A Perfect Bride For Christmas (30 page)

A Perfect Bride for Christmas

the last minute. When she worked for him Zoe did most of his shopping and wrapping. The last five years, gifts consisted of gift cards.

The shopping mall near Zoe’s house boasted a

trendy toy store, ToyTown. He spent a half hour overwhelmed by choices until he found a salesperson to help him decide on gifts for the triplets.

“What ages are your children?” The twentyish

redhead, smiled up at him, her green eyes taking a quick mental inventory. He’d become accustomed to stares and feminine attention since the age of

fourteen, but today it irritated him rather than flattered.

“Four.”

She blinked and stared down at his bare ring

finger. “You said you have three children.”

“Yes. Triplets.” He picked up a Dora the

Explorer doll. Zoe said Macy loved anything Dora.

“Do you have other stuff for a Dora fan?”

The woman came closer, her body language

signaling her willingness to know him better.

Alex put the doll back on the shelf. Normally he enjoyed the give and take of flirtation, but today it made him uncomfortable and felt wrong. Not

because of Sydney—but Zoe. “I think I’ll just walk around until something catches my eye.”

At least the girl caught on fast and knew when

to back down. She nodded and smiled, this time, without any come-on. “I’ll be here when you get ready to ring up.”

“Great.”

Alex left to search and destroy. A toy store

shouldn’t be this intimidating.

Soon, he found several items for the girls. Deep down, he envied some of the toys they had for boys.

He wished there had been foam, dart-shooting

bazookas, and giant walking dinosaurs when he and his brothers were kids. Star Wars had been the big 239

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thing then. He turned the corner of one aisle and there, in front of him, was a display of light sabers.

The three of them used to pretend to have light sabers, but theirs were made of painted wood.

They’d used old broom handles, and their fights were legendary. More than once Mom patched up them up with Band-Aids and ice packs.

He chuckled and threw three light sabers into

his cart. Alex couldn’t wait to see the expressions on Heath and Clint’s faces. Alex lay claim to the third light saber. It would be wrong to let his brothers have all the fun.

A variety of toys filled his cart. A giant wooden dollhouse complete with furniture for Mia. He’d picked out one of the foam dart guns, plenty of foam ammo, and a big book on dinosaurs for his tomboy, Michaela. Macy would be thrilled with her new Dora doll, one with a Pegasus.

In the electronic section, he found handheld

video games with a variety of games suitable for the girls.

Satisfied with his shopping, Alex headed for the check out. Halfway there, he noticed a Santa sitting on a huge chair with a child in his lap. He handed candy to the little boy and let him down. Alex read the sign next to the Santa and checked out the

hours. This was good. He could bring the girls here on the twenty-third.

Alex paid for his purchase and went back to the Hummer to stash his load of presents. He slammed the hatch shut and started towards the driver’s side to unlock his door when he spotted a jewelry store.

An idea popped into his head. He hadn’t got his mother a gift. Alex knew just the thing to make her Christmas complete.

He loped across the parking lot, avoiding slick spots and piles of snow banked on the edges by

snowplows. A bell tinkled when he entered.

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The clerk, a tall lanky man with stylish glasses, looked up from the tray of rings he’d placed in front of a customer. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“No hurry, I’ll look around.”

Alex stared at the multitude of offerings in the case. There were so many rings. Several designs caught his eye, but nothing really stood out and yelled ‘buy me’.

Once the clerk had finished with the other

customer, he came over to Alex. “Good afternoon, sir, my name is Sean. Did you see anything you wanted to look at?”

Alex shook his head. “I need a grandmother’s

ring by Christmas.” His fantastic idea died a

horrible death. “And I’m sure it would be impossible to get it made by then.”

“What did you want? I mean in the way of

stones and metals?”

“My mother is fond of white gold. The girls were born in August.”

“Oh.” The clerk smiled. “You have twins.”

“No, Sean,” Alex said with a grin. “Triplets.”

