Wyoming Christmas Surprise

by Melissa Senate

  Theo wrote down the time frame, then slid his little Moleskine notebook and pen back in his pocket. “Well, I think I’ve got what I need, for now. I’m going to take a look outside, check the entry points. And then I’ll be in touch once I have some information.”

  This was an odd one. Someone had slipped in and picked and chosen, then made off with a decent-size wrapped gift. Why not take them all? Why just the one? Since a house several doors down was also targeted, the thief might be going slow to start, taking just one gift per house every couple of days to start. Since he or she had gotten away with it, Theo had no doubt that another theft or two would be reported today.

  “Thank you, Sergeant Stark,” Michael Dumford said, extending his hand.

  Sergeant Stark. Damn, he liked the way that sounded. He hadn’t been called that in almost two years. Not in an official-while-working-a-case capacity, anyway.

  And not that he was official yet. He was just doing the captain a favor. He wouldn’t be back on the force till January 2.

  But being Sergeant Stark sure felt good. Maybe too good.

  * * *

  “You haven’t had I’m-back sex? You’re kidding!”

  Allie made a face at her sister Lila, who was staring at her like she was completely nuts.

  “No, I get it,” her other sister, Merry, put in, taking a bite of the bruschetta Allie had made for the mini get-together. “They’re waiting until it’s right.”

  The MacDougal triplets sat on the sofa in the family room of Allie’s house. Why had Allie opened her big fat mouth? Lila had simply asked how things were going between her and Theo, and like a fool, Allie had blurted out everything she was thinking and feeling. That was the problem with being so close to your sisters, she thought. You told them everything. And then they knew everything. Like the fact that she and her husband had barely kissed since his return.

  “I did give him a foot massage,” Allie said. “With lotion.”

  Lila shook her head sadly.

  Even Merry, always levelheaded and thoughtful, winced.

  “A foot massage,” Lila repeated. She shook her head again. “That’s it. I’ve had enough of this.” She turned to Allie and pointed at her with her bruschetta, an errant tiny tomato falling off onto the coffee table. “You and Theo are going out tonight. Date night, isn’t that what you marrieds call it? You’re going out to a romantic restaurant—Merry and I are giving you a gift certificate to Marcello’s.”

  “Oh, we are, are we?” Merry said, shaking her head on a laugh.

  “Yes. And then they’re coming home to a quiet house with no babies interrupting them from whatever may happen.”

  “She’s pushy,” Merry said, “but it’s a good idea. You two haven’t had a night alone since Theo came back. Maybe a little romance is exactly what you need.”

  “Oh, it is,” Lila said.

  Allie loved that Lila was still such a romantic. Her boyfriend of four years had recently broken up with her when Lila had been hoping for an engagement ring for Christmas. Merry was a serial dater, rarely going out with anyone twice. Once she’d said, I’m looking for what you felt when you met Theo. You said the earth moved. I want the earth to move. And if there’s not even a tremor on the first date, after three hours of a date, the earth’s never going to move.

  Well, Allie didn’t know about that. Lust could be a mystery. A friend of hers hadn’t been remotely interested in a blind date but gave the guy another chance, and whammo, by date three, she was madly in love and couldn’t believe she’d almost overlooked the guy for being “kind of nerdy.” And Allie had never felt about any guy the way she had about Theo the day she’d met him. The senior cat she’d adopted from the shelter three days prior had slipped out the front door of the condo she’d been renting with her sisters and had run straight up a tree onto a branch and was sitting there, looking quite pleased with herself. She’d lived right on Main Street then and had been so worried Maisy would come down only to run right into the busy street. She’d been trying to coax the cat down by shaking a pouch of kitty treats, but Maisy just ignored her and surveyed the great outdoors.

