Wyoming Christmas Surprise

by Melissa Senate

  “Oh, it was,” she said, a cryptic smile on her beautiful face.

  “So I’m meeting with the potential suspect’s mother at nine,” he said. “You’re okay on your own for a good hour?”

  “Absolutely. Merry’s school vacation started today, so she’s coming over in a little while to see her nephews and niece.”

  He nodded, gave each quad a kiss and then left. Time to deal with a tiny thief.

  * * *

  A For Sale sign was posted in the front yard of 112 Oak Hill Road. Theo thought back to what Merry had said about June Chadwell’s financial situation. So much loss. A husband and father. A home. Theo wasn’t one to excuse bad behavior, particularly criminal behavior, but in certain circumstances he liked to understand motivation. A seven-year-old was going around his neighborhood stealing his classmates’ Christmas presents. The motive wasn’t hard to speculate on. Hunter wanted, plain and simple. And he was taking.

  He rang the bell. June Chadwell, midthirties, her brown hair in a ponytail, opened the door. She looked tired. And world-weary. He followed her to the living room, where she gestured for him to sit. As he took the love seat facing the chair Mrs. Chadwell sat on, he noticed a little boy playing outside in the fenced yard with a small dog, throwing a ball that the dog would fetch.

  He explained the situation to Mrs. Chadwell, the missing presents, the visit to Ms. Finley, and as June’s shoulders slumped he knew the exact moment she realized why he was there.

  “I want to be able to say that my Hunter wouldn’t have done such a thing, that he couldn’t have stolen those gifts,” Mrs. Chadwell said. “But these days, everything is so upside down with both of us that anything is poss—” She burst into tears.

  Theo grabbed the box of tissues on the coffee table and moved to the chair next to her and handed her the box. “This has to be a very tough time, Mrs. Chadwell. Especially now, three months after you lost your husband.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I don’t claim to know how you feel because I’ve never been in your shoes,” he said. “But I remember my wife telling me that around three months after she got the news that I’d been killed, she felt most alone. The calls and visits and meal trains had stopped. She wasn’t invited to get-togethers or parties because the hosts either felt uncomfortable or didn’t want to invite a single person instead of a couple. I could go on. But it was the time she felt most isolated and alone when she needed people desperately.”

  June Chadwell dabbed under her eyes with a tissue. “That’s exactly how I feel. Exactly. I couldn’t even really put it into thoughts or words.”

  He nodded. “Very understandable. Because your life is topsy-turvy,” he said. “And sometimes, we think kids are okay because they’re playing or laughing or excited about getting a new toy, and we fall back on how resilient they are when they’re actually hurting just as badly as we are.”

  She glanced out the sliding glass doors, where Hunter Chadwell, a slip of a kid in jeans and a blue down jacket, hat and mittens, was throwing the ball. Theo could hear him shouting, “Get it, Snickers, get it! Good Snickers!”

  “Perhaps you could check his room, his closet, to see if the gifts are hidden there? I want to make clear that I don’t know that Hunter is the thief. It’s just a possibility.”

  She nodded. “Why don’t you come with me? His room is just across the hall.”

  Hunter followed her to the boy’s bedroom, posters from Star Wars and the Harry Potter movies on the walls. She went over to the closet and opened it, then kneeled down. A gray blanket was spread out in the back, covering a heap of...something.

  “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. She pulled away the blanket and there were a stack of wrapped gifts. She lifted one of the name tags. “For Miles.”

  Theo nodded. He checked the other name tags—all for kids whose gifts had been stolen. “Let’s leave these here for the time being and go talk to Hunter.”

  She took a deep breath and they went back into the living room. She slid open the glass door and called in her son.

  Hunter came running in, Snickers on his trail. The dog gave Theo a sniff, then went to his water bowl and lapped up a drink, then hopped on the sofa.

  “Hunter, sweetie, this is Sergeant Theo Stark. He’s a police officer.”

