A Child's Christmas Boxed Set: Sugarplum Homecoming\The Christmas Child\A Season For Grace by Linda Goodnight

Author:Linda Goodnight [Goodnight, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460347362
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Who spit in your sandbox?”

Kade slouched in front of the laptop, jabbing keys with enough force to jiggle the table. Ida June stood with one hand on her hip and a chocolate-chip cookie in the other.

Davey was fast asleep, exhausted from his day at school and the excitement of whatever he’d been doing with Sophie.

Ida June poked at his shoulder. “GI Jack saw you eating pizza with Sophie B. You after that girl?”

Sophie. The woman was giving him no peace. Just like his great-aunt.

“Strictly professional.”

Ida June made a rude noise. “I didn’t think my sister’s daughter would raise such a stupid child. ‘Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is above rubies.’”

“I don’t think Sophie’s for sale, rubies or not. She’s all about cookies.”

Ida June whacked his shoulder. Cookie crumbs scattered down his shirt. “I’m gonna have to call your mama, boy.”

“Tell her I love her.”

“Tell her yourself.” She slapped a cookie on the table beside him.

Kade closed the laptop with a snap and took up the cookie. No use trying to work with Ida June on him. He’d call his mother in his own good time, when he was ready to give her something besides bad news about her son.

“How was work on the stable?” he asked.

“Slow. I need you back out there tomorrow.”

“I can give you a couple of hours.” The rest of his hours, both day and night, would be focused on solving this case.

“And then?” The metal chair legs scraped against linoleum as Ida June perched across from him. She stacked three more fat cookies in front of her. “You got any leads on our little guest?”

He sighed in frustration. “None.”

“You will. It’s early yet.”

Much as he appreciated her confidence, he wasn’t so sure. “It’s as if he fell from the sky.”

“Well, maybe he did.” She pointed half a cookie at him. Melted chocolate oozed out in a thick glob. “Miracles happened at Christmas.”

Kade squinted at her. “You been in the eggnog, Auntie?”

Ida June slapped the table and cackled. “Life is sure perky since you moved in.”

“Yeah, I’m a barrel of entertainment.”

“You’ll be happier when you get involved.”

His great-aunt was pushier than his shrink—a shrink he hadn’t called since Davey entered his life. He hoped the agency didn’t send out the guys in white jackets to see if he’d offed himself.

There was no use denying his unhappiness to Ida June. She was in on the conspiracy to get him out of Chicago, though like his family, she didn’t know the complete story. Even his supervisors had only part of the picture. Fine with him. If he let his mind go there, to what he’d seen and done in the name of justice, he’d be a dead man.

For a while he had been. Then a blue-eyed boy with no voice had given him a reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes the voices in his head said he was trying to make amends, but he knew he couldn’t. Not ever.

“I am involved.

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