A Lawman for Christmas

But that still didn’t answer her question, Kelsey thought.

What was a policeman doing here, talking to her mother? Granted, Kate Marlowe had always had the kind of face that drew words out of virtual strangers, but it would have been a far more likely scenario if her mother were on the receiving end of an orderly’s life history. Or if one of the nurses was standing there, baring her soul to her mother. Not a policeman.

Oh God, was this worse than she thought?

Chapter Two

The next moment, Kelsey felt the kind of surge that coursed through the veins of a lioness when she perceived that one of her cubs was being threatened. Kelsey might have been the youngest in the family, but she had always been fiercely protective, even though not a single one of her four brothers or her parents ever needed protecting.

Until now.

“Excuse me,” she said, addressing the back of the police officer’s head. “Is there a problem here?”

Whatever answer Officer Morgan Donnelly had at the ready vanished the moment he glimpsed the woman who belonged to the angry voice. His smile was slow, appreciative as he looked her over from head to toe. It occurred to him that she resembled the woman he was talking to. A kid sister perhaps?

“No, no problem at all,” he told her.

Giving the sandy-haired patrolman with the X-ray eyes and unreadable expression a cold glare, Kelsey drew herself up to her full, rather unimposing five-foot-four height. The next second, she was Kate’s shaken daughter, trying to hide just how upset she really was.

“Mom,” she cried, “you scared me half to death.” There didn’t seem to be any bruises that she could see. Why was her mother here? And what did it have to do with the cop with the X-ray eyes? “Are you all right?”

“I am now,” Kate told her, “thanks to Officer Donnelly.” Smiling, her mother nodded at the young policeman.

“Oh.”

Well, that snuffed out a good deal of Kelsey’s animosity toward the officer. Because of her experience with Dan, her view of policemen in general was tainted. She’d just assumed that the young officer at her mother’s bedside was somehow responsible. Maybe he’d cut her mother off and caused her to have an accident.

Still, her mother was grateful to him. Drawing herself up again, Kelsey nodded at him. “Thank you,” she said stiffly.

Reaching up, Kate wove her fingers through her daughter’s and squeezed her hand. “Honey, I didn’t want to call and upset you, but the doctor said I had to call someone to take me home and I just couldn’t call your father or your brothers.”

“I offered to take your mother home,” the officer said, his voice solemn but kind as he nodded at Kate, “but she refused.”

“I couldn’t impose on you any further,” Kate protested. “You’ve already done enough for me.”

Just what did her mother mean by “enough”? Kelsey bit back the urge to ask her. “Not that I mind being the one you turn to, Mom, but why couldn’t you call any of them?”

Kate didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she raised her eyes to her daughter’s face. “If I told you it’s because they’re all busy working, would you believe me?”

This was a tough one, Kelsey thought. Her gut told her something was going on. “Well, I’ve never known you to lie about anything, so I guess I’d have to.” She paused, studying her mother. Kate Marlowe looked tired and worn. Tired she’d seen before, but in her experience, her mother had never looked worn. Something was wrong. “But you are lying, aren’t you?”

To Kelsey’s surprise, a hint of embarrassment colored her mother’s cheeks. Another first. One that made her uneasy.

“I didn’t want to upset them,” her mother told her.

“But you’re okay with upsetting me?”

Still dazed by what the doctor had told her, Kate chose her words carefully. “No, but I know I can count on you. You’re a woman, too.”

Kelsey stared at her, stunned. She’d fought most of her life to be thought of as anything other than “a little girl” or “the baby of the family.” She would have taken pride in the breakthrough moment if it wasn’t for the nagging feeling that something was really wrong.

Kelsey glanced toward the patrolman standing at the foot of her mother’s hospital bed. Why was he still here? Had he given out his quota of tickets for the day and now had nothing to do? It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him. She had never fully mastered tact. That was her mother’s domain.

For her mother’s sake, she did her best to sound polite. She succeeded. Moderately. “Just how do you figure into all this?”

“Kelsey.” Dismayed, Kate chided her only daughter with the tone of her voice.

The officer raised a hand in her mother’s direction, indicating that he didn’t mind being questioned. “That’s okay, Kate.”

“Kate?” Kelsey echoed, her mercurial temper flaring. She hated figures of authority who patronized those they felt were beneath their station. “That’s Mrs. Marlowe to you.”

“Kelsey.” This time the reprimand was a little more obvious. Her tone was sharper. “I’m sorry, Morgan. My daughter tends to be a little hotheaded.”

“Daughter,” Morgan repeated, impressed. “When she first came in, I thought she was your kid sister.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes. Just what did this cop hope to gain by flattering her mother? Granted the woman had a youthful aura about her, she always had, and she really didn’t look near her age, but that didn’t change the fact that she thought the man was up to no good. She felt it in her bones. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to get away with it. Not while she was around.

“Thank you for the compliment,” Kate said, “but I still want to apologize for her.” Again she linked her fingers with her daughter’s. “She doesn’t mean to sound rude. She’s just upset.”

Morgan dismissed the need for an apology. “That’s all right. I run up against that all the time.” He turned to look at Kelsey. “Just not usually from someone as pretty as your daughter.”

Kelsey heard a little bit of a twang in his voice. A transplant, Kelsey thought with the pinch of snobbery reserved for those who were California natives.

“Flattery’s not going to get you anywhere,” Kelsey informed him flatly. Her hands were on her hips as she turned toward him. “Now, once and for all, why are you here?”

His eyes shifted over to Kate. The mother was far less combative than her daughter. “I’m just making sure your mother’s all right, that’s all.”

Kelsey turned to look at her mother. “Then something did happen.” Kelsey ignored the policeman’s presence as she took both her mother’s hands in hers. Her mother’s fingers felt cold. “Mom, what’s going on? Talk to me,” she pleaded. “What happened and why is he hovering over you like some tarnished guardian angel?” Her eyes narrowed, hoping to get at the truth quickly. “Were you in an accident?”

Kate reached up to cup her daughter’s cheek. “Almost,” she confessed. “But I’m all right now.”

Kelsey glared at the officer expectantly. He didn’t disappoint her.

“Your mother ran into a hedge right off University Drive.”

Her mother was an excellent driver. She, not her father, had taught all five of them how to drive. This didn’t make any sense. “On purpose?”

Kate searched for a way to explain without upsetting Kelsey any further. But there just wasn’t any other way. “I fainted.”

Fear rose up like a huge black shadow, blotting out everything else. It gripped her heart. Her imagination instantly envisioned all sorts of awful scenarios.

“Mom!”

Her eyes quickly swept over her mother, searching for telltale signs of the injuries her mother must have sustained. But except for her unnaturally pale color, Kate Marlowe looked as lovely as ever. Just shaken.

“It’s all over, honey,” Kate soothed. “Officer Donnelly was kind enough to come to my rescue. He insisted on bringing me to the hospital instead of making me wait for the paramedics to arrive.”

The last remnants of Kelsey’s anger and protectiveness faded. Instead, she felt vulnerable and unarmed. To make matters worse, she knew that she needed to apologize.