Sean blinked in surprise, but a second later, his eyes lit up. “I think I have something here that might work. August is Peridot.”

“Peridot?”

“Oh, yes.” Sean reached down under the cabinet

and unlocked it. He brought out a tray of rings that shone leaf green under the lights. “I put these away to make room for the winter merchandise. These

usually sell better in the spring and summer, but I have one here I think your mother will love.”

“Mom loves green and pink, so I think the green would be good.”

Sean handed him a ring in white gold with three small green hearts running in a diagonal across the top. Mom would love it.

“I’ll take it.” He didn’t bother to ask the price.

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This was exactly what he wanted.

“Very good, is there anything else you might

like?”

“Do you have anything simple for four-year-old

girls?”

Sean locked up the case and went to another. He pulled out an assortment of small lockets. “I have a variety of designs here, but I have duplicates of several of the lockets.”

Alex shook his head. “I want to give them heart shaped lockets, but I like the idea of each one having an individual design.” He pointed at three different lockets and felt satisfied with his choices.

“You’ll have three happy little girls.” Sean took the lockets out and rung them up, along with his mother’s gift.

Alex stuck his hand into his pocket and fished

around for his car keys while he waited. His hand brushed against Zoe’s wedding band. His heart

pounded, squeezed tight until he felt like he’d pass out in front of Sean, or whoever else might walk through the door.

This was it, he had to take the chance, gamble

on his future. “I’d like to see some wedding sets.”

Sean nearly danced a dignified jig at the

prospect of another sale. “Were you thinking of a traditional set, or maybe something a bit unique?”

He worked the band in his jacket pocket. “I don’t know. She’s not really the diamond type. It needs to be something unusual.”

Sean frowned. “Hmm, I have several different

rings that might be used as an engagement ring.” He walked around the cases, his eyes scanning the

different choices. “What color are her eyes?”

Alex let out a chuckle. “Now that’s going to be a hard one. I call them kaleidoscope eyes because they aren’t any real color. Some people might call them hazel, but they change with what she’s wearing.

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Sometimes they even look blue or gray.”

“I know just the ring.” He went over to a case

with colored gemstones and brought out another

tray. “How about a multicolored tourmaline?”

One look, and Alex knew the ring belonged to

Zoe. The stone was neither brown, gold or green, but a combination of all of the colors with hint of blue glimmering from within the stone. It sat on a simple band of diamonds. “This is it. That’s Zoe.”

“I have an eternity band you can use for a

wedding ring and…” Sean picked a man’s ring out of a tray inside the counter. “Here’s a ring for you that has five diamonds across the top.”

Alex felt a hell of a lot lighter in spirit and wallet when he left the shop.

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“Mommy, the doorbell is ringing,” Macy shouted

from the dining room.

The girls were busy coloring while Zoe worked in the kitchen. Today she wished Cherri were here

instead of St. Louis. Zoe still had a lot of last minute items to prepare, and it overwhelmed her. The girls complained and whined all day.

Zoe did a quick check to make sure nothing

would overcook while she took a few minutes to

answer the door. She glanced at the clock over the table. It had to be Brenda.

The moment she opened the door, she could tell

Brenda had been drinking. No amount of breath

mints could hide the fumes radiating from her thin frame. It was only ten in the morning, and she’d already knocked back a few drinks.

Brenda held out her arms and squealed a

greeting. “Zoe! Merry Christmas, Zoe. Where are my nieces? Girls! Aunt Brenda comes bearing gifts.” She held up arms covered from elbow to wrist with the handles of various shopping bags.

“Come in, Brenda.” Zoe let herself be dragged

into Brenda’s laden arms for a hug. Brenda’s light blue eyes glittered with interest the instant she walked over the threshold. “My, my, you’ve done quite well for yourself.” She set down the packages to unwind her scarf and handed it to Zoe. “I see you made a good investment with James’ money.”

“Brenda, if we’re getting into this the minute

you come into my house, you can head back to St.

