Be Mine at Christmas (15 page)

M
AXIM WATCHED
A
DELAIDE
in those first minutes after he awoke. He wanted to have breakfast, spend the entire day with her, but he had to talk to Harvey as soon as possible.

“Hey,” she whispered sleepily when he kissed her neck.

“I’ve gotta go,” he told her.

“So soon?”

He laughed at the reluctance in her voice. He’d stayed far too long already and was afraid he’d be too late to stop Harvey. “Yeah, but I’ll see you later.” He got out of bed, then hesitated. His girls were coming home today, which meant he’d be tied up with them. “Actually, Megan and Callie are flying in for Christmas, so…”

“So you need to spend some time with them. Of course.” She stretched as she turned to face him. “Have fun.”

He wondered what his two daughters would think of Adelaide, but couldn’t imagine that they wouldn’t like her. He was eager to introduce them, to include her in his family. Would they be willing to accept her? “Any chance you can join us for dinner tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Isn’t tomorrow Christmas Eve?”

“Yeah.”

She propped herself up on the pillows. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Positive.” He wasn’t as confident as he sounded. He’d dated since Chloe but not a lot, and he’d never brought a woman home to meet his children. But…he was hopeful they’d be open-minded.

“Okay.”

“But just so you know, the baby’s a secret. For a while.”

“Of course. There’s no hurry to tell anyone. I won’t even start to show for three or four months.” Her eyebrows drew together as she sobered. “But…are you really ready for another woman in your life, Maxim? Are they?”

He smoothed the hair out of her face. “We’re all ready, as long as it’s you.”

She gave him a sexy smile. “I’ll be there.”

“I’m glad.” He bent to kiss her again. “Maybe they’ll go to bed early, and we can see if Santa has a little something for you.”

Laughing, she fought to avoid him as he chafed her neck with his unshaved chin. “Go home,” she complained. “I need sleep. You wore me out last night.”

“Call me when you get up,” he said and left.

He tried to reach Harvey as soon as he walked out of Adelaide’s house, but Harvey wasn’t answering. Maxim called him several times before he left for the airport at noon and tried again while he was on his way home with the girls. He knew he couldn’t talk freely with them in the car, but he could set up a meeting.

“Shit!” he muttered after his sixth failed attempt.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” Callie asked.

Frowning, he hit the off button on his Bluetooth. He hadn’t meant to curse aloud. “Nothing.” With a smile on his face to cover his growing unease, he encouraged them to talk about their classes, their grades, their
friends and the boys they were dating. It wasn’t until they got home and Megan and Callie went to unpack that he had a few minutes alone. He used the time to call Harvey again.

Harvey’s voice mail picked up. “Harvey, get in touch with me, damn it,” Maxim said. “I have a proposal for you. I think it’s something you’ll want to hear.” He started to hang up but brought the phone back to his ear. “I don’t care what time of day or night it is,” he added, then disconnected.

“Dad?”

Maxim glanced up to find Megan standing on the stairs. With her auburn hair and greenish eyes, she looked like her mother, but Callie, his younger daughter, resembled him. It made him wonder who his new baby would look like—him or the fair-skinned Adelaide? “What?”

“Where’s the wrapping paper?”

“I don’t know. Did you check with Rosa?” His live-in housekeeper was in the kitchen, cooking one of the girls’ favorite meals.

“She thinks we’re out.” She gave him the smile that told him he was about to do her a favor. “Any chance you’ll go get some more? Or maybe a few gift bags? I’d do it myself, but I’m dying to take a shower and Megan’s busy primping. She said Ryan’s coming by to see her.”

“I thought she told me she and Ryan hardly talk anymore,” he said.

“I guess they talk enough that she’s already told him she’s home.”

Maxim liked Ryan and didn’t want to miss seeing him. But someone had to get the wrapping paper. And maybe Harvey would call while he had some time alone. “Sure,” he said. “Be right back.”

O
N THE DAY BEFORE
Christmas the weather dropped to forty-three degrees, bitter cold by Sacramento standards, but the extra chill didn’t bother Adelaide. She spent the morning warm and snug in her house, visiting parenting sites on the Internet. She couldn’t believe she was pregnant. Just when she’d been feeling most alone, just when she’d given up the hope of ever having a family, she was expecting.

