Take Me Home for Christmas

32

An hour later, Sophia knew what she had to do, but she was terrified to follow through with it, especially since she had a child depending on her. Alexa figured into every attempt she made to justify keeping the money. For one thing, Sophia would lose her job if she and Ted broke up, and that could happen well before she was capable of getting anything else.

But even then her conscience wouldn’t allow her to do what Chief Stacy had feared and suspected she might. She was finally in the driver’s seat of her own life, no longer had to kowtow to Skip’s wishes and demands. She had the opportunity to build her future on the basis of her own talent and ambition, not other people’s money, and she wanted to do that.

She shifted in the bed so she could see Ted’s sleeping face. To be honest, she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him, not for any amount of money. This time around she was going to hold out for love—and trust in his love—so that maybe they could spend the rest of their lives together. If that meant she had to take on everyone in Whiskey Creek whenever she left the house, so be it. She would stand her ground and fight.

“Why are you so restless tonight?” Ted asked sleepily.

“I have a lot on my mind.”

“You’re not thinking about my wine cellar....”

She laughed. “No.”

“Your mother or my mother?”

“No. And I’m not thinking about Skip, either, since we’re going down the list. Except to be glad he’s gone.”

“Then these are happy thoughts that are keeping you up?”

“How can a girl be anything but happy after what you just did to me?” she teased.

His hand curved around her breast. “There’s more where that came from.”

She rose up on one elbow. “If you broke up with me, would you fire me?”

“So you are worrying,” he said, amusement in his voice. “Let me see your fingers.”

“I haven’t been digging at them. I’m not worrying, exactly. Just planning. I’ve decided that when I save up enough money, I want to go to college.”

He pecked her lips. “I like that idea much better than hearing you talk about moving away from me.”

“Do you think I could get in?”

“You could start at a community college. If you do well there, you could probably get into a university. What would you like to major in?”

“Business. I want to own a dessert shop someday. I’m good at desserts, don’t you think?”

“I think you’re good at lots of things.”

“Like...”

“Like screaming my name when I make you come. And I love it because then I get to feel like a big stud.”

“Stop! I’m being serious.”

“Fine.” He pecked her lips. “You could be anything. And that’s the truth. But whatever you choose, I hope it includes having my baby.”

She squinted through the darkness. “Isn’t that a pretty big leap of faith? We just got back together.”

“We won’t do it until you have a year of sobriety under your belt, to make absolutely sure that you’re on stable ground. But...we’re not like your average couple. It’s been fifteen years or more since I wanted to marry you the first time. I think I’ve waited long enough.”

“I hate to tarnish the excitement, but...what about your mother?”

“She’ll come around.”

“She’s going to be mad.”

“Not if grandchildren are involved and, fortunately for us, we already have one of those to give her.”

“She’d better be a lot nicer to Lex than she is to me,” she muttered.

“I’ll make sure of it. I promise.”

She rested her chin on his chest and toyed with his nipple. “And I want one more thing.”

“You name it.”

“I want to sign a prenup.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Then no one can accuse me of marrying you for your money. I’ll make my own money. With my dessert shop.”

His fingers ran up and down her side. “In the end, you’ll probably be richer than me.”

“Then maybe you should sign a prenup, too.”

“I’ll sign whatever you want me to, as long as you’re finally mine.” He kissed her. Then he got up and started to put on his clothes.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m getting ready to walk you back to the guesthouse. I don’t want to leave Lex alone for more than a couple of hours, just in case.”

She considered asking him if he could love her daughter like his own. That was important to her. But she didn’t even need to ask. She knew him well enough to trust that he would. They’d been more or less living together for two months; she’d seen how he treated Lex. “Before we go, there’s something I need to tell you,” she said.

He put his leg down instead of pulling on his jeans. “Is it bad news?”

She heard the caution in his voice. “Depends on your perspective.”

“You definitely have my attention.”

“Remember when you said I should tell you if I stumble across a pot of gold lying around the house so you can spread the word?”

“Yes....”

“Well, I haven’t found a pot of gold exactly, but...I have come across $200,000.”

“Holy shit, Sophia!” He returned to the bed. “Where did you find that kind of money?”

