Chapter Twenty-two
W ren walked down the rows of trees inside the community center with Duke at her side, studying each beautifully decorated spruce and fir with a smile. The Festival of Trees was one of the biggest charity events of the season, and the organizers had asked a couple of officers to rotate throughout the day to keep an eye on things. Not that there was usually any trouble at this event, but after Wren’s conversation with the chief in regard to the Christmas Bandit, it was decided that they could never be too careful, especially with the amount of money that exchanged hands during the event. Although she’d rather be out patrolling the streets, it was fun to at least see some of the Mistletoe holiday events. Wren thought about her Christmas tree sitting in a bucket with bare limbs in her living room. If she ever got the chance to get over to A Shop for All Seasons before it closed, maybe she would grab a few special ornaments to start off her collection. Wren had very few that had survived her childhood, and although she imagined many handmade ornaments in her future, it would be years before that came to pass.
Wren was still coming down from the high of being with Sam and couldn’t believe that this was all happening. He had stayed over last night, too, and they’d made love twice more throughout the night with no talk about what was best for insemination or anything like that. They’d just spent time together, snuggling and watching TV. It had been wonderful.
Wren kept thinking about Sam’s question, about whether what they were doing would stop once she got pregnant. If this was just an arrangement, then everything else should end once it had been fulfilled, right? So why was it hard to think of Sam not being a part of her life now that they had reconnected? It wasn’t just that he was incredible in bed, which he was, but that he was kind and supportive. Funny and infuriating. He made her smile, and when he wasn’t around, she missed him.
You were the one who said that you didn’t want a relationship. Are you changing your mind already?
Wren was so confused by what she wanted and didn’t want. She’d never been around anyone like Sam, who made her feel comfortable and at peace. Her first instinct was to tell him they’d continue until one of them wanted to stop, but would that get complicated if she became pregnant? Would watching her make decisions in regard to the future for her and the baby be painful for him?
The last thing Wren wanted to do was hurt Sam. He’d given her everything, including a reason to smile again.
“Hey, Wren!” Millie said, coming over to join her in front of the trees. “You were zoning out. How’s it going?”
“Oh, it’s going,” she said, waving her hand to indicate the rows of evergreens. “Just checking out all the trees.”
“They are really pretty,” Millie said, reaching out to finger a glass piano ornament on the music store’s tree. “Unfortunately, I know I would never be able to keep the tree and ornaments in one piece at my house with my two cats who live to destroy everything I love.”
“Sounds like two creatures that need to be taught some manners,” Wren said.
Millie snorted. “Cats are rude dudes with attitudes, but I love my babies.”
“I know you do,” Wren said, smiling at her friend. She turned her attention back to the trees, scanning some of the glittering, glass ornaments that caught her eye. “They are pretty to look at, but I don’t know if I’d want a theme for my own tree.”
“Did you get a tree this year?” Millie asked. Usually, Wren pulled out a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree statue and sent Millie a pic with her gifts around it.
“My dad bought me one, but it’s just sitting in my living room, staring at me with distain, wondering why I haven’t decorated it yet.”
“Why haven’t you?”
“Because that involves going and buying ornaments and tinsel.”
Millie laughed. “You make it sound like a trip to the dentist.”
“I don’t know why I’m not excited about decorating a tree. It’s almost overwhelming, because eventually, I will include other ornaments that remind me of people I love. It feels like a waste to go purchase a bunch of balls so that my tree gets decorated, when I know I’m eventually going to replace them.”
“This sounds like the tree is a metaphor for something bigger going on in your life,” Millie said suspiciously.
“Maybe it is,” Wren murmured, turning the corner with Duke and Millie. She stopped in front of the A Shop For All Seasons’ tree. “I should bid on this one. It is pretty and has a variety of ornaments. There will be at least a couple I like.”
“Don’t be silly. You can get ornaments you want online without buying a whole tree.” Millie slipped her arm through Wren’s and added, “By the way, how are things going tracking down the Christmas Bandit?”
“Not great. He struck again yesterday when I was off. A blowup Frosty went missing from a home on the south side of town.”
“That is crazy. I wonder what he’s doing with it all?”
“Probably selling it online for drugs or money,” Wren said.
“Would he get a lot for it?” Millie asked.
“I’m not sure. ’Tis the season to overspend.”
“Hmmm,” Millie said before laughing. “Nah. Even if I wanted to, I am not hard-core enough to be a criminal mastermind.” Millie lowered her voice and leaned in close. “By the way, how is Operation Get the Splooge going?”
