“I don’t know what to tell you,” Christy said. “You could hide it in my storage room if you want.”
“She’ll look there. The second she realizes it’s not in the house that’s the first place she’ll look.”
Christy cocked an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious. How would she even manage to get into my storage room without me knowing? She’s not James Bond. Heck, she’s not even Trixie Belden. There’s no way she could pull that off.”
“She has her ways.” A whimsical smile played at the corner of Maddie’s lips. “One year Mom rented a small storage locker at that place out on the highway and Granny managed to find the key and look inside before Christmas. Mom was so mad she threatened to bar her from eating Christmas tree cookies – you know those sugar cookies with the green frosting and sprinkles are Granny’s favorite – and they had a big fight.”
Christy giggled at the mental image Maddie drew forth. “That sounds kind of cute.”
“They were always cute.”
Something occurred to Christy, and it was a notion she hadn’t considered yet. It made her feel as if she was a bad friend for not thinking about it sooner. “This is your first Christmas with Nick as a boyfriend.”
“It is.” Maddie’s smile was earnest and heartfelt. “I want it to be special.”
“It’s also your first Christmas without your mother,” Christy pointed out.
Maddie’s smile slipped. “I know. I’ve had other holidays without her, though. I had Halloween and Thanksgiving without her. It’s going to be … fine.” Maddie almost choked on the last word.
“Halloween is your favorite holiday,” Christy said. “Your mother loved it, too, but Christmas was always her favorite holiday. I remember how she used to make a big deal about it. Even when you weren’t here – and I’m not going to lie, those Christmases you chose to stay in the city rather than come home hurt her – she still had a blast at the holiday festival.”
Maddie swallowed hard. She’d hurt her mother in numerous ways throughout the years. Her insistence on removing herself from Blackstone Bay because she was afraid people would figure out her secret was something that plagued her. Now, in hindsight, it seemed ridiculously stupid. “I should’ve come home.”
“She understood.” Christy shifted her eyes to the doorframe that separated the kitchen from the main hallway and found Nick standing there, his eyes trained on Maddie’s back, his expression unreadable. “She knew why you stayed away.”
“I wish I understood why I did it,” Maddie said. “It feels somehow … cruel … now. What I did to her … what I did to Nick … .”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Nick’s voice was soft as he slipped his arm around her waist from behind. She jolted at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t realized he’d been listening. “It’s okay, Mad. We’ve been over this a hundred times. You didn’t stay away out of malice.”
“It was still a mistake.” Maddie’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I can’t get those ten years back.”
“No, and we can’t go back in time and change things,” Nick said. “It’s over and done with, Mad. We can’t change it so we have to move forward. It’s what your mother would want.”
“It’s definitely what your mother would want,” Christy added. “Besides, your mother is still here. She died, but her spirit is hanging around. You’ll be able to spend Christmas together.”
Maddie considered the statement. It was true. Olivia Graves’ spirit remained, although she only popped in when she felt like it and sometimes disappeared for weeks at a time. Maddie always worried she would fade away, choose to pass over, without saying goodbye. “She’ll be here and that’s all that matters, right?” Maddie forced the deep thoughts from her mind. “I still want to find a good place to hide Granny’s gift. I want this to be the first time she doesn’t get her way.”
Nick brushed a quick kiss against Maddie’s forehead before releasing the melancholy and chuckling. “How come you want to mess with her? I thought you were all about tradition.”
“I am. I just want to start a few new traditions this year, and beating Granny at her own game is one of them.”
“That actually sounds mildly fun,” Nick said, his eyes traveling to the large wrapped package. “Did you get this gift-wrapped so she would have to take off the paper to see what it is?”
“Yup.”
Nick snickered. “Smart thinking, Mad. What is it?”
“It’s a projector for her wall,” Maddie replied. “I loaded it up with a bunch of family photos. She can replace the memory card with holiday stuff, too. It’s not just for family photos. I picked a lot of my favorites from throughout the years, though. There are a lot of her and Mom on there.”
