Hannah had been trying to put her family back together since her father had died. He knew from their mutual friends that Hannah's mother's drinking had become a huge problem, much bigger than he'd seen in high school. He felt bad that he hadn't been there for her, although he knew she wouldn't have let him be there even if he'd wanted to. She was barely tolerating him now. But she had let him into her life ever so slightly, and he would take advantage of that. He was going to help her with Brett and her sister. Whatever he could do to make this situation better, he would do. He owed her that much. Actually, he owed her a whole hell of a lot more, but at the moment, this was all he could do.
As an icy wind picked up, he lifted his gaze upward. The tall trees were swaying, the clouds overhead had turned black, and snow was beginning to fall. It would be a good idea to leave sooner rather than later. But first, he had to check with the neighbor.
He jogged down the road to the one cabin in the area that had lights on. He knocked on the door.
A man appeared on the threshold. He appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, his hair peppered with gray, his eyes guarded. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly.
"I'm Jake McKenna. My friend owns the cabin over there—Hannah Stark." He tipped his head toward Hannah's house.
"Okay. You got a problem?"
"A little boy was left on his own in the cabin. We're trying to figure out who left him. Did you happen to see anyone go into the house?"
The man's irritation turned to concern. "I saw a boy and his mom carry some groceries inside. That was a few hours ago. They seemed fine."
"Did you happen to see the woman leave?"
The man scratched his chin as he pondered that question. "I didn't see her leave, but I did see her talking to a guy at the cabin over there." He pointed to the cabin where Trevor had been staying, the one Jake had found littered with empty bottles and fast-food wrappers.
"Was that guy young with long brown hair and a beard?"
"That was him. What's going on?"
"I'm trying to figure that out. What kind of conversation were they having?"
"I couldn't hear what they were saying. They seemed friendly. It wasn't like anyone was scared or anything. That's all I saw."
"What about the woman's car? What was she driving?"
"I think it was a Prius." He shrugged. "I wasn't paying much attention. I came up here to get some rest, some quiet."
"I'll leave you to that. Thanks for your help."
"Sure thing."
As the man shut his door, Jake walked off the porch, taking another look at Trevor's cabin. Was there any chance that Trevor and Kelly might know each other? Both families had owned cabins in the area for a long time. But Trevor was at least ten years younger than Kelly, and Kelly had been gone a long time. It seemed unlikely that they knew each other, but it was odd that they'd had any conversation at all.
He was still pondering that thought when a gale force wind came roaring through the trees, sending snow straight into his face. It was snowing harder now. Visibility was diminishing quickly. He had a feeling they'd just lost their window to get back to town.
He jogged down the road, dodging a heavy branch as it fell to the ground. Another gust of wind almost knocked him off his feet. He opened the front door and had to forcefully close it behind him.
Hannah jumped to her feet as he shook the snow out of his hair.
"It's really windy out there," she said in alarm.
The windows in the house rattled at the end of her statement. "Yes. The storm is here, earlier than I expected."
"We should go now."
"I think we need to wait it out."
"We can't stay here."
"I don't like the wind," Brett said, getting up from the couch to wrap his arms around Hannah's waist. "It's scary."
Hannah patted Brett's head. "It's going to be fine, honey."
No sooner had she finished speaking when a branch hit the roof, sending Brett's arms tighter around Hannah, his face a picture of fear.
"I guess we'll stay put," Hannah said, meeting his gaze. "For a few hours anyway."
He thought it might be longer than a few hours, but he kept that to himself.
"Since we're staying," Hannah continued, "maybe I'll check the fridge and see if Kelly left us anything besides cereal and cookies."
"Kelly," Brett echoed. "That's my mom's name."
Hannah caught her breath. "Do you know where your mom went?"
"She said she'd be back soon, and I should be a really good boy because Santa is coming." Brett paused, concern in his eyes. "Am I being good?"
"Very good," Hannah replied.
"Sometimes I make people mad and they get angry," he said. "Mommy says I have to be quiet."
Jake didn't like what he was hearing, and he could see by the stress in Hannah's eyes that she didn't either. But she was trying not to show her emotions to Brett.
"Why don't you watch your show?" Hannah suggested with a forced smile. "Jake and I will see what other food there is."
"Okay." Brett got back on the couch, and Hannah covered him with a cozy blanket, then headed into the kitchen.
He took off his coat and followed her into the room.
As soon as they were out of sight from Brett, she turned around. "He's Kelly's son. He confirmed it."
"Yes, he is. But I'd like to know why he needs to be quiet and who he's making angry."
"Me, too. I need to find Kelly. I need to help her, to save her from whatever is going on, whatever she is running away from."
That was Hannah, always jumping into savior mode.
"I'll help you," he said, because that's the mode he usually jumped into as well.
"And after I save her, I'm going to kill her for leaving her son with no explanation," Hannah said with a fiery light in her eyes.
He couldn't argue with that. He completely understood why Hannah was furious with her sister. But he had to admit there was a part of him that wasn't that unhappy with the situation.
Hannah had been running away from him since they were seventeen years old, but tonight she wasn't going anywhere.
Chapter Four
Hannah knew Jake was not unhappy about getting stuck in the cabin together. He hadn't even tried to hide the gleam in his brown eyes, and that damn sexy smile of his had sent a shiver down her spine. She had a lot of reasons not to like Jake, and all those reasons made her angry, but what bothered her the most was that she was still attracted to him. She didn't understand how she could hate him and want him at the same time.
Turning away from him, she opened the refrigerator and was surprised to see more food than she'd expected. She'd thought the milk, juice, cereal, and cookies might have been the extent of the groceries, but there was a carton of eggs, a rotisserie chicken, a bag of salad, and cream cheese to go along with the bagels on the counter. She took out the chicken and salad.
"We won't starve," she said. "I'm surprised Kelly left this much food, but maybe she thought I'd stay here with Brett."