“Billy!” she chastened him.
Forest was caught up in the scent of her. That dumb pine candle and her shampoo. For the love. Was he destined to get lost in her every time he smelled pine?
“Mom!” Billy screamed, even though they were all in a tight circle. “She’s gone. Snowflake’s gone!”
Mitzi met his gaze, a mirror of his own panic.
Forest pulled them both close. “I found her once, and I’ll find her again.” The force of his words raced through him. “We’ll find her,” he promised.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mitzi shrugged her shoulder, gently pushing Forest off of her and Billy. His arms were wrapped around the two of them to keep them from falling, and it was too much. She couldn’t let herself get comfortable there, no matter how much she wanted to lean on him.
Focusing on Billy, she did her best not to think of the wrangler standing so close she could smell the laundry soap on his flannel shirt. And if she thought too hard about it, she’d realize how soft that shirt felt against her cheek. Didn’t the man know how to zip up his coat? It was cold out here. A fact she was acutely aware of now that his body heat was taken away.
“What do you mean, gone?” she asked Billy.
“I mean gone!” he wailed.
Forest jerked his head, and one of the men at the back of the trailer made their way over.
She did a double take. “You have to be a Nicholas,” she blurted like an idiot.
He smiled easily, that same smile full of trouble that Forest used to make her stomach dance. Although she had no such reaction to this man. “That’s right.” He touched the brim of his hat. “Pax Nicholas.”
Of course! “I was your reading buddy when you were in kindergarten.”
“No kiddin’.” He reached out to shake her hand. “You did a great job. I graduated college and everything.” He said it as if she were individually responsible for his successes in life.
She smiled and turned to include Forest in their reunion only to see a dark scowl on his face. “Load up,” he told his brother. “We have a situation.”
Pax got moving.
Mitzi marveled at the trust between the two of them, the easy way they all worked together. “You’re going looking for her?”
Forest nodded. He started waving the people who had gathered away from the trailer. “Move along, folks. We need to get moving. Hope you have a Merry Christmas.” He sounded happy, but there was tension in his shoulders. People grumbled but did as he asked.
“Mom,” Billy said quietly. “I’m scared for Snowflake.”
Mitzi rubbed his shoulder. “Forest said he’d find her.”
Billy buried his face in her stomach and held on. Her heart lurched.
“Mitzi!” Louanne had her arm in the air and weaved through the crowd.
Not now. “Come on.” Mitzi took Billy’s hand and pulled him toward Forest’s truck.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Louanne disappear on the other side of the trailer. She’d effectively dodged her. Whew! She didn’t have time to haggle with the woman right now. There was a reindeer on the loose.
“Get in.” She helped Billy into the middle seat, trying not to think about how he’d sat there on their ice-skating date and how she and Forest had held hands over the back rest while he slept on the way home.
They watched through the windshield as Forest and his brothers loaded up the reindeer. “Do you see those men?” she asked Billy. “They’re all reindeer wranglers. If anyone can find Snowflake, it’s those three.” She kissed the top of his head, hoping he felt reassured. The more time that went on, the more worried she became. What if Snowflake had run away? She could be anywhere by now, and the sun was almost down. Most of their search would be in the dark. “Come on,” she urged the wranglers.
Forest pointed toward her house, giving directions, and then he marched toward the truck, his eyes on the sky. He must be worried about losing the light too.
He pulled open the truck door and only hesitated a moment when he saw his passengers.
“We’re going to help you look,” Mitzi stated.
