Chapter 17
“Clarissa, take down the mistletoe from your office door!”
Clarissa rolled her eyes and turned away from Marlise. “Grinch,” she muttered. She yanked the leafy stem off the top of the door frame and went in her office. Felicity followed, but not before giving Jay a coy smile.
The jealous detective inside Rebecca’s head was always on the case, though Rebecca wished she could make her pack up and move out. Whatever was going on between Felicity and Jay was none of her business, and she had to stop dwelling on it.
Spending every day with Jay was not something she dreaded anymore. She no longer wondered if he was the old Jay or the new Jay. He was just who he was.
She’d changed, too. For example, unlike the stupid Rebecca in college, current Rebecca was hopelessly in love with him, and there was nothing she could do about it. He was her boss, and his promise to never, ever, be inappropriate with her again was kind of a hang-up. She couldn’t bring herself to challenge him on it. The big chicken inside of her lived next to the jealous detective, and the two of them kept her up at night, wishing she’d turned her head when Jay sort of put the moves on her. She could’ve kissed him back, to heck with the consequences.
As it was, he never stood close enough to her for anything to happen, accidental or not. But tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and they’d be spending it together. Working, of course.
Jay tapped his pen on the side of his desk. “We have to go pick up the flowers right now. The florist wants to close up shop. Every year I keep hoping there won’t be a Christmas wedding, and every year there’s a bride who thinks it’s a great idea.”
“It’s romantic,” Rebecca countered. “For them. For everyone else, it’s just inconvenient. I’m tired of begging hotels for rooms for all her last minute relatives who decided they could get off work after all.”
“Are there more?” Jay asked, looking worried.
“I hope not. I found her cousin’s family a room yesterday and I haven’t heard from anyone else.”
Dorothy came in, all smiles. “I won’t see you two until after Christmas so I wanted to give you your Christmas cookies now.”
Rebecca took her Christmas tin. “Thank you, Dorothy.”
“Enjoy, enjoy. But um, do you have little ones at home? Nieces or nephews coming?”
Rebecca shook her head, not sure why she was asking.
Jay smirked. “She wants to make sure you don’t hand out the rum balls to anyone underage.”
“Oh.” She waited until Dorothy left before opening the lid and taking an investigatory sniff. “Oh wow. Those are strong. And I think the sugar cookie next to them might have absorbed some of it. These are making my Starbucks gift cards seem downright dull.”
“Shannon and I usually eat them after putting together all of Bridger’s toys from Santa. You know, the ones with instructions written by someone who hates children.”
Rebecca laughed, but then she thought of how Shannon would be doing that on her own this year. “What are they going to do while you’re working?”
“Shannon and Bridger are actually already in Washington, visiting my parents. I convinced her to go. They haven’t seen Bridger since he was four.”
“I bet they’re thrilled.”
Jay rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope so. I hope everyone’s getting along. My parents were really upset when Shannon said she was leaving her husband. They thought she should have given the marriage more time.”
“How long was she married?”
“Only two months. But they were so unhappy together. He triggered all the things that cause Shannon anxiety and he made her feel bad about herself. I saw glimpses of it when they were dating, but I didn’t want to meddle.”
“Does he ever see Bridger?”
Jay shook his head, looking kind of sad. “He never wanted kids. For me, that was reason enough to leave the second she found out she was pregnant.”
And yet, Jay had stepped in.
“That’s good of her to try to mend fences. I hope it works out.”
“Me too.”
“So, are you and Marlise going to spend Christmas together?”
