Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

dragged out a fresh pair of jeans from his drawer. “How can we find out what this thing is, Katie? I need to know what we’re facing.”
    “My sisters are poring over the diaries, and I think Damon is helping them. I can try as wel , and El e’s on her way home. We should be able to find some clue.”
    “What’s your gut tel ing you?”
    She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. There was something raw about the way Matt talked, something that always intrigued her. “I think it has to do with the history of our town, possibly an event that happened around Christmas, maybe the pageant itself. I think whatever is in the fog is gaining strength and becoming more destructive, but I’m not entirely certain why. The tree beside the deck with the mistletoe in it is a fir tree, and you had lights strung in it. You didn’t have them on, but the dark stain, which seemed to be oil of some kind, was al around the bottom of the tree and going partial y up the trunk.”
    “I noticed that,” he agreed. “But there was nothing to ignite it.”
    “If El e hadn’t cal ed and warned us, we never would have gone outside, Matthew. We would have been above the room when the fire took off, and it might have exploded. I think the fire would have raced to the tree, and he was hoping it would go up in flames as wel .”
    “Strange way to kil us.”
    “Maybe not just us. Maybe it was the fir tree.” She sat on the edge of the bed to watch him dress. He moved with such power, so fluidly, with a masculine grace he didn’t seem aware of having. “Each symbol attacked so far has been attached to the Christian belief. There were ancient beliefs far before Christianity ever celebrated Christmas. It’s widely believed the birth of Christ was in April, not December.”
    He paused in the act of buttoning his shirt. “I didn’t know that.”
    She nodded. “I’m not El e, or the others who sometimes are able to see things clearly, but I feel it’s connected in some way.”
    “I get feelings when there’s danger near.” He suddenly grinned, transforming his face from man to boy.
    “Unless I’m otherwise occupied.”
    Kate couldn’t help smiling back. In spite of everything, he looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. She always thought of him as a great tiger prowling through town. “We can forgive you that.” She stood up. “The fir tree’s needles rise toward the sky, and the fir tree stays green al year round.”
    “And that means something?”
    “Everlasting hope, and, of course, the raised needles are reputed to represent man’s thoughts turning toward heaven. If I were right, why would he want to destroy those symbols? He’s not attacking Santa Claus. He isn’t someone thinking Christmas is too commercial, he’s actual y destroying the symbols themselves.” She looked up at him, rubbed her temple, and smiled a bit tiredly. “Or not. I could be way off base.”
    “I doubt it, Katie. I think your guess is as close as we can get right now.” Matt looked across the room at her, stil astonished that she was in his bedroom. “Let’s go shopping for groceries. We can take them to your house and spend the day going over those diaries until we find something.”
    “Sounds good. I want to get home and put some decent clothes on.”
    She wandered out of the room while he pul ed on his socks and boots. The house was so open, it beckoned her to walk the length of it. Entering the kitchen, she found herself smiling. In her wildest dreams she had never considered making love on a tabletop. A character in one of her novels might do such a thing, but not Kate Drake, with her every hair in place and her need for order. She’d never be able to look at a kitchen counter or table in quite the same way again.
    Matt listened to Kate moving around his home. He liked the scent of her, the soft footfal s, the way her breath would catch when she looked at something she liked.
    “Matthew?” Kate cal ed out to him. “You have a very interesting kitchen. I wanted to put the cups in the dishwasher, and it seems to be a bread bin.”
    There was a smal silence. Matt cleared his throat. “I’ve never actual y used the dishwasher, Kate. I just do dishes by hand.”
    “I see. I guess that makes sense. But why would you put al the fruit in the microwave?”
    He hurried into the kitchen. “It’s convenient. What are you looking for?”
    She grinned at him. “You don’t real y cook much, do you?”
    He rubbed