Eleven #3
“Your mother has no sense of proper decorations,” Cole defended himself. “It’s a cowboy tree. It should look like a cowboy
tree.”
“Exactly,” John seconded.
“Out!” Heather said. “Both of you!”
“Spoilsport,” John said, but he grinned and picked his mother up by the waist and kissed her soundly. “I’m going.”
“This is going to be such a great Christmas!” JJ said brightly.
His young face fell for just an instant. “Well, I mean it would be nice if Dad was here, too . . .”
Josie put her arm around his thin shoulders. “I know how it feels,” she said softly. “I miss my mom. But they’d want us to
be happy, wouldn’t they? Especially at Christmastime? Which reminds me, do you all go to the Sunday morning church service
on Christmas Day?”
Heather smiled. “Of course we do.”
“I’d like to go, too, if you don’t mind,” Josie said.
Heather agreed at once and so did Cole. John was watching her with an unnerving stare.
She didn’t add up to him; a woman with a rap sheet who carried a pistol, a woman he met trying to eat one of his prized bulls who had connections with some very bad people.
She swore she was in real estate, but she didn’t have a car.
Nothing about her added up and he didn’t trust her.
But his parents did, and that was odd because they both had an uncanny ability to judge strangers and they were almost never wrong.
Well, he thought, if she was putting on an act, something would slip sooner or later.
He might be able to press some information out of Tanner and Marlowe, both of whom seemed to be on better terms with her
than they should have been; another puzzle he had to solve.
But for now, they were going to go get a Christmas tree. The rest could wait. After all, the holiday season was upon them.
There was also the private auction to get ready for and Odalie’s appearance at the Metropolitan Opera.
She hadn’t wanted any of them to come up and watch her audition because she said it would make her so nervous she’d faint
so they’d all stayed home. She’d called them all excited because it had worked out that she was going to be in one of the
productions at Christmas, even though not a lead singer. But she had a good supporting role. She was thrilled.
But John knew her better than the others, and he could tell there was an underlying issue somewhere. She was too nervous.
He recalled how she’d throw up before she had to go on stage when she was doing the young artists program and sang opera in
front of audiences. She’d been terrified. Therapy hadn’t helped much. He did wonder how she was going to manage night after
night on stage in front of an audience of hundreds if not thousands of people. That was a lot of stress. But if that was what
she wanted, that was what he wanted for her. She was his baby sister and he loved her. They all did.
In the meantime, however, they had to find a Christmas tree lot and buy a tree. They all piled into the truck with JJ sitting
next to John in the cab and Josie sitting next to the door, by design. Being close to John made Josie very nervous and it
was better not to tempt fate. She couldn’t afford to get mixed up with John Everett. Not now.
And what a very odd thing to think about, she told herself as they drove away.
She didn’t like John. He certainly didn’t like her.
But she would keep remembering that kiss.
It had been extremely invigorating. She had to stop thinking about it.
She was involved in a very dangerous assignment.
She couldn’t afford any distraction; not if she wanted to live.
The Christmas tree lot in Percell—and there was only one—had a surprisingly good selection of trees. Most were cut down but
with the environment in mind, several of them were in buckets, their roots wrapped in burlap. And it was to those last ones
that JJ and Josie made a beeline.
John and Josie had been looking toward a pine tree about six feet tall and not so thick. JJ had his heart set on a tree that
was at least ten feet tall, very thick in between branches and very broad. They started to try to talk him out of it until
they saw the brightness of his eyes. The poor kid had lost his father; he was living in a new home with new people. He had
to be a little nervous, and he was going to miss his dad at Christmas. So what the heck. Let him have the tree he wanted.
“That’s the one you want, huh?” John asked.
JJ looked up at him with consternation. “Ohh, gosh, I’m sorry. Is it too expensive?” JJ said at once, looking worried. “I
know they cost a lot of money. We can get something smaller . . . !”
“No, it’s not too much,” John said at once. “Not at all.” He went down on one knee and hugged the boy. “You can have anything
you want on the lot. Honest. It’s your first Christmas with us, so let’s make it special.”
JJ hugged him back, fighting tears. “Thanks, John. Thanks a lot!”
Josie had to fight tears, too. So often John seemed very self-contained and aloof, but he had a deep heart, and he was a good
person. She hated the thought of leaving, but eventually she was going to have to go back to work, once this undercover assignment
was finished, one way or the other. She was going to miss the Everetts and JJ a lot.
Josie bent down and hugged JJ, too.
“Thanks for picking this one,” she told the boy. “I love big trees. We never had much Christmas at home. Mama was always working
and Daddy was never at home. So mostly it was me and our housekeeper at Christmas. No big Christmas trees. But at least the
food was good,” she said, laughing self-consciously as she got back to her feet.
John pretended to be surprised at the compassion she showed for JJ, but he wasn’t really. He’d noticed that Josie was always
out around the barn where there were kittens. He came upon her unexpectedly one day sitting in the hay outside a stall with
two little kittens curled up in her lap. She was talking to them, telling them how precious they were and how she wished she
could have one. But her apartment building didn’t allow pets, so she couldn’t have a dog or even a cat, which meant she had nobody to talk
to.
John remembered hearing those words from her. He didn’t like her. He was sure he didn’t like her. But she was making a place
for herself in his life. He’d have to do something about that. He’d have to do it soon, before he got too attached.