Christmas In Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 4) (20 page)

Jordan smiled. “I love both ideas. I’ll call Helen this afternoon.”

“Great.” Tj began to get up.

“That’s not all,” Jordan added before she could get all the way to her feet.

“It’s not?”

“No
. I also wanted to talk to you about Gracie. My relationship with Gracie, to be more exact.”

Ah, so the other shoe
has dropped.
Tj sat back down. “What’s on your mind?”

“Since I’ve been here I’
ve realized how much I’ve missed not having a family. I fully expected to come to Serenity, meet Gracie, satisfy myself that she was well taken care of, possibly offer a bit of money toward her support, and then be on my way.”

“And now?” Tj felt her heart pounding as she waited for his reply.

“Now I find that the past three weeks have been the best of my life. I love Gracie. I don’t know that I can simply walk away.”

“You are
n’t going to take her?”

“No,” Jordan assured
Tj. “I would never do that. I can see how much you love each other. She’s happy here with her large extended family. I want that for her. But I also want it for me. My contract with the Navy is up next summer and I’m seriously considering retiring and moving to Serenity. I can’t believe I’m even saying that. The Navy has been my life. I’ve never wanted to do anything else and I really do love it. But what you have here, in this town, with your family . . . I find that I want that as well.”

Tj didn’t say anything
as she struggled to gather her thoughts. If Jordan stayed, would he eventually decide he wanted Gracie to live with him? Would he tire of Serenity and take her away? He’d only been here three weeks and already he’d altered his original plans. Did she really trust him to stick to any agreement he might make about the future? The safest course of action seemed to be to have him away at sea.

“What if
it turns out you hate Serenity?” Tj asked. “It’s a small town and not a whole lot happens here. You’ve been all over the world. What if you got bored, but you’d already given up your position with the Navy?”

“I’ve thought about that
, and to be honest, I’m still considering all my options. I realize Serenity offers a specific way of life that isn’t for everyone, but if I could be here to watch Gracie grow up, it might be worth any adjustments I might have to make.”

“Okay, there is that
, but what if Gracie isn’t your daughter? We really don’t know for sure. What if you give up your career and move here and then find out that she isn’t even yours?”

“You ma
ke a good point,” Jordan acknowledged. “I don’t know for certain that Gracie is my daughter, although I feel that if I have the paternity test done and it’s negative, I’d still count myself fortunate to be Uncle Jordan to both of your sisters.”

“What about a job?” Tj asked. “There isn’t a huge call for
Navy captains in the area.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure what I
’ll want to do regarding a career if I choose to leave the Navy. I have a degree and I have quite a bit of money saved up. I figure I can work on the specifics once I get here. I’m really good at math; maybe I could get a job as a teacher at the local high school. Or maybe I could open my own business of some sort.”

Tj looked out of the window. It was beginning to snow again. She liked Jordan
, but as hard as she tried, all she could feel was fear at the idea of him moving into their lives permanently. Not that she could stop him; he certainly didn’t need your permission to move to Serenity.

“I know this is sudden,” Jordan offered
, “and nothing is certain at this point. I just wanted you to know what was on my mind.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I’m not going to take her from you,” he assured Tj again.

She
looked him directly in the eye. “I really want to believe that.”

“If I move to Serenity
—and a lot still has to happen before that can be a reality—I’ll move to the area as Uncle Jordan. Nothing more. I promise.”

Tj forced a smile. “Okay. Then just let me know what you decide.”

“Thank you so much for everything,” Kallie
said to Tj later that evening when the two were in the kitchen doing the dishes after the family meal. “Brady loves it here, and he loves your sisters. This is going to be the best visit ever.”

“I’m happy to help out. I’ve arranged for the girls
’ Uncle Jordan to keep an eye on all three of the kids during your shift tomorrow.” Tj noticed that Kallie stiffened. “Don’t worry. Jordan is good with the kids, and I trust him completely.” Tj realized that was true.

“He seems really nice
, and Brady did seem taken with him when he came by earlier. I think it’s the deep voice. Brady’s father had a deep voice, and I know Brady can’t really remember him, but I hope a part of him will always remember things about his time with his dad.”

“I’m sure he
’ll always have flashes of memory,” Tj assured her. “And you can show him photos and talk about him.”

“If I get to spend any time with him
.” Kallie sighed. “My mother-in-law seems to be getting less and less willing to let me have my days with him. I’m amazed she agreed to this arrangement, but perhaps she didn’t want to seem petty when others were involved.”

Tj turned on the dishwasher and wiped the counters. She knew she needed to have what was bound to be an uncomfortable conversation with the woman she felt so much empathy for
, and now seemed as good a time as any. All the kids were in the den watching a Disney movie with her dad and Rosalie and her grandpa was at the Grill having a drink with Doc and Bookman.

“Echo needs to go out for his evening romp,” Tj announced. “Do you want to bundle up and come along with me?”

“I’d love to.” Kallie smiled. “Brady seems content for the time being.”

After both women had donned coats, snow boots, hats, and gloves, Tj let Echo out the door and the trio headed down the path toward the lake. It was a gorgeous evening. The snow had cleared and the stars shone brightly in the winter sky. The moon was just beginning it
s ascent and it reflected on the still water.

“I guess you
probably heard that I’m looking into Bob King’s murder,” Tj began.

“I’d heard.”