It was almost too good to be true. But a baby meant she had so many decisions to make. Since their crash in the Sierras, her enthusiasm for winning the nomination and then a seat in the state senate had begun to wane; now it was entirely gone. She wondered if she could keep the people who worked for her on the payroll and have them campaign for Maxim instead.

Maxim… He hadn’t liked Mark and he didn’t pretend otherwise; that wasn’t easy to accept. They’d have to discuss it eventually. But for two people beginning a new relationship, they were dealing with enough challenges. They had the baby coming, the public response to what they’d done, the surprise and possible resistance of Maxim’s children. Best to adjust a little at a time.

Imagining what would happen when word of her condition reached the media, Adelaide cringed. It would be embarrassing. There was no escaping that. But she doubted it would hurt Maxim’s career—especially if she threw her support behind him.

Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled dreamily as she remembered the way he’d reacted to news of the baby. Her life was heading down a path she would’ve considered impossible just ten days earlier, but the baby she was carrying changed everything.

Would they eventually marry? It wasn’t as if she couldn’t love Maxim. She was afraid she already did.

Who would’ve thought—

The ringing of the phone startled her out of her reverie. Reaching for the cordless handset on her desk, she saw M. Donahue on caller ID and smiled as she answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, gorgeous. I’ve got good news.”

“What is it?”

“They were able to recover Mr. Cox’s body yesterday. He’ll be home for Christmas.”

Adelaide wished Cox had made it out alive, but it was a relief to know his family would at least be able to say their goodbyes and lay him to rest. “How’d you find out?”

“The helicopter pilot called me.”

“Why didn’t he call me? I left him several messages.”

“It was only by chance that he returned my calls first. I told him I’d notify you.”

“Oh. Do you know when the funeral is?”

“He’s originally from Bakersfield, so they’re taking his body there and having a small, private ceremony next Monday.”

“I’d like to attend, but if it’s meant to be private, maybe I should just send my condolences to his family.”

“That’s what I plan to do. I can give you the address. Are you still coming tonight?”

Forcing aside the sadness she felt about Mr. Cox, she leaned her head against the back of her seat. They hadn’t seen each other since he’d left her house yesterday morning. He’d been with his daughters since then, but he’d called several times. “If you still want me there,” she said.

“I do. I want to celebrate Christmas with you. And I want you to meet Megan and Callie.”

She’d met his children before. She and Maxim had run in the same circles for so long she’d even met his parents. But only in formal situations. Not in this capacity—not as the woman pregnant with his child. “Are you sure they wouldn’t rather have you all to themselves? I don’t want to intrude….”

“Megan’s got an old boyfriend coming over. And Callie has two girlfriends joining us. You won’t be intruding. Besides, I’ve told them to expect you.”

“How did you explain our connection?”

“I said we got to know each other while we were stranded, and now we’re friends.”

“Were they surprised?”

“Of course. But they got over it quickly. Megan even said she thinks you’re one of the prettiest women she’s ever seen. She said I should’ve asked you out a long time ago, before you could get it in your mind to run against me.”

She laughed. “Already a strategist.”

“I wish I’d thought of that.”

Closing her eyes, she pictured them all gathered around the Christmas tree. She’d imagined this scene once before, as an outsider looking in. Now she’d be part of it. Until this moment, she’d been afraid that tonight might not work out. She felt self-conscious about barging in on a family’s celebration. She felt as if she’d been doing that for years—all the time she was growing up in the system after her parents had died in a house fire. “What should I bring?”

“You don’t need to bring anything.”

“What if I want to?” she insisted. “What would your girls enjoy?”

“Like most kids, they have a sweet tooth. You could bring a dessert, I guess.”

Suddenly, it felt more like Christmas than any Christmas Adelaide had ever experienced. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said and got off the phone so she could go to the grocery store. For the first time since Mark died, she felt like cooking.

M
AXIM SAT IN HIS
living room alone. The area in front of the Christmas tree was now crowded with the gifts his daughters had wrapped. Megan and Callie were in the kitchen, laughing and talking with friends, their voices occasionally rising above the Christmas music playing throughout the house. He planned to go back in and join them. He needed to help Rosa finish cleaning up the brunch he’d made, but…something was bothering him, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

He’d gotten hold of Harvey Sillinger last night and been assured in no uncertain terms that there was nothing to worry about concerning Mark Fairfax. But Maxim couldn’t put it out of his mind. Harvey’s insistence that Maxim should’ve known him better than to assume the worst set off warning bells in Maxim’s head. That statement was so off base it was almost absurd. He’d seen Harvey in action, knew he was ruthless. Usually, Harvey was proud of that trait. So why would he pretend to care about those he might hurt? And why would he suddenly be so amenable to keeping his mouth shut? Harvey hadn’t been willing to commit himself to silence the day he’d stormed out of the office.

