He slapped the book shut, and he was reaching for another when he heard a yip and the scrabbling of nails. He lifted his head and blinked hard. Then he heard another yip.
No, that wasn’t possible.
More blinking. More yipping and scrabbling, like tiny nails against a door. Had the puppy escaped the fort? Maybe Mom had been distracted and didn’t quite shut it up right, and the puppy had escaped and followed her trail to the house.
He had to get down there before Kate heard. That would be the worst Christmas morning ever: his sister waking to a puppy she couldn’t have.
He raced into the hall, slowing only to tiptoe past Kate’s room, and then trying his best not to thump down the stairs. He could clearly hear the puppy now. It seemed to come from the study.
The study?
How did she—?
No time to consider how. She was very clearly in the study.
Logan hurried to the door and pushed it open, and there was the puppy, attacking Jeremy’s chair. She’d ripped a hole in it and was tearing out stuffing, the pieces flying everywhere.
“No!” he whispered, and ran into the study. The puppy hurled herself at him, yipping and yelping.
“Shhh!” he said as he scooped her up. “Shhh! Please. We need to get you—”
Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Only one person in the house made that much noise.
“Kate,” he whispered. “Oh, no.”
He looked both ways, as if he could find someplace to stash the puppy where his sister wouldn’t smell it. He went to call a warning, to tell her to keep out, make up some story about wrapping one final present or—
The door flew open. Kate stood there, grinning.
“I see you found your gift,” she said. “Or did she find you?”
He froze.
Kate thought their parents had given them the puppy.
This was worse, so much worse.
His mouth opened and closed, and the puppy leapt out of his arms and scrambled over to Kate, who lifted her in a hug, laughing exactly like he’d imagined, her expression even happier than he’d imagined.
“It’s not …” he began. “She isn’t from Mom and Dad.”
“Of course not, silly,” she said, making a face as the puppy licked her lips. “She’s from me. I found her in the fort.”
“Wh-what?”
Kate handed him the puppy, who seemed fine with the transfer, wriggling and whining and licking.
“She got inside the fort and couldn’t get out, poor thing. Luckily, we’d both left sweaters in there, so that kept her warm, and there was snow to drink. I was out walking with Mom and Dad while you and Jeremy went shopping, and they thought they smelled a mutt, so they were getting me back to the house when we smelled the puppy in the fort. I thought that’s what the mutt scent had been. I guess not, but, well, that’s why I was going into the woods the other night—I thought it was safe, and I had another one of your sweaters, because I wanted to make sure she got your scent most of all.” She motioned at the puppy. “Merry Christmas, Lo.”
He heard a sharp intake of breath and looked to see their parents in the doorway. Mom was in front, watching him, surprise and dismay on her face.
“Hey, Mom, Dad,” Kate said, without glancing their way. “Looks like she escaped from the basement. Logan found his gift early.”
“I … see …” Mom said, that look still on her face, as if frantically trying to figure out what to do, and Logan realized that’s what she’d been talking about last night. Not how to tell Logan he couldn’t keep the puppy—how to tell them they’d gotten each other the same gift. The same puppy.
“Kate,” Mom said. “Can I speak to you a moment?”
Kate looked over, and worry crept into her eyes, picking up on Mom’s. It was like dousing a fire. She’d been happy giving him this gift. Even happier than he’d imagined she’d be getting it. Now they had to tell her it was a mistake—that he’d rescued the puppy for her. As her gift.
“It’s okay, Mom.” Logan looked at Kate. “So, you got me a puppy, huh?”
“Found you one. Exactly the kind you wanted, too.” Her face lit up again. “When I saw her, I couldn’t believe it. It was like … well, like it was meant to be.”
“She’s the kind you wanted, too. Maybe, since you found her …”
That light dimmed, just a little, as she nibbled her lip. This was what she wanted: the puppy for him.
“Maybe, since you found her, we could share her,” he said. “I think Mom and Dad will agree one puppy in this house is quite enough. One more pup, that is.”
The light returned as Kate laughed. “Also, giving me half the puppy means giving me half the responsibilities, right?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
She laughed again and threw her arms around his neck, and the puppy wriggled between them, and Logan decided that half a puppy was, indeed, the best Christmas gift ever.
BABY BOOM
“See that stroller over there?” I pointed to an elegant one being pushed along the busy Miami street. “It has the best suspension on the market.”
“That’s important, I take it,” Lucas said.
“According to every saleslady we encountered, it is. I am now officially an expert in baby strollers, having spent the entire day being schooled.”
“And what was Savannah’s role in this outing?”
“Throwing up her hands after the first sales pitch and asking me to handle it. Because ‘But, Paige, you’re so much better at these things.’ Plus, she’s got baby brain and can’t be expected to make any critical decisions.”
“Baby brain? I haven’t heard that one.”
“Oh, you’re going to. For the next five months you’re going to, and if she can, she’ll stretch the excuse of aftereffects until the poor kid’s twenty-one.”
Lucas shook his head and opened the restaurant door for me. Yes, Savannah was pregnant. Four months along, which meant she was still fine for joining us on this trip to Miami, especially when Benicio had promised her and Adam a five-thousand-dollar shopping spree as a baby-announcement gift.
“So you had fun?” Lucas asked as the hostess led us to our table.
I rolled my eyes, and his lips curved in a hint of a smile as he said, “The next time, I’ll go with you and endure the sales pitches.”
“Do that for me and I will thank you in every possible way. Once the baby comes, I’ll love it to death. But this part?” I shuddered. “I would rather shop for a new car than a stroller. I swear, they come with fewer options. By lunchtime I’d actually started looking forward to dinner with your dad.”
We found Benicio already seated at the back of the restaurant. We were five minutes early—he just always made a point of being there first for Lucas, which was, of course, a point in itself. You are special, Lucas. You have my undivided attention. With every year that passed, every step closer Benicio came to retirement, that message grew louder.
You are my heir. You will inherit the Cortez Cabal.
Which was the last thing Lucas ever wanted. Yet if he didn’t accept the role, it went to his only remaining brother. Carlos was as inept as he was cruel, and for a corporation employing hundreds of supernaturals, I’m not sure which of those attributes was more dangerous.
Dinner with Benicio was never easy, but at least I could be guaranteed two hours without hearing the word “baby.”
Lucas pulled out my chair.
“Carlos’s wife is having a baby boy,” Benicio said.