“Ugh, that’s gross, don’t call it that.”
“Sorry, I was just curious.”
“As it happens, there has been a new development.”
“Go on,” Millie said.
“Sam agreed to inseminate me.”
Millie stopped suddenly. “No way? Did you make him go through the whole home kit thing?”
“No, he thought that was a bit complicated.”
“It is, but then what? Did you find a clinic for him to donate semen to?”
“Not exactly,” she said, concentrating deeply on an ornament of a man skiing. Although Millie had been behind Operation Find a Guy and Pick, Wren never thought she was being serious. Heck, Wren had never imagined that she, herself, could be serious until she’d been presented with the two things she wanted most: Sam and a baby.
“Are you saying that you are barebacking it with Sam in the hopes of getting pregnant?” When Wren looked away, her cheeks burning, Millie said, “Oh, Wren.”
“Why do you say it like that?” Wren asked defensively. “Sam agreed to it. I didn’t force or blackmail him. He even signed papers giving up his parental rights.”
“And that’s not gonna be weird? Having his baby and walking around town pretending like he’s just kind of there?” Millie shook her head. “I know I said look at Mindy Kaling living her best life and pick a sperm, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it!”
“I know it’s a little controversial, but I think this is gonna be what’s best.”
“For who?”
Wren wasn’t sure how to answer that, especially when she’d already been dwelling way too much on how much she loved having Sam around.
“I guess we’ll see.”
“When did all this get started?” Millie asked.
“Well, we did it once Tuesday, and then we did it several times Thursday and last night. If he comes over tonight, too...”
“I get the picture.” Millie gave her a suspicious look. “Are you enjoying this?”
“Depends on what you mean. Sam is a very considerate man in the bedroom, which helps, because according to experts, it’s important for the mother to orgasm to increase the chances of conception.”
“Oh God.” Millie shook her head. “This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard outside of a Hollywood gossip magazine.”
“Oh, come on, it’s not weird to enjoy sleeping with someone.”
“You’re doing a little more than sleeping.”
“Can we move on?” Wren asked.
“Sure, but I’m just wondering, if you’ve got his tadpoles, should I just call him Prince Frog?”
“Don’t be a jerk,” she said.
“Truth?” Millie asked.
“As if I could stop you.”
“I think you are going to put yourself in an uncomfortable position when you realize that you are in love with him.”
“I am not in love with Sam.”
“You were in love with Sam nineteen years ago, and that is the reason why you have never moved on. Now you’re going to get pregnant with his child, and he is going to think you want nothing more to do with him.”
“I was in love with him, past tense. Then I grew up and realized I don’t want a relationship because I saw what it did to my parents. That is why I never got serious with anyone else, not because I was carrying a torch for him.”
“Bullshit,” Millie said, lowering her voice when a few people passed by the end of the aisle. “The true reason is, he has always held your heart, and this is your way of keeping him close subconsciously. You think that if you do this pregnancy with him, eventually you two are just going to fall back into a relationship, and you won’t have to admit that you want to be with him.”
“I’m walking away from you,” Wren said, skipping over the Parks and Rec tree and stopping in front of the tattoo parlor’s tree. The ornaments were various and abstract. Some of them were painted glass balls, with the pastel colors of a sunset, while others were darker. Wren fingered a skull with red eyes, wondering who had chosen this tattoo and where they’d put it.
They were all signed with the initials of the tattoo artist who created them, and Wren found herself looking for all the ones that read S. G.
“Hey,” someone shouted, the voice echoing throughout the metal building. “Someone stole my wreaths out of the back of my truck!”
Wren took off without saying goodbye to Millie, Duke running next to her. Wren reached the front entrance where a middle-aged man was angrily pointing outside.
“What happened?” Wren asked, telling Duke to sit.
“I was loading up the stuff that I bought into the back of my truck. I turned around to talk to a friend on the phone, and suddenly, I see this guy hanging over the edge of my truck bed helping himself to two of my wreaths. When I yelled at him, he took off running toward the woods with one on each arm!”
“Could you give me a description of the man?” she asked, pulling out her notepad and pen.
“I don’t know. Teenager maybe? I didn’t get a good look at his face, but he was skinny. He had his hood pulled up, but I could tell by his hands he was white. He didn’t take off that long ago; can’t you just go get him?”
Wren nodded, heading in the direction he indicated. It was after five in the evening, so it was already dark outside. Pulling her flashlight from her utility belt, she scanned the trees and made her way several steps in.
