Devon chuckles and shakes his head. “She is, Princess.” Xena’s grin turns into a pout. “Not by much, though. It could be her shoes.”
Lincoln fusses in the stroller he’s been napping in, so I lean over and pick him up, snuggling him against my chest. Charlie comes over to dig a bottle out of the diaper bag, taking it to the kitchen to heat it without even being asked. My heart swells with how much I love her. She really is the best sister and auntie we could ever hope for.
“What makes you think he’s a career Santa?” Devon asks. “Aren’t those guys usually the ones who look like Santa? You know, chubby old guys with white beards? Unless you’re saying Lincoln’s dad is a chubby old guy?”
My mouth drops.
It hadn’t even occurred to me he might not be a Santa all the time. He had such a high-quality Santa costume, I sort of assumed being Santa was his job. Even when he thought he’d forgotten to give me a bonus check, I thought it was him being a good Santa. Could he work for the company that threw the party? Did he say something about HR cutting me a check?
“What did you say he looked like last night?” Charlie asks, coming back with Lincoln’s bottle. “He wasn’t in a Santa costume, was he?”
I shake my head, my cheeks heating when I remember the way his suit pants hugged his ass so deliciously. “No. He was wearing a nice three-piece suit. Like, a really nice suit. He looked gorgeous.”
Devon raises an eyebrow and takes a drink of his coffee. “And you think his Santa salary is enough for him to afford to buy a nice suit?”
“I mean, maybe?” I groan with the realization that Santa impersonators probably aren’t raking it in. “Ugh. Probably not.”
Charlie comes back and hands me Lincoln’s bottle, pulling out a chair to sit with us. She gets comfortable, then takes Lincoln and his bottle and begins to feed him.
Devon chuckles. “Okay, so he probably isn’t a career Santa. Maybe he works for the company? Did you happen to get the name?”
“Uhhh,” I stall, trying to force myself to remember something I’m pretty sure I didn’t see in the first place. I was running late, so I didn’t pay attention to the name on the sign outside. I ran right past it with barely a glance. What did it say? “It’s some kind of toy store, I think. The sign had the word Toys on it, at least. I was in a hurry, so I didn’t read it properly.”
Devon pulls out his phone and starts typing. “Leave it with me. I’ll find him.” He gets up and walks to the door. “See you later, Princess,” he yells to Xena. “I’ll talk to you soon, Phoebe. Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
Xena comes over to the table and picks up Devon’s cup.
“He doesn’t need to do that,” I tell her. “He barely knows me.”
She shrugs. “Let him. He’s still kicking himself for not finding his buddy’s first girlfriend a couple of years ago when they’d bumped into each other and immediately lost contact again. He figures that having police training and working security for a local band means he should also be an amazing private investigator. He’s always looking for ways to redeem himself. Trust me, he loves doing this kind of thing. You’re doing him a favor by letting him find Lincoln’s dad.”
I think for a second, finally realizing why Devon looked so familiar the first time I came in here. “Wait a minute. Does he work for Sleeping Dogs?”
Xena nods. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“I worked for their record company before I had Lincoln. I used to handle social media for them and a bunch of other bands. I saw Devon in the background of some photos. He looks way different when he’s not wearing that black suit.”
Xena laughs. “No way. That’s awesome. I can’t wait to tell him. So why aren’t you working there anymore?”
I roll my eyes and shrug. “No idea. Someone at the record company decided they didn’t need me anymore. I moved back home to live with my parents because of the pregnancy anyway, so I didn’t fight it.”
“She didn’t fight even though our whole family thinks she should have,” Charlie says, throwing one of Lincoln’s blankets over her shoulder before resting him against it and firmly patting his back. I should have done that last night when I burped him. Then maybe I wouldn’t have had puke stains on my shirt when I met his dad. “Those bastards fired her for being pregnant.” She spears me with a pointed look. “Which is so wrong.”
“Hella wrong.” Xena nods in agreement. “You shouldn’t have let them get away with it.”
“I know, I know.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “I should have done something when they let me go. But you remember what it was like for me back then, don’t you, Charlie? I had more than enough to worry about without adding taking on a record label for wrongful dismissal to the pile. Plus, they never really blamed it on my pregnancy. There’s no proof.”
When I found myself pregnant after a one-night stand with Santa Claus, I decided it would be easiest if I moved back home with my parents. When faced with an unplanned pregnancy so soon after I’d walked away from the man I thought I’d be spending the rest of my life with, I wanted to be around family. I had so many things to think about with the drastic turn my life took that worrying over losing a job I was planning to quit anyway wasn’t even on my radar. At the time, I was just relieved I’d have one less thing to do. Xena and Charlie are right, though. I shouldn’t let them get away with it.
I release a shuddering sigh and reach for Lincoln, wanting to snuggle my baby. “So, what can I do about it now?”
“Yes! I knew you would come around.” Charlie jumps up, pumping her fist in victory. “Let me look into some things and we’ll figure it out.”
I chuckle, dipping my head to nuzzle Lincoln. I’m not sure there’s anything that can be done, but I enjoy seeing Charlie happy like this. It’s been too long since she’s shown this much excitement for anything that wasn’t directly related to Lincoln. This last year has been full of heartbreak for both the Fox girls, something I plan to address with Charlie’s scumbag ex-boyfriend if I ever get my hands on him.
Xena runs back behind the counter and grabs her sword again. “Yeah!” She yells, thrusting the sword up in the air. “Count me in. I am amazing at revenge.”
Oh crap. What have I gotten myself into? How likely is this scheme to end up with someone going to jail?