Something had changed in the past two days….

Rubbing his temples, Maxim went over the conversation they’d had last night.

“I can’t believe you think I’d leak information you told me not to, Maxim,” he’d said, defensive from the first
moment Maxim had managed to reach him. “So what if we haven’t known each other long? I did a good job while I was running your campaign. Anyone else would’ve been thrilled with what I accomplished.”

This wasn’t about what he’d accomplished, and Maxim had told him as much. Harvey was very dedicated. It was his tendency to forget who was boss that disturbed Maxim—that and the fact that he didn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word
mercy.

“I would’ve expected you to know me better than that,” Harvey had gone on.

“I just want to be sure, Harvey. That’s all,” Maxim had said. “I just want to be sure.”

“What happened to you while you were stranded in the mountains? That’s what I want to know, because you certainly haven’t been the same since you got back. You don’t act like you even care whether you win the primary.”

He cared. He loved his job and wanted to keep it, but he wouldn’t do it by hurting Adelaide. “I nearly died, Harvey. Coming that close can give you a whole new perspective.”

“From
my
perspective, you’re losing your edge. But that’s none of my business. You have nothing to worry about. Nothing from
me,
anyway.”

The clarification had brought a stab of alarm. “What’s that supposed to mean? You and I are the only ones who know about the intern, right?”

“Me, you and the intern,” Harvey had said.

“The boy wouldn’t have any reason to come forward. Why would he risk the embarrassment?”

“He probably wouldn’t. So, like I said, you have nothing to worry about.”

Sensing an undercurrent in the conversation, Maxim had decided to take that final step, to do all he could to guarantee that this situation wouldn’t get away from him. “Is there any way to—” here, Maxim had chosen his words very carefully “—ensure your cooperation on this, Harvey?”

“What do you mean by that, Maxim? I’m an honest guy. I don’t take payoffs.”

“I’m not talking about a payoff. I’m talking about a
severance
package. To help you along until you find other employment.”

“Oh, a
severance
package.” After that, there’d been a long pause. “That might be just the thing,” he’d said at length. “Especially if you can get it to me tonight.”

“If that’s how you want it,” Maxim had said, and he’d met his former campaign manager at the office.

“This effectively ends our association, correct?” he’d said when he handed Harvey a thirty-thousand-dollar check.

“Sounds fair to me.”

Just to be safe, Maxim had asked him to sign a paper saying he was satisfied with the terms of their separation, a paper he’d then locked inside his desk. Harvey had left immediately afterward, and Maxim hadn’t heard from him since. As far as he knew, the issue was settled.

Then why did he feel so…
un
settled about it?

“Dad?” Megan called.

He dropped the hand he’d been using to massage his temple. “Yes?”

“Where are you? I want to show you the commercial I had to make for one of my classes.”

Drawing a deep breath, he put his conversation with
Harvey out of his mind. It was Christmas, and Adelaide was coming over. He had better things to think about than Mark’s affair—and his own hand in discovering it.

“Coming,” he called and went to the kitchen.

S
HE WAS READY
and, if she hurried, she’d be on time.

Grabbing the cheesecake she’d made, as well as the wine she’d bought, Adelaide headed for the door. She’d never been to Maxim’s place, but she doubted she’d have any trouble finding it. She had GPS on her phone if she got lost. But just as she was stepping out of her house, she saw her friend Ruby pull into the driveway, going far too fast. She came to a screeching halt, and the Escalade jerked back and forth as she slammed the gearshift into Park and jumped out.

Something was wrong. They’d already exchanged gifts over the weekend and hadn’t planned to see each other again until after Christmas. Ruby had said she’d be celebrating with her kids and her ex-husband, with whom she was thinking of reconciling. So…what was she doing here?

Adelaide waited on her doorstep as Ruby rushed toward her.

“Adelaide, oh, my God! I’m so sorry.”