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Louis. You’re not staying over the holidays. I’ve got too much to do to entertain you, and I don’t have a liquor cabinet anywhere.”

The fake cheer died in Brenda’s eyes. “You’re

such a buzz kill.” She stuffed her gloves into her coat pocket before peeling it off and throwing it over the back of a soft yellow and blue, wing chair. “I didn’t want to come to you, but I don’t have a choice.”

“You can stay the night, and then you’re gone. I found out what you told the girls at the funeral.” Zoe ran her hands through her hair. “We will be civil, but if you upset my children again—”

Brenda grabbed her by the arm. “Wait, what did

they tell you?”

“That James wasn’t their real father. Do you

have any idea what a load those poor kids were

carrying around until they asked me about it a

couple of weeks ago?”

Brenda didn’t say anything, her eyes blank. “I’m sorry. I really don’t remember.”

“They said you smelled funny, again. That tells me you’d been drinking.”

“I’m sorry.” Brenda looked up at Zoe, her blood shot eyes filled with sincerity. “I don’t know how many times I can say it.”

“You don’t have to say it, just mean it.”

“I do.” Brenda paced back and forth, biting her lower lip. “I know you said you didn’t want to talk about money, but I’m desperate.” The older woman dropped into the large yellow chair and blue chair. “I wasn’t raised in home without money, I never had to work and now, all I do is work. James should’ve taken better care of me.”

“Brenda. James worried about you, about your

spending habits. You know that. How many

arguments did you two have over the subject?”

Brenda glanced up at her with accusation in her eyes. “We never had words until you came along.

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You and the girls. He didn’t love me after that.”

Brenda’s face screwed into a mask of loathing and spite.

“I know you were upset when you found out

James hadn’t left you with a big trust fund to pay for your lifestyle.”

“Can you blame me? My brother had just died,

and I find out I’m left penniless.”

“I wouldn’t call fifty thousand dollars penniless.”

“James was worth over three million dollars,”

Brenda hissed.

“Oh, Brenda. James loved you more than you

know.” Zoe sat on the small matching ottoman and took Brenda’s hand. At first Brenda tried to pull away but Zoe held fast. “You have a drinking

problem, and when you drink, you say things best left alone.”

“I know, I know.” Brenda gripped Zoe’s hand so

hard that a zing of pain shot through her fingers as her bones ground against each other. “What am I going to do? I told you I don’t have a job anymore.

The department store downsized me.”

“Why?”

“They needed to cut the payrolls, and I had a

few tardies on my record. No one in that whole store knew shoes like I did, and I barely made above

minimum wage. I’m forty years old. No one wants to hire me anymore.”

“Did you sign up for unemployment?”

“No. I’m a Bennett. It’s one thing to ask my

family for money but the government—that’s so

degrading. My life is falling apart, and if I could get the loan, well, it would mean so much.”

As angry as Brenda made her, Zoe wished she

could help her sister-in-law, regardless of James’

insistence that Brenda stand on her own two feet.

He’d enabled Brenda his entire life, telling Zoe it was easier than dealing with Brenda’s constant

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nagging and guilt trips. Right before he’d died, he made her promise not to give into his sister’s

whining.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Brenda. I don’t have any money. I mean, not twenty thousand just lying around.”

Her sister-in-law squeezed further back into the chair, her fingers digging into the arms. “You have it; you just won’t give it to me.”

Zoe felt the last of her good will evaporate. “We went through this over the phone. The money is in the girls’ trust. The trustees won’t even let me touch it without a good reason, and I honestly don’t think they’d consider giving you a loan.”

Hope and desperation filled Brenda’s eyes. Her

platinum bob swung as she shook her head. “No, you can talk to the trustees, make them understand.”

“What happens after this loan is gone? You need help. Maybe I can get them to spring for rehab or job training, but not money you’ll fritter away in a couple of months or less. “ Zoe got to her feet. “ Look, I can give you a few hundred dollars. It’s not much, but it’s all I have until the first of the year. This is a gift from me.”