I'll Be Home for Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2017-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

She was ready and, if she hurried, she’d be on time.

Grabbing the cheesecake she’d made, as well as the wine she’d bought, Adelaide headed for the door. She’d never been to Maxim’s place, but she doubted she’d have any trouble finding it. She had GPS on her phone if she got lost. But just as she was stepping out of her house, she saw her friend Ruby pull into the driveway, going far too fast. She came to a screeching halt, and the Escalade jerked back and forth as she slammed the gearshift into Park and jumped out.

Something was wrong. They’d already exchanged gifts over the weekend and hadn’t planned to see each other again until after Christmas. Ruby had said she’d be celebrating with her kids and her ex-husband, with whom she was thinking of reconciling. So...what was she doing here?

Adelaide waited on her doorstep as Ruby rushed toward her.

“Adelaide, oh, my God! I’m so sorry.”

Sorry? Adelaide didn’t know how to react. “For what?”

Confusion descended on Ruby’s face and her steps slowed. “You mean...you don’t know? It was just on the news. I heard it with my own ears.”

The cheesecake and the wine were getting heavy, but Adelaide didn’t dare move. “You’re not making any sense.”

Tears filled Ruby’s eyes as she took the wine. Then they stood facing each other, both dressed in their Christmas finery, with Adelaide’s heart beating like a jackhammer.

“It’s about Mark,” Ruby said.

Adelaide couldn’t imagine what could be so terrible that Ruby would race over in such a panic. Mark was dead. She’d been dealing with that for two and a half years. Did news get any worse than goodbye forever? “What about him?” she asked.

Ruby motioned them inside. “I think you should sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down,” she said. “I have a dinner date, and I’m going to be—”

“He was having an affair, Adelaide, just as you suspected,” Ruby cut in.

This stole Adelaide’s breath. After so long, after finally convincing herself that she’d been acting crazy and paranoid and insecure when she’d accused Mark, she was learning that she’d been right from the beginning? “No...”

“Yes.”

“With whom?”

“Let’s go in,” Ruby said and guided Adelaide back into the house.

Adelaide sat at the kitchen table while Ruby took the cheesecake and stowed it in the fridge, along with the wine. “I can’t believe something like this would be on the news,” she muttered. “I mean, I could see it if he was still in office, but—”

“It’s pertinent,” Ruby said. “You’re essentially running in his place and on his reputation. So anything that blackens his name blackens yours.”

“But...an affair? A lot of guys have extramarital affairs and it hasn’t ruined their political careers.”

Ruby frowned. “There’s more to it.”

“More?”

“Mark also took bribes from local developers.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Ruby crouched in front of her. “I would never kid about something like this.”

Adelaide stared at her helplessly. “He couldn’t have. I mean... I would’ve known, wouldn’t I?” She tried to think back. They’d always been well-off.

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