Nick grinned. “That sounds like an absolutely magical gift, Mad. How about I take it to the police department and hide it in one of the evidence lockers? She won’t be able to get to it there. The keys are locked up.”
“Ooh, that sounds like a good idea.” Christy’s eyes flashed. “She would need to steal like three sets of keys to get into the police department.”
“And given the way Harriet follows Maude around town and spies on her, there’s no way Maude will be able to break into the station without Harriet catching her,” Nick added.
“Can you do that without getting in trouble?” Maddie was a stickler for following rules and would never let Nick do something that might earn him a reprimand.
“It’s Blackstone Bay, Mad,” Nick said dryly, chuckling. “We have eight evidence lockers and one case that needs an evidence locker every two months. I think we’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure?”
Nick smiled at the way she chewed on her lip. “I’m sure,” he said, kissing the corner of her mouth. “I think it will be fun to watch Maude tear this place apart. Once she realizes the gift isn’t here, she’s going to have a meltdown. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas if we didn’t have a patented Maude Graves meltdown on the books.”
“Well, if you think it will be okay, that would be great,” Maddie enthused, relinquishing the box. “Thank you.”
“It’s no problem, Mad,” Nick said. “I just hope in her zeal to win Christmas that Maude doesn’t accidentally open the gift you bought for me and hid in the spare bedroom closet under your summer clothes.” His eyes sparkled with mirth as Maddie frowned. “Don’t worry. I didn’t look inside.”
“But you looked to see where I hid it,” Maddie pointed out.
“Only because I was trying to find a place to hide your gift,” Nick countered. “It’s the Christmas season, Mad. We have three people hiding gifts in one house. It was bound to happen.”
Maddie narrowed her eyes to dangerous blue slits. “Do you promise you didn’t look?”
“I promise.” Nick stroked the back of her head to calm her. “I don’t want anything to ruin our Christmas. I think I can live for a few days without seeing it. You’re the only Christmas gift I truly want.”
“Okay.” Maddie heaved out a sigh as she marginally relaxed. “That sounds goods. I want a perfect Christmas, too.”
“Speaking of that, though,” Nick said. “My mother stopped by while I was napping. In addition to noticing that I was reading Pirate’s Booty, she laid down the law and ordered us to attend the family Christmas party. I tried to get out of it, but she caught me at an off time. I was still trying to wake up.”
“And you were reading a naughty book, which means you were probably having a good dream when she ambushed you,” Maddie teased, grinning. “It’s okay. I love your family. We can go to the Christmas party.”
“Yes, but I thought we were going to have a quiet Christmas,” Nick said. “There’s nothing quiet about my family.”
“You can say that again,” Christy lamented. “I was looking forward to a quiet Christmas, too, but John insisted that I go to the party with him. He says no one believes him that we’re half-dating.”
Maddie snorted at Christy’s downtrodden expression. She’d been “so
rt of” dating Nick’s older brother for months. “Half-dating? Is that what you’re calling it now?”
In truth, Christy and John Winters had been dancing around one another since right before Halloween. They were outrageously smitten with one another, but since neither of them were known for long-term relationships they agreed to put off official dating activities until after the holidays passed. They didn’t want to stress a relationship before it had the strength to stand on its own. That way they didn’t have to worry about family parties and gifts. As time passed, though, the rules of their dating life blurred and no one knew – even Christy and John – where they stood.
“I don’t know what to call it,” Christy admitted. “We talk on the phone every night and we text throughout the day. We go out every weekend and accidentally run into each other at the diner at least once – generally three times – during the week. The whole thing is messed up.”
Nick cocked a challenging eyebrow. “Accidentally?”
“That’s what I said.”
“It’s not an accident if John knows that you stop there every Monday and Wednesday. It’s also not an accident if you know he’s there every Wednesday and Thursday. That’s not how I would define the word ‘accident.’”