“I realize it isn’t my place to investigate, but it seems Sheriff Boggs has really dropped the ball again and I’m trying to find the real killer so Bonnie and Dennis will be off the hook.”

“That’s completely understandable.”

“I’ve put together a timeline for the day of the murder as best I can and am speaking to everyone who was at Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not accusing you of anything, but I need to ask where you went off to the two times you left the building.”

Kallie paled. “You think I killed him?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just trying to put together as complete a picture as I can. I remember you telling me that you were going to help Jenna with dinner after we spoke at the appetizer table, but she told me you never showed up in the kitchen, and then you mentioned you were going to the ladies’ room around the time Frannie left, but it was a long time before you came back.”

Kallie stopped walking. She stood staring out at the water. “I was trying to hid
e my dirty little secret, but the truth of the matter is, I was outside smoking.”

“I didn’t know you smoked.”

“I don’t. I mean, I didn’t.” Kallie let out a deep breath. “I smoked when I was younger. After I found out I was pregnant with Brady I stopped. I really thought I’d conquered the addiction, but after my ex-monster-in-law refused to let me see my own son over Thanksgiving, I found myself giving into my craving once again. I’m trying to quit again. I
will
quit again. But on Thanksgiving I’m afraid my willpower was all but gone.”

Tj bit her lip as she considered Kallie’s confession. “So if you were outside both of the times I mentioned
, did you happen to see anything?”

“Like what?”

“It just so happens that both of the times you were missing, Bob King was also missing. The reason I asked you about your movement on that day was because after I realized you were both gone at the same time . . .”

“You thought I might have killed the man.”

Tj tried not to look guilty.

Kallie thought about it. “I saw Captain Brown talking to h
im the first time I went outside, before dinner. They seemed to be arguing, which seemed odd because I didn’t think they knew each other. And I saw Frannie speaking to him just before she left. As far as the timing goes, Frannie seems the likely suspect, but she’s so nice, I can’t imagine why she would off some guy she’d just met, even if he was a rude bastard.” Kallie tapped her lip. “I also saw Nikki talking to him after dinner.”

Tj frowned. That was odd. In all of
the times she’d discussed the murder with Nikki, she’d never mentioned talking to the victim.

“I don’t suppose you overheard any of these conversations?”

“No, not really. It did seem that everyone was arguing with the man, though. I didn’t want anyone to see me smoking so I didn’t hang around where the others might see me, but based on the body language I observed, I’d be willing to bet that he ruffled quite a few feathers during his short stay. If you ask me, the man got what he deserved.”

“
He might have deserved to die, but neither Bonnie nor Dennis deserves to go to prison for killing him.”

Tj woke to the sound of absolute silence. Since the girls had moved in with her that almost never happened. She looked around the room to see if she had woken in some alternate universe where five people from three generations didn’t all live in the same house. Echo snored quietly next to the bed and Cuervo sat in the windowsill, looking at her with outrage that the sun was high in the sky and his breakfast had yet to be served.

Tj slid out of bed and pulled on her heavy winter robe. She slipped her feet into knee
-high slippers and started slowly toward the door. She opened it and listened. Still no sound. Not from down the hall, in the den, or even in the kitchen. She made her way down the stairs, calling out as she traveled from her bedroom on the second floor to the kitchen on the first.

“Anyone here?”
she called.

“Mornin
’, darling,” her grandpa greeted her. He was fully dressed and sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper and sipping a cup of coffee.

“Where is everyone?” Tj asked.

“Your dad is over at the lodge and Kallie and Jordan took the kids ice skating. It’s almost eleven o’clock. Everyone has been up for hours.”

“Eleven? Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

Grandpa shrugged. “You seemed to have a restless night, and there wasn’t any reason to disturb you.”

“You heard me walking around at two a.m.
,” Tj concluded.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table
, which looked out over the lake. It really was a beautiful day. Sunny, with blue, blue skies, and just enough fresh powder to make the landscape look like it was covered in whipped cream.

“I tend to be a light sleeper,” Ben answered.

“Kallie isn’t working today?” Tj asked.

“She
’s cooking for the dinner shift in the Grill. Jordan stopped by this morning to say hi to the girls, and they asked if he would take them ice skating. Kallie’s little guy wanted to go, so they all went together. I think they plan to have lunch in town, and then Jordan is going to take the girls to play practice. They took extra clothes to change into.”

“I guess I’ll grab a bite and check in with Leiani.” Leiani
Pope was the lodge manager.

“I already spoke to
her, and she assures me that she’s covered. It looks like you, my dear, have the day off. Maybe you should head up to the mountain and take advantage of this phenomenal day.”

Tj would
have loved to spend the day snowboarding, but there was something else she’d been meaning to do but hadn’t found the time for. “I think I might call Ellen to see if she can fit me in for a trim.”

“Seems like too nice of a day to waste it getting all dolled up,” Grandpa commented.

It really was, but “dolled up” wasn’t what Tj had in mind. Tracking down a new clue in a murder case that seemed to be going nowhere would go a long way toward adding meaning to her otherwise delightfully meaningless day.

“I’m so glad you called when you did,” Ellen said to Tj later that afternoon. “I’ve been booked solid with the holiday season, but I just happened to have a cancellation and your hair really does need some attention.”

Tj didn’t
mention that she could care less about spilt ends since she wore it in a long braid most of the time anyway. Luckily, the other hairdresser who shared the space was off for the day, so it was only Ellen and Tj in the small shop on Main Street.