“Oh, could you?” Mom gushed before Merry could stop her. “That would be wonderful. We’re getting married tomorrow, and I’d be beside myself if something happened to the diamond. Such a bad omen.”
“A terrible omen,” Rachel agreed. “Not that we believe in superstitions.”
Dan smiled at his wife. “Of course not. Be right back, ladies.”
He disappeared into the back room, and Mom slid two paces to her right. “Is this the Mrs. Claus diamond?” she asked Rachel.
Merry’s stomach clawed its way into her chest.
“The one and only.” Rachel mirrored Mom’s movements, both of them leaning into the display glass to peer at the cursed ring on a black velvet finger.
“It’s a true work of art.” Mom laughed her tinkling society laugh. “And I’ve had enough diamonds to know.”
“Dan helped design it when he was barely out of college,” Rachel said. “It’s been an honor for the family to display it for so many years. Spencer McGraw himself came here and shook Dan’s hand when it was done.”
“Just amazing,” Mom said.
“Would you like to try it on?” Rachel whispered.
Merry’s belly turned into a fish out of water, flipping and flopping and gasping for air.
“Me? Try on the Mrs. Claus diamond?” The fake awe in Mom’s voice was enough to make Merry nauseous.
“As a matter of protocol, we always let Spencer know when there’s been a security issue, and last night, he told Dan he was thinking of selling it,” Rachel continued in her whisper. “Plus, for such a generous donation toward a cause near and dear to Bliss’s heart, it’s the least I can do.”
Mom glanced at Merry.
Max wasn’t here.
Merry had to walk out this door with the fake Mrs. Claus diamond and take it to his house and ask him to keep it safe.
Rachel didn’t know who Daddy was, or she never would’ve suggested letting Mom try on the infamous diamond, donation to Pepper’s bachelor auction fund or not.
“I would be honored, Rachel,” Mom breathed.
Merry’s lungs shrank to the size of a thimble.
Was Mom in on it with Dad?
Before she could squeak out a protest, Rachel had the display case unlocked and open. The Mrs. Claus snowflake ring sparkled.
Merry had to go.
She had to take the fake to Max.
Right. Now.
But her feet were cemented to the floor, her knees not just locked, but dead-bolted.
“Your engagement ring is about three carats?” Rachel said. “The center diamond here is three-point-two.”
“Just beautiful,” Mom breathed.
A muted doorbell tone sounded. Merry jumped as though it were gunfire. A slender woman darted out from behind the counter. “Hi, Mrs. Mosely. Looking for that perfect gift for us to suggest to Mr. Mosely?”
“The man couldn’t find his own nose in a snowstorm,” a grumpy female voice answered.
Mom had the Mrs. Claus ring, holding it between her thumb and forefinger.
The real ring.
The one Daddy wanted to get his hands on.
“So beautiful,” Mom said. “May I try it on?”
“Of course.” Rachel smiled brightly.
Mom slid it onto her ring finger on her right hand and held it up for all of them to admire.
If this were my book, Uncle Sandy would have one of his minions drop from the ceiling right now and pluck that thing clean off, Phoebe Moon said.
Merry forced herself to breathe and not look at the ceiling.
Mom shifted beside her. “Here, Merry. You’ve had your share of bad luck in love. Maybe if you try on the ring, its curse and your string of misfortunes will—oops!”
Before Merry could move, the diamond slipped through Mom’s fingers and fell, tumbling in a circle to the flat gray carpet.
“Mom!”
Rachel gasped.
Merry’s knees unlocked. Her hips too. And before she could think, she dropped into a squat, the fake Mrs. Claus diamond held against her palm with her thumb while she extended her left hand to grab the real ring.
When she stood, real ring clenched under her last three fingers, fake ring extended between her thumb and forefinger, her heart was pounding so hard the people walking by should’ve seen it bouncing out her back, through her spine, cartoon-style. Her pulse rushed so loud in her ears that the sound hurt her eyeballs. “Here.” She thrust the fake at Rachel. “Please put this back before my mother breaks it and has to buy it.”
