Aiden’s cheek creased. “Apparently I was included in the family lottery and drew Lacey O’Shea’s name. Is she even coming home for Christmas?”
My cousin was a big time cop in Detroit, and she needed to come home for good. “Right now, we don’t know yet. But even if she doesn’t, you can send her a present.” Yeah, my mom had put in Aiden’s name. She really was hoping for him to stick around. “Is it okay you’re in the lottery?” Our family was so big that we drew names for everyone except immediate family.
“Sure,” he said, frowning. “But I have no clue what to get her.”
I brightened. “I have the perfect thing. I bought her a necklace at the Irish shop in Spokane and also splurged on matching earrings. You can give her the earrings.” Lacey was my best friend, and we always exchanged gifts, even though we were both also in the family lottery.
“I’ll pay you for them,” he said, looking relieved.
It was a little scary how easily he fit in with my family, considering I wasn’t sure he was going to stay. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that. I had enough concerns. I smiled. “You look tired. Let’s get some sleep.”
“Don’t want to sleep.” His hands moved to my hips and he lifted me against him.
I wrapped both arms around his neck and clamped my thighs to his hips. “I was hoping you would say that.”
Then I kissed him, forgetting all about the world.
For now.
Chapter 36
The smell of sugar donuts and pine trees wafted through the mall as frantic shoppers scurried from store to store, emerging with bags and wrapped presents. I jumped out of the way of a middle-aged woman with a deranged gleam in her eye as she darted into the closest toy store.
Bud sighed next to me, wearing his uniform and looking nicely polished. “I should get hazard pay for covering you.”
Probably true. I rolled my eyes and stood in line for donuts, buying us both a bag. He took his, looking at the cinnamon and sugar. “We could share one of these bags.”
I would’ve answered, but my mouth was full of a miniature donut. A choir from a local elementary school belted outJingle Bellsfrom a stage near the JC Penney’s and out of the main drag.
Chewing, I led him beyond a couple of elves, several decorated shops, and shoppers weighed down with bags to the fountain of a large lotus flower surrounded by a green pool of water in the center. Santas spread out in every direction, handing out candy canes and thanking people for slipping cash into their charity buckets. A raised platform showed one Santa listening to wishes. I squinted, trying to make him out.
“They all look alike.” Bud wiped cinnamon on a napkin, feeling like a solid presence at my side.
I frowned. We did work together, and I had gotten him shot earlier that summer. Did that mean I should buy him a present? He was on the outs with his wife, whoever that was, so maybe he needed a friend and an invite to my family’s party. “Do you have plans for Christmas?” I sat on a wooden bench, the paper of my donut bag crackling.
“Yeah.” He sat next to me, his gaze sweeping the festive atmosphere. “Thanks, though.”
I ate another donut, feeling my blood sugar happily spike. “There’s Bernie,” I said, recognizing him finally by his new coat over by Macy’s. He posed for a picture with several giggling teenaged girls, his chest proudly puffed out.
Bags rustled, and Florence came up on my right, her eyes bright and her cheeks rosy. “Aren’t they adorable?”
I scooted closer to Bud so she could sit on my other side. “They look like they’re having fun.” I tilted the donut bag her way.
She dropped her packages and took a treat. “They are. It’s so cute. The mall does pay them, but they each have a bucket for their charity of choice. Bernie is giving to the Humane Society this year. We might get a puppy from them after the holidays.”
“So you two are getting serious.” I reached for another donut.
“Yes. I can’t believe Lawrence set Bernie up like that. I guess I should have questioned him more at the time, but I was so hurt and angry that I just believed him.” She shrugged, looking festive in a green sweater over white linen pants. “He believed it, so I did as well. I wish I could just smack Lawrence in the face and yell at him. How dare he do that to us.”
I looked around. “Speaking of which, if he did that to Bernie, did he hurt or betray anybody else through the years?” From the sound of it, nothing held Lawrence back.
She sighed. “Not that I know of, but how would I know? This whole thing is shocking.” She winced. “I don’t mean to speak badly about the dead, but it wasn’t as if Lawrence was a mastermind of anything, you know? His first wife, God rest her soul, was the brains behind the bait and tackle shop. Lawrence was nice to look at and had a great package and moves in bed, but I can’t imagine he put together such a betrayal of Bernie. Of me, too.”
I stole a napkin from Bud to wipe off my fingers. “Do you think Hoyt helped him? That Hoyt created the plan?” The apartment they’d used had been utilized by Hoyt to gamble, so perhaps?
She reached for another donut. “I don’t know. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree on that one. Hoyt doesn’t seem like much of a mastermind.”
That had been my observation as well. I noted the different Santas. “That’s Doc Springfield over there, and Jocko Terezzi is near the gaming store. Where are the rest?”
