All I Want for Christmas: A Rose Gardner Christmas Novella (Rose Gardner Investigations) by Denise Grover Swank

Author:Denise Grover Swank [Swank, Denise Grover]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DGS
Published: 2024-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

ROSE

By Monday night, Mikey was going stir crazy from staying home all day. His fever had broken the night before, but I’d kept him home so he’d be fever-free for twenty-four hours before going back to school.

He and Ashley had been out of sorts when Mike’s parents had brought them home Sunday afternoon, but it wasn’t uncommon for them to be quiet after a visit with their grandparents. Then, when Mikey wasn’t excited about decorating the tree, I figured out pretty quickly that he was running a fever. Ashley confirmed that Mikey had been sick with a cold since Saturday night and Mike’s parents had still made him go to church. I’d been furious and had wanted to call them, especially since they hadn’t told us Mikey had been sick, but instead, I handed Hope to Joe and snuggled on the sofa with Mikey while we watched Elf, his favorite Christmas movie. After we finished the movie, Muffy snuggled with him as Ashley, Joe, and I decorated the tree. Hope sat in her bouncy seat, mesmerized by the lights.

On Monday morning, Joe took Ashley to school before he headed to Baton Rouge to get more lights, and I kept Hope home with me and Mikey. I didn’t get much work done at home, but I was more worried that I couldn’t be at the office to see Neely Kate. When I’d called her in the morning to tell her Mikey was sick and we were staying home, she seemed okay, but when I asked if she’d talked to Jed, she’d told me she didn’t feel like talking about it and quickly ended the call.

I still hadn’t told Joe, even though I was dying to get his opinion, but it wasn’t my information to share. I’d promised to keep it to myself.

Everything was back to normal on Tuesday. I took Hope to daycare after I dropped the kids off at school, then headed downtown to the office.

Neely Kate was already at her desk when I arrived. She looked up as I walked in and glanced down at my feet. “No Muffy today?”

I headed for my desk. “I figured she got enough peopling the last three days. Mikey pretty much squeezed the stuffing out of her Sunday night and yesterday while he was feeling bad, so I let her have some alone time to recover.”

She chuckled. “She loved every minute of it, and you know it.”

“True, but she didn’t run to the door today to leave with us, so I let her make her own decision.”

I sat down and booted up my computer, telling Neely Kate what little I had done the day before.

“Have you heard anything more from Joe’s mom?” she asked.

“Not a thing.”

“Do you think that means she accepted Joe’s answer?”

Joe and I had discussed it the night before, and he’d confessed that while he was relieved she’d given up so easily, part of him was disappointed too.

“I know it’s counterintuitive,” he’d said as we lay in bed, me nestled into his side.

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