  A very good-looking guy, tall, dark-haired and green-eyed, was coming out of the coffee shop when he noticed her trying to persuade Maisy down and into her arms. He’d said, “Oh, I’ll get her down for you,” climbed up the tree like it was a ladder, gave Maisy a gentle scritch behind the ears and at the base of her tail. Her knight in sexy jeans had earned a rub along his arm from Maisy and been allowed to pick her up and carry her down. My hero. Allie wouldn’t have been surprised if cartoon hearts were shooting out of her chest. She’d pointed out her front door, and her hero had rushed the cat over, opened the door, put her inside and closed the door. Eleven-year-old Maisy was safe and sound. And Allie had herself a date with Theo Stark for that very night. And that night, she knew she would marry this man—or that she wanted to. The rest was history. Up-and-down history.

  Maybe “date night” was what she and Theo needed. The two of them sitting across each other in a low-lit Italian restaurant with those gorgeous oil paintings on the walls, a candle between them, some wine, some very good pasta, and returning home to an empty house with no responsibilities. That did sound good.

  “You’re sure you guys want to take the quads overnight?” Allie said, taking a sip of her iced tea. “One or two tend to wake up at least once.” Merry was a teacher and would have to be at school early in the morning. Lila was a real estate broker whose busiest times were weekends.

  “I don’t have any showings till ten thirty,” Lila said. “And I’ll handle any middle-of-the-night wake-ups so Merry can get her beauty sleep. Those quads are ours. Till 10:00 a.m, anyway.”

  “There. So if you two have a very late night and want to sleep in tomorrow, Lila’s got you covered till ten.”

  “Okay, and thank you,” she told her sisters, feeling very lucky. “If Theo even wants to, that is.”

  Lila rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Theo loves Italian food. And based on what you’ve said, he’s not the one taking things boringly slow. That’s on you.”

  Once again, all her fault for sharing every last detail of her love life or lack thereof with her sisters.

  But she sure did get the warm fuzzies as she thought about herself and Theo ripping off each other’s clothes when they got home. Yes, this idea of her sisters was sounding better and better.

  And she did have a feeling Theo would like the idea of a date night.

  “We want all the details, too,” Lila said. “Nothing is too personal among triplets, right?”

  Allie laughed. Apparently not.

  * * *

  The last time Allie and Theo had been in Marcello’s was for their fifth anniversary, six months before that fateful night. Allie hadn’t even been planning on a night out, given the state of their relationship in those days, but she was trying everything she could to get their marriage back on track, and a special dinner out to celebrate their first milestone seemed a good idea.

  Theo had dressed up, looking especially gorgeous, and at first, as they’d clinked wineglasses and settled back to look over the menu, all was well. Then the texts had started from his captain and another sergeant. The case. Always the case. A witness reported seeing a tall, thin man with dark hair, ice-blue eyes and a jagged scar on his forehead, skulking around the back of a fast-food restaurant off the freeway coming into the town. McBruin. Theo, to his credit, hadn’t bolted out of Marcello’s, gun blazing. Instead, he’d sat there, looking miserable and uncomfortable, stuck at his anniversary dinner with his wife when he wanted to be hunting down a murderer. Theo had barely said two words, made some small talk in response to whatever Allie had said, and she could tell he was jumping out of his skin.

  So, their entrees not even served yet, Allie had told him to just go, and he’d asked if she was sure, and she’d nodded, unable to speak les
t she burst into tears. And he’d gone. She’d brought home their dinners in a doggie bag, and neither had touched the containers—Theo out of guilt, she was sure, and Allie from memory association, until Allie finally threw them away five days later.

  Now here they were again, Allie trying to take Marcello’s back for herself. She hadn’t been able to step foot in the amazing Italian restaurant since that night. Now she had a chance to take a big step forward in her marriage and cross Marcello’s off her banned list.

  “You look so pretty, Allie,” Theo said, his gaze on her across the table, candelight creating a soft glow.

