Trouble With Christmas (9781455544066)

by Mason, Debbie

  It wouldn’t look right for him to lend a hand, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help in a roundabout way. He called his dad to suggest he head over to the warehouse with Annie and Lily to offer their support, but his cell kept going to voice mail. He tried to reach Brandi; one way or another he was determined Trent would make amends for what he’d done. Frustrated when he couldn’t get through to her, either, he disconnected and pushed away from his desk to head to the warehouse.

  When he got there, the lot was full, his deputy’s vehicles blocking the entrance. Preparing for the worst, Gage parked on the street. He checked his radio—it was on—and headed for the building. Ready to do battle on Madison’s behalf once again, he flung open the doors. His jaw dropped.

  There were between thirty and forty people running around like a bunch of demented elves. He spotted Madison on her knees at the front of Santa’s float with a paintbrush in hand. Annie, Lily, and his dad were working alongside her. Above them, Brandi and Trent were setting the reindeer to rights. As if Trent felt Gage’s hard stare, he looked up. Gage did a two-finger point to his own eyes then shot a finger at Trent. The kid looked like he was going to puke. Good.

  Gage’s dad saw him and nudged Madison. She looked over her shoulder. Annie and Lily turned to wave. Handing off her paintbrush to Lily, Madison came to her feet. Big mistake, Gage thought, when his youngest gleefully splashed white paint onto the boards and everyone within spraying distance.

  Madison walked toward him. “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hey, yourself.” He looked down at her and shook his head. “You’re as crazy as they are, you know.” And damned if he wasn’t crazy about her. He supposed it was about time he did something about that.

  “Yeah, I know.” She laughed then sobered. “Are you still mad at me?”

  “Would you care if I was?”

  She nodded, her eyes searching his. “I would. I do. I know you don’t understand, Gage, but it was easier for me to take the blame than it would be for Trent. Everyone—”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Gage interrupted her. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being hurt, not after last night. “And you have a lot more on the line than he does. When Rick gets—”

  “Nell went with Ted and Fred to talk to him. They seemed pretty confident they can get him not to run the story.”

  Of course they did. One or all of them undoubtedly had something to hold over Rick’s head. They’d known him since he was in diapers.

  Several people called out to her, and Gage released a frustrated sigh.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “I better go see what they need.”

  What he needed, he realized, was time alone with her. “I want to talk about this, about Trent. Pick a night, and we’ll go out. There’s a restaurant… What?”

  “Are you asking me on a date, Sheriff?

  “I guess I am. There’s an Italian restaurant I’ve wanted to check out,” he said, laying odds the chances of running into anyone from town would be next to nil. It was expensive and in the next county. “How about Thursday at seven?”

  She smiled up at him. “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah.” He was sure all right; sure he’d just made either the smartest decision of his life or the stupidest, because they both knew this was more than a date. “So, do you have an extra paintbrush lying around?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gage stood behind the barricade on Main Street with Nell, Annie, and his dad waiting for the Santa Claus parade to begin. And if his aunt didn’t quit talking about the difficulty she had stuffing Madison into her body-hugging elf costume, he was going to gag her.

  He was frustrated enough without having that visual in his head.

  Between Annie’s and Lily’s last-minute school projects, and an uptick in assholes who thought they could drive after indulging at their annual Christmas parties, he’d had another week from hell. And with Madison’s promise to have the floats repaired in time for the parade, her pageant practices, and the business plans she was apparently writing up for the whole damn town, they’d barely seen each other. They’d made do with phone calls, texting, and the occasional face-to-face. By the time Thursday rolled around, he’d been pathetically anxious for their date. Only Madison had begged off on account she was worried about Nell.

  He glanced at his aunt. Madison was right, her coloring was off. “Nell, are you sure you’re up to this?”

  “You’re as bad as Maddie. Stop coddling me,” she groused, shifting her weight off her air-casted foot. Of course she’d been too stubborn to bring her crutches.

  Over her head, he met his father’s concerned gaze. Needs to sit, he mouthed.

