A Christmas Wish: Dane by Liliana Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

occasional fallen log. The footprints were easier to see under the canopy of trees because the snow hadn’t gotten to them yet, but they disappeared altogether when he got to the creek.
    “Jayden!” he called out over and over again, but there was no answer in return.
    With every sector Cade and Cooper marked off they sent a signal to the satellite phone on his belt, and he did the same with them. Jayden was nowhere to be found and dawn was fast approaching. It was a hell of a Christmas morning, but he’d told Charlotte the truth. He wouldn’t stop searching until he found their son.
    Dane switched his flashlight off as the sun peeked over the mountains and fear like nothing he ever knew clawed at him as he saw a piece of cloth snagged on low lying brambles just at the creek’s edge. The current was fast moving, and if he’d been swept downstream there was no telling where he was. Not to mention how fast water that cold could shut down the body.
    “Jayden!” he called out again , his voice beginning to go hoarse.
    He stepped up his pace until he was practically running, and he had to remind himself to slow down and be methodical. Panic wouldn’t help anyone. It was that reminder to himself that had him pausing at the sight of a fir tree that didn’t look quite right. It was thick and full, and the branches hung low so they almost touched the ground, but several of them were broken and bowed down, and they seemed to be precisely placed. He moved closer and looked around the base, proceeding with caution in case a wild animal was using it for shelter. Then he saw the tip of a shoestring and his heart almost stopped in his chest.
    “Jayden.” He wasn’t sure if he said the name aloud or just in his head. He ran to the tree and pushed the branches aside, and then he fell to his knees at the sight of the small body curled up beneath the limbs. He’d used the fir branches to protect him from the cold ground and he’d cocooned himself with the thermal blanket on top, and Dane had to admit he was impressed with his son’s ingenuity.
    He tore his gloves off with his teeth and reached under the neck of Jayden’s coat to feel for a pulse, and he almost burst into tears at the feel of the steady thump beneath his fingertips. He was sleeping.
    “Come on, buddy. Time to wake up.” He shook the boy’s shoulder until eyes that matched his own stared back at him. The y registered fear first, then surprise, followed by worry.
    “Are you hurt?” Dane asked, giving Jayden time to get his thoughts together. He ran his hands lightly over his arms and legs and saw the tear on his jacket where he’d run into the brambles. Other than a few scrapes on his face he seemed to be fine.
    “Just cold. And hungry. It started snowing and I had to stop.”
    “I see that. Smart thinking using the tree for cover.”
    “I read about it in a book once.”
    Dane dug in the backpack and pulled out another thermal blanket to wrap around him. “Don’t shrug me off. I need to do this.” And then Dane wrapped his arms around his son and held on for dear life. “You scared the hell out of me, kid. Don’t ever do that again, okay?”
    He felt the small head nod against his shoulder and pulled back to look into Jayden’s surprised face. “Don’t give me that look. You’re my son. I love you.”
    “You never did before,” he blurted out. “Not all that time when me and Mom were by ourselves.” He looked embarrassed at the outburst and tried to pull out of Dane’s arms, but Dane wouldn’t let him.
    “If I’d known about you , there is nothing in this world that would have kept me from being with you. You can believe me or not believe me, but that’s God’s honest truth.” 
    Dane let Jayden go and sat down beside him, putting his back to the trunk of the tree. He dug in the backpack again and came up with the thermos and a couple of power bars and handed them over. And then he used the satellite phone to signal that he’d found