  “Thank you,” she said, glad she’d worn the black jersey knee-length wrap dress Lila had insisted on as she’d gone through Allie’s closet when she and Merry had returned with the gift certificate. Allie had been planning to wear pants and a pretty cardigan with a camisole underneath, but Lila had declared the outfit unworthy of date night and she and Merry had pawed through her closet, both agreeing on the black dress as the perfect blend of sexy, elegant and chic. “You look very handsome yourself.” He wore all black, down to the tie imprinted with tiny silver circles.

  He smiled. “I’m glad your sisters gave us the gift certificate. I owe them one. Dinner and overnight babysitting? I owe them big.”

  She smiled. “They’re pretty great.”

  “They are.” He took a sip of his red wine and leaned slightly forward. “Ah, I just got another hint of your perfume. I’ve missed it.”

  She’d wondered if he’d remember it. Chanel No. 19 was an old classic, but she loved it and it drove him wild, so it had been her signature scent. She hadn’t worn it since that failure of an anniversary dinner two years ago. Tonight, she’d dabbed it behind her ears and in her cleavage.

  He reached out a hand across the table, and she slid hers into it. “I also want you to know that my cell phone is in that stained glass bowl on our living room coffee table.”

  She could have gasped. “Really?”

  He slightly lifted his arms. “A pat-down would reveal I’m telling the truth.”

  She laughed. “I believe you.”

  Huh. No phone. That was big. It meant he was more than just trying.

  Then again, he wasn’t on the force yet. There were no cases—well, no big cases. No emergency calls. Now that she thought about it, leaving his phone behind wasn’t exactly a big deal.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said, putting down his menu.

  Fully decided on the lemon piccata, she, too, put aside the menu. “What am I thinking?”

  “That it was hardly a struggle to leave my phone, given I haven’t started back at the PD.”

  She smiled. “Busted. Both of us.”

  “But,” he said, taking a piece of Italian bread from the basket, “I did do some investigating today on the Christmas-present thief case. I have to say, it did feel good being back on the job.”

  She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know how much you love being a cop, Theo. I hope you know I don’t want to take that away from you. You do know that, right?”

  “Of course, I know that.”

  “Good. So what’s the story on the present thief? Can you talk about it?”

  “I met with both families today. The first family targeted had a Lego set stolen. The second family had a pricey art set taken.”

  “A Lego set and pastels?” Allie said. “What kind of thief is this?”

  “Either someone who can’t afford to buy Christmas presents for his own children, or the thief is a kid.”

  “Either way, that’s heartbreaking,” Allie said.

  He nodded and was about to say something, but the server appeared, listing the specials. Allie stuck with the lemon piccata and Theo ordered the always irresistible chicken parmigiana.

  “The victims have teenagers?” she asked as the server left.

  “Nope, young kids. No older than seven. In fact, each home targeted had a seven-year-old. I’m not sure if that factors in yet, but it might.”

  “Merry teaches second grade at the elementary school. You could talk to her and see if there are any connections between them.”

  “I’ll do that,” he said. He sipped his wine. “You don’t mind talking shop?”

  “I actually always loved talking about your cases. All kinds. I love knowing how your mind works to figure things out. That was never the issue.”

  “I know,” he said. “I hate what I did the last time we were here, Allie. In fact, I’m surprised you even wanted to go here tonight.”

  “I’m taking the place back for myself. For us. It’s the only way to conquer something.”

  He smiled and held her gaze. “I’m glad we’re here. I’m glad we’re celebrating.”

  “What are we celebrating?” she asked, suddenly wanting to know how he saw it.

  “That rare thing called a second chance. I’ve got one with you, and I’m not blowing it.”

  Tears stung the backs of her eyes and she sipped her wine to regain control of her emotions. The last thing she needed tonight was raccoon tracks down her face.

  “That means everything to me, Theo.”

  A loud gasp followed by “Oh, my God. Yes! Yes! I will marry you” came from across the restaurant. Allie looked over, and a guy was getting up from his bent knee, his date gaping at the diamond ring sparkling on her finger.