“Remember when I went to the house last night?”

“Of course.”

She told him about the letter and her trip to the jeweler.

“This could’ve been your ticket out of town,” he said.

“I realize that.”

He studied his feet for a few seconds before raising his head. “Why didn’t you take it?”

“Because you’re worth a lot more than money.”

He didn’t speak for a moment. Then he said, “Even when you’ve lost practically everything?”

She was nervous about letting go of the security the money could’ve provided; she had to admit that. But she knew she was doing the right thing. “Even then.”

He sat down beside her and took her hand. “Are you going to turn it over to Chief Stacy?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I can bring myself to do that. But I am willing to call Agent Freeman.”

“Giving up that much money after...after what you’ve been through. That’s hard, babe.”

She put her head on his shoulder. “I can make it on my own.”

He slid an arm around her and kissed her temple. “You won’t have to.”

Straightening so she could look him in the eye, she said, “But I want to. I need to. For me.”

Agent Freeman wasn’t in. Sophia had to leave a message. Then she and Alexa started baking for Christmas. Alexa wanted to decorate sugar cookies for Royce, and Sophia wanted to try a new fudge recipe.

The call she’d been waiting for came when she was covered in flour, but she left Alexa to finish rolling out the dough—she figured it would be good practice for her, anyway—and washed her hands.

By the time she was able to answer, she was afraid she’d missed Agent Freeman, but that wasn’t the case. As soon as she managed to slide the bar that answered her phone, she heard his distinctive, deep voice respond to her hello.

“Mrs. DeBussi?”

She didn’t want Alexa to hear what she was about to say, so she carried her phone outside. “Thanks for calling me back,” she said as she closed the door behind her.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

He was all business again. Sophia smiled at that. He came off as a hard-ass, but she knew he was more tenderhearted than he let on. “I have some exciting news for you and for Skip’s investors.”

“You do?”

She could hear the surprise in his voice. “Yes. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.” His tone suggested he wasn’t used to having anyone act coy with him.

“I found my wedding ring.”

There was a slight pause. “And you’re calling me because...”

“It’s worth $200,000, remember? Get this, Skip was trying to liquidate it but, for whatever reason, that didn’t happen before our trip. Last night I came across a letter from a jeweler who has it. He even has a buyer lined up.”

Silence.

“Aren’t you excited?” she said.

“Mrs. DeBussi, I’m impressed that you made this call.”

Sophia wasn’t sure she’d ever felt so good inside. “Thanks.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m going to pretend I never received it.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I told you, if you weren’t in on the fraud you were the biggest victim of all, and I still feel that way. I know you’ve had one hell of a time. Now maybe you’ll be able to get by and care for your daughter. That’s more important than spreading that money out among hundreds of people so it really does no one any good.”

“You didn’t seem to feel I deserved anything before.”

“I was doing my job. But as far as I’m concerned, this case is closed. Merry Christmas,” he said and hung up.

Ted stepped out of the kitchen before she could fully absorb what had just happened. He’d joined her and Lex several times already. He said it was impossible to concentrate on his book when he’d rather be with them. “Was that the FBI agent—what’s his name, Freeman?”

“It was.”

“What’d he say?”

“He said the money’s mine.”

“No....”

“I swear. He said he was going to forget I ever even made the call.”

“Wow.” He stood behind her and slid his arms around her waist in an effort to warm her. Neither of them had bothered to put on a coat. “I’m sort of bummed about that,” he said.

“Why?”

“I like you better when you’re poor. Then I know you won’t be going anywhere,” he joked.

She glanced beyond him to see Alexa watching them through the window. When Sophia caught her eye, she blushed and ducked her head, but not before the sweetest smile Sophia had ever seen appeared on her face.

“I think my daughter’s figuring out that her mother has a boyfriend.”

Ted twisted around as Alexa looked up again, and her smile stretched from ear to ear. “Good,” he said. “Because I was planning to wait a few months before asking you to marry me, but that’s beginning to feel like a really long time.”

She let him turn her in his arms so they were facing each other. “We have to wait until spring,” she said. “We can make it that long, can’t we?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to type 80 words per minute by the time I get married.”