  Gage nodded. “Save my place,” he said to Annie. “I’ll be right back.” He had a fold-up stool in his trunk.

  As he wove his way through the crowd, the Grinch theme song jangled in his jacket pocket. So that’s what Madison had been up to when she’d commandeered his phone at the warehouse this morning.

  He laughed, answering his cell. “Funny girl.” She was funny and smart, a caring, sweet woman all rolled up in a gorgeous, sexy package. “How’s things in the North Pole?”

  “Funny guy.” He heard the smile in her voice and grinned like the idiot she’d turned him into. “It’s freezing and… Hey, you try and goose me one more time, Santa, and I’m tossing your scrawny butt to the curb.”

  Gage rubbed a hand along his jaw. And lest he forget, she was also tough and stubborn, and stirred up trouble faster than his aunt. He figured his conflict-resolution skills would come in handy if they were going to give this relationship thing a go. He opened his mouth to tell her to take a couple of deep breaths and picture the faces of the little kids if she followed through with her threat, which was entirely possible. Then he realized what’d come before the tossing part.

  “Put Santa on the phone.” Gage opened his trunk while he gave the guy hell and told him what to expect if he so much as looked at Madison sideways.

  She came back on the line. “Aw, bless your heart, sugar. What would I do without a big, strong man like you to protect li’l ol’ me?”

  He smiled, tucking the stool under his arm. “Okay, you’ve made your point. But the kids would be upset if they saw Santa’s elf beating him up, so I suggest you keep your distance.”

  “Not when they get a good look at him, they won’t. Seriously, Gage, I don’t know where Nell found this guy. He looks like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, only with a rat’s nest for a beard. I swear, he’ll give them nightmares.”

  “Is that what you called me for?”

  “No, just wanted to say hi. I haven’t talked to you since this morning.”

  He’d been fighting the urge to call her himself. Ethan was right. He had it bad. “Hi.”

  She laughed. “Where are you watching the parade from? Are Nell, Annie, and your dad with you?”

  “We’re across from the station. Dad and Nell are with me, Annie too. I had to fight with her for twenty minutes to get her here.” He’d been tempted to give in, but Lily would’ve been disappointed if her sister didn’t see her in the parade.

  “She can’t help it. She’s twelve and thinks she’s supposed to be too cool for parades. I’m glad you didn’t give in. Lily would’ve been disappointed. And in the end, so would’ve Annie.”

  For a woman who didn’t have kids, Madison knew his pretty well. He enjoyed talking to her about the girls. A new experience for him, he’d never been comfortable talking about Lily and Annie with the women he’d dated in the past.

  “I’ll be looking for you guys. Make sure you wave so I can see you.”

  “From what Nell said about your costume, I won’t be the only one waving.”

  She snorted. “I’ve got my coat on. I don’t plan on letting anyone but you see me in this getup.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, undeniably relieved.

  “Maybe we’ll play Santa and his little helper tonight.” Lowering her voice to a sultry whisper, she t
old him exactly what Santa could do to his little helper. He dropped the stool.

  Bending down to pick it up, he apologized to the woman whose foot it landed on, then said to Madison, “I wish we could get together tonight, but Dad volunteered to take a shift at the hospital. It’s too late to call a babysitter now. If Nell was feeling better, I’d leave the girls with her, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “No, I just thought… never mind.”

  He heard the disappointment in her voice, but he wasn’t comfortable having her back to his place, especially when he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off her. Lily would get her hopes up, and he didn’t want her hurt if he and Madison didn’t work out. And, no matter how much Annie adored Madison, if she thought there was something going on between them, that would change. In Annie’s perfect world, Gage and his ex would be back together again. “Madison—”

  “Gotta go, they’re loading the kids on the float. Hey, Lily,” she called out, a forced brightness in her voice.

  “We’ll talk—” The line buzzed in his ear. Gage rubbed the back of his neck. He had to find a way to carve out time for them to be alone or they’d be over before they got started.

