Page 19 of This Christmas

She tensed. “I… don’t understand.”

“Let’s talk later,” he said as they both heard Charlotte racing down the stairs. He touched her arm. “Just know that I’m not here on official business. I’m here because a little girl asked me to come and to see my pictures.” He smiled as Charlotte came racing back in the room, holding her coat and hat in her hands.

“Mama, get your coat. Let’s go…” she whined.

The three of them made their way up the spiral staircase that wound to the top of the lighthouse, their laughter echoing off the stone walls as Charlotte bounded ahead, her little boots clanging on each metal step. By the time they reached the glass-enclosed lookout, the snow had thickened, turning the coastline below into a blur of white and gray.

“It looks like we’re inside a snow globe,” Charlotte whispered, her earlier tears long forgotten as she pressed her nose to the glass now.

“It does,” Joe agreed softly, setting the bag of food on the small wooden table that Max had placed up there. The space was chilly but it became cozy enough once Ally turned on a small heater.

They unpacked the food and sat together as the snow swirled beyond the glass, eating burgers and fries while the sea crashed below, its sound muffled by the wind. Charlotte giggled at a funny story Joe told while she dipped fries into ketchup.

He showed her all the photos that he’d taken on the beach, and her daughter acted genuinely interested and impressed.

“Do you sell these?” Charlotte asked. “When I grow up, I want to sell mine,” she said proudly.

“I don’t.” Joe tilted his head, as if thinking. “I bet you could sell a lot of the photos you’ve already taken. Some of them are really good.”

“I like this one.” Charlotte touched the picture of the lighthouse he’d taken the day before.

When it was dessert time, Joe sliced the massive piece of chocolate cake into thirds. Charlotte’s eyelids began to droop when she was only halfway through hers. She finished the rest of it sleepily and curled up in the corner seat. Ally wrapped the blanket that she’d brought with them around her for more warmth and wiped the chocolate off her face.

“I didn’t think you’d come today,” she said finally.

“I hadn’t planned on it,” he admitted in a low voice so as to not wake her daughter. “But I wanted to come over and tell you that I had stepped aside.” He looked out at the horizon, at the snow still falling quickly. “I couldn’t do it anymore. Not after I saw what kind of man he really is.” He turned to glance at her, and the look in his eyes had her heart skipping. “He seemed pissed that I walked away.”

Her throat tightened as she replied, “Ted’s always been… controlling.”

“Yeah, I get that.” His jaw flexed a few times. “Men like him think power makes them untouchable. I saw that firsthand when I lost everything that mattered.”

She frowned, seeing his pain written on his face. “What happened?”

He hesitated, then exhaled slowly. “Her name was Lisa. We’d been together since…” He shook his head. “Forever. We were going to get married. Well, at least I was about to finally propose to her. It was almost a year after I’d gotten out of the army. I was working my way up so I could have stable hours as a cop. She was driving home from work one Saturday night and got hit by a drunk driver. He walked away without a scratch, she never regained consciousness. Because of a technicality, a paperwork error, he never saw a single day behind bars. The fact that he was the nephew of one of the county judges I’m sure played a huge part as well.”

Ally’s eyes softened. “I’m so sorry.”

“That was six years ago. After that, I stopped believing in the system. I stopped wearing a badge. I figured the least I could do was make sure the next bastard didn’t get away clean. That’s how I ended up taking jobs like this one. But…” He looked at her then, the weight of honesty sitting between them. “You’re not what he said you were. I understand that now.”

She swallowed hard, her voice a whisper. “Why tell me this?”

“Because you deserve to know someone’s still watching out for people like you. Everything in my bones tells me that he’s not done. Men like him are never done.” He shook his head. “Just so you know, he’s hired someone else, someone less subtle, who may not know the truth. Or might not care. I don’t know who yet, but I’ll find out before they show up.”

“You’re not the first one I’ve spotted watching us.” Her pulse stuttered. “I can handle⁠—”

He held up a hand. “I’m not offering my professional services. Just to be clear.”

She took a deep breath. “What are you offering?”

“I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked out at the white sky. “But I’m not going anywhere for a while. Not until I know you and your daughter are safe.”

She wanted to argue, wanted to tell him that she didn’t need saving, but the truth caught in her throat. Because for the first time in a long while, she didn’t feel completely alone. Besides her family, there was someone else out there seeing what she’d known all along.

Charlotte stirred in her sleep, mumbling something about snow angels, and Ally brushed a hand through her daughter’s hair.

When she looked back up, he was watching them both, his expression unreadable.

Outside, the storm thickened, wrapping the lighthouse in white silence.