He started to laugh. “Seriously?”

“Stop! Yes. I have goals!”

“But now that you’re rich all on your own, neither one of us will have to sign a prenup.” He bent his head and whispered in her ear, “And if we get married right away, we won’t have to keep sleeping in separate beds.”

“Ah, now I see what you’re really after.”

“What can I say?” He nuzzled her neck. “Just looking at you drives me crazy.”

It felt so good to be loved and admired the way Ted loved and admired her. It was completely different from what she’d experienced with Skip. Ted didn’t hold her down; he buoyed her up. “There’s just one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not keeping the money.”

He straightened. “What will you do with it?”

“I’m not sure.” She rose on tiptoe to rub her cold nose against his. “But I have some ideas.”

“So you’ll be broke again? I was joking when I said I’d rather you be poor.” He was joking now; he didn’t seem to care about her financial situation.

“Yes, but don’t worry, I’ll still be good in bed.”

“At least you know what’s important,” he said and drew her inside, where it was warm.

The money from the ring came in on Thursday. Even though it was Christmas Eve, Sophia spent the afternoon going down the list she’d asked Kelly to send, making out checks. After that, she was so excited it was hard to get through dinner. Since she wasn’t handing the money over to the FBI, she’d decided to tell Alexa about the situation. She thought her daughter should know why she was doing what she was doing, and she had been surprised by how well Lex had taken the news. She hadn’t complained, hadn’t asked if they could keep some or all of it; she agreed with what Sophia had planned and was eager to participate.

Fortunately, Ted was on board, as well. He’d finished his book, so he was in a great mood and ready to take some time off for the holidays.

“You all set?” he asked when he walked into the living room to see her putting on her coat. “We’ll be intruding on everyone’s holiday, so we don’t want to show up too late.”

She gestured at the Christmas cards stacked on the coffee table. “Considering what’s inside those, I think people will want to see us, no matter what time we come, but I’m ready.” She removed a scarf from her pocket, and tied it around her neck. They weren’t having a white Christmas this year—but it was cold, and she’d be getting in and out of the car for the next two hours.

Grabbing the ends of her scarf, he pulled her to him. “You’re such an inspiration. You know that?”

“It’s nice to hear I have one convert.” She smiled as she remembered him telling her how beautiful she was, and how much she’d wanted him to say something more meaningful.

“I can’t help it if I’m smarter than everyone else.”

Alexa came hurrying in. “Okay, my cookies are in the car and I told Royce we’d drop them by.”

Sophia gathered up the stack of cards. Two hundred thousand dollars wasn’t nearly enough to be able to return everyone’s money, so she’d been forced to limit her payments to investors who lived in Whiskey Creek. Even then, she’d had to lay down some rules. Those who hadn’t taken anything from the house received twenty percent of what they’d lost. That meant Kyle would get $20,000, Noah would get $10,000, and ten other investors would each get $5,000. Those who’d come to the house and removed furniture and other goods would get five or ten percent, depending on the value of what they took—Reverend Flores, Eric Groscost, and eight others. Chief Stacy wouldn’t get a dime.

At first, Sophia hadn’t wanted to give anything to his girlfriend, either. She was afraid he’d benefit. But then she realized it wasn’t fair to hold Pam Swank responsible for her partner’s actions—that was exactly what had happened to her with Skip. So Pam was getting $15,000, which was half the remaining balance. The DeBussis would get the other half. That hadn’t been an easy decision, either, but they were Alexa’s grandparents.

“We’re not driving over to Jackson to deliver Pam Swank’s, are we?” Ted asked when he saw her name on the top card.

“No, I’ll mail that one.” She knew they might run out of time and would mail quite a few others, as well. Skip had had a lot of investors, even here in Whiskey Creek. But she wanted to hand-deliver as many as possible. It would be worth the effort to see the shock and excitement on the recipients’ faces. She was pretty sure she’d never feel more like Santa Claus.

Which reminded her...

“Don’t forget that Santa hat you wanted to wear,” she told Alexa, who ran to retrieve it from the kitchen.

“Shall we start with Noah?” she asked, thumbing through the cards while they waited.

