Free A Wild Goose Chase Christmas: Quilts of Love Series by Jennifer Allee Page A

she’d even talk to a telemarketer if it would provide a few minutes of distraction. “Hello?”
    “Izzy, it’s Brandon.”
    “Brandon?” She looked down at the display again then put the receiver back to her ear. “Where are you calling from?”
    “My cell.” He sounded out of breath, like he was in a hurry. “I lost my phone and had to get a new one.”
    She wedged the receiver between her ear and shoulder and began searching the pantry for crackers. “Why did you change your number?”
    “I decided to go with a new carrier.”
    “But couldn’t they get you your old number?”
    “Seriously, Izzy, do we have to play twenty questions?”
    He barked out the words and she froze with the box of Ritz in her hand. “Sorry. I was just curious. Since you’re obviously busy, tell me why you called.”
    He sighed, but didn’t bother apologizing. “I need a favor.”
    Of course he did. “What?”
    “Is Mom’s car still at your house?”
    “It’s in the driveway.”
    “Great. Can I borrow it for a few days?”
    Izzy was tempted to ask the caller to verify his name to make sure someone other than Brandon hadn’t accidentally dialed her number. Instead, she took the risk of asking more questions. “Why would you want to do that?”
    “The Coop’s having engine trouble, but I don’t have time to take it to the shop.”
    “Can’t you drive one of your other cars?”
    More sighing came from Brandon’s side of the phone. “It’s not that simple. Can I borrow the car or not?”
    If it was anybody else, Izzy would have asked her mother first. But she knew what the answer would be. “Of course. Does that mean you’re coming over now?”
    “Yeah. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
    She reached into the freezer and grabbed the ice-cube tray. “Great. There’s a casserole in the fridge you can heat up fordinner.” The silence of his reply didn’t engender confidence. “You do remember you promised to stay with her for a while tonight, don’t you?”
    “Was that tonight? I don’t know—”
    “Brandon, don’t you dare back out on me.”
    “Is that Brandon?” Janice called out from the other room.
    “Yeah, Mom,” Izzy called over her shoulder.
    “Let me talk to him.”
    “Just a second.” She thumped the glass in her hand on the counter, sloshing icy water over the rim. Now that she had a free hand, she held the receiver with it and pressed it against her mouth as she moved deeper into the kitchen. “Listen, Brandon. I’ve got a very important meeting at four o’clock, so I need you to be here in half an hour, just like you said. And I need you to stay with her for a few hours and feed her dinner. Or else.”
    He snorted. “Or else what?”
    “Or else you don’t get the keys to her car.”
    If not for the breathing on the other end of the line, she would have thought he had hung up. “Fine.” He spat out the syllable as if it were a bitter pill dissolving on his tongue. “But I want to park the Coop in your garage.”
    “Fine. I’ll leave the door up for you.”
    He hung up without saying good-bye. Izzy set down the receiver, picked up the glass of water and the plate full of crackers, and went into the living room.
    “Where’s the phone?” Janice asked.
    Shoot. Brandon had been acting so weird that Izzy forgot Mom wanted to talk to him. “He hung up. But he’s on his way over and he’s going to stay with you while I go out for a bit.”
    Her mother was so pleased by the idea of a visit from Brandon that she even said thank you when Izzy set down the snack. After five minutes of pillow fluffing and helping her find something good to watch on television, Izzy made theexcuse that she had to get ready for her meeting and headed back to her room.
    Sitting on her bed, she looked down at the Wild Goose Chase quilt. The fabric appeared so fragile that she was afraid it would fall apart if she handled it too much. So it remained folded up in the box, just as it had been when Virgil