  Hunter’s eyes widened and his face crumpled. He began sobbing, tears running down his cheeks. Snickers stood up on the sofa and jumped off, then ran over to the boy and stood beside him. The boy dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the dog.

  “Am I going to jail?” he asked, slashing a forearm under his eyes. The tears kept falling.

  “No,” Theo said, kneeling down in front of him. “I promise you that you don’t have to worry about that.” He smiled at the kid. “Do you know why I’m here?”

  “’Cause you found out I took presents?” the boy said through a fresh round of sobs.

  Theo nodded. “That’s right. Can you tell your mom and me why you took the presents? You knew they didn’t belong to you, right?”

  “I know. I went to kids’ houses from my class when I knew they wouldn’t be there. And I took one of the presents for them.”

  “Why, Hunter?” his mom asked, her voice clogged with emotion.

  He shrugged his scrawny shoulders. “I just wanted them.”

  His mom took his hand and rubbed his back. “Hunter, you know that stealing is wrong.”

  Hunter wiped under his eyes. “I know. I was just so mad about a lot of stuff.” His face crumpled again. “Like about Daddy and moving and that I couldn’t go to karate and they got to.”

  “They being the boys in your class?” Theo asked.

  Hunter nodded.

  “Why don’t you take Snickers back outside for a minute. I’ll talk to your mom and then we’ll call you back in when we’re ready, okay?”

  The boy looked relieved to get away. His mother closed the glass door behind him, then sat across from Theo again.

  “What now?” she said. “How should this be handled?”

  “Well, in large part it’s been handled—he was caught, a policeman came to his house to talk to his mother and to him. That goes a long way with a seven-year-old. I think I’d like to call the parents involved and talk to them, then have Hunter return each gift to each tree and apologize to the families. All the gifts are accounted for and he didn’t even open any, which is a good sign. That he knew he shouldn’t.”

  She nodded. “Thank you, Sergeant Stark.”

  “Any offers on the house?” he asked.

  “Actually, I heard from the real estate agent this morning that we have an offer. I’d like to move before the new year so that I can start Hunter at a new school when the winter break is over. I think a fresh start would do us both good. Especially after all this.”

  “Agreed,” he said. “And looks like he’ll have a good buddy coming with him.”

  They both turned and watched Hunter sitting very quietly on the deck steps, his head on his folded arms on his knees, the dog sitting beside him.

  “I’ll be in touch about setting up the return of the gifts. I’d like to do it quickly and have him able to return the presents in a short period of time.”

  She nodded again, and he stood up.

  “If you ever need anything, Mrs. Chadwell, I want you to give me a call, okay?” he said. “Help finding a job or if Hunter needs someone to talk to. Okay?”

  Tears misted her eyes and she nodded. “Thank you so much. And Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas.”

  * * *

  Theo sat in his truck outside Hunter’s home, giving himself a moment to decompress. But he didn’t. Or couldn’t. A weight had settled over his shoulders. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Tyler, Henry, Ethan and Olivia had almost been consigned to a life without their dad—befor
e they were even born. At two, three, asking where their dad was, Allie having to tell them he was in heaven, and meanwhile, he would be none the wiser on a cattle ranch seven hours away.

  It’s pointless to even think about this, he knew. Moot. The past. But still, the thoughts clung.

  And of course, the situations were hardly the same. Hunter was a seven-year-old who’d had his dad his whole life until three months ago. The boy was in the throes of grief. Theo’s children never would have known him. They’d have been raised with a kindly father figure. Not that that had gone according to plan with Elliot Talley.

  Thank God. The thought of Allie with anyone else, married to another guy, another man raising his beloved quadruplets sent acid coursing through his gut. And a rush of sadness. How could he have ever believed Allie would have been better off without him? That was a coward’s move, a coward’s way of thinking.

  Or just the thinking of someone without hope, without choice.

