Blue Christmas (The Moody Blue Trilogy | Book One) (35 page)

Sergio grew
quiet, looking out his window. He traced his finger in the fog that steamed it.
“When my kid brother was dying a few years ago, the press was unbelievable.
They had no respect for what we were going through. It was horrible. And I’ve
never forgotten it. If it wasn’t for what I do, who I am as a ‘celebrity,’ my
family would have been spared a lot of added grief. There’s a lot of guilt that
goes with that territory.”

“That must have
been very difficult for you. Especially on top of losing him.”

He turned to face
her. “Kylie, the deal is, I’m not trying to paint some dark, mystical picture
here or be morbid or anything. It’s just that we all care about Hannah. And we
feel like she’s ‘out there,’ and away from the kind of protection we can give
her until this thing blows over.”

She leaned her
head against the top of the steering wheel. He smiled, grateful no horns or
sirens went off. She was struggling. It was obvious.

“So Kylie. Will
you tell me? Will you tell us where she is?”

Hannah spread her towel over the lounge chair on the beach. It was the last
in a long row that lined the beach in front of the quaint hotel. She took a
seat and leaned back, feeling the warm Florida sun against her skin. She
reached over for the steaming mug of coffee she had set on the empty chair
beside her. It tasted wonderful.
Why do things always taste better outdoors?

The gentle
afternoon surf pounded quietly against the shore in a rhythm that soothed her
to the bone. She inhaled deeply, loving the scent of the salt air. The lazy
sound of sea gulls in the distance relaxed her. She peeked over her sunglasses
just in time to see a line of pelicans gliding in perfect formation overhead.

Oh God, thank
you. Thank you for letting me come here.

The flight from North
Carolina was the worst she’d ever experienced. The plane was packed and she
got stuck in the middle seat between two rather large passengers. Her elbows
were smashed against her body as theirs consumed the armrests and then some.
She tried to sleep but couldn’t get comfortable. The man in the window seat had
actually wheezed when he slept.

Finally, she
made it to Tampa. She waited in a long queue for her rental car. Fortunately,
most of these tourists headed east on Interstate 4 toward Orlando. She broke
free of the pack and headed across the Howard Franklin Bridge toward Clearwater
then south to her destination. It was late when she arrived at the hotel, but
the clerk was accommodating. Her cottage was tucked around a corner, away from
the courtyard and pool area, but facing the beach. Perfect.

It was after midnight when she finally crashed. She hadn’t awakened until almost noon. She knew she should have called Kylie, but she was desperate to get out on the beach.

As if she just
needed to
breathe
.

Now, she
welcomed the warm air into her lungs and felt her muscles begin to loosen one
by one.

Suddenly, a
shadow crossed her face. She opened her eyes, surprised to see a silhouette
above her. The sunshine blinded her to anything but the dark outline of a
person standing over her. Her heart pounded. She held her hand up to block out
the sun, but it didn’t help.

“Excuse me, but do
you mind?” She hoped the panic in her voice wasn’t obvious.

She felt someone
touch her hair. A shiver ran down her back as she gasped, yanking her head away
from this intruder’s touch.

“Well, Hannah, it
seems you can run, but you can’t hide.”

Chapter 24

“
I
can’t believe it. I cannot
believe
she
would do this to me!”

“I don’t see why
you’re so—”

“Shut up! Just
shut up and leave me alone, Sergio!” Hannah yelled, kicking sand at him, as she
stomped down the beach.

He looked down at
the legs of his jeans and his Nikes, now covered with sand. “Well, gee, Hannah,
it’s nice to see you too. I come all this way and
this
is the thanks I
get?” He looked up and noticed she was already several yards down the beach
from him. He brushed off his jeans and rushed after her.

Hannah turned and
stopped dead in her tracks to face him, her hands planted on her hips. “What
are you doing here anyway? What possible reason could you have to come find
me?”

Sergio studied the
anger in her eyes. A slow mischievous smile spread across his face. “I was in
the neighborhood?”

She snapped her
head to one side, still staring him down. “Right. Of course you were. Sergio,
be honest with me—do I
look
like a moron? You were ‘in the neighborhood’?
Like you went out for a stroll in Chapel Hill and just happened to end up
here?”

If looks could
kill, he’d be a dead man.

“Look, Hannah—” He
reached out to touch her shoulder. She jerked out of his reach. He dropped his
head and let out a frustrated sigh. “Okay, I know you made Kylie promise not to
tell anyone where you were, but—”

“Don’t even
mention
her name to me.” She turned on her heel and stomped off again.

Sergio shook his
head but rushed to catch up with her. “Will you stop this? Will you stop
running off like this? I need to talk to you! Can’t you just chill for a minute
and—”

“I trusted her and
she totally betrayed me. I can’t believe it! Doesn’t
anyone
know how to
keep their mouth shut anymore? Is everyone—oh, never mind. What do I care,” she
mumbled as her strides grew faster.

Sergio grabbed her
elbow and spun her around to face him again. “Knock it off, Hannah. Enough of
the pity party, okay?”

She stared him
down. “How dare you!”

“How dare
me?
Did it ever occur to you that there are a lot of people very concerned about
you?”

He released her
arm and rubbed his face, then reached back up to knead the muscles in his neck.
“Look, Hannah, the only reason I’m here—the
only
reason is because we
were so worried about you.”

He didn’t miss the
slow arch of her eyebrows or the misting in her eyes.

“We?”

The simple
question cut through him, the inference clear. He tore his eyes away to look
out across the water. In his periphery, he saw her fold her arms across her
chest and walk away again, this time at a much slower pace.

