Free A Forever Thing: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA by Debra Ullrick

And she could hardly wait to tell Angie. Her little girl would be so happy.
    They walked up to her front door hand-in-hand. When she went to put the key in the door, she noticed the door was ajar. Her hand froze right above the nob.
    “What’s wrong?” Tate asked from behind her.
    “The door’s open.” She tilted her head back enough to see Tate’s face. “Someone’s been here.”
    Worry creased his forehead as Tate stepped in front of her. “Wait in the truck until I check your house out.” He grabbed her by the hand and led her at a fast clip back to his pickup. He opened the driver’s side and picked her up and set her behind the wheel. Closing her door, he ran around to the other side, reached inside the glove box and pulled out a holstered gun and strapped it on over his shoulder.
    “Tate? What are you doing?”
    “I’m going to go check to make sure everything is secure.”
    Seeing him with a gun, fear gripped her as reality snapped its jaws down on her heart. He could get hurt. She didn’t want to lose him too.
    He must have seen the fear on her face because he reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry, Kells. I’m trained for this. Wait here and lock the doors. Whatever you do, don’t come in until I tell you it’s okay. You got that?”
    She agreed and nodded wordlessly even though she wanted to go with him. Tate knew what he was doing though. She had seen him in action. Still, she prayed he knew what he was doing now. When he was gone, she reached over and pushed the button to lock all four doors.
    As he moved to the front door, she watched him remove the gun from his holster, and raise his gun straight ahead of him. He stood off to the side of the door, pushed it open with his foot, and stepped inside. He aimed the gun to his left, to the right and ahead of him before he disappeared from her sight.
    One long grueling minute after another went by. Kelly watched the door for any sign of what was going on in the darkness beyond it. The desire to see what was going on tempted her, but she remained in place just like Tate had told her to. While she waited, she prayed for his safety, her eyes never left the front door of her house even while she continued to dig at her nails.
     
    ♥ ♥ ♥
     
    Tate checked every room, behind the drapes, in the closets, every inch, including the attic and back yard. Nothing seemed out of order. The only thing he noticed missing was Angie’s laptop. It was no longer on top of her dresser and one of the dresser drawers was open. He had no clue whether Angie had taken her laptop with her to her friend’s or if the drawer was left open earlier. He would ask Kelly if she knew. He holstered his gun and headed back out to the truck.
    Kelly watched him as he came around to the driver’s side.
    “You can unlock the door now.”
    The door swung open, he jumped out of the way before it clobbered him. Kelly hopped down and threw her arms around him.
    He put his arms around her and held her, her body shook like an earthquake. “Hey, it’s okay. Everything is fine.” He kissed the top of her head.
    “I’m sorry. It’s just that I was so worried about you, and when you didn’t come right away, I thought something happened to you and I couldn’t bear it.”
    “Nothing happened to me. Look, I’m here.”
    She pulled back. Love gazed back at him. “I’m so glad.” She stood on her tiptoes and pulled his head down. Her kiss was sweet and full of love. He could get used to this, and if he had his way, he would too.
    When the kiss ended, with her still in his arms, he hated to shatter the moment, but he had to ask. “Kells, do you know if Angie took her laptop with her this morning?”
    “No.” She frowned. “Why?”
    “It isn’t on her dresser and a drawer was open in her room.”
    “Let me call Marissa’s house and ask her.” She grabbed her phone out of her duffle bag and called.
    Tate waited and scanned the perimeter, a habit from being a police