The McRae Series 01 - Twelve Days Sam and Rachel

then as it does now. Sam and Rachel made it glow.
    "I was thinking about my own father-in-law and all the joy he's brought so many people with his work. He loved this town, too, and I realized that my son-in-law's brought the town back to us with all the work he's done to restore so many of our grand old buildings. He's made the place look as good as it did a hundred years ago or better, and now we have all these nice people from all over the place coming here to see it and enjoy it over the holidays.
    "I know we had some hard times in this town and that there are lots of downtowns dying all over these days, but this town's alive and prospering. It glows with all the magic of Christmas, and I just wanted to take a moment to tell him how much that means to us. And that I'm proud of him and my little girl."
    There were cheers and raised glasses and well wishes all around. Rachel gave her father a big hug and a teary smile.
    "You were right," he said. "I hadn't been fair to him, and if I've made your marriage any harder because of it, I'm sorry. I thought I owed him a very public apology."
    "You did good," she said, looking over at her clearly stunned husband. And then she had an idea. They'd show them this marriage wasn't done, no matter what they'd heard. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "Kiss me, Sam. Right here. In front of them all."
    And Sam did. He caught her close and gave her a long, leisurely kiss that had their entire audience cheering before they were done.
    She eased back in his arms, remembering the look in his eyes, the husky roughness in his voice that morning in their bed when he'd told her he still loved her. What more could a woman want from Christmas than all that she had in this moment?
    * * *
    She was in the kitchen cleaning up later that afternoon when someone's cell phone rang. When she turned and saw the look on Miriam's face, Rachel knew right away who this call was about.
    The children.
    A moment later, Sam was at her side, his arm firmly around her waist. When Miriam finished the call, Rachel said, "You found their mother, didn't you?"
    "Yes. About two hours from here by car. In a hospital near Indianapolis. She's been there unconscious since the day after she left them in that motel."
    Rachel drew herself up a bit straighter. Sam was right beside her, hanging close, maybe waiting for her to fall apart. Well, she wasn't going to. She'd known this day was likely coming, and this was what the children wanted.
    "Is she all right?" Rachel asked.
    "I don't know. But she's conscious now, and she wants to see the children, if that's possible. Today."
    Rachel nodded, her heart withering just a bit. Today.
    "It's the woman they found in Shepherdsville, right?" Sam asked.
    "What woman?" Rachel asked.
    "Someone found a woman dumped on the side of the road two weeks ago. She'd been beaten half to death and was unconscious, with no ID. Nobody had any idea who she was."
    "And you knew about this?"
    "Yesterday," he said. "I found out yesterday. Not that she was their mother, just that she might be. I didn't see any reason to say anything until we knew for sure."
    "Oh."
    "What about their father?" Sam asked.
    "I don't know," Miriam said.
    "You're going to find out. He used to beat her up, and I'm betting he's the one who put her in the hospital."
    "You've talked to the sheriff about all this?"
    "Yesterday," Sam said. "He was working on identifying her, but I guess if she's awake, we don't have to worry about that. We do have to worry about him. If he's the one who did this to her, those kids aren't going anywhere near her until he's behind bars."
    "Sam, it's not for you to say," Miriam argued.
    "Forget it, Miriam. I promised them they'd be safe from him, and I'm going to keep that promise. The man's going to be behind bars. That's it."
    Sam didn't give an inch. It was an hour and a half later before he heard from the sheriff. They had taken Annie Greene's statement from her hospital bed and used that evidence to arrest her husband, who was behind bars on a charge of attempted murder.
    "Okay. It's getting late," Miriam said to the two of them, then checked her watch. It was almost five. The hospital in Indianapolis was almost two hours away. "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow."
    "No. It's Christmas. We have to take them today," Rachel said. "It's all they really wanted for Christmas. To see their mother."
    "Are you okay?" Sam asked.
    "Yes," Rachel said, feeling more calm than she would have