Deadly Christmas (14 page)

“I’m going to buy her a pony,” Ally said.

As the music changed to a slow ballad, James pulled Mandy toward the dance floor. “Come on, wife. I promised you a dance. If you stop pretending to be mad at me, I’ll stop for Lebanese food on the way home and rub you for an hour and a half when we get in the hot tub.”

Mandy considered the offer. “Can I pull Ava’s hair on the way out?”

“No.”

“Fine,” Mandy grumbled, letting James pull her into his arms as they began to sway to the music.

“You know I love you, right?” James asked, rubbing his hand across Mandy’s back.

“Yes.”

“Don’t ever think for a moment that I would cheat on you,” James said. “I’m not interested. You’re all I want.”

“I’m not angry with you,” Mandy said. “I don’t like her.”

James chuckled. “No one likes here. That’s why she’s so obnoxious.”

“Do you think she’s prettier than me? She kind of looks like a model.”

“No one is prettier than you, baby,” James said, kissing her cheek. “You’re my perfect everything.”

“Does that mean you’re going to tell me what my big Christmas gift is?” Mandy asked hopefully.

“Keep dreaming, wife.”

“I’m so glad we got a chance to do this before the holidays hit,” Emma said Thursday afternoon, beaming as her gaze bounced between Sophie, Ally, and Mandy.

The four women scheduled the lunch for as close to the holidays as they could manage, knowing they would see each other for all the festivities but wanting a chance to gossip without their significant others present.

“It was a good idea,” Sophie agreed, glancing over the Thai menu. “It was a much better idea than last night’s party.”

“You were smart to miss that, by the way,” Ally said, wrinkling her nose. “I’m going to start carrying a fake baby bump around so I can get out of stuff I don’t want to do.”

“I wanted to go,” Emma protested.

“No, you didn’t,” Mandy, Ally, and Sophie replied in unison.

“You weren’t missing much,” Sophie said. “Trust me.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Mandy argued. “I was a big fan of how you called the old dude on the carpet for looking down dresses and bitch-slapped his wife in the same breath for being a horrible wench.”

Ally snickered. “Yeah, I loved how you pointed out she was going to need another bad nose job if she said one word to you.”

“I don’t like women like that,” Sophie said.

“Does anyone?”

“Ava is the perfect example of why I never had female friends until … well … you guys,” Sophie said. “Mandy was the first person I met who never tried to compete with me about a man … or work … or who has the best shoes.”

“I have the best shoes,” Ally said. “I get what you mean, though. Mandy and I were friends because we always had each other’s backs when we were younger. We never let a guy get between us.”

“That’s because if you let a guy get between you, Ally, you would have been arrested for incest,” Sophie pointed out. “Mandy was always in love with your brother.”

“Don’t be gross,” Ally said, wagging a finger in Sophie’s face. “Still, you have a point. I believe we were meant to be best friends.”

“Oh, so sweet,” Mandy teased, poking Ally in the side.

“I never had male or female friends,” Emma said. “People didn’t want to be my friend when I was young because of my dad. After that, people wanted to pretend I didn’t exist because what my dad did was so disgusting. By the time I started modeling, I realized I didn’t want to know any of those women because they were so vapid. I never had friends until you guys.”

“Oh, you’re so sweet, too,” Mandy said, pressing her fingers into Emma’s growing belly. “Huh.” She poked Emma again, marveling at how solid the slim woman’s tummy felt. “It’s like you have a ball in there or something.”

“Oh, well, that’s a horrible thing to say,” Ally said, curiosity getting the better of her and forcing her to touch Emma’s stomach. “You’re right, though. It’s softer than a basketball, but harder than a beach ball. It’s like a volleyball.”

Emma screwed up her face into a frown. “I know I’m fat. You don’t have to keep pointing it out.”

“You’re not fat,” Ally argued, moving her hand around Emma’s stomach. “You have a person in here. It’s … fascinating.

“You’re six months pregnant and you’re still prettier than ninety-nine percent of the women in the world,” Ally continued, her forehead wrinkling as she concentrated. “Is that a … kick?”

“Yeah,” Emma said, her voice soft. “It started last week.”

“Has Finn felt this?”

“Not yet. I want to surprise him on Christmas day.”

