“You said you weren’t in the market,” he reminded her. “And that got me to thinking. Why should I wait around for you to be ready to retire from the Connecticut State Police, when there’s a perfect candidate who’s wasting his life down in New Haven?”
“Wait a minute!” Larry sat up. “You’ve had this in the works for some time, haven’t you, Captain Peacock?”
“Have I?” the former assistant head of the Princeton University public safety division replied, shrugging. “What makes you say that?”
“Max asked me two months ago why I wouldn’t date him, and I told him I couldn’t work for a guy who dug up the dirt for a slime ball like Pellman. And then he asked me if I’d go out with him if he changed jobs. But,” she said, turning to her former partner, “I didn’t think you’d really do it.”
“A deal’s a deal, Larry Bear. Where are we going on our first date?”
Bur groaned, shaking his head in disappointment. “This is what happens when I try to impress a girl by picking up her dad in New Jersey and her mother in New York? I left the playing field wide open for the competition. Unbelievable!”
“You snooze, you lose, my friend,” Max informed Bur. “She’s worth fighting for and I intend to give it my best shot.”
“Does anyone care about what I think?” Larry wanted to know.
“No!” Edna shouted.
“Absolutely not,” Lacey agreed.
“When it comes to matters of the heart, it’s what you feel that counts, dear.” Laurel pointed out. “You’re a lot like my daughter. You think too much. Love isn’t meant to be logical and safe. It doesn’t come with guarantees. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. This is one of those times.”
“Indeed,” said Big Larry.
“Darling, don’t make my mistake. When I think of all the years I wasted, just because I was stubborn....” Edna hugged her daughter.
“Live while you can, love while you can,” my mother added, patting Max’s knee, “for tomorrow, it may be gone.”
“Ah, you should listen to these people, Larry Bear. They are wise, even if they didn’t cross a desert to get here,” he told her.
“No, this is much more Christmas Carol than Gift of the Magi,” Larry decided, “right down to the creep of Christmas Past. I never really thought Del would ever come after me, any more than I thought I could stop him a second time. But to have him come now, at this time of year, it’s just too much.”
“It’s a miracle you survived all that.” Bur smiled at her wistfully. He knew he had lost her to another man, but when all was said and done, my brother did want the best for her. “Don’t waste it. Find your happiness. You deserve it, Larry.”
“I agree,” I nodded, raising my glass once again. “Here’s to the future. To joy and a life filled with family and friends.”
“What did Bob Cratchit say? ‘A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!’ This is going to be a great holiday. We have so much to celebrate” Lacey laughed. “I’m so glad to be here, sharing it with all of you.
“I agree,” the other Googins girl piped in. “What did that good-hearted little kid with the crutch say? ’God bless us, every one!’ Amen to that!”
“It sure beats ‘Bah! Humbug!’ any day!” Bur declared. “Merry Christmas!”
Author Info --
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Author’s blog: http://sarabartonmysteries.blogspot.com
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Twitter: @bartonmysteries
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Other books by Sara M. Barton:
Henry Hartman’s Holiday Crisis: An Off-the-Books Mystery #1
Henry Hartman's Boondoggle Crisis: An Off-the-Books Mystery #2
Henry Hartman’s Fall Guy Crisis: An Off-the-Books Mystery #3
Miz Scarlet and the Imposing Imposter: A Scarlet Wilson Mystery #1
Miz Scarlet and the Vanishing Visitor: A Scarlet Wilson Mystery #2
Snow White and the Hunter: A Gabby Grimm Fairy Tale Mystery #1
Where’s Hansel and Gretel’s Gingerbread House?: A Gabby Grimm Fairy Tale Mystery #2
Little Red Riding Hood and the Secret Cookie Recipe: A Gabby Grimm Fairy Tale Mystery #3
Let Slip the Dogs of War: A Bard’s Bed & Breakfast Mystery #1
A Plague O’ Both Your Houses: A Bard’s Bed & Breakfast Mystery #2
Run for Your Life, Riley Horton! A Tell No One Mystery #1
What Evil Lurks in Monet’s Pond? A Paint an Impression of Murder Mystery #1
Miz Scarlet and the Holiday Houseguests (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery #3) Page 12