Christy made an exaggerated face that caused Maddie to giggle.
“Oh, you’re such a pain in the butt,” Christy complained. “You and Maddie spent months doing a dance no one understood as you decided if you wanted to be together. Did I ever push you? Of course not. I think John and I deserve the same respect.”
Now it was Maddie’s turn to make a face. “Are you honestly saying that you didn’t push us? I mean … come on. All you did was push us. Sometimes you even yelled at me because you were pushing so hard.”
“That’s because you wanted to be pushed,” Christy pointed out. “You guys were miserable and desperate for one another. The entire town was talking about it, taking bets to see when you would get together. People thought you were pathetic. I did you guys a favor.”
Nick snorted as he slung an arm around Maddie’s shoulders. “A favor, huh? How do you figure that?”
“Are you two together? Are you happy?”
“I’ve never been happier,” Nick replied, not missing a beat. “If you played a part in that, well, I’ll be forever grateful.”
“I’m happy, too,” Maddie said. “The thing is, I couldn’t see how miserable I was because I was too close to the situation. I think you and John are dealing with the same problem. All of these rules you’ve given one another are just adding to the stress. Maybe you should throw the rules out the window.”
“But we’re so close to the date we set as the end of the line,” Christy pointed out. “Once the second day of the new year is here, we’re going to be embarking on an entirely new ride, with an entirely new set of rules.”
“Let me ask you this,” Maddie prodded, resting her elbows on the counter as Nick rubbed his hand over her slim back. “Did you get John a Christmas gift?”
Christy balked. “Of course not. We both agreed that was off the table.”
“You also agreed that you wouldn’t be attending family parties and going out on dates, but that’s out the window,” Maddie said. “I don’t care what you say, those times you meet at the diner are dates. You attended Thanksgiving with the family. You’re going to the Christmas party. You’re already dating.”
Christy’s mouth worked but no sound came out.
“Even though it goes against the brother code, I should tell you that he spent some time shopping for you,” Nick added. “I have no idea if he bought anything – or what he’s been looking for – but I know he’s been shopping.”
“Do you want to risk him getting you a gift and not having one for him in return?” Maddie asked. “Do you want to be that girl?”
Christy’s cheeks flooded with color as she got to her feet, knocking a chair with her knee in her haste. “Holy crap! We’re already dating.”
Nick had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the panicked look on Christy’s face. “You’ve been dating for months. It’s been a true joy for me because I love messing with my brother. He usually enjoys a good sexual boast, but since you guys haven’t been doing … um, that … he’s been dating without follow-through for months. That makes me king of the Winters men.”
Maddie elbowed his stomach and shook her head. “That’s not helping, your majesty.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that’s what I was supposed to be doing,” Nick teased, grinning as Christy grabbed her coat and scarf and hurried for the door. “John wears a large when it comes to shirts and he adores the color pink.”
“Uh-huh.” Christy wasn’t even listening. Her mind was on something else as she bolted for the door. “I’ll talk to you later, Maddie. We might have to make an emergency trip to Traverse City if I can’t find something appropriate for John in the next twenty-four hours.”
Maddie smirked, delighted to watch Christy deal with being flustered for a change. Usually the roles were reversed. “I’ll be around.”
Nick waited until the door slammed shut to tickle Maddie’s ribs and press a kiss to her cheek. “That was mean, Mad.”
“It was a little mean,” Maddie conceded. “Was John really shopping for a Christmas gift for her? If not, she’s going to be really disappointed.”
“I wouldn’t have told her unless it were true. He picked out a gift for her. I have no idea what it is, though.”
“They’re kind of cute.” Maddie’s eyes sparkled as she turned in his arms and rested her hand on his chest so she could feel the steady beat of his heart. “Not as cute as us, but cute all the same.”
“No one is as cute as us,” Nick said, making growling noises as he kissed her neck. “So, how about reading that dirty book with me now that we’re alone? I was just getting to a good spot when I heard you guys come back.”