  Ten minutes later, the parade wound its way down Main Street. Madison’s suggestion they end thirty-five years of tradition and hold the parade at night had met with fierce opposition—none fiercer than Nell’s. But his aunt had met her match in Madison.

  And Madison had been right. It was dark enough that the floats’ imperfections were hidden, and the Christmas lights gave the parade a magical feel. Going by the oohs and ahhs from the crowd—even Annie uttered a few—the parade was a hit. He glanced at his aunt, gauging her reaction.

  She frowned up at him. “Don’t look so smug. I can admit when I’m wrong.”

  He grinned. It was ridiculous how proud he was of Madison. She was turning him into a sap.

  Gage was about to suggest that his aunt should be telling Madison she was wrong and not him, when he spotted Trent in an elf costume following behind the horses with a shovel. Nell wasn’t the only one who would have to admit to Madison about being wrong. Because right about now, he figured Trent would’ve preferred Gage’s brand of justice to hers.

  Annie’s face lit up with a smile as she waved shyly to someone in the parade. Trent, who only a couple of seconds ago looked like he wanted to sink into the pavement, walked a little taller, waving back with a grin.

  He glared at the kid. Trent ducked his head. From behind him, Gage heard his father chuckle. “They gotta grow up someday, son.”

  “Easy for you to say. You had boys.”

  “Dad.” Annie tugged on his arm. “There’s Maddie and Lily.”

  Lily and three of her friends, dressed as elves, sat in the fake snow under an artificial white tree strung with red lights, waving their fake hammers. Gage’s smile faltered when Madison came into view standing a safe distance from Santa’s chair.

  “Where the hell—” Annie glanced at him “—heck is her coat?”

  His aunt snorted a laugh. “I told Fred and Ted to take it from her once the parade started.” She shrugged at the look Gage shot her. “What? She’s covered up.”

  Right. And on anyone else, the long-sleeved red top buttoned up to her neck, a matching red hat perched on top of her shiny, loose hair, and a short, black skirt with a pair of red-and-black-striped leotards covering her incredibly long legs would’ve looked… cute. But Madison with her bombshell body looked anything but cute. She looked centerfold sexy, and he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

  He scowled at the three men hooting and hollering at her from the front of the crowd. “You’re blocking the kids’ view,” he called out. “Take it to the back.” They were about to argue until he flashed his badge.

  His father and aunt smirked knowingly.

  “Annie.” Madison waved as they got closer. Smiling that wide smile of hers, she pointed to the fistful of candy canes in her hand and drew her arm back. “Catch,” she shouted as she drilled them into the crowd. Everyone ducked and covered their heads. Laughing, Annie and a bunch of kids scrambled to pick the candy canes up off the ground.

  Madison was directly across from him now. Her hand raised, she looked shy and vulnerable. As if unsure he’d want her to draw attention to them. He lifted his own hand, hoping somehow she’d see how he felt about her. Her smile widened, and his gut, along with his heart, clutched as if he’d taken a hairpin turn doing one-eighty.

  His hand was still up in the air when the float rolled out of view. Quickly, he shoved it in his pocket.

  After saying good-bye to Annie and Nell, his father put a hand on Gage’s shoulder and leaned in. “I used to look at your mother the same way you look at Madison. Don’t let her get away, son. Women like that are hard to find,” Paul said quietly, his voice gruff with emotion.

  Instead of the denial Gage was about to make, afraid it was a lie and his father would call him on it like he always did, he laid a hand over his father’s. “ ’Night, Dad. Talk in the morning.”

  With long, easy strides, his father worked his way through the crowd, acknowledging friends and patients in his typical genial manner. Paul McBride was a good man, one of the best, and he deserved to be happy. Gage didn’t like to think of him spending the rest of his life alone. But he didn’t know if his father, after experiencing a love like he’d had with Gage’s mother, would ever be able to move on with someone else.

  Nell drew his attention from thoughts of his father. “Did you get a load of Santa?” she asked, rising stiffly from the stool.