Rachel frowned at her gloves. “Are you cold? That’s how the stomach bug starts. You feel really cold until—”
“This ring is making me very nervous,” Merry blurted.
“Oh, of course, of course.” Rachel quickly took the ring, gave it an efficient dusting with a cloth, and locked it back up, a slight flush in her cheeks. “If Mr. McGraw decides to sell it, you’ll be the first people we’ll call.”
Merry’s knees wobbled like a dam about to give way.
Dan stepped through the door again. “Beautiful diamond, Vicky. It’s in there snug and perfect.”
Mom smiled too brightly at him. “You are such a dear to check for me. I must’ve had a wee bit too much tequila last night.”
“I’m sure they saw the video, Mom.” Merry’s voice wobbled, and she was nearly certain she would sweat through her leather gloves before they got out of this store.
Maybe she should tell Dan.
Max trusted Dan, right?
Max’s voice echoed in her head. He’s the perfect oldest child. We got along well enough, but he can be annoying. Always does the right thing.
Nope.
Wouldn’t be telling Dan. Because the right thing would be to demand what Merry was doing with a fake, and why she thought she’d get away with walking out the front door with the real diamond ring, and what if this was just the opportunity Daddy was waiting for?
What if she had already done what Daddy was waiting for?
Dan and Rachel and Mom were laughing. Merry was probably supposed to know about what, but she didn’t.
“Mom?” Merry interrupted. “I’m not feeling well.”
“Oh, dear.” Rachel took a giant step back.
Dan angled away too.
Merry was going to puke.
Not because she had a stomach virus.
But because she was about to walk out of a jewelry store with Max’s family’s most famous diamond.
Mom put her hand to Merry’s shoulders. “Oopsie-daisy, let’s go,” she said cheerfully.
Merry put one foot in front of the other, then did it again and again until she was crossing the threshold of With This Ring with a priceless diamond clutched in her gloved hand inside her pocket.
So this was what a million or two bucks felt like.
Nope.
She didn’t get the thrill.
Outside, the winter air slapped her in the face.
“You really don’t look well, dear,” Mom said.
“I need to lie down.” And possibly breathe into a paper bag.
But most of all, she needed to get this diamond to safety.
You are truly a wuss, Merry Silver, Phoebe Moon said. You did the right thing. Max is the only person you can trust, and you will make it to his house safe and sound. You got ninja moves, babe. You can do this. Make me proud, author-mama.
Were prisoners allowed to write books when they were behind bars?
Because Merry would miss Phoebe Moon. And Zack Diggory.
And even dastardly Uncle Sandy and his hench owl, Titus, who hadn’t even made it into a book yet.
Mom and Merry forgot to check the trunk. The backseat was empty, which Merry knew because Mom insisted she lie down on it.
She didn’t ask if Merry had switched the diamond.
And Merry hadn’t asked if Mom was in on it with Daddy.
Two blocks later, Merry sat straight up. “I feel better. Can I get out here?”
Mom didn’t know where Max lived. Daddy probably did, but Mom didn’t.
Or did she?
Mom eyed her in the rearview mirror. “Merry? Sweetheart—”
“Please, Mom. I’ll meet you at the cupcake place for lunch. Cross my heart. I just—I just get nauseated in jewelry stores. I need some fresh air. Or—or I’ll go to the bookstore. I love bookstores.”
Mom scanned their surroundings. They were still on The Aisle, about four blocks from Max’s neighborhood south of downtown.
“We need a movie night,” Mom said.
Code for we need to talk somewhere we won’t be overheard.
Daddy wasn’t dangerous. He wasn’t the type to bug Mom’s car. He wouldn’t attack to get what Merry had.
Or did she really know her daddy at all?
Why did Mom and Merry need to use code words in supposed private?
