A Christmas for Katie Read Free

the space of a heartbeat. “Stay here for a sec, Jayne,” he said over his shoulder as he strode toward the door. “Let me see what happened.”
    She stood where she was for a minute, but then curiosity got the best of her. She walked toward the door and practically pressed her nose to the cold glass windows that made up the middle of each door. This was her library, and she wanted to see what was happening, even if she didn’t go outside.
    At first she only saw Connor speaking with a man who looked about eighteen or nineteen. She waited and watched, trying to connect the screech she’d heard with the young man. Craning her neck, she tried to see more of the area around Connor.
    Then she froze.
    A woman about seventy years old was lying on the ground, right in front of the nativity. After saying something more to the man, Connor knelt beside her.
    Jayne strained her eyes, doing her best to see through the shadows cast by the front entryway’s lights. Now she saw Connor was speaking on a cell phone. He had a strange expression on his face.
    A trickle of fear knotted her insides. Whatever had happened hadn’t been good.
    Well, it certainly seemed that her no good, very bad day wasn’t over yet.
    Something very bad had just happened, and it had taken place practically on her front doorstep.

 
    Chapter Three
    J AYNE STOOD AT the door, her hand hovering over the handle as she debated whether to heed Connor’s warnings or offer assistance.
    Duty, and the sense that she needed to follow her heart led her outside. As she stepped out into the dark night, a burst of cold wind nearly forced her to turn around. The temperature had certainly dropped to the freezing mark and she hadn’t even thought to grab her wool coat. Pushing aside her discomfort, she carefully tiptoed through the snow to Connor and the injured woman.
    The man she’d first seen Connor talking to was nowhere in sight.
    When Connor looked up, he raised a brow, but he didn’t seem too upset. “Couldn’t stay away?”
    “I, uh, thought I might be able to help,” she said. Crouching down into the snow, she looked at the lady, who seemed to be a little out of it. “Hi. I’m Jayne Donovan. The librarian.”
    Slowly, the lady looked her way. “So?” she said groggily.
    Stung, Jayne rocked back on her heels. “Um, I thought you might need some help? Would you like to come inside the library and get warm?”
    “We’ve got an ambulance coming,” Connor said. “She’s got a pretty good knot on her head.”
    “What happened?”
    Before Connor could answer, the woman opened her eyes again. “I was attacked.”
    “Oh my goodness.” Just as Jayne was about to ask another question, Connor shook his head slightly. Warning her without words to stop her questions.
    Jayne nodded, and kept her own expression concerned. “I hope you aren’t hurt too badly.”
    “I hope so, too,” Connor said. “Luckily, the ambulance should be here in another minute or so.”
    Just as Connor stood up and pulled out his cell phone again, emergency sirens shrieked through the air.
    Getting to her feet as well, Jayne watched an ambulance and two police cars park at the front of the lawn. “Help has arrived,” she said with a tiny smile.
    Jayne was about to offer to make phone calls to the woman’s family when Connor glanced at her over his shoulder. “Jayne, why don’t you go back inside? There’s nothing you can do out here, plus I think we might be a little while.”
    “Oh, sure.” She backed away, feeling curiously hurt that she’d just been dismissed. When she got back inside the library, she tried to think of something to do besides stand on the other side of the door and watch the men and women surround the lady and speak with Connor. But of course there was nothing that needed to be done. Not after eight at night.
    Chilled, she rubbed her arms, then kept her arms crossed over her chest and continued to watch. For a moment, she considered calling someone, but