Take Me Home for Christmas

“God, he cooks, too?” Eve grinned. She often teased Cheyenne about her sexy husband. She was happy for her best friend—she’d never seen Cheyenne happier—but she couldn’t help feeling left out, maybe even a trifle jealous. She’d never believed she needed a man in order to be fulfilled, but with so many of her friends marrying, she wished she could find someone to share her life with.

“It’ll be steak,” Cheyenne said. “That’s what he makes whenever he cooks.”

“There could be worse foods.” Eve almost said something about inviting her over next time Dylan’s brother, Aaron, would be there. She’d thought of mentioning it before. But Aaron had anger management issues. As gorgeous as he was, she’d be stupid to get involved with him, especially when Cheyenne’s sister had already traveled down that road and it had ended in a broken heart.

“True,” Cheyenne agreed.

Eve felt her smile wilt as she returned her attention to the scene outside the window.

Cheyenne looked out, trying to follow Eve’s gaze, but the lonely figure Eve had noticed a few minutes earlier was sitting too far to the right, in the shadow of a large headstone.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Cheyenne said. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of Little Mary again.”

Six-year-old Mary Margaret had been strangled in the basement over a century ago. She was their resident ghost—maybe. Eve wasn’t convinced that Mary hadn’t moved on. “Not this time.” She pointed to the newest plot in the Whiskey Creek cemetery. “Alexa DeBussi is out there.”

Cheyenne frowned as she finally located the young teen, who had a grocery bag at her side. “Poor girl.”

It was obvious that Sophia’s daughter was crying as she sat there, huddled against her father’s headstone.

“I wonder if Sophia knows she’s here,” Cheyenne said.

“I haven’t seen Sophia for the past couple of weeks. Have you?” Eve had placed a few calls to Sophia’s cell phone, including the one in which she mentioned the job Ted had available, but they hadn’t been returned.

Cheyenne shook her head. “No. I sent flowers since I couldn’t attend the funeral. And I’ve stopped by twice, but no one answered the door.”

The fact that Cheyenne hadn’t been able to come to the funeral reminded Eve of Wyatt. “How’s your nephew doing?” she asked. Cheyenne’s sister had the cutest little boy. He meant everything to his mother. He meant a great deal to Cheyenne, too, which was why she and Dylan had been at the hospital in Fresno, where Presley lived, instead of at the funeral.

“He’s fine now. The pneumonia’s gone. Thank goodness. I can’t imagine what Presley would do if anything happened to him.”

“Do you think his father will ever be part of his life?”

“I doubt it. How could she ever find him? You know he was just some loser she met in Arizona,” Cheyenne said.

“It’s just sad to think the guy’s walking around out there and he doesn’t even know he’s a father.”

“I don’t think he’d be the type of guy we’d want in Wyatt’s life, anyway.”

Pulling her sweater closer around her—it felt as if the weather was about to turn—Eve shifted her attention back to Alexa, whose mother was only sort of their friend. Half the members of their group seemed to have forgiven Sophia for her past. But others, like Ted, definitely had not. Eve wasn’t sure how she felt. She had bad memories of various catfights and backbiting incidents instigated by Sophia, but she hated to be the kind of person who harbored resentments. “What should we do about her?” She indicated Alexa. “We can’t leave her out there alone.”

“Maybe she needs time to grieve,” Cheyenne said. “I know she was close to Skip.”

“Death is so hard.”

“Sometimes.” Cheyenne’s voice was thoughtful when she made that comment. The woman who’d raised her had also been laid to rest in that cemetery, but her death had been more of a release than anything else.

“Maybe I’ll walk down and say hello, see how she’s doing,” Eve said. “You head on home to Dylan. You wouldn’t want him to burn your steak.”

“He doesn’t burn meat. He barely cooks it,” she said with a chuckle. “But it’s so tender it melts in your mouth.”

Once again Eve suffered a twinge of jealousy. “You’re lucky to have someone who loves you so much.”

Cheyenne touched her arm. “You’re thinking about getting older, aren’t you?”

“I’m thirty-four, Chey. And I want kids.”

“It’ll happen.”

“Here in Whiskey Creek?” Eve gave her a doubtful look. “I know all the eligible men. Just about the only guy I haven’t seriously considered is Aaron. Dylan’s other brothers are too young for me.” She laughed as if it was a joke, but she was secretly wondering how Cheyenne would react.

“I love Aaron, but...you don’t want to get involved with him,” she said.

Eve forced a smile. “Of course not.” She jerked her head toward the window. “I’d better go.”

“Would you like me to go down with you?”

“No need to overwhelm her. One adult she hardly knows is enough.”

Cheyenne hugged her. “You’re so good.”

Eve missed the old days, when she’d had more time with Chey. Now Chey, Gail and Callie were all married. Even Noah had a wife and a baby on the way. Eve had never dreamed the biggest playboy in the group would settle down before she did. She felt like the last person to leave a party....

But she wasn’t the last. Ted hadn’t married. He hadn’t even been serious with anyone since Sophia. Riley, Baxter and Kyle were single, too, but they didn’t really count. Riley had a kid—he’d actually been the first to have one. Baxter was gay and in love with Noah, who wasn’t. And Kyle had been married. His wife had revealed herself to be the spawn of Satan so they’d divorced within months, but at least he’d known some kind of romance. Actually, he was still in love with Olivia, who’d married his stepbrother. So why was her love life so uneventful?

She’d survive, she told herself. She shouldn’t wallow in self-pity when there were people suffering from much bigger problems than a bout of loneliness. People like Sophia. She’d once been the most popular girl in school, the daughter of the mayor. And she’d married the richest guy in town. How would it feel to suddenly become a pariah after having all that? The reversal alone had probably given her whiplash. And what about poor Alexa?

Eve had such great parents. She couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to find out her dad was a total douchebag.

Alexa was sobbing by the time Eve made it down to her. She was crying so hard, in fact, that she didn’t hear Eve’s approach.

“Hey, kiddo. You okay?” Eve asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Alexa was too distraught to even be startled. She hiccuped and wiped her cheeks as she looked up. “Am I—” she glanced around the cemetery “—am I not supposed to be in here?”

Eve knelt beside her. “It’s perfectly fine for you to visit your father’s grave. I just didn’t want you to be alone if you needed someone to talk to. You don’t know me very well, but I’m a friend of your mom’s.”

“You are?” She sounded skeptical, and for good reason. Eve had never even been to Sophia’s house. They’d had coffee together a few times at Black Gold with the others. That was it.

“We went to high school together,” she said to bolster her claim.

With a sniff, Alexa again dashed a hand over her wet cheeks. “Oh.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Eve gestured at the flowers adorning the grave. “I know it’s hard to lose someone you love.”

“Do you think it’s true?” she asked.

Eve lowered her head to meet Alexa’s eye. “Do I think what’s true?”

“That he did all those terrible things? That he didn’t love us like he said he did?”