Take Me Home for Christmas (Whiskey Creek #5)(51)
Author: Brenda Novak

“I don’t mind giving you a hand. That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?”

The fact that he still cared about her. That was what made this situation so impossible.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning,” he said and walked out. But just as he was opening the front door to leave, he noticed a pair of headlights coming toward him. The glare was so bright, he couldn’t see who it was, couldn’t tell the make and model of the vehicle. He ran out, but the driver spotted him immediately, threw the transmission into Reverse and burned rubber as he accelerated backward.

Ted jumped in his Lexus and tried to follow. Only one road led to and from the DeBussi mansion. He thought he could catch whoever it was, or at least get close enough to see if he recognized the car. But the vehicle seemed to disappear into thin air.

“Son of a bitch.” Smacking the steering wheel, he headed back to Sophia’s. It didn’t matter that she was his ex-girlfriend. He couldn’t leave her and her daughter alone, not under these circumstances.

19

“Mr. Dixon?” A hand jiggled his shoulder. “Mr. Dixon? Are you okay?”

Okay was a relative term. Ted had a crick in his neck. He knew that much.

Lifting his head, he squinted to bring Sophia’s daughter into focus. The bruise on her face looked worse than yesterday. But the cut looked better. She was ready for school, all scrubbed and polished. With her hair pulled back, she was the spitting image of her mother—fortunate for her considering the wide disparity in Skip and Sophia’s physical traits.

“I wanted to try sleeping at your kitchen table.” He yawned as he stretched.

“That couldn’t be comfortable.” She frowned, obviously perplexed. “Why would anyone want to try it?”

He hadn’t had many options. There were probably thirty rooms in the house, but thanks to Skip’s investors trying to recoup whatever they could, there wasn’t a mattress or an extra blanket in sight.

“I should’ve brought a sleeping bag,” he muttered.

She started to say something else, but Sophia’s voice came down to them from upstairs, interrupting. “Lex, hurry up and grab some cereal. We have to go. I can’t be late.”

He made a face. “Or what? Sounds like she has a really mean boss.”

That got a smile out of her. “I don’t think she knows you’re here.”

“Neither do I, but she’ll find out soon enough.” He stood to ease the pain in his back and neck. “Can I scramble you some eggs for breakfast?”

“You could if we had a frying pan,” she said. “We had a good one, but someone took it that night they came for the furniture.”

“I see. So…what’s for breakfast?”

She pulled a couple of cheap plastic bowls out of the cupboard. “We got these at the grocery store. They’re not as pretty as what we had before, but they were only a dollar.” Setting one in front of him, she took two plastic spoons and went to the pantry. “What’s your favorite cereal?” she asked from inside.

“Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. I hope, if you had some to begin with, your father’s investors didn’t take it.”

She laughed. “They took some of the meat out of the freezer, but they left the cold cereal. Thank goodness,” she added, “because I was tired of eating soup.

“Sorry, no Wheaties,” she said a moment later, holding out a box of Cap’n Crunch. “This is as close as I can get.”

“Shouldn’t we set a bowl for your mother?”

“No, she won’t eat.” She was carrying the milk to the table, but hesitated for a second. “I think she’s trying to save most of the food for me.”

“She really loves you.”

“Believe me, now that I know what it’s like to have a parent who doesn’t, I’m a lot more grateful.”

What she’d said was both sweet and sad. “Did you get your homework done last night?”

“Yeah.”

“What topic did you choose for your English essay?”

“Bullying.”

“Great choice. That’s something you should feel passionate about, which always makes for an easier argument.”

“I like the way it turned out. But—” she slumped into a chair and poured her cereal “—I still don’t want to go to school.”

He leaned down to catch her eye. “Good thing you’re brave enough to do it anyway.”

“Nice try, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Come on, a smart girl like you?” he said with a grin. “Nothing can keep you down for long.”

She allowed him to pour the milk. “My mom said you’re Eve’s boyfriend.”

He wondered what had brought that up. “We’re…seeing each other.”

“I like her.” She scooped up her cereal. “She’s nice, like you. And beautiful.”

“Eve’s special,” he agreed.

She slanted him a shy look. “Do you love her?”

Fortunately, Sophia called down at that moment. “Lex?”

When Ted pressed a finger to his lips, indicating that she shouldn’t give him away, she giggled.

“What?” she called back.

“Remember that typing class you took at the library over the summer?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think they have that during the winter?”

They could hear Sophia coming down the stairs. “I don’t know,” Lex said. “Why?”

“I need to learn how to type. For my job.”

Lexi covered her mouth as she laughed. “Or what? Mr. Dixon will fire you?”

Ted stopped chewing while he awaited Sophia’s response.

“He might,” she said. “He doesn’t like me. I can tell you that.”

The smile disappeared from Alexa’s face. “Mom—” She was obviously going to explain that he could hear, but it was too late. Sophia entered the kitchen, saw him sitting at the table and froze.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He didn’t answer the question. He asked one of his own. “Who said I don’t like you?”

“It’s a safe guess. Right now, no one does.”

“I don’t have many friends, either. Not anymore,” Alexa chimed in, relaxing when she realized they weren’t going to have a problem despite what he’d heard. “It’s just the two of us.”