  Now he had all the hope in the world. But come January, when he went back to work, he’d risk his life on a daily basis. Those were the cases he’d be assigned, what he was trained for: the most dire of circumstances.

  Every day he’d kiss the quads goodbye, kiss his wife goodbye, and maybe he wouldn’t come back one night. Except this time around, he’d really be dead. He tried to shake these inane thoughts that made no sense. Of course, his job came with risk.

  And now he’d put his family at risk of losing him. Of Tyler, Henry, Ethan and Olivia five, seven, nine, however many years old, having Mommy tell them that Daddy had been killed in the line of duty. Those four precious faces crumpling, their hearts breaking, their faith in the world shaken.

  He shuddered in his seat.

  So what was he thinking? That the four Stark babies were better off not having him in their lives at all so that they wouldn’t know the pain of losing the father they loved so much? That made no sense.

  Right?

  More heavyhearted than he’d been five minutes ago, Theo started up the truck and drove away, no idea where he was going. But not home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Allie was just about ready to deliver to Angela Sattler a week’s worth of reheatable Weight Watchers–friendly dinners, all based on the number of “points” she was allowed to have per day. Angela had given Allie a list of her favorite meals—spaghetti carbonara, meat loaf with garlic mashed potatoes and onion soup with cheese and croutons. Not the easiest three dishes to re-create healthy low-cal, low-fat versions of, but Allie had managed. The carbonara had come out particularly good, if Allie did say so herself.

  “Sure you’re okay on your own?” her sister Merry asked as she put on her down jacket. Her sister had come to watch the quads while Allie focused on her work in the kitchen. Theo had texted that he’d be home at two thirty, which was perfect, since she had to have the meals delivered to Angela’s at three.

  “Yup,” Allie said, glancing at her sister. “What are you going to wear tonight?” Merry had a hot date with a journalist at the Wedlock Creek Gazette. “Don’t forget to pick that Cheerio out of your hair,” Allie added, gesturing at the ends of Merry’s strawberry blond curls.

  “I just might leave it there,” Merry said. “This isn’t a real date. He’s the divorced father of triplet girls and wants the secrets I, as one of triplets, can share.”

  Allie laughed. “He told you that?”

  “Yes, actually.”

  “Huh. You might like this guy. He sounds like your type.”

  “The type who says it like it is. A straight shooter. We’ll see.” She picked up Olivia from her high chair and gave her a kiss. Olivia babbled and pulled down one of Merry’s springy curls, sending the Cheerio to the floor.

  Merry laughed. “Well, now I’m ready for my date. Thanks, O.”

  She gave Olivia’s three brothers a kiss goodbye and then left.

  Allie wondered if Merry would ever settle down. But in the next moment, Henry let out a screech, so all thoughts about her sister’s love life went poof from her head.

  She glanced at the clock. Theo had texted her an hour ago to let her know he’d be home around two thirty. Well, it was two forty-five and no sign of him.

  That was one long meeting with the little suspect’s mother. Clearly he’d been somewhere between then and now, but when she texted, How’d the meeting go? he texted back a terse Tell you later.

  When the clock chimed three o’clock, Allie sighed, stared at her warming bag of packed meals and said, “Well, kids, guess you’re coming with me. Just like old times.”

  One by one she got the quads in their jackets, then two by two into their car seats in the SUV. Then she grabbed her bags of meals from the kitchen table and then finally got herself in the car with an Okay, we’re on our way. Of course, halfway down the road, she realized she’d forgotten her purse and had to drive back to the house. Do I have my head? she seriously wondered, reaching up to make sure it was attached to her shoulders. Yes. There it is.

  By the time she delivered Angela’s meals and got the quads back home, Theo’s truck still wasn’t in the driveway. Fear raced up her spine, and then she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Is this how it’s gonna be? Him disappearing all day, barely a text, and then me scared spitless that he’s either hurt somewhere or has run for the hills?

