“When will Ms. Hanssen have the next writer’s critique group?” Agnes asked, eyeing Bruce as he continued to type.

Bruce looked over at Daphne. “Hey, where’s Bayley? Aren’t we having our group meeting tonight?”

Daphne walked over with another cup of coffee for them and said, “Not this week. She had to go out of town for a few days.”

“Oh, I hope everything is all right,” Agnes rushed to say, smiling up at Daphne.

“She’s fine, but needed to go somewhere with a friend.” Giggling, Daphne leaned down, whispering, “A really gorgeous friend.”

Laughing, Agnes nodded in understanding. “Lucky girl. She certainly had a parade of handsome men in here a few days ago.”

“Tell me about it,” Daphne rolled her eyes, pretending to be bothered by the security. Grinning, she said, “Bayley was threatened by some man on the street, so her super-secret brother and some of his crew were making sure she was safe.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Agnes exclaimed, wide-eyed with her hand on her heart. “That sounds so scary.”

“Hey, I’m the one who chased the guy off,” Bruce countered, inserting himself into their conversation.

Agnes whipped her head around to him, “Did you see the person?”

Grimacing, Bruce replied, “Nah. I didn’t even hear him. But I guess just the sound of my footsteps as I jogged back sent him running.”

“Well, it’s certainly good that Ms. Hanssen was not harmed,” Agnes said.

“Yes, and now she’s off with her FBI protector,” Daphne agreed before heading back to the counter.

Pulling out her phone, Agnes sent a text, a small smile playing about her lips.

Hours later, as Daphne closed the shop, making sure to lock the doors, she waited outside on the sidewalk for a moment hoping her date had not forgotten he was supposed to pick her up at work. Pulling out her phone to send him a text, she saw a car pull up. Grinning, she hurried over as he alighted from the vehicle and opened the door for her.

“I like your manners,” she said, sliding into the expensive leather interior.

Lazlo smiled as he climbed behind the wheel. “My mother taught me how to treat a lady,” he said smoothly, as they pulled out onto the street.

“You gonna stand there or you gonna come on in?”

Nick walked in, glad to see Bernie’s color was better. “Looks like your visit with Vera went well.”

“Shut up,” Bernie complained, although his color increased as two blush spots appeared on his cheeks. “Meddlin’ old woman.”

“Awfully pretty woman, if you ask me.”

“Well, I didn’t hear anyone ask you.”

The two men shared a chuckle as Nick settled into the chair by the bed, allowing his gaze to roam around the room, seeing less tubes than before. “Looks like things are progressing.”

“They want me to walk some this afternoon…or at least, get up out of bed and stand. Doubt I’ll be able to piss by myself, but I’ll move around some.”

The quiet was interrupted by the continued beeps from the various machines still attached. “You gonna mention that girl you’ve got with you?”

As his forehead creased, Nick asked, “How do you know about any girl?”

“Seen her walk by a time or two, glancing in, trying to be unobtrusive, but she sure as hell ain’t looking at me. Get the feeling she’s checking on how you’re doing.”

“So, who’s the investigator now?”

“Hell, boy. Don’t take an investigator to see when a pretty young thing is interested.” Holding a pillow to his chest as he coughed, Bernie winced in pain. As the spasm abated, he continued, “And Vera might have mentioned her as well.”

“She’s just part of a case I’m working on.”

“That so? I’d say you’re either lying to me or to yourself.”

Nick looked down, his hands clasped in his lap.

“Boy?”

Nick lifted his head, the instinct to follow Bernie’s orders still strong. “Yes, sir?”

“Why don’t you talk a bit? I’m stuck in this bed with stuff attached to body parts that make me cringe. Talk and take my mind off all this.”

“Anything in particular?”

“Nah…well, tell me about work. What’s going on the world of the FBI right now?”

Sighing, Nick leaned back against the hard, metal chair and replied, “I was working on a terrorist case. That’s when I was in Alaska a while ago. Then I did some temporary work on a case while another agent was on paternity leave. Just got assigned to a kidnapping case—someone is snatching women. May be tied into human trafficking.”

“Damn, boy. Your job covers a lot of ground.”

Nodding, Nick said, “But it’s interesting. Keeps me on my toes.”

After a moment of silence where Bernie’s intelligent gaze studied Nick, he said, “Seems to me that there’s something weighing on you. FBI no longer the career you want—or is it just this case?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Nick shrugged, saying nothing.

“You gotta do what works for you, boy.”

Slowly nodding, Nick replied, “I don’t know if it’s a speedbump or a roadblock.”

“Does it involve that pretty girl who just walked by the door again?”

