“When did you stop believing?”
“I don’t know. When I was ten maybe. Some boy told me I was stupid for still believing in Santa. I think I stopped that night.”
Tate turned back and kissed her lightly on the lips. “What a jerk.”
“You know what’s strange? Sometimes I think about that boy. I was even talking about him earlier today with my dad. I guess I just wonder if everything turned out okay for him. He was having a bad day, and I tried to help. I had never seen a kid so sad on Christmas Eve. It broke my heart.”
Tate opened his mouth to tell her that he had turned out just fine but was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.
“Hey, you two in there?” Alex asked from the other side.
Amanda covered Tate’s mouth with her hands. He gently nibbled on a finger.
“Stop it.” She giggled.
“Guess you’re not in there.” Alex continued to talk through the door. “Maybe I should help Mom out and take these dirty clothes to the laundry.”
“He would,” she said to Tate. “We’ll be right out,” she shouted, sinking back into the water. “He’s never going to let me live this down.”
Alex continued to goad his sister. “Well, the spiked eggnog won’t last if you don’t come down soon. Grandma is on her third cup.”
“I said we’ll be right out,” Amanda said through gritted teeth. “Alex, get out of here.” She pulled herself out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body. “I bet it’s almost eleven anyway. I’ll go see if we can stream the Internet on the TV in the living room so we can watch our news show.”
“Why would we want to do that?” Tate watched her move around. He was in no hurry to stand on his ankle. He also had no interest in watching the news. He really didn’t want to leave the guest room tonight for that matter.
“Oh, right. You don’t know. Lacy called me this afternoon and said they’re airing a taped segment on our toy drive tonight. The producers asked her to see if it was okay with us if they ran the story. I told them it was fine. I guess they had a bunch of kids in the studio earlier today. Lacy said she was going to be on camera.”
“Lacy’s going to be on TV?”
“That’s what she said. Jeff’s letting them all say ‘Merry Christmas’ after the final segment.” Her hands moved swiftly as she wrapped a towel around her head and tucked it around her face. She bent down and kissed his cheek. He grabbed her head and kissed her hard, trying to coax her back into the water.
“You’re bad.” She pulled away. “I’ll see you downstairs,” she said and disappeared into the bedroom.
Tate threw his arms over each side of the tub and looked up at the ceiling. This weekend was going better than he’d dreamed. Tomorrow he’d tell Amanda everything. Then at Christmas dinner, he’d lean over and whisper in her ear that she was his first kiss and that he loved her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Amanda, dear, where is Nate?” Grandma Turner asked from her rocking chair, waving her empty eggnog glass.
“Yeah, where is Nate?” Alex said, provoking Amanda from the sofa. “Looking for something to wear?”
Amanda had joined her family who had all gathered in the living room. “Shut up,” she mouthed and turned to her grandmother. “Grandma, his name is Tate. Not Nate. Tate.”
“Oh that’s right. Sorry. I once knew a Nate.”
Amanda’s mother came in with a tray of eggnog. “We know, Ma.” She grabbed the empty glass of eggnog and handed her a new one. “This one’s a virgin.”
Alex burst out laughing.
Amanda narrowed her eyes and sat down, giving him a hard poke. “It’s not like you’ve never had sex in this house,” she whispered.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite family.” Tate strolled over to the couch and Alex stood, letting him sit next to Amanda.
Tate had changed into khaki pants and a red sweater. No Christmas trees and no reindeer. Just red and just perfect. He draped his arm around her and she leaned in. What a perfect ending to a wonderful night.
Tate kissed her on the cheek and turned to her grandmother. “Good evening, Mrs. Turner.”
Her grandmother’s face lit up. “Why, Tate. I’ve been waiting for you all night. How was your day?”
Alex burst out laughing again. He had moved to the floor with Brenda. Brenda jabbed his ribs.
Amanda took a sip of her eggnog. “Mom, where are Brad and Melanie?”
“They are upstairs with Max. He’s been fussy tonight.”
She turned her attention to her dad who was playing with the TV’s remote control. He was trying to stream the Internet. “I think we’ve got it. Amanda, let me show you how to key in the website.”
Her mom reappeared with a tray full of eggnog sugar cookies. “Okay, eat up. Last batch of the season!” She stood in front of Tate and pointed at his ankle. “How is your ankle, Tate?”
“Much better,” Tate replied. “Thank you.”
“Well, can I get you anything?”
“Just these delicious cookies.” He reached over and grabbed a cookie from the tray.
Amanda pulled up the live feed of the station’s eleven o’clock news. “Here it is! There’s our studio. Okay, everyone. Quiet.”
“Mom, you’re not seriously going to make us watch this since she’s here this year, are you?” Alex quipped.
Amanda shot Alex a smug look. “Shut up. It’s tradition.” She returned to her seat next to Tate. His arm immediately went around her, and she leaned back. She smiled up at him. Hopefully they were on the path to starting new traditions of their own. Although hot shower sex every Christmas Eve might not be the most conventional.
She glanced at the television. “Oh, my goodness. Tate, how cute does the station look?” Toys were strewn all over their anchor desk. At least a dozen kids were on the studio’s floor playing with them. “Look how much fun the crew is having.”
“They never have this much fun when we’re anchoring,” Tate said to everyone.
“Look, there’s Lacy standing over there with the kids. Wow. What a dress. I told her to wear something pretty but that’s—”
“Quite the hot pink number.” Tate finished her sentence. “She also wore that to the office Christmas party that you missed.” He grabbed another cookie from the tray and took a bite. “Want one?”
Amanda ignored his question. “Hot pink,” she repeated in a trance. Her gaze zoomed in on Lacy’s hot pink outfit. Her smile faded.
Tate’s words from the heated exchange they had two days ago in his office replayed in her head.
“She wore pink, hot pink.”
“Everything okay, Ace?”
The concerned look on his face could not ease the fury that raged inside her.
“Her dress is hot pink.” She pointed to the TV. “She’s wearing hot pink. She’s the one you we’re talking about the other day. Oh my God. Lacy’s the bimbo in the hot pink dress,” she blurted out.
“What are you talking about?” Tate reached for hand.
“Don’t touch me.” She stood, threw her hands in the air, and stormed through the living room out the front door.
“Amanda, please stop,” Tate begged as he scrambled down the hill. His ankle was starting to hurt again, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his chest. “Amanda, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do this? You did this,” she screamed back.
“No I didn’t. I just made that hot pink dress comment to get a rise out of you.” He grabbed her arm. “Would you stop?”