  He didn’t, but he wasn’t about to let his aunt know he hadn’t been able take his eyes off Madison long enough to check him out. “He looked like Jack Nicholson in The Shining,” he said, repeating Madison’s description. “What were you thinking when you hired him?” He folded the stool and tucked it under his arm.

  “It wasn’t me who hired him. It was Fred. And let me tell you, I’m going to give him an earful. Good thing Madison distracted the crowd.” His aunt started to follow the throng of people moving down the street in the direction of the town hall.

  “I think you’ve had enough excitement for one night, Nell. I’m taking you home,” he said firmly. Whether she’d admit it or not, there was something going on with his aunt.

  “Oh, no, you’re not. They’re announcing who won for best-lit house, and I’m not missing that. I’ll get someone else to take me if you won’t,” she said, her lips set in a determined line.

  She would, too. “Fine, but we’re not walking.”

  Gage didn’t like to take advantage of his badge, but he made an exception tonight and pulled in front of the town hall. Ethan must have decided to do the same, as he parked beside him. Annie helped Nell off the running board, earning her a scowl and a grumpy “What the Sam Hill is wrong with you people? I’m fine.”

  Despite her protest, she took Annie’s arm.

  Ethan met him on the sidewalk. “Attendance is way up this year,” he said, eyeing the long line Nell elbowed her way to the front of.

  Annie shot Gage a pleading look over her shoulder. He winked and held up two fingers. “Yeah, Madison was right. Holding the parade at night was a great idea.” Again he felt that surge of possessive pride.

  “Stroke of genius.” Ethan nodded then grinned. “But I hate to tell you, buddy, I think the real draw was your girlfriend. She looked smokin’ in her elf costume. I didn’t think elves were supposed to be sexy, but…” He gave a wolf whistle.

  “Okay, give it a rest.”

  “So I was right?”

  “Right about what?”

  “You and Madison.”

  What the hell—it wasn’t like Ethan would shoot off his mouth. “Yeah.”

  “Finally, it’s about time you came to your senses.”

  Gage nodded, then noticed the three guys from the parade standing in line. “I’d better get in there. I’ll see—”

  “Hang on a minute.” Ethan stopped
him with a hand on his arm. “I got a call from Hartwell just before the parade started. Looks like the deal’s back on.” He slapped Gage on the back. “Town’s going to have something to celebrate this Christmas after all. Hartwell’s flying in on the morning of the twenty-fourth to sign the papers.” He frowned. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be as happy about this as I am.”

  Gage didn’t know how he felt. All he could think about was Madison’s reaction to the news. “Which Hartwell are you talking about, the old man or the nephew?”

  Ethan looked surprised. “Joe Hartwell’s stepping down. He’ll make the announcement Monday morning. Didn’t Madison tell you?”

  “As far as I know, she has no idea about any of this.” After everything she’d done for them, they were screwing her over. And Joe Hartwell, a man she looked up to, didn’t have the decency to give her a heads-up. “This is bullshit. How the hell am I supposed to break this to her?”

  Ethan grimaced and nodded at the entrance doors. “You’d better figure it out fast. Here she comes.”

  * * *

  Madison elbowed her way through the crowd in search of Gage. He didn’t know it yet, but he was about to don a red suit and beard. There was no way she was going to allow the children of Christmas to be subjected to the lecherous lout masquerading as Santa. Not only did he have the hands of an octopus, he was drunk. She was pretty sure the eggnog he claimed to have in his flask contained more nog than egg.

  Several people called out to ask where she was going. She flashed a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right back.” She spotted Nell and Annie and hurried over to them. “I need to find Gage.” She tugged them out of line. “We have a problem with Santa.”

  Nell looked around. “Where is he?”

  “In the supply closet. Believe me, it’s safer that way,” she said in response to Nell’s shocked expression. “Fred and Ted are taking care of him now. All I need to do is find Gage. He can take Santa’s place. But you need to buy us some time. The kids are getting antsy.” She narrowed her eyes at Nell. “Unless you’re not up to it. I can always—”