Take Me Home for Christmas

19

“Mr. Dixon?” A hand jiggled his shoulder. “Mr. Dixon? Are you okay?”

Okay was a relative term. Ted had a crick in his neck. He knew that much.

Lifting his head, he squinted to bring Sophia’s daughter into focus. The bruise on her face looked worse than yesterday. But the cut looked better. She was ready for school, all scrubbed and polished. With her hair pulled back, she was the spitting image of her mother—fortunate for her considering the wide disparity in Skip and Sophia’s physical traits.

“I wanted to try sleeping at your kitchen table.” He yawned as he stretched.

“That couldn’t be comfortable.” She frowned, obviously perplexed. “Why would anyone want to try it?”

He hadn’t had many options. There were probably thirty rooms in the house, but thanks to Skip’s investors trying to recoup whatever they could, there wasn’t a mattress or an extra blanket in sight.

“I should’ve brought a sleeping bag,” he muttered.

She started to say something else, but Sophia’s voice came down to them from upstairs, interrupting. “Lex, hurry up and grab some cereal. We have to go. I can’t be late.”

He made a face. “Or what? Sounds like she has a really mean boss.”

That got a smile out of her. “I don’t think she knows you’re here.”

“Neither do I, but she’ll find out soon enough.” He stood to ease the pain in his back and neck. “Can I scramble you some eggs for breakfast?”

“You could if we had a frying pan,” she said. “We had a good one, but someone took it that night they came for the furniture.”

“I see. So...what’s for breakfast?”

She pulled a couple of cheap plastic bowls out of the cupboard. “We got these at the grocery store. They’re not as pretty as what we had before, but they were only a dollar.” Setting one in front of him, she took two plastic spoons and went to the pantry. “What’s your favorite cereal?” she asked from inside.

“Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. I hope, if you had some to begin with, your father’s investors didn’t take it.”

She laughed. “They took some of the meat out of the freezer, but they left the cold cereal. Thank goodness,” she added, “because I was tired of eating soup.

“Sorry, no Wheaties,” she said a moment later, holding out a box of Cap’n Crunch. “This is as close as I can get.”

“Shouldn’t we set a bowl for your mother?”

“No, she won’t eat.” She was carrying the milk to the table, but hesitated for a second. “I think she’s trying to save most of the food for me.”

“She really loves you.”

“Believe me, now that I know what it’s like to have a parent who doesn’t, I’m a lot more grateful.”

What she’d said was both sweet and sad. “Did you get your homework done last night?”

“Yeah.”

“What topic did you choose for your English essay?”

“Bullying.”

“Great choice. That’s something you should feel passionate about, which always makes for an easier argument.”

“I like the way it turned out. But—” she slumped into a chair and poured her cereal “—I still don’t want to go to school.”

He leaned down to catch her eye. “Good thing you’re brave enough to do it anyway.”

“Nice try, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Come on, a smart girl like you?” he said with a grin. “Nothing can keep you down for long.”

She allowed him to pour the milk. “My mom said you’re Eve’s boyfriend.”

He wondered what had brought that up. “We’re...seeing each other.”

“I like her.” She scooped up her cereal. “She’s nice, like you. And beautiful.”

“Eve’s special,” he agreed.

She slanted him a shy look. “Do you love her?”

Fortunately, Sophia called down at that moment. “Lex?”

When Ted pressed a finger to his lips, indicating that she shouldn’t give him away, she giggled.

“What?” she called back.

“Remember that typing class you took at the library over the summer?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think they have that during the winter?”

They could hear Sophia coming down the stairs. “I don’t know,” Lex said. “Why?”

“I need to learn how to type. For my job.”

Lexi covered her mouth as she laughed. “Or what? Mr. Dixon will fire you?”

Ted stopped chewing while he awaited Sophia’s response.

“He might,” she said. “He doesn’t like me. I can tell you that.”

The smile disappeared from Alexa’s face. “Mom—” She was obviously going to explain that he could hear, but it was too late. Sophia entered the kitchen, saw him sitting at the table and froze.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He didn’t answer the question. He asked one of his own. “Who said I don’t like you?”

“It’s a safe guess. Right now, no one does.”

“I don’t have many friends, either. Not anymore,” Alexa chimed in, relaxing when she realized they weren’t going to have a problem despite what he’d heard. “It’s just the two of us.”

“And me,” he said.

She gave him a conspiratorial nudge. “And you. He slept slumped over on our kitchen table,” she told her mom.

“For the record, it’s as uncomfortable as it looks,” he said with an exaggerated scowl.

Sophia came closer. “I don’t understand why you didn’t go home last night.”

