need to destroy him, of course! It’s the most important part of building a snowman!”
Hailey raised a cynical brow. “What? I’ve never heard that rule before. Why would you want to destroy all your hard work?”
“Because it’s fun, obviously.” He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he shot a grin at Riley. “Imighthave made that rule up.”
“Might?
He shrugged easily. “Maybe. Also, we need to destroy the evidence of a certain amount of an impending capsize.”
“Well, you boys have fun. Make sure to wipe your boots off before heading inside.”
“Thanks, mom.”
Hailey rolled her eyes. Some insult, she was a mom. She’d never felt more like one, actually. It was like they were a real family. It unsettled her.
Her heart couldn’t take much more of this.
The sooner the two of them got out of there…the better.
Chapter Eight
Chase