“Hannah, it was Laura
who asked me to come find you. Not—well, I’m sorry if I misled you to think . . .
I meant . . .”

She continued
walking, her face turned away from him.

He fell in step
beside her. “But we were all concerned. With all the press pouncing on you, we
were afraid you might get—”

“It’s okay. You
don’t have to explain.”

“I don’t?”

“No.”

“So you’re not
still mad?”

She shot a
sideways glance at him. Her eyes smiled even if her mouth didn’t.

“And as for Kylie,
don’t be too hard on her. She didn’t have a chance.”

“And just what is
that supposed to mean?”

“What can I say? I
put on the charm. And I twisted her arm. Pretty hard, as a matter of fact.”

“So you actually
met
her? Or was this verbal arm-twisting done over the phone?”

He threw his head
back laughing. “Oh Hannah, you have to tell me what planet you found her on!”

“Yeah, you met
her,” she answered knowingly. “Kylie is one of a kind.”

“Maybe so, but
exactly what ‘kind’ is that? From the moment she opened her door—I mean, ¡ella es
muy loca!”

“¿
Muy loca
?”
Hannah teased back. “Crazy? Who, Kylie?”

“You would not
believe what that girl did to Frank’s car.”

He told her the
story, describing in great animation his entire encounter with her best friend.
The more he got into it, the more she appeared to relax. With each new
description of Kylie’s eccentric antics, the more easily her laughter spilled.
She finally stopped walking, dropping down onto the sand as she continued to query
him on his first close encounter with Kylie Reynolds.

He followed
Hannah’s lead, sitting down beside her. He leaned back, resting on his elbows,
still chuckling. When their laughter dissipated, he exhaled, leaning his head
back to bask in the warm sunshine. As Hannah slowly regained her composure, she
laid back on the sand, folding her arms behind her head and crossing her feet
at the ankles.

“Oh, Sergio . . .
how did it all get so insane?”

They listened
quietly to the lapping of the waves at their feet, enjoying the warm January
sun. The silence in their conversation was as soothing as their surroundings. “I
don’t know, to be honest,” he answered sleepily, squinting at her. “One minute,
I’m off in Hawaii for the holidays, then my psycho-stalker girlfriend shoots Jackson.
In a split second, everything went totally out of control.”

“One minute, I’m
minding my own business, just doing my job at the store,” Hannah added, “then Laura
McKenzie comes through my line and everything goes out of control for me too.
Suddenly, I find myself in this . . . this fantasy with Jason
and you and the rest of the guys. And the next thing I know, I’m sitting on top
of a picnic table at a park, eating Krispy Kremes with Jason.” She paused,
raising her eyes to look up at the deep blue sky above her. “And he’s pouring
his heart out to me, and . . . I just got so scared.”

He turned on his
side, facing her. He remained silent, hoping she would continue.

“It all happened
too fast.
Way
too fast. And I felt like, if he said one more word that
day . . . about us . . . that it would somehow, I
don’t know . . . like it might
jinx
what we had. I know
it sounds silly, but from the first night I met him, I had this constant fear
that at any moment, I would close my eyes and open them only to find him gone. The
whole incredible experience would just vanish like some cruel, disappearing
dream.

“We were sitting
there on that picnic table in the park. Jason was . . . I don’t
know, exactly. Pouring out his heart, as if he might—” She closed her eyes
against the sting. “And that’s the moment we got the call about Jackson. Sergio,
we thought he had died. And then suddenly, we’re at the hospital—and there’s
Jennifer. And my worst fears came true. Jason literally vanished right before
my eyes.”

Sergio was quiet
for several moments before responding. “I’ve known Jason McKenzie a long time,
Hannah. And I can swear to you—he never meant to hurt you. You have to believe
that.”

“I don’t know what
to think, Sergio. That’s why I had to get away.” She sat up, brushing the sand
off her arms.

“And you thought
running away would somehow help?”

The fire was back
in her eyes. “I suppose you think I should have stayed in Chapel Hill with that
feeding frenzy by the press? No
thank
you.”

“But at least we
can give you some protection there. We can hire a security team to keep the
press away from you. Coming down here all alone was a big risk.”

“It seemed like
the thing to do at the time. I’m not a professional at this like you all are.”

Sergio sat up,
brushing the sand off his clothes. “Well, beyond the hassle with the press, I
know you can’t run away from your problems. I learned that up close and
personal through my nightmare with Liza. More than I ever wanted to learn,
believe me. Laura and Frank helped me get through all that. They showed me how
important it is to face up to your problems, your disappointments, your anger—whatever—and
turn it around for something good.”

Hannah folded her
arms over her bent knees and rested her head against them. “Laura and Frank are
so strong in their faith. It’s like some incredible anchor that holds them,
y’know? I’ve never known anyone who lived out their faith like that.”

“I know. I wish I
had that kind of faith.” He stood up, holding his hand out to help her up. They
began walking along the water’s edge again. “And y’know what?”

“What?”

“You’re right
about that anchor. I think you ought to let them help you get through this
thing just like they helped me.”

“I don’t know, Sergio.
It’s different. I was in love with—” She stopped, the words hanging heavy
between them. “Jason and I were . . .” She looked out across the
water. “It’s an entirely different situation.”

“But Frank and
Laura are your friends now too, Hannah. Just like we all are. This wasn’t all some
fly by night experience. You’re part of us now. When I first met you, it was as
if you’d been one of us forever.
Familia.
And I’ve got to tell
you—that’s very rare.
Extremely
rare. Normally, we’re extraordinarily cautious
about ‘outsiders’ for obvious reasons. But you were totally different. And all
I’m trying to say is, we want to help you. I know I do. And Laura does. And I
know she can.”