“Can we watch Terminator?” Merry forced out.
“You and your movies.” Mom’s lips twitched in an affectionate smile. “Where’s this bookstore?”
Merry directed her around the corner, and thirty seconds later, Merry unlocked the door and slid out into the frigid morning, senses on full alert, and began her quest to reach Max’s house.
* * *
Max was having one hell of a dream.
There was a purple tree in his living room, except he was tucked safely away in his attic, listening to Phoebe Moon explain how dastardly Uncle Sandy planned to steal all the cheese from the moon so Merry couldn’t have any more.
He tried to reach for Merry, sitting atop her gilded snowflake throne on Bliss’s wedding cake monument, but the cake floated away on a cotton-candy breeze.
Also, his arms and legs were locked, and he was in his bedroom with Scout stretched beside his body.
He could see his bedroom.
Daylight filtered through the blinds. His door—newly repainted white—was half-open to the hallway, and he could see the cream-colored wall across the way.
But he could also still see Merry on her throne.
“Max,” she said. “Max, I know this is Bliss, but you have got to lock your doors. Do you understand?”
She reached down from her throne and tapped her fingers against his cheekbones. “Max? Max, can you hear me?”
Why was she wearing a coat? It was bloody hot in here.
Because you’re sick as a dog, Phoebe Moon’s irritating high-pitched voice answered him.
Dogs don’t get sick, Phoebe Moon, that Zack Diggory voice answered.
“Max.”
Merry was so real. As if she were actually right there. He smiled at her.
“I stole the Mrs. Claus diamond,” she said. “My daddy made a fake. I switched them.”
Max blinked. He was in his room. Scout beside him. Real sunlight streaming through the windows. And—he wasn’t alone. “Merry.”
She sank to the edge of his bed, rattling words and phrases he couldn’t hear over the roar of indignation pulling him out of the pudding that was his brain. Finally, she came into focus again.
And she was still here.
Right here. With him.
“Max, please don’t hate me.” Pleading dark mocha eyes drilled into his while guilt slammed his chest, and he clawed his way out of the pudding of his muddled brain.
How many times had he told her this week that he trusted her? How many times had he told her she could trust him?
And here he was, dreaming that she’d do something as horrible as help her father steal Gramps’s pinnacle work of art.
When Merry had come back to him. After all the times she’d run away from him this week, she’d come back to him, and his dumbass dreams were trying to convince him she was the same as her father.
Fucking fever.
“Merry.” He sat and reached for her, and there she was. Solid and too hot against his clammy skin, but there. Real.
She’d come back.
Cool fingers pressed onto his forehead. “Oh, Max. You’re burning up.” She pulled back, peering down at him with worry lines he wanted to wipe away. “Are you okay?”
“Perfect. You’re here.”
Her lips wobbled up, and her eyes went watery. “So we…we’re okay?”
“Always,” he rasped out.
“You heard me?”
He nodded. She could’ve told him anything—anything—and he’d trust her. Whatever it took to make her stay.
Her light fingertips brushed his forehead again. “When’s the last time you had anything to drink?”
He couldn’t remember. Hell, he didn’t even know what day it was.
“Lie down,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of you.
Scout’s tail thumped his leg. Merry pushed gently on his shoulders, and Max obeyed.
And before she was out the door, he was drifting back into a dream, this time with a smile on his face.
Chapter 20
Phoebe Moon should’ve left Zack Diggory behind. Now, not only did she have to steal the sunshine back from dastardly Uncle Sandy, but she also had to save her new best friend.
—Phoebe Moon and the Missing Sunshine
* * *
One year ago…
Merry was living a lie.
It was an occasional lie—she probably only saw Max once a week, though they did email and text decently regularly—and she was beginning to wonder if this lie could honestly become her truth.
Daddy was still behaving himself in Wisconsin. She’d talked to him over the weekend, and he’d sounded tired but good.