Nick swerved around, eyes searching, seeing no one. Chuckling, he looked back at the smiling face greeting him from the hospital bed. “Bet you think you’re smart, don’t you, Uncle Bernie?”

“I’ve been around a helluva lot longer than you. Guess I’ve learned a thing or two. You jerked your head around so fast to catch a glimpse of that girl, I thought your head was going to snap off.”

After another protracted silence, Nick said, “She’s a possible witness that I need to keep safe and when I got the call about you, she wanted to come with me. It made the most sense at the moment, but maybe I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“And you got your ass chewed by a superior,” Bernie surmised correctly.

Nodding, Nick admitted, “Yeah, but that’s not what this is about. Everyone’s going to get their ass chewed at one time or another. Hell, I’ve chewed out some people myself at times. That’s just part of working.”

“So, what’s got you in a knot?”

Nick stared at the man lying in the hospital bed, his lower half covered with a sheet and his chest a mass of stapled incisions and tubes. Bernie had always been so hardcore Marine. “If it hadn’t been for me, would you have stayed longer in the military?”

Bernie winced again with another cough before settling his hard gaze on Nick. “What on earth are you asking that question for?”

“I’m just wondering about what all you gave up.”

“Didn’t give up nothing, boy. Truth be told, I shoulda given up the Corps two years earlier when you first needed me. Lived with that regret for the past twenty years.”

Nick stared dumbly at Bernie’s confession.

“At the time, I figured you’d be better off with some nice family than an old Jarhead. Wasn’t until I got out, visited and, while them people were nice, hell, that place was noisy. I couldn’t hear myself think and figured there was no way you could either. Right then and there, I made the decision to settle and get you with me.”

“But that wasn’t the life you had imagined. Raising an orphaned ten-year old. School projects, ball games—”

“We can’t always predict life. I figured I was lucky to have gotten out of the Marines alive. Got in near the end of the Vietnam war, did tours in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan. By all predictions, I should’ve been dead years ago. But God kept me alive and I figure, looking back, it was for being able to give us both a home.” Bernie’s sharp gaze continued to pierce Nick. “Don’t you realize, boy? You gave me a reason to live beyond the Marines. I needed you as much as you needed me. Sometimes life changes and you gotta be willing to change with it.”

Nick sat silent for a moment, Bernie’s words moving through him. He thought about his life with the FBI, never thinking that he would have another career other than being an agent. But the job was changing…hell, I’m changing. Maybe Bernie’s words were giving him the impetus for making the decisions he needed to make.

The two were silent for another moment before Bernie shifted in his bed. “They want me to try to take some steps today. You ready to help an old man?”

Ringing for a nurse, Nick moved over to stand by the bedside, his hands grasping Bernie’s wrists firmly. The nurse and Nick assisted Bernie to stand, steadying him as his knees wobbled.

“Mr. Stone, would you like to try to walk down the hall?” the perky nurse asked.

Shooting her a glare, he groused, “No, I thought I’d go ballroom dancing.”

Pinching her lips to keep from smiling, she said, “There’s no need to get snippy, Mr. Stone. Your handsome visitor here will keep you in line.”

“He’s got himself a woman, sitting patiently out in the waiting room, so you keep your eyes in your head, Miss Nursey, and leave my nephew alone.”

Laughing, she glanced at Nick. “Looks like he’s ornery today. Is this normal for him or should I be worried?”

“Nah, this is Uncle Bernie…ornery as ever.”

The nurse and Nick smiled as Bernie tried to hide his grin and grumbled once more. “Thirty years a Marine, missy. Don’t be disrespecting me in my hour of need.”

After a few minutes of assisting him walking as he became slightly steadier on his feet, they helped him back onto his bed. After the nurse checked his vitals, she left, leaving the two men alone once more.

Bernie leaned back, his eyes closing. “Boy, I’m pooped. You take your pretty woman out to lunch and let me sleep.” He drifted off before Nick could reply.

Slipping out, Nick stalked toward the waiting area to find Bayley, smiling as his gaze landed on his pretty woman.

“Got a hit on a possible lead.”

“What have you got, Harlan?” Nick stood outside the hospital, his cell phone pressed to his ear as his eyes searched the area, checking his privacy.

“While you were working on the terrorist cases, a group’s been keeping an eye on the Russian mafia that’s been creeping inward from Norfolk. They used to just run the port, but the agents in D.C. have begun noticing some families moving into the mid-Virginia area. At first, it just seemed a few of them might have been wanting to resettle outside the activities they’d been involved in, but now we suspect prostitution, gambling, money laundering, drugs, and a host of other shit.”

