Take Me Home for Christmas

opening. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“You, of all people, should know she can’t be trusted.”

A muscle flexed in Ted’s cheek, but instead of responding, he glanced in her direction. “You can go back to work.”

She knew she should do exactly that. He was her boss. But the anger she’d felt at Just Like Mom’s welled up again. Was Stacy here to sabotage her first break since the night Skip had disappeared from their yacht?

“If he’s here to complain about me, he can’t claim I owe him anything,” she said. “From what he told Eve when he was at the house on Friday, he invested $5,000 with Skip. But he took items worth at least that much from my house. Maybe I can’t pay back all the investors, but he should be satisfied.”

“You don’t know anything,” Stacy said.

Ted didn’t even look at him. “I’ll handle this,” he told Sophia.

Would he give her the benefit of the doubt, no matter what Stacy had to say? Or was she crazy for even trying to keep this job?

Part of her said she was crazy—the same part that suggested she walk out before he could fire her. But if she did that...then what? She’d go home to a stripped-down house with little food and no money—and possibly fall back into the terrible depression that had so recently taken control.

That would be the worst thing that could happen, for her and Alexa. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to pull out of another nosedive like the last one. She hadn’t been drinking for just that reason—because she couldn’t afford to take the risk. She had to do everything in her power to avoid depression, even if that meant trusting Ted—a man she’d once scorned—to somehow see the best in her.

“I have to go to the grocery store,” she mumbled. “Maybe now would be a good time.”

Ted pulled a wad of bills from his pocket. After peeling off two hundreds, he handed her the money and said to get whatever she needed.

“You sure she’ll come back with the groceries?” Stacy quipped.

Difficult though it was, Sophia managed to ignore him. He was trying to provoke her.

“Thanks,” she told Ted. Then she retrieved her purse, shoved the money inside and slipped past both of them. She was eager for a few moments of freedom, a few moments when she wasn’t worrying about whether she was cleaning the right thing or cooking the right thing or if she’d only end up disappointing Ted like she had with her typing.

She could feel Chief Stacy’s gaze follow her all the way to her car. But then he disappeared inside the house and she drove off.

* * *

“What can I do for you?” Ted asked as Stacy took a seat opposite him in the living room.

The police chief pursed his lips and gazed around Ted’s house. “This is kind of different, isn’t it?”

He obviously didn’t approve. “You came to see my house?”

“No, I came to talk about Sophia.”

“With me?” Ted brought a hand to his chest. “Why?”

“I’m thinking you might be able to help. She owes me money—like she does a lot of other people.”

How could he help that? “I can’t garnishee her wages, not unless you get a judgment against her and go through the proper channels. And why would you waste your time? I’m guessing she’ll be forced to file for bankruptcy. She can’t make enough money to pay anyone. You’re lucky you came out of this as well as you did.”

“As well as I did?” Stacy repeated. “I’ve got more skin in the game than you realize.”

“How’s that? Was Eve wrong about the amount you invested? Or don’t you think the jewelry and other stuff you took from Sophia’s house has much value?”

“Neither. I’ve been seeing Pam Swank for the past four months. And I don’t mind telling you that we’re getting pretty serious.”

How did this relate? “Who’s Pam Swank?”

“Lives in Jackson. You don’t know her?”

“Never met her.”

“She invested, too—to the tune of a quarter million dollars. Everything she inherited when her parents died a year ago.”

Ted flinched at the size of her loss. “That’s really unfortunate. How’d she meet Skip?”

“Has family in town. Knows most everyone.”

“So she believed all the stories she was hearing about making a huge return and stepped up.”

“Skip told her he could double her money within a year. That gigantic house of his convinced her that he knew what he was talking about. So she signed it all over.”

Ted was beginning to understand Stacy’s enmity toward Sophia. He was talking about a quarter of a million dollars he would’ve had access to if and when he married Pam. The police chief felt that Skip, and by extension Sophia, had robbed him of a nice chunk of change his potential new wife would presumably share with him.

“Skip was a bastard,” Ted said. “We can agree on that. I feel sorry for everyone who got hurt by him. But...the FBI looked into Sophia’s culpability and found no indication that she was involved. After seeing how devastated she’s been, you must know there’s nothing she can do for you.”

Stacy leaned forward. “I’m not so sure about that. A man doesn’t walk off and leave a gorgeous woman like that behind.” He lowered his voice even though there was no one in the house to overhear them. “Skip once told me she gave the best head a guy could imagine.” His laugh took on a lascivious edge. “Doesn’t it make you hard just to think of it?”

Ted was tempted to throw Stacy out of his house. But first he wanted to find out what had brought him over in the first place. He still didn’t understand. “More proof that Skip was a prick. What kind of man speaks so crudely of his own wife?”

“I agree, but that boy liked to brag. Remember what he’d make her do every Fourth? How he’d insist she ride on top of that damn float dressed in some skimpy evening gown just to show the rest of us what we were missing? He would’ve put her in a bikini if he could’ve gotten away with it.”

Ted remembered, all right. When he’d bothered to attend the parade, he’d tried to ignore the spectacle she made, but it hadn’t been easy when she wore such revealing clothes. “That was his idea?”

“It wasn’t hers. I heard them arguing about it once, right before the parade was supposed to start. She said it was too embarrassing, begged him not to make her do it, but he wasn’t about to let her off the hook. Making us envious was way too much fun.”

That Skip had treated Sophia like a prize cow infuriated Ted. But it was none of his business. He had to remind himself of that—again. “She was stupid to ever get with him.”

“Rich as he was? I don’t know if you could call it stupid or calculated, but it certainly came at a price.” Acting as if he had all the answers, Stacy rocked back. “Skip dictated her every move. She came up to me once on the street, said she wanted to file a police report. She looked fine to me so I asked her what was going on, but before I could get an answer, Skip swerved to a stop in front of us and demanded she get in.” He chuckled. “You should’ve seen her jump. She didn’t even say goodbye, she was in such a hurry to climb into that car.”

Ted had heard his friends talk about various bumps and bruises. They said she always had a good excuse for the injuries, but...there’d been speculation that maybe Skip was to blame. “Any idea what she wanted to report?”

“Who knows? He was probably trying to put a lid on her spending or something,” he said with a chuckle. “The point is...she knew he was boss. My wife? She was the exact opposite—so damn difficult. She’s even worse now that we’re not married.” He scratched his neck. “Man, am I glad to be rid of her.”

Ted could only imagine how happy she was to be rid of him, too.

“Anyway,” Stacy continued, “I can’t believe Skip would give up a woman like Sophia. Beautiful. According to him, a dream in bed. Obedient.” He ticked these things off on his stubby fingers. “So I suspect that when he