“Does that mean we’re at a spot where we’re searching for treasure?”
Nick tightened his arms around her. “I already found my treasure. The book is just a bonus.”
“Then come on. Let’s see if we can find the pirate’s booty.”
“Oh, that’s the best offer I’ve had all day.”
3
Three
“What’s that?”
Nick’s partner, Dale Kreskin, munched on a doughnut the next morning, his eyes curious as he watched Nick place a wrapped package inside one of the evidence lockers before closing it.
“That’s Maude’s Christmas gift from Maddie,” Nick replied. “She snoops through everything so I figured this was the best way to keep it away from her. Maddie was driving herself crazy trying to hide it.”
Dale arched an eyebrow, surprised. “You’re hiding Maude’s Christmas gift here? I can’t be certain, but I’m pretty sure that goes against department regulations.”
Since Nick and Dale were the only full-time police officers in Blackstone Bay – the chief barely did anything and the few uniforms they employed were part-time and seasonal – Nick could do nothing but roll his eyes. “You’re just ticked off because you didn’t think of it yourself. Didn’t you tell me that your wife is a world-class snooper, too?”
“That she is.” Dale’s eyes roamed the evidence lockers. Other than the one Nick utilized to hide Maude’s Christmas gift, they were entirely empty. “I hate to admit it, but that’s a great idea. I’m totally hiking into the woods to retrieve the gifts I hid in my deer blind the other day and putting them here.”
Nick snorted. “The woods?”
“My wife can’t be stopped. The only thing she hates more than not knowing what she’s getting for Christmas is being cold.”
“Then she picked a rotten place to settle down for the long haul,” Nick said, sighing as he sat in the chair behind his desk. “Blackstone Bay is downright cold for five straight months.”
“Yes, but the summers are wonderful.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Nick said
. “What did you get your wife?”
“Jewelry. She loves jewelry. What did you get Maddie?”
Nick pressed his lips together as he shifted on his chair, his gaze lowering so he wouldn’t have to meet Dale’s keen eyes. “I got her a few things.”
“I noticed there was more than one package in there,” Dale said, smirking. “I’m assuming those gifts aren’t all for Maude.”
“I just didn’t want Maddie stumbling across them,” Nick said evasively. “She’s not much of a snooper, but when I was trying to hide her gifts in the house I stumbled across something she bought me and … well … I just wanted to make sure everything was a surprise.”
“Uh-huh.” Dale was well aware of Nick’s moods. Before Maddie returned to town he thought his younger partner was destined for unhappiness. All of that changed when a certain blonde made her presence known … and Nick’s life was tossed into turmoil. It turned out to be a welcome turmoil when all of the dust settled, but that was only after a tense few weeks. “What did you get her?”
“Oh, um … .” Nick didn’t make it a habit to lie to his partner, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit his plan to anyone. On the flip side, Dale was already married. He might be able to help with the nerves that woke Nick in the middle of the night. “I got her some perfume. I got her some earrings. I framed a photograph of us and got a really nice sterling silver frame for it.”
“That sounds nice,” Dale said. “What else did you get her?”
Nick balked. “What makes you think I got her something else? Isn’t that enough? Maddie isn’t a materialistic person. She’ll be happy with that.”
“Yeah, you’re a righteous mess, aren’t you?” Dale made a clucking sound as he sat in the chair across from Nick’s desk. “You’re going to propose, aren’t you? Don’t bother denying it. I can see it written all over your face.”
Nick’s mouth dropped open, his jaw working even as nothing but a small squeak escaped. “How … who … when … ?” He couldn’t put a full sentence together.
“I’m not an idiot,” Dale said, adopting a kinder tone. “You’re so in love with Maddie it swallows you whole sometimes. I knew it was coming. I wasn’t sure if it would be Christmas or Valentine’s Day, but I knew it was coming. I am a detective, after all.”
Grave Holiday (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 9) Page 2