He didn’t want to bring up the threatening note or the person he’d seen last night in front of Alexa, didn’t see any point in frightening her. “I stayed because I wanted to help.”

“By doing guard duty?”

“By getting you moved.”

They both gaped at him. “Moved where?” Sophia asked.

“Into the guesthouse.”

Confusion brought Alexa’s eyebrows together. “What guesthouse? We don’t have a guesthouse. My dad said my grandparents would want to move in if we built one.”

Ever the loving son. Ted wanted to say that but, for Alexa’s sake, he didn’t. “The one behind my house.”

Sophia marched across the kitchen and pulled her keys from her purse. “We are not moving into your guesthouse.”

“Why not?”

“Because. Just...forget it.”

“No one’s living there,” he said. “You might as well use it. Then you won’t have to worry about—” he glanced at Lex and stated what he had to say as euphemistically as possible “—what might happen here.”

“What if people start throwing rocks through your windows?” Sophia asked.

“They won’t.” He grinned. “They like me.”

She glanced at the clock. “Lex, run up and put your backpack together, okay?”

Apparently, the risk of being late for school was enough to motivate her, because she jumped right up.

Once her daughter was gone, Sophia lowered her voice. “You know what people will say.”

He played dumb. “No, what?”

“They’ll think we’re sleeping together!”

“Doesn’t matter what they think.”

“And Eve? She can’t want me there! I may not be much competition for her now, but you and I...we have a history.”

“I’ll make sure she’s okay with it.” He dropped his voice to match hers in case Alexa came hurrying back. “What else are you going to do? Your days here are limited. You’re already down to sleeping on the floor. My guesthouse is furnished and empty. It’s not large, but at least you’ll be safe and warm.”

“I can’t afford rent yet.”

“Consider it part of your wages. It won’t cost me anything to help you out until you can get back on your feet, except the utilities, of course, and I can afford to cover that.”

Her skeptical expression said his offer had to be some sort of trap. “Why would you do this? There’s nothing in it for you.”

He checked to assure himself that Alexa wasn’t returning yet. “Sophia, last night when I was leaving, I saw a car come down your street. I can’t say that whoever it was meant you harm, but...they acted suspicious once they saw me.”

She started digging at her cuticles. “In what way?”

“They hauled ass to get out of there.”

“You couldn’t see who it was?”

He stopped her before she could draw blood. “The glare of the headlights was too bright. I tried to catch them, but...no luck.”

“Still, I’m not sure moving us into your guesthouse is the answer.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

He knew he might regret having them so close, but there’d be a lot more to regret if he left them here and something terrible happened. “It’s not like we’ll be living together, Sophia. They’re separate houses. What’s wrong with that?”

Her expression grew earnest. “I don’t want to be so vulnerable.”

He couldn’t prevent his eyes from lowering to her lips. “You’ll be far more vulnerable here.”

“Not in the same way,” she said, but before he could respond, Alexa entered the kitchen.

“Did I miss it?” she asked breathlessly.

Sophia grabbed a granola bar and shoved it in her purse. “Miss what?”

Alexa hiked up her backpack. “Will we be moving to Ted’s?”

“We’ll talk about it after school,” Sophia replied. “Go and get in the car.”

Eager for a more definite answer, she glanced between the two of them, but Sophia motioned her toward the door and she did as she was told.

“Goodbye, Mr. Dixon,” she called back.

“It’s Ted from now on, okay? That Mr. Dixon stuff is making me feel old.”

She tossed him a smile. “Okay. Goodbye, Ted.”

“Hey,” he called and she turned around.

“You’ll get through it.”

The gratitude in her eyes convinced him that he was doing the right thing in taking her and her mother in. But when he returned his attention to Sophia, he sensed that she was waiting to tell him something.

“We won’t stay there long, Ted,” she said when her daughter was gone. “I promise.” Her gaze was as intense as her words. “I’ll get out of your life as soon as I can.”

He remembered what Alexa had revealed in his kitchen yesterday. “Lex says you’re planning to move away from Whiskey Creek.”

“We are. As soon as I can save up the money. If you could just...tolerate us for three months, we should be okay. That might sound like an eternity to you right now, but...it’ll go fast.”

“I’m sure I can manage,” he said, but could he manage without falling into the trap he’d just set for himself?

“Thanks.” Her tone sounded as worried as it did relieved.

“Why don’t you let me run Lex to school while you start packing?”

She bit her lip as she considered his words.

He knew he shouldn’t, but he reached out to touch her arm. “You really don’t have a better choice. I’ll pick up some boxes on my way back.”

With a nod, she handed him her keys.

“I’ve got my car,” he said and hurried out.