  No. That was not how it was going to be. She would not live her life that way. Last night he’d promised—okay, agreed—that they’d talk if there was a problem, he’d say what was on his mind, what was bothering him. He wasn’t “allowed” to distance himself. That was the old Theo.

  Maybe it’s not even about you, she told herself, springing Olivia from her car seat and placing her in the giant stroller. Henry was next. “In you go,” she told him, giving him a kiss on his head. Maybe he had a terrible morning with the boy who’d stolen the presents, the mother had freaked out, punched him, and he had to arrest her. Who the hell knew? Anything could happen when you were married to a cop.

  About to put Tyler in the stroller, she bit her lip and glanced up and down the street for Theo’s black pickup. No sign of it.

  Where was he?

  And was he coming back?

  * * *

  After leaving the Chadwells, Theo had gone to the police station and filled in his captain, then called the four homes that had been targeted by Hunter and spoken with three moms and one dad, explaining about Hunter and the plan to return the gifts and apologize. All four parents had been surprised, as Theo had been, that Hunter hadn’t opened any of the gifts. Three had added an “aww.” The dad was the lone holdout but had said, “Poor kid. Has to be going through a really rough time.”

  And so tomorrow, at 2:00 pm, he’d pick up Hunter and his mom and the gifts, and he’d accompany Hunter on the return and apology tour.

  With all that settled, he found himself driving around, not ready to head home, not interested in going anywhere. He needed something and he had no damned idea what it was.

  His phone pinged with a text. Oh, no—Allie. He’d told her he’d back by two thirty and then had gotten so caught up in his head that he’d driven around and lost track of time. He’d forgotten to text her back.

  I’m sorry. Big day. On my way home.

  Good, she texted back.

  For some reason, that made him smile, even if it meant he was in trouble.

  He was going home.

  He started up the engine, but his phone rang, so he turned the engine back off. He figured it was Allie and he couldn’t wait to hear her voice. He hoped she wasn’t too pissed at him. She had every right to be. But he had a lot to tell her.

  He grabbed his phone. It wasn’t Allie. It was the captain.

  He listened to the captain talk, his heart starting to pound, every cell in his body alert.

  “I’ll need your answer by noon tomorrow,
Stark,” the captain said, then signed off.

  He sat in the pickup for a good fifteen minutes, thinking about all the captain had told him. Thinking about Allie. The past. The present. The future, which he wasn’t too sure about.

  Everything was riding on his response.

  He had no idea what the hell to do.

  * * *

  Ever since Theo had gotten home last night, he’d been quiet. Contemplative, Allie had realized, and had decided to let him be. She made him a cup of chamomile tea, light and sweet the way he liked the herbal stuff, and when it was gone, she made him another, adding a toasted bagel and vegetable cream cheese, since he hadn’t eaten much at dinner, let alone said much.

  All she knew was that he’d squared away the present-thief case and would finish up with that tomorrow, then had driven around to clear his head.

  Somewhere in all that was the key to why he was so distant. And though they’d agreed to talk, to not do exactly what they were doing, which was for one to not talk while the other fretted and speculated, Allie let him do what he needed. Something was up, or bothering him, and he’d talk when he was ready.

  In the morning, he was playful with the quads, crawling around the family room with them, singing the alphabet song, but he was still quiet, still inside his own head.

  When the babies were finally all down for their naps and the two left the nursery, Theo gave her a tight smile.

  “I’d better get going. Reed’s multiples seminar starts at eleven thirty. And then I’ll be picking up Hunter and his mom at two,” he said. “Long day,” he added. For a moment she thought he was about to say something else, but he didn’t.

  “Before you go, I need to know something,” she said.

  He put a hand on the post of the stair railing as if to brace himself. “Okay.”

  “What’s going on, Theo? And don’t say it’s nothing because something clearly is. We’d said we’d talk to each other.”

  “Let’s go into the kitchen,” he said, his expression somewhere between somber and conflicted.

  Well, at least she was right about her Theo-radar. He had something big on his mind.