Ted nodded. “That’ll be fun,” he said, and he was right. Noah and Adelaide were so surprised and grateful. Everyone else was, too. By the end of the night, Sophia knew that no Christmas would ever be as memorable as this one.

It was noon on Christmas Day, and the next few minutes were going to be awkward. Ted wasn’t looking forward to seeing Eve. Not after having such an incredible Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Sophia and Alexa. Sophia had given him a digital scrapbook she’d created on the computer containing all the old photographs she’d saved from when they’d dated as teenagers; he’d given her the promise ring she’d returned when she married Skip. Their gifts hadn’t been expensive, but they’d been thoughtful and sentimental. He hadn’t wanted to give her so much that she couldn’t feel proud of her own gifts and, although he’d gotten her a few other things, he felt he’d managed that. They’d both spent most of their money on Alexa, who’d had a wonderful Christmas.

Ted hated to ruin an otherwise perfect day. But taking a homemade pie to Eve was so important to Sophia that he couldn’t say no. Besides, she was right. Now was the time to reach out to Eve, before she could build up too much resentment. He’d tried to wait a respectable amount of time after breaking up with her to start a relationship with Sophia, but...the laws of attraction had been working against him.

Eve took a while to answer the door. When she did, and saw them standing on her stoop, he could tell that she wasn’t too pleased, despite their peace offering. Her eyes shifted from Sophia to him and back again. Fortunately, Alexa wasn’t with them. They’d dropped her off at the DeBussis so she could spend a few hours with her grandparents.

“I’m afraid you caught me at a bad time,” she said. “I was about to head over to my parents’.”

Sophia spoke before he could. “We won’t hold you up. We just...we wanted to bring you this. And mostly we wanted to say that...of all the people we know, you’re one of our favorites. We both feel that way.”

Eve smiled politely and took the pie. “Thank you. I hope you have a merry Christmas.”

She started to go in and shut the door, but Sophia wasn’t satisfied. “Eve?”

Eve turned, eyebrows raised. “Yes?”

“We don’t want to lose your friendship. It’s a lot to ask that you forgive and forget, but...we—I—admire you so much.”

Ted sensed that Eve wanted to say something trite just to get rid of them but the naked emotion in Sophia’s voice, the absolute honesty, wouldn’t allow it. She hesitated, glanced at him again, and then tears filled her eyes.

“Can’t I be mad for a few weeks at least?” she asked with a watery laugh.

“As long as it doesn’t last any longer than that,” Sophia said. “Because I’m sorry if you’ve been hurt or disappointed or embarrassed. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t dragged me out of bed that night you came home with Alexa. You—your support at that critical moment—saved my life. So, believe me, if I could’ve stopped loving Ted, I would have. I tried. But I’ve been trying for fourteen years and it never works.”

“What happened was my fault,” Ted said. “Not hers. When you and I were together, she was so careful to stay out of the way. I’m the only one you should be mad at.” He offered her a sheepish grin. “But I’m sorry, too.”

Eve put the pie on a side table so she could wipe her cheeks. “We’ll get past it,” she promised, and this time her smile seemed genuine. “I know you two are meant to be together. There’s no need to feel bad about that.”

Sophia pulled her into an embrace. “I’m happy you feel that way. I would love for you to be a bigger part of my life.”

“I’d like that, too,” she said.

Ted hugged her next. “I’m sorry,” he whispered again and felt her squeeze him a little harder in return.

Sophia was tired but happy when they left Eve’s. She wanted an afternoon nap with Ted before they were supposed to pick up Alexa and go to Ted’s mother’s. Although Principal Dixon had been unusually pleasant when she called to invite them to dinner—she had invited Sophia and Alexa personally—Sophia was still a little nervous about spending the evening with her. It’d been hard enough to handle the chill when she and Ted dropped Alexa off at Skip’s parents’ house. They wanted to make it clear, despite the $15,000, that they didn’t approve of how quickly she was moving on.

Sophia didn’t care what they thought. But she did care about winning over Ted’s mother. For his sake, that was important.

“Damn it,” Ted suddenly muttered.

Surprised that he could be upset at anything today, Sophia twisted around to see what he was looking at in the rearview mirror. Chief Stacy was behind them in his cruiser—and he had his lights on.

