Winter's Night Read Free

aside. The elf danced away and moved on to another child.
    Shaking his head at the oddity, Gallagher headed for the elevator to go back below and check on his patient. The nurse told him she would be fine. Gallagher let out a relieved breath.
    The nurse stood up and patted his arm. “Come on,” the woman said, inclining her head toward the back. “She wants to thank you.”
    â€œI don’t need any thanks.”
    â€œSug, we all need thanks. C’mon.”
    Before he could stop himself, he let the nurse lead him back to a small emergency room that had curtained walls. The petite brunette sat up on her stretcher with an oversized bandage on her neck. Her large green eyes were a bit dazed, but they brightened as soon as she looked up to see him. The nurse left them alone.
    â€œAre you the man who saved me?” she asked.
    Feeling awkward, he nodded.
    The girl fidgeted with the blanket that covered her. “Thank you. Really.”
    â€œMy pleasure. I’m just glad I found you when I did.”
    â€œYeah, me too.”
    Gallagher turned to leave. “Well, I need…”
    His voice trailed off as a lovely young woman came through the curtains. She was tall, probably around five-ten or so with jet-black hair and deep blue eyes. “Jenna!” she cried as she saw her friend on the stretcher. “Oh thank God, you’re okay. The lady on the phone said you’d been attacked.”
    Jenna’s eyes teared up. “I don’t know what happened. I was just going out to my car, and I don’t remember anything after that. If not for him, I’d probably be dead.”
    The girl turned around and froze. She looked at him as if she’d just seen a ghost.
    Gallagher stared back defiantly. “Something wrong?” he asked.
    She frowned. “No.” She waved her hand around as if feeling silly. “I’m sorry, you just remind me of someone.”
    â€œOld boyfriend?”
    â€œNo, my great-grandfather.”
    â€œThat’s not particularly flattering. I thought I looked rather good for my age.”
    She laughed at that. “No, I mean … oh, never mind.”
    Jenna cocked her head as she looked at him. “He does look like him, Rose. You’re right.”
    Rose. The name hit him like a blow.
    Before he could move, the girl named Rose approached him. She pulled out an engraved gold locket from underneath her brown sweater. It was a locket he knew intimately. Right down to the garnet and diamonds that formed a circle on the front of it, to the inscription on the back.
    For my Rose.
    Happy Anniversary 1930.
    She opened the locket to show him the two pictures inside. One was the photograph Rosalie had requested he have made just months before he died and the other was of his son at age two. “See,” the girl said, showing him the photograph. “You look just like my Grandpa Jamie.”
    His heart aching, Gallagher swallowed. He wanted to reach out to touch it, but his hands shook so badly, he didn’t dare. “Where did you get that?”
    â€œMy great-grandmother gave it to me last spring. Since I was named after her, she wanted me to have it.” She smiled sadly and then closed the locket and returned it to rest under her sweater. “My father said Grandpa Jamie was a gangster, but I don’t believe it. Gram Rose would never have married someone like that. She was a saint.”
    It was all he could do to breathe. To not crush her into his arms and weep. His great-granddaughter.
    Rosalie.
    This vibrant young woman was his living tie to his wife. When he spoke, his voice was thick and deep. “She must have loved you a great deal to give you that.”
    â€œI know. She wore it every day of her life until she gave it to me. It’s just weird, you know? You looking so much like him and all.”
    Gallagher cleared his throat. “Yeah. Weird.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He