“You think this ties into our kidnappings?”

“We wouldn’t have been able to make that connection if Ms. Hanssen hadn’t been approached. Johan made a huge error, now that she’s identified him.”

“Yeah, and that makes her vulnerable,” Nick groused, his frustration evident as he stalked in a path up and down the sidewalk. “Listen, Harlan, we’re gonna be down here for a few more days as I get my uncle settled—”

“Nick, I gotta warn you, Richard’s threatening to pull you off the case and considering putting you on administrative leave pending an investigation into you taking a witness with you.”

Nick’s lips thinned in a grimace as he growled, “And I’m telling you, I’ve never once given the agency a reason to doubt my integrity—”

“I know, I know—”

“And one more thing,” Nick growled, “I’ve had a lot of time to think lately, Harlan, and if Richard tries anything, I’m taking my skills elsewhere. Talk to you later,” he bit out as he disconnected, the thought of becoming a Saint playing more and more in his mind.

“And then the elf said, ‘But Santa, who’ll make the toys?’”

Nick stood in the doorway of the lobby of the hotel, his eyes easily finding the beautiful blonde sitting in a rocking chair, a group of children at her feet. An open book was in her hands and a stack of other books were on the table next to her. After Vera had visited Bernie again, she volunteered to drop Bayley back at the hotel while Nick and Bernie made plans for the rehab necessary. And now, Nick’s eyes feasted on the woman, who in such a short time had become a huge part of his world.

The children clapped with glee as Bayley turned the page, continuing the story in her animated voice. As the story progressed, she laughed along with the children, occasionally snorting, which only served to make the children laugh more. The corners of Nick’s mouth tugged upward as he watched her. She was different from anyone he had ever known and, in a few days, she had wormed her way into his life—a place he already realized he wanted her to stay.

As she closed the book, she looked up, her bright eyes landing on him. Giving him a finger wave as she accepted a hug from a little girl, her smile beamed at both he and the children.

“The young woman with you is a great storyteller,” a male voice said from behind him. Nick jerked his head around and found himself staring into Santa Claus’ face. His white shirt was embroidered with red poinsettias and holly and his red pants were held up with suspenders. Up close, Nick discerned that, indeed, the white, bushy eyebrows and thick beard were natural. Santa’s ruddy cheeks came from within and not makeup. Startling, clear, blue eyes peered back at Nick, as though studying him as well.

“She’s…well, uh…she’s…” Nick floundered, unable to pull his thoughts together while facing the iconic character.

Santa chuckled, his belly bouncing with the hearty laugh. “I felt the same way when I met Mrs. Claus.”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Nick stared at the man in front of him, no idea what to say in response.

“I see you’re a doubter,” Santa said. Turning his head, he nodded to the other side of the lobby where Mrs. Claus was passing out cookies to the children. “She’s my wife…been my wife for a long time. Met her and instantly knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.”

The men stood quietly for a moment, their gazes on the two women in the lobby, both surrounded by children, so alike in their mannerisms.

“Life surprises us sometimes, Mr. Stone,” Santa said.

Nick knew it would not be hard for a hotel employee to find out his name, but the casual use of it caught him by surprise. He dragged his attention from Bayley to Santa.

“We can be heading down one road and before we know it, we come to a fork. That can really throw us, especially if we didn’t see the fork coming.”

Nick felt a catch in his throat as his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. First Bernie and now this guy. Replying in defense, “Then…then we look at the situation logically. Analytically. Figure out what’s the most practical path.”

Santa’s smile widened. “Is that so? Well, sometimes, Nick, we need to follow our heart. Throw out our long-held plans and travel the path that takes us into the unknown.”

Unable to take his eyes off Santa’s face, Nick felt sucked in. “I don’t know that’s the type of person I am.”

Patting his shoulder, Santa replied, “For me, the greatest joy is flying off into the star-filled night sky. That’s where I find the wonders of life. You should try it. Saint Nick…it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? You just might find everything you’ve been missing.”

Nick’s chest heaved as Santa’s words hit him…seriously hit him.

“Hey, Nick…how’s Bernie?”

Nick jerked his head around, seeing Bayley walking straight to him, her eyes searching his face. Her smile drooped slightly as she placed her hand on his arm.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nick assured, reaching up to take her fingers in his grasp. “I saw you reading to the kids but didn’t want to interrupt, so I was just talking to…uh…”

Shifting her stance, Bayley looked over his shoulder. “Talking to who?”

“Santa,” Nick said, twisting his head, seeing no one standing next to him. Whipping his head around, he realized he was all alone by the doorway.