High-Calibre Christmas

THE TAKEOFF WAS SMOOTH, the skies friendly and calm. When the plane landed on the rimrock in Billings, Montana, he breathed a sigh of relief, glad he hadn’t listened to his instincts this time. Apparently there had been nothing to his earlier premonition of impending doom.

Still, as he headed for the rental-car line, he was so glad to be on solid ground that he didn’t see the woman until she bumped into him.

“Sorry,” they said in unison.

Mrs. Carris’s laugh surprised him as he reached to pick up the carry-on she’d dropped when they’d collided. She grabbed his jacket sleeve to steady herself as she took her bag from him.

“You can’t seem to get away from me,” she said with a smile. “I was trying to catch you to thank you for being so understanding earlier at the Denver airport. Another man might have thought I was trying to pick him up.” Her cheeks flushed, and he could practically see her bite her tongue.

“It’s quite all right, Mrs. Carris.”

She looked away, embarrassed, and fiddled with the wedding band she still wore.

“Ava, please. Mrs. Carris only reminds me …” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Ava,” he said and extended his hand. “Jace. Jace Dennison.”

She smiled as she took his hand. Hers was small, cool to the touch and surprisingly strong. “I need to go back that way,” she said with a glance over her shoulder. “Thank you again for your understanding. Not all men are so … kind.”

“Have a nice trip, Mrs. Carris.”

“You, too.” This time when she walked away, her step seemed a little lighter. He turned to the rental-car counter, silently wishing her well, thinking it was the last he would see of Ava Carris.

It wasn’t until later, when he stopped for dinner on the three-hour drive north to Whitehorse, that he reached into his jacket pocket for his mother’s letter only to find it gone.

Chapter Two

Ava Carris had planned to fly from Billings on to Seattle. At least that’s what her ticket said. She’d gone with a cheaper ticket, which meant several stops in Montana before arriving late in Seattle.

It was John’s fault. Even though her husband was gone, he was still with her in small ways. Thanks to his life insurance, she could afford to fly first class if she wanted.

But John had taught her to be frugal. Cheap, her sister would have said.

Ava swatted away the thought of her sister. She hadn’t heard from Evie before she’d left, which was fine with her.

Now she watched the man who’d introduced himself as Jace Dennison. She couldn’t help herself. It was like looking at John. She could pretend that it was her husband renting them a car which they would drive to wherever the young man was headed. She smiled at the thought, that ache for her husband a constant companion.

Ava knew it was silly, but she waited until she saw which model Jace Dennison rented, then rented a silver SUV just like it. She cringed to think what her sister would have said. Just because he looked so much like John …

Maybe I’m just curious.

Or don’t have anything better to do.

She bristled at the thought, resenting it. She was now a widow. Of course she felt a little lost, she thought as she took the keys for her silver SUV and walked outside.

What does pretending for a little while hurt?

The day was bright, almost blinding, and she had to put her hand against the building for a moment to steady herself. The dizziness had been getting worse lately. That and the headaches.

She leaned there until she felt a little better. No hurry. It wasn’t like she didn’t know where Jace Dennison was headed.

Once inside the rental car, she took out the letter she’d seen him reading. She was sure it had something to do with why he was in Montana. As she read it for the third time, she wondered as he must have what it was his mother was so desperate to tell him.

A secret.

How she despised secrets.

Ava rubbed her temples as she studied the return address again. Whitehorse, Montana. She’d have to buy herself a map, she thought as she started the car.

You shouldn’t have taken his letter. You had no right.

She smiled bitterly. A woman had every right. John hadn’t fooled her. Neither would this man who looked so much like him that it had almost stopped her heart as dead as John’s when she’d seen him.

Some men were just too handsome. John Carris had been one of them. Jace Dennison was another.

Men like that you needed to keep an eye on. Who knew what kind of trouble they could get into?

Ava knew, and that was why she was headed for Whitehorse.

AS JACE DROVE INTO WHITEHORSE, he was amazed that the small Western town never seemed to change. There were the same businesses along the main drag as there had been when he was a boy.

He’d thought he would get back to see his mother and uncle more, but his work had kept him away. At least that had been his excuse. When he had come home, he’d sneaked into town, usually late at night, and stayed out at the ranch with his mother and uncle, making a point not to see anyone.

Jace didn’t fool himself about why he’d done that as he pulled into a parking spot in front of the sheriff’s department, turned off the key and sat for a moment. He didn’t know why he’d been told to contact the sheriff, but he did know that whatever the reason, it wasn’t going to be good.

Could it have something to do with the secret his mother had hinted at in her letter? It still bothered him that he’d lost it.

The trepidation he was feeling surprised him. Fear was no stranger to him. It came with his dangerous job.

But the kind of fear he was feeling now was something new. He didn’t want to know what his mother might have kept from him, and the last thing he wanted was to have to bury both his mother and uncle.

Bracing himself, he opened his door and got out. It was one of those clear, incredibly blue, sunny days that Montana was famous for in the fall. A blessing of a day, because it was November. Within hours it could be snowing and cold.

Jace breathed in the smell of autumn and realized he’d forgotten this scent that was as unique as this part of Montana.

At the dispatcher’s office, he was told that the sheriff was in her office. He found it down the hall.

“I guess I have been gone a long time,” Jace said when he saw McCall Winchester behind the desk wearing a sheriff’s uniform. “A woman sheriff in Whitehorse?” Let alone a Winchester. Although he didn’t voice that sentiment, McCall picked up on it.

“No one else wanted the job.” She smiled as she got to her feet and held out her hand. He and McCall had gone to high school together, though she was a few years behind him.

“We’ve been looking for you,” she said after shaking his hand and offering him a seat. “I’m sorry about your mother’s passing and your uncle Audie’s.”

“I know mother’s was cancer, but Audie?” he asked, getting right to the point.

“Quite a bit has been going on,” McCall said and hesitated. “Your uncle took his own life.”

Jace sat back, although this didn’t come as a complete surprise. “I knew that it would be hard on him without my mother, but …”