Silver Christmas by Helen Scott Taylor Read Free Book Online

elbow.
    "I'm fine. Don't worry."
    "You're not fine. Is there something else
wrong that I should know about?"
    She stared down at the tiny fluffy bodies
curled close to their mama, a growing sense of helplessness making
her close her eyes. When would she get over this so she could work
again?
    Owen turned her gently and drew her close,
and she rested her cheek against his chest, hearing the steady,
reassuring beat of his heart.
    "I keep getting phantom pains, and it's
possible I have nerve damage."
    Owen's arms tightened around her. "I don't
understand why you were unprotected. Didn't they have armed rangers
to escort you?"
    "There are too many men with guns. That's the
problem. I was protecting a baby rhino. They killed her
mother."
    "Oh, Jenn."
    She felt his warm breath as he pressed a kiss
to her hair. "It's all right. We saved her. She's in the animal
orphanage where I worked."
    The pain in her side faded as she recalled
the adorable little creature in the video her coworkers had sent
her while she was in the hospital. She wished she hadn't been hurt,
but at least it hadn't been for nothing.
    • • •
    Jennifer strolled along the gravel path beside Owen,
her head and hands warm in a wool cap and mittens decorated with
snowflakes that she'd borrowed from Chloe. It was clear and cold,
the bare tree branches of the majestic oaks and horse chestnuts
dotted across the parkland stark against the wintry blue sky.
    Owen worked every morning in the estate
office and came back to the house at lunchtime. After lunch, they'd
fallen into the habit of walking the dogs together before he
returned to the office. She'd started to look forward to this time
of the day.
    During the past week, she'd lived her life in
two-hour chunks between the alerts on her phone to check on the
kittens. It was lovely to get out of the house, away from her
laptop and the issue of finding a new job, and clear her head with
a walk in the fresh air. When she was walking with Owen, the pains
in her side didn't trouble her.
    As Owen opened a gate in the fence, Jennifer
glanced his way and found him watching her, an unreadable
expression on his face. A strange sensation washed through her, one
she couldn't pin down. She'd caught him watching her a few times in
the past few days, and she had no idea what it meant. He'd been
fantastic letting her walk back into his and Chloe's lives like he
had, but she didn't really know what he thought of her.
    They stepped onto the closely cropped grass
of the parkland, kept short by the healthy rabbit population and
the wild deer. Once he'd closed the gate, Owen tossed a tennis
ball, and all three dogs took off after it as if their lives
depended on beating their pals.
    Paddy loped along, huge and long legged,
while Heidi streaked sleekly at his side, her sheep dog heritage
making her fast and disciplined. Zach's short legs pumped
frantically. He couldn't keep up, so typical terrier that he was,
he resorted to tricks to get his way, nipping the other dogs' heels
and taking a shortcut through a patch of brambles the others went
around.
    Jennifer puffed out a steamy breath, content
and relaxed—more so than she had been in a long time. She'd loved
her time in Africa, enjoyed caring for the endangered animals,
especially the babies in the orphanage, but there was nowhere like
home. Even though England was cold, it was a relief to be able to
wander through the countryside on her own, without fearing she
would be attacked by a wild animal or shot by a poacher.
    The dogs startled a group of five deer behind
some bushes, and both deer and dogs took off across the grass.
    "Come here," Owen bellowed, and whistled.
    Heidi immediately obeyed. Zach kept chasing
for a minute more before turning around and heading back. Paddy
ignored the call completely.
    "That dog is so disobedient." Owen shook his
head.
    A second black Labrador appeared, distracting
Paddy, and the two Labs ran in circles, playing.
    "That's Peggy, my cousin Marcus's dog.