She hadn’t told him she was dating someone.
He hadn’t asked.
Nor had she mentioned Max to Mom at any point in the past two months.
She had lots of practice with keeping secrets, and she was beginning to wonder how long she could keep this up before she’d have to tell someone something.
But she could honestly admit to herself that she missed Max during their first weekend apart after that night in Trixie’s backseat. So when he dropped a text late Tuesday night and asked if she’d consider teleworking from his place tomorrow since he had a fridge full of cheese he couldn’t eat by himself, going to Bliss had been a no-brainer.
Late morning, she let herself into his house with his garage and alarm codes, then sat on his low leather couch before the fireplace, feeding Scout fruitcake cupcakes and working on Phoebe Moon’s next story.
Shortly before five, she packed up her laptop. She was digging through his cheese selections when he got home. He walked in through the garage, tugging off his tie, swept a glance over Merry and the mess she was making of his kitchen, and treated her to a smile that made her heart stop.
“Missing your pearls and an apron,” he teased. He stopped behind her and slid his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to her neck below her ear. “Not that you’d be wearing them for long,” he added.
This.
This was why she hadn’t told him about Daddy yet.
And why she hadn’t left him yet.
She was wanted. She was appreciated. Other than the few little omissions about her life, she was stepping into the shoes of a Merry she wanted to be. Of the life she wanted to live.
She twisted in his arms to face him, put her palms to his ears, and pulled him in for a kiss that ended with a string of discarded clothing and a very satisfied, very naked Merry on his couch.
They lay there whispering to each other until Max’s stomach growled. She pushed him off and shrugged into his dress shirt, then retrieved the cheese plate and a sleeve of crackers from the kitchen.
They sat there eating, talking, teasing and flirting and laughing. So normal. So right.
Until Scout exploded in barking and dashed to the back windows.
Daddy.
“No,” she whispered.
“Scout. Down, girl.” Max stood and went to peek outside. “She’s crazy,” he said to Merry, but she must’ve given something away, because he frowned. “Merry? You okay?”
She t
ried to nod.
But Scout wouldn’t quit barking.
Merry had never heard anything like it.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Max leaned over the back of the couch and rubbed her shoulders. “Probably just some kids.”
“Your…alarm?” she gulped out.
He gave her a fuzzy frown, but stepped to the front door and hit his alarm code. “All set.”
But it wasn’t.
It wasn’t set at all.
Daddy wouldn’t—surely he wouldn’t do anything to Max? Max was a good guy. Merry was happy here. She was safe. Her life was stable.
Daddy wouldn’t come to Bliss just to mess with one of Merry’s boyfriends.
He waited until they’d hurt her first. It was how he worked.
But she’d never been involved like this before.
And Max had been pretty clear that he wasn’t looking for serious commitment.
So why couldn’t she breathe? Why did it feel like her life was on the verge of imploding again?
Scout’s barking had slowed, but she was still growling low in her throat.
Max pulled Merry into his lap. She should resist, but she didn’t want to. “Somebody hurt you?” he murmured softly.
Not Daddy. At least, not on purpose. Never on purpose. “No. It’s…” She dropped her head to his shoulder. She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be letting him stroke her back, shouldn’t let him pepper her head with kisses, shouldn’t lean on his inherent strength and steadiness.
Because she couldn’t offer him the same promises he was silently making her.
I’ll take care of you.
I’ll protect you.
I won’t hurt you.
Scout stopped growling. She slunk to Max’s feet and collapsed with a grunt, one wary eye still on the back windows.
“See?” Max murmured. “All better.”
It wasn’t, but she stroked a hand over his rough cheek, then up through his hair, and pulled him in for a kiss.
A desperate, hungry plea of a kiss.
Whether he understood or not, he kissed her back.
And then he picked her up, and he carried her upstairs, and he used his mouth, his body, and his whole heart to soothe her lingering panic until she finally fell asleep.
Merried Page 20