A Heart of Stone Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

grounds for me. We’ll find her. She’ll probably be close by, so don’t worry.”
    Jensen seemed to relax, but inside I still feared that Nina could be stuck out in the snow somewhere, freezing cold because she wasn’t dressed for the weather or even hurt from falling. I didn’t know what she meant by house, but I had a feeling whatever she meant that’s where I’d find her.
    Now I just had to figure out what house.
    *     *     *
    All three children lay in their cribs for their afternoon naps, and I kissed each one before I left to go find their mother. Cara watched at the door with a frown that told me like Jensen, she too blamed herself for Nina’s going out. As I passed her, I patted her on the shoulder to comfort her.
    “Don’t worry, Cara. I’ll find her and then we’ll go on our trip. Just watch over the kids until I come back.”
    “I just feel so bad. She usually talks to me after you leave in the morning, but she didn’t today. Was I too busy or did I miss something? Why would she leave without telling anyone?”
    This was Cara’s first real experience with Nina’s impulsiveness, so I knew she probably didn’t understand any of what was going on. “My wife doesn’t like some of the things that come with being married to me. She especially doesn’t like the loss of her independence from having a driver and bodyguards. To Nina, they get in the way. To me, they’re important to ensure her safety. She thinks I worry too much.”
    “But look what happens when they aren’t around!” Cara said almost hysterically and then lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stone. I’m just worried about her. I shouldn’t have said that.”
    “I understand. No need to apologize. I’ll find her. Just watch over the children so when we get back we can go.”
    I truly did understand Cara’s opinion. In fact, I shared it. If Nina had only done as I had repeatedly asked her to, none of this would have happened. That was my fear talking, but it was how I felt.
    Changing into clothes and boots more appropriate for the weather, I headed out toward where I hoped I’d find her. She’d said something about a house, but was it a firehouse or farmhouse? I couldn’t be sure. There was a firehouse in town, so I’d check there first and if I didn’t find her, the only place I could think of looking that even resembled a farmhouse was an old, rundown place off the main road that had been up for sale since before the housing bubble burst a few years ago.
    The roads were so slick it took nearly twenty minutes to make the trip into town to the firehouse, but no one had seen her there. One man thought he’d seen her that morning on Main Street near Melner’s Jewelry store, but he didn’t know which way she’d gone when she left. The idea of Nina at a jewelry store made perfect sense when I thought about it since she probably went out to buy me another present to surprise me after I’d guessed about the watch.
    I didn’t know which one of us was worse—me for ruining her surprise or her for insisting on surprising me with another gift.
    The snow fell even faster now than on my way home from the office to the point that I almost couldn’t see. Every so often a tiny dot of red or yellow from a car ahead of me would appear, but with all the blowing and drifting, the lights quickly dimmed and I was left to guess where other cars on the road were.
    Over and over as I drove, I called Nina’s cell phone, but each time all I got was voicemail. As I passed one of the last open fields before that old farmhouse I hoped she’d found shelter in, I tried one more time and finally heard her phone ring. Just as I accepted that I’d yet get another turn to leave a message for her, she answered and my heart jumped in my chest.
    “Tristan! Are you home? The snow is so bad. Did you get home from the city?”
    “Nina, I’m out looking for you. Where are you? I’m near that farmhouse that’s been for sale for years, right