Sorry?
Adelaide didn’t know how to react. “For what?”

Confusion descended on Ruby’s face and her steps slowed. “You mean…you don’t know? It was just on the news. I heard it with my own ears.”

The cheesecake and the wine were getting heavy, but Adelaide didn’t dare move. “You’re not making any sense.”

Tears filled Ruby’s eyes as she took the wine. Then they stood facing each other, both dressed in their Christmas finery, with Adelaide’s heart beating like a jackhammer.

“It’s about Mark,” Ruby said.

Adelaide couldn’t imagine what could be so terrible that Ruby would race over in such a panic. Mark was dead. She’d been dealing with that for two and a half years. Did news get any worse than goodbye
forever?
“What about him?” she asked.

Ruby motioned them inside. “I think you should sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down,” she said. “I have a dinner date, and I’m going to be—”

“He was having an affair, Adelaide, just as you suspected,” Ruby cut in.

This stole Adelaide’s breath. After so long, after finally convincing herself that she’d been acting crazy and paranoid and insecure when she’d accused Mark, she was learning that she’d been right from the beginning? “No…”

“Yes.”

“With whom?”

“Let’s go in,” Ruby said and guided Adelaide back into the house.

Adelaide sat at the kitchen table while Ruby took the cheesecake and stowed it in the fridge, along with the wine. “I can’t believe something like this would be on the
news,
” she muttered. “I mean, I could see it if he was still in office, but—”

“It’s pertinent,” Ruby said. “You’re essentially running in his place and on his reputation. So anything that blackens his name blackens yours.”

“But…an
affair?
A lot of guys have extramarital affairs and it hasn’t ruined their political careers.”

Ruby frowned. “There’s more to it.”

“More?”

“Mark also took bribes from local developers.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Ruby crouched in front of her. “I would never kid about something like this.”

Adelaide stared at her helplessly. “He couldn’t have. I mean…I would’ve known, wouldn’t I?” She tried to think back. They’d always been well-off. Mark came from money, and she’d built the fledgling business they’d started when they got married into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. Would she have noticed if he had more money in his accounts than he should have? Probably not.

“I don’t know,” Ruby said, obviously miserable.

He wouldn’t have needed the money. But the power might have tempted him. He would’ve liked doling out favors, being the big man who could make the difference. “How did this come to light?” she asked.

“Luke Silici.”

The man who’d wanted to run against Maxim in the primary but backed off when she entered the race?
That
Luke Silici?

“There was a clip of him on the news, condemning Mark for lack of integrity,” she was saying.

So he intended to join the race? He must be using this to open the door. But she’d already decided to drop out, hadn’t she? Because of the pregnancy? He couldn’t know
that, of course, but even if he entered the race, there was no way he’d beat Maxim.

“It’ll be okay,” she said. Somehow, she’d figure it out, come to terms with it. There was a chance Silici had been misinformed. She’d do all she could to fight for Mark’s reputation, to preserve her memories of him.

But Ruby wouldn’t meet her eyes. “That’s not all.”

Adelaide remembered the hopes she’d had for this Christmas and felt them fade. “There’s more than adultery and corruption?”

“Silici said he has copies of some of Mark’s e-mails.”

Adelaide let her breath go. “They
prove
he was taking bribe money?”

“I don’t know what proof they have on the bribe issue. These apparently have to do with the affair.”

Covering her face with both hands, Adelaide tried to calm down enough to think. It was going to be okay, wasn’t it? She could live with whatever emerged—because it was in the past. It didn’t change the present.

Squaring her shoulders, she lowered her hands. “Who was it? Virna? Or Susie?” She’d named Mark’s two most attractive field reps, but Ruby shook her head.

“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this…”

What could be left? Proof that he’d never loved her? “Tell me,” she said. “If you saw it on the news, I’ll find out, anyway.”

Empathy softened Ruby’s face. “It wasn’t Virna or Susie or any of the other aides. It—it was an intern.”

Adelaide felt a surge of righteous anger. Those interns were young, some of them just out of high school. “Which one?” she cried.

Ruby cringed. “Phoenix Day.”

This was the last name Adelaide had expected to hear.
She was so stunned she couldn’t move. “There must be some mistake. Phoenix is a
boy,
the sweetest boy you could ever meet.”