“That’s a pretty big gift,” Ally said, adding her second hand to Emma’s stomach. “Oh … I want this to be me so badly one day.”

“It will be you,” Mandy said, watching Ally hold what would eventually become her first niece or nephew. “You just need to give it time.”

“I’m happy to give Jake time,” Ally said. “I realized you were right. I don’t want to push this. I want to enjoy every magical moment.”

“Do you want to touch?” Emma asked Sophie.

“I’m fine looking,” Sophie said, forcing a tight smile. In truth, she was scared to touch Emma’s stomach. The idea of something moving beneath the surface terrified her. It reminded her of the movie
Alien
for some reason.

“Come on,” Mandy prodded, grabbing Sophie’s hand and forcing it to Emma’s baby bump. “It’s not going to hurt you.”

“You have absolutely no boundaries,” Sophie muttered. “I … oh, wow. What’s that … fluttering?”

“That’s the baby moving,” Emma said, giggling.

“Is he kicking?”

“No. He’s just moving. He’s active in the middle of the afternoon.”

“Do you still think it’s a boy?” Ally asked. “I would prefer a girl. I can dress a girl up.”

“We’re not finding out beforehand because we want to be surprised, but something inside of me tells me it’s a boy,” Emma said. “I can’t explain it.”

“Finn is not going to let me dress up a boy so he looks like a princess.”

Emma smiled. “We’ll take the baby on spa days and you can do whatever you want when Finn isn’t around,” she offered.

Ally smiled. “Can I take photos and torture him with them?”

“Sure.”

Emma shifted her gaze to Sophie and Mandy, who were taking a more clinical approach to her stomach. To Ally, the whole process was magical. Since Mandy and James already decided they weren’t having kids, Mandy was merely interested in the science. Sophie never talked about kids – and Emma wasn’t sure where she stood on the matter – but she had a feeling the miracle of birth was something Sophie would be okay skipping.

“Do you want kids, Sophie?” Emma asked, taking everyone by surprise.

Sophie jerked her eyes up. “Oh. Um … I don’t know.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want them,” Mandy said. “I don’t want them. I get it.”

“I’m not sure if it’s that I don’t want kids as much as I don’t want to add more kids to this world when so many others need a home,” Sophie explained. “I think it’s far more likely that Grady and I would adopt a child – and probably only one because I’m not sure I could handle more – than procreate.”

“Is that because you spent so much time in the foster system?” Ally asked.

Sophie nodded. “There are a lot of unwanted children out there – especially of a certain age,” she said. “Grady and I haven’t even talked about marriage, so this would be a long way off, but I would hope he’d be willing to adopt an older child.”

“Grady has a big heart,” Ally said. “I think he’ll surprise you with how open he is to that.”

“Really?” Sophie looked hopeful.

“Really,” Ally said, smiling. “I think adopting an older kid would be right up Grady’s alley.”

“Why?”

“Because that means he’ll only have to put half the time in before he gets you all to himself again,” Ally teased.

Sophie didn’t want to smile, but she finally gave in. “I’m glad I found you as well as your brother.”

“Of course you are,” Ally said. “Everyone is glad when they find me.”

“I’M STEALING
your wife tomorrow,” Finn announced as he walked into James’ office, pulling up short when he saw Maverick sitting behind the desk and tapping away on the keyboard.

“I don’t have a wife, but if I did there’s no way I would share her with a dude who looks like you,” Maverick said, showing he was in full slacker mode as he reclined in the chair. The kid wasn’t even old enough to legally imbibe alcohol, but he was a measurable genius. He was also grating. “Is the boss man’s wife the hot blonde who doesn’t wear underwear?”

“Watch your mouth,” James warned, flipping through a file and jotting a few notations down from his spot on the couch.

“Hey, I’m here doing you a favor,” Maverick shot back. “I told you I was off the clock until after New Year’s – I’ve got a big
World of Warcraft
tournament coming up – and I still came when you called. You owe me.”

“If you talk about my wife like that again I’m going to thump you,” James threatened.

“It’s not my fault your wife doesn’t wear underwear.” Maverick’s youth didn’t allow him to back down at times – even when he really should.