  Allie smiled and clapped along with the rest of the patrons. Theo let out a wolf whistle.

  “I was thinking of proposing to you here,” he said. “But this place didn’t mean anything to us back then. It was just a fancy restaurant.”

  “I know what you mean,” she said, remembering how he’d surprised her outside her condo, right under the beautiful tree where they’d met for the first time, where he’d rescued Maisy. They’d been dating for six months and were about to leave on a weekend camping trip. Under that tree, he’d pulled a velvet ring box from his pocket, gotten down on one knee and told her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and would she marry him. Allie had screamed much like the young woman had across the restaurant.

  “I love that tree,” she said. “It’s a great excuse to get treats from the bakery that opened up right next to the condo so that I can visit the tree.”

  “You visit the tree?” he asked as the waiter set down their entrees.

  Allie admired her lemon piccata and breathed in the delicious aroma. “Yup. When you first...left,” she said, “I avoided it like the ole plague. I couldn’t handle seeing it. In those first months, I was in such a daze that I didn’t even know where I was half the time. My sisters would realize we were heading in that direction and they’d make elaborate detours so I could avoid it.”

  “Your sisters are awesome,” he said.

  She smiled. “Yeah, they are.”

  “And I really do owe them big for sending us here tonight.”

  “We’ll bring them Marcello’s amazing tiramisu. That’ll make them both very happy.” She eyed his entree, her mouth watering. “Your chicken parm looks amazing. I need at least four bites of that.”

  “You can have the first,” he said, cutting a piece and holding it out toward her.

  She leaned forward and tried to take the bite as sexily as possible, but hot mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce didn’t make that possible. “Mmm, so good,” she said. She cut a piece of her lemon piccata and held it out for him. He kept his gaze on hers as he wrapped those lips around the fork.

  “Ah, that’s delicious,” he said.

  And then they spent the next twenty minutes eating and talking and laughing and reminiscing, both howling over stories from that crazy camping trip the weekend he’d proposed, when they’d been stalked by a crazed wolf who turned out to be a scared and very sweet stray dog. They’d brought the adorable gray-and-black girl home and Allie�
��s sisters had fallen so in love with the little mutt that Allie and Theo had handed her over. “Maisy would hate me anyway if I brought this one home,” Allie had said. Now the once-skinny stray was named Josie, had five memory-foam pet beds in every room in her sisters’ condo and had her own containers of dog ice cream in their freezer.

  “I’ll give you another foot massage for another bite of your chicken parm,” Allie said.

  “Deal,” he said, holding out a bite.

  “Sergeant Stark,” a middle-aged woman said as she was about to pass their table with her husband. She stopped, just staring at Theo.

  Theo looked up at her, clearly waiting for her to continue, but the woman didn’t say anything, and if Allie wasn’t mistaken, she was holding back tears.

  “It’s all right, dear,” her husband said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay.”

  What was this? Allie wondered.

  Theo stood and wrapped the woman in a silent hug. The woman nodded and took her husband’s hand and they left.

  “What was that about?” Allie asked.

  “Tough incident regarding her son. He was early twenties at the time. Let’s just say there were drugs involved and a bridge and now he’s in college, volunteering at a crisis help line.”

  “Oh, Theo,” she said. “You saved him?”

  “He wanted to be saved. That made the difference. Not me.”

  She swallowed. “You never told me about that.”

  “There’s a lot I don’t bring home. Experiences I can’t handle talking about, especially right afterward. That night—just a couple weeks before I left two years ago—was a close call. It took a while to get him to safety.”

  She took a deep breath. “We’ll find a middle ground. That’s what it’s about. Middle ground. You’re you and it’s why I love you. You’re a cop.”

  “And you’re a woman who wants her husband in her life, not an hour or two a week. I get that. I didn’t before.”

  “We’ll find our way,” she said. “Because like you just said about that woman’s son—we both want it. That’s the difference. We want this second chance.”