Ruby took her hands. “I know.”

“You’re saying— That can’t be true,” she whispered. “Mark wasn’t gay. Mark…” Remembering his lack of interest the past couple of years they’d lived together, Adelaide fell silent. He’d told her he was too stressed to maintain much of a sex life, too pressured at work, too busy. Was it something else? Something more? An inappropriate attraction to
Phoenix?

“The boy has agreed to come forward,” Ruby was saying. “He’s providing copies of the correspondence between him and Mark. At least, according to the news.”

Adelaide didn’t know how to respond, except to deny it, regardless of any proof anyone claimed to have. “This can’t be true. It’s a political move, a way to get me to bow out of the race.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Ruby said. “But…”

“But what?” Adelaide echoed.

“I don’t think it’s Luke who wants you out of the race. I think it’s Maxim Donahue.”

Adelaide opened her mouth to argue. Ruby had no idea of the baby or how the situation with Maxim had changed. But Ruby spoke before she could explain.

“It has to be,” she insisted. “Silici said Maxim received an anonymous tip, that it was his campaign manager who ran down all the details.”

W
HERE WAS SHE
?

The girls had their friends over. They were chatting happily as they munched on the appetizers Rosa had made, but Maxim had been too busy watching the
clock to eat with them. Adelaide was late. She’d said she’d arrive at six, but it was nearly six-thirty. He figured he’d give her another fifteen minutes, so he didn’t seem impatient, but when 6:45 p.m. rolled around she still wasn’t there. Neither had she called him.

“Dad, didn’t you say your friend would be here soon?”

Megan had finally noticed Adelaide’s tardiness, perhaps because he’d grown so quiet.

“I’m sure she’s on her way, but…I’ll check.”

Taking his cell phone, he stepped out of the room. But Adelaide didn’t pick up. She didn’t answer her house phone, either.

Where could she be? Planning to drive over there, he grabbed his keys from the counter and started for the door when he received a call. Assuming it would be her, he pulled his cell out of his pocket and punched the talk button without glancing at caller ID. “Hello?”

“Maxim, you are truly amazing!”

It definitely wasn’t Adelaide. That voice belonged to his assistant, Peter Goodrich. Peter kept Maxim’s capitol office running smoothly and interfaced with Jan Kenny, who ran Maxim’s district office. He also volunteered on the campaign, so they spent a lot of time together. Maxim considered Peter his best hire. But he didn’t want to talk to him on Christmas Eve. “Peter, are you drunk?”

“What? Of course not. You know I don’t drink.”

“You sound drunk.” Tall and skinny, with a very deep voice, Peter was so circumspect that Maxim liked to tease him. But he was half-serious tonight. Peter sounded much more animated than usual.

“I’m just…surprised,” Peter said.

“About what?” Maxim looked at his watch.

“You did it, man. There’s no way she’s gonna beat you now.”

Slightly irritated because he didn’t want to talk business while he was so preoccupied with other things, Maxim scratched his neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about Mark Fairfax. How did you know? I mean…what a shocker. I
never
would’ve guessed he was gay.”

Until this moment, Maxim had only been paying partial attention. He’d been too busy watching the clock and keeping an eye on his driveway through the window, expecting Adelaide to pull in at any time. Now every bit of his energy and focus turned toward the conversation. “How do you know about Fairfax?”

“I guess it was on the news. I didn’t see it, but someone called Martha and she called me.”

Martha Sanchez worked for him, too. She handled all the scheduling for Maxim and the field reps. She wouldn’t have felt as comfortable calling him at home, but she and Peter worked well together and had become close friends.

“I mean, it’s true, isn’t it?” Peter asked. “It’s not a joke.”

With a silent curse, Maxim crossed the room and sank onto the couch. Damn Harvey Sillinger! He’d taken the bribe money and he’d still gone after Adelaide.

“Maxim?”

“I’m here,” he muttered.

“You seem upset.”

He
was
upset. If word of Fairfax’s affair had been on the news, Adelaide had heard about it, too. They were in politics, for crying out loud. They had people who were
paid to watch and listen for any mention of their names in the media. If she hadn’t seen it on the news herself, she’d probably received a call very similar to this one.
Son of a bitch.

“Maxim? Isn’t this good news?” Peter asked, uncertain now.

“No. It’s not good news,” he said and hung up.