“My wife doesn’t wear underwear for my benefit,” James replied. “Nothing about that situation has anything to do with you.”

“You once stuck your hand up her skirt in front of me, so I beg to differ.”

James slammed the file down on the couch and fixed Maverick with a dangerous look. “Do you want me to come over there?”

Maverick held up his hands in a placating manner. “Seriously, dude, chill.”

Finn fought the urge to laugh – and lost. “Why is Maverick here?”

“We got video of the guy who tried to rob the jewelry store from a nearby gas station,” James replied. “It’s grainy and hard to make out. Maverick is seeing if he can do anything with it.”

“Shouldn’t you be nicer to him if he’s doing you a favor?”

“That’s what I said,” Maverick interjected.

“I’m sure you would feel differently if he was talking about Emma’s underwear,” James challenged.

“I would be fine with it,” Finn said.

“Is Emma the pregnant one?” Maverick asked.

“Yes.”

“Her jugs are huge!”

Finn frowned. “I … .”

“Don’t you ever just want to grab them and put your face between them and … .” Maverick mimed shaking his head back and forth, blowing air out of his lips to make an unpleasant accompanying sound to the visual assault.

“Hey!”

“Yeah, it’s not so funny now, is it?” James said.

Finn rolled his eyes and moved over to the couch, pushing his brother over so he could sit down next to him. “Did you hear what I said before we got lost on Maverick’s tangent?”

“Yeah,” James said. “Mandy’s last day before the holidays is today. I’m glad you’re getting her out of the house for me. Just make sure you and Jake watch her and nothing bad happens to her.”

Finn knit his eyebrows together, confused. “You want me to steal your wife for an afternoon? I expected you to put up a fight.”

“Mandy loves shopping and she’s going to have absolute power over you and Jake for an entire afternoon,” James replied. “That will put her in a good mood. By the way, if she sees something she goes ga-ga over, buy it and I’ll pay you back.”

“You can’t be serious,” Finn groused. “When are you going to stop buying her gifts?”

“When I feel like it,” James replied. “I’m not there yet.”

“That stuff we ordered from Think Geek is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, too,” Finn said. “Don’t forget.”

“I won’t,” James said. “I’ll divvy everything up and put it in bags under the desk with everyone’s name. That way it will stay hidden. I’m taking mine home tomorrow to wrap.”

“Is that why you want Mandy gone all afternoon?”

“We’re playing a game,” James admitted. “She and Ally tried to break into the safe at the house two hundred times while I was gone. The computer logged each attempt.”

“They obviously weren’t very good at it when they tried,” Maverick muttered.

“Doesn’t that tick you off?” Finn asked.

James shrugged. “Every time I logged onto the computer and saw that number going up, I couldn’t help but smile,” he said. “I knew exactly what she was doing and … I could picture her doing it.”

“Oh, you’re so schmaltzy,” Finn teased.

“I am,” James agreed.

“You said you were playing a game, though,” Finn pointed out. “Does that mean you’ve been searching for your Christmas gifts?”

James blushed. “Um … .”

“Seriously?”

“I don’t know what came over me,” James admitted. “Her studio door was locked when I came home the other day and before I even realized what was happening I picked the lock.”

“You ruined her Christmas surprises?” Finn was disappointed with his brother’s lack of willpower.

“Actually, she caught me in the act and made a big deal out of me betraying her trust.”

“And how did that end?”

“We had sex on the pool table. Twice.”

Maverick perked up. “Was she wearing underwear?”

James extended a warning finger in Maverick’s direction. “You get to work and stop thinking about my wife’s underwear.”

Maverick offered James a half-hearted salute. “Yes, sir.”

“We agreed to stop snooping through each other’s stuff,” James said. “To make sure she can’t see anything, though, I need a block of time to wrap her presents. Tomorrow is as good a time as any.”

“I’m glad I can be of assistance,” Finn said dryly. “Seriously, you two do some twisted stuff.”

“If you think that’s twisted, make sure I never tell you what we did in the hot tub last night.”

“Oh, gross!”

“I’m so getting a hot tub,” Maverick said, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Get back to work!”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Grinch!”

“He’s the reason I’m never having kids,” James said.

“He’s the reason I’m rethinking the one I have on the way,” Finn replied.