Colton K-9 Cop. Addison Fox

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       Chapter One

      The last strains of “Jingle Bells” faded out, giving way to “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as Bellamy Reeves clicked the last email in her inbox. Despite the multicolored lights she’d hung in her office and the music she’d determinedly turned on each morning and kept on low throughout the day, nothing seemed to get her in the holiday spirit.

      Losing both parents over the summer had left a hole in her life and in her heart. She’d braced herself, of course, well aware the holidays would be a challenge. But even with the knowledge the season wouldn’t be the same, she’d diligently clung to the belief she could find some sense of joy, somewhere.

      How wrong she’d been.

      The days seemed to drag, no matter how busy she made herself, and her job at Lone Star Pharmaceutical—a job she’d worked hard at for several years—couldn’t fill the gaps.

      “One more email,” she whispered to herself on a resigned sigh. “I’ll do the last one and cut out early.”

      The company was estimated to finish out the year with stellar earnings, and management had given everyone an extra day of comp time as a reward for all the hard work. Most people had used the time to go shopping for presents in nearby Austin or to take in the pretty decorations scattered throughout downtown Whisperwood. She’d done none of those things, not up for walking the sidewalks and making small talk with her fellow townsfolk.

      Which had also meant she was still sitting on the extra time. Perhaps an afternoon off would provide a chance to recharge and shake the malaise that seemed determined to hover around her shoulders.

      She missed her parents terribly, but it was also the first holiday in more than she could remember that wasn’t encumbered by illness. Her father’s loss of mobility five years before had taken a toll on all of them and her life had been filled with pill bottles, a wheelchair and ramps throughout the house, and bouts of belligerence that telegraphed DJ Reeves’s frustration with his body’s betrayal.

      It hardly spoke well of her, that she was relieved that stage of life had passed, but in her quiet moments of honest reflection she could admit it was true.

      Illness. Suffering. And an endless sort of wasting away that stole the joy out of life. All of it had affected her mother as surely as her father’s loss of mobility in the accident had decimated his. Where her mother had once found joy in simple pleasures—gardening or cooking or even a glass of wine—watching her husband deteriorate had caused a matched response. Ginny Reeves had wasted away as surely as her husband had and nothing Bellamy had tried could coax her out of it.

      The kidney failure that finally stole him from them in June had been the final straw for her mother. Her mental health had deteriorated rapidly after that, and the heart attack that took her in late July had almost seemed unavoidable.

      “And here I am, right back to maudlin and depressed,” she whispered to herself as she reached for the bottle of water she kept perpetually refilled on her desk.

      The water had been another nod to health, her recognition of mortality—a fact of life with her parents, and an equally relevant fact of life working for a pharmaceutical company. Lone Star Pharmaceutical had hired her out of college and she’d steadily worked her way up through the ranks, responsible for any number of financial projects. For the past two years, she’d been part of the team that managed the costs to bring new drugs to market and had honed her skills around price elasticity, working with insurance companies and ensuring LSP had a place on doctors’ prescription lists.

      The role had been meant for her, honing her accounting knowledge and expanding her contribution to the overall business and its bottom line. She’d loved LSP already, but coupled with the professional advancement, СКАЧАТЬ