“Were you speeding?” she asked nervously.

“Nope.”

“Then what do you think he wants?”

“To give us a hard time. What else?”

The police chief approached the car wearing his uniform and carrying his pad, as if he planned to write them a ticket.

Ted was busy with his phone until Stacy got close, but then he rolled down his window. “I do something wrong, Chief?”

Stacy didn’t answer. He leaned down and looked in at her. “Guess you came across some money after all, eh?”

She kept her hands clasped in her lap. She wasn’t nearly as frightened of him when Ted was with her, but she didn’t want to force Ted to come to her rescue, either. “I did.”

He hooked his thumbs in his belt. “I’m hearing about everybody getting a payment. It’s the talk of the town. ‘Isn’t that Sophia DeBussi wonderful?’” He gave her a hard stare. “So where’s my money?”

“Your girlfriend will be receiving $15,000 very shortly. That should make you happy.”

“Hardly. We’re not seeing each other anymore,” he said. “So you’d better just split that payment in two.”

Ted jumped in. “Sorry, Chief. That’s not going to happen. You got your money’s worth when you walked away with her jewelry. And if you push this, half this town will be up in arms against you. I think it’s fair to say that Sophia’s popularity has returned. Now...is there a reason you stopped me?”

When he straightened, Sophia could no longer see his face, but she could hear the taunt in his voice. “The fact remains that she’s going to want to play fair with me.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll make her life pretty damn miserable if she doesn’t. And she knows I can do that.”

Ted shook his head. “Come on, Chief. This is Christmas. You don’t really want to start trouble today.”

“It’s my job to look out for public safety no matter what day it is, Mr. Dixon. And I do believe you were driving way too fast as you sailed through town.”

“Bullshit. You know I wasn’t speeding.”

“Who’s to say otherwise?” he said. “Driver’s license and registration, please.”

Ted didn’t bother reaching for the glove box. “Are you sure you’re committed to this? Because if you write me a ticket, I’m just going to take it over to Mayor Rackham and file another complaint.”

Chief Stacy spat on the road. “I heard you’d been down to city hall.”

“It’s true. Levi, Dylan and Aaron have been there, too. We’re not making a secret of it. We’re tired of seeing you abuse your power. And I don’t mind telling you that Mayor Rackham isn’t too pleased, either. The complaints are stacking up. Apparently, your ex-wife knows quite a bit about how you operate and has shared that information. She claims you’ve been harassing her since the divorce. So...you might want to consider yourself lucky that you’ve gotten away with your behavior so far and get back in your cruiser. Otherwise, you could lose your job.”

Sophia felt the desire to dig at her cuticles but curled her fingernails into her palms instead. She hadn’t realized Ted had taken action against Stacy, even though he’d once said he was going to.

Stacy sneered as if he wasn’t scared at all. “Don’t get carried away. You’re not half as tough as you pretend to be. There’s nothing you can do to me.”

“I won’t have to do anything. You’ve made enough enemies over the years to sink yourself.”

Suddenly, Stacy’s tone changed. “Let me tell you something, you little smartass prick. You go after my job, and you’ll never know peace in this town again.”

“That sounds like a threat to me, Chief,” Ted said.

“That’s a promise.” Shoving his ticket book in his pocket, he strode back to his car.

“He’s crazy,” Sophia murmured. “Let’s get out of here.”

But Ted wasn’t ready to go. He waved at Chief Stacy as if their exchange had been pleasant. “Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas!”

Obviously unhappy that he hadn’t made more of an impact, Stacy pulled his cruiser up alongside the Lexus and glared in at them before punching the gas pedal and spraying gravel against Ted’s door.

“He scares me,” Sophia said.

Ted stared after him. “Don’t worry. He won’t be around much longer.”

“How do you know?”

He held up his cell phone to show her that he’d recorded the whole encounter, then immediately sent the file to Mayor Rackham, Dylan, Aaron and Levi.

It was another two months before the city took action but by March, Whiskey Creek had a new chief of police.

Ted took Sophia out to celebrate when he heard the news—and that was when he proposed.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK by Brenda Novak.