“Duke, heel.” The last thing she needed was her dog to take off searching for a suspect in the dark and end up facing off with an angry bear.
“Hey, Wren!” She turned toward the sound of her name and saw Sam standing outside one of the community center’s side doors with a couple of women. They glanced her way briefly, but then their focus returned to Sam, gazing at him in adoration, and Wren frowned.
“Oh, hi,” she said, searching the tree line for movement. It was better than watching Sam’s fan club fawn all over him.
Sam jogged over, stopping next to her. “What are you looking for?”
“Did you see a man run by in a hoodie?” she asked, noticing the women were following him. Great.
“No, but we only just walked out. I was helping them load their tree in the back of their truck—”
“Sam,” a petite brunette called out, linking her arm with his. “I was trying to ask you about that tattoo on your arm with the ladybug and the leaf. The watercolors are gorgeous. If I did something similar, where would it look best on me?”
Wren’s eyes narrowed at the other woman’s grip on him, and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell the woman to get her mitts off Sam. Duke seemed to sense her unease, and to her surprise, he approached Sam and the brunette without being released by verbal command, and Wren watched in horror as he pushed his way between them, nearly knocking the woman over.
“Duke, come,” Wren said, laughter bubbling under her breath. “Sorry, he’s working right now, and you’re in his space.”
“We should go back inside and let the officer do her job,” the woman said, reaching for Sam again.
“I’m sure he can make it without you hanging on him,” Wren snapped, stiffening when she realized that she sounded like a jealous girlfriend.
Jealousy! Where had that come from? She didn’t have time for jealousy.
“I— I gotta go,” Wren said, ignoring Sam’s smug, smiling face, and she took off for a closer look at the woods, cursing herself under her breath. Why was she behaving so stupidly? Just because some woman had attached herself to Sam like a leech didn’t mean he was interested, and even if he was, Wren didn’t own him. He could do whatever he wanted.
On her way deeper into the trees, Wren shined her flashlight, but all she saw was a red velvet bow on the ground. She picked it up and kept looking around, waiting for her flashlight to illuminate more missing pieces.
Duke whined, taking a few steps toward the darkness, and Wren shook her head. “Heel, Duke. Even if he’s in there, I don’t need you chasing him down when I can’t keep up.” Tucking her flashlight back into her belt, she ordered, “Let’s go.”
Sam was waiting for her on the side of the building, but he was alone.
“He didn’t catch your Christmas Bandit?” Sam asked, pointing at Duke.
“I didn’t want to let him loose when it’s too dark for me to follow safely. Especially not for a couple fifty-dollar wreaths.” Wren shook her head. “Why anyone would want to steal a couple wreaths is weird.”
“Maybe they’re decorating their house in order to win the best display?” Sam offered.
“Well, an extra-large ornament did go missing from another person’s house.” Wren smiled, forgetting for a moment she’d been irritated with him. “Could be he’s making a wreath toss?”
Sam chuckled. “Who’d have thought Mistletoe would end up with our very own Grinch?”
“No idea. All I know is that he’s skinny and young. Now the back of a truck.” Wren shook her head.
Sam pushed off the wall, falling into step next to her. “So how are you going to catch him?”
“I don’t know. Figure out why he’s doing it and set a trap?”
“That could work.” Sam stopped next to her, nodding. “What was that thing Duke did, pushing his way next to me?”
“Uh, I have no idea. I think it’s all the food you’ve been sneaking him. I guess he’s claimed you.”
“So, not a command from you to keep Ilsa Potter away from me?”
“Who is Ilsa Potter?” Wren grumbled, knowing dang well she was the pushy brunette.
“Never mind, I must have imagined it,” he muttered. “Are you still off at six?”
“Barring an emergency, yes. Why?” she asked.
“I thought maybe we could go get some food. Listen to some music and hang out.”
“I don’t know. I’m kind of tired. Plus, I have to figure out what I’m doing with my Christmas tree.”
Sam chuckled. “You mean, the one you set up in the corner of your living room in the Home Depot bucket?”
“Yes, smart-ass,” Wren said, because Sam was the one who’d helped pick it out. “I just don’t know what to do with it. I don’t have any ornaments and don’t feel like running around town looking, even when I do have time. I could order them online, but most of them wouldn’t make it by Christmas anyway.”
“What if we made ornaments?” he asked.
“What?”
“Yeah, why not? I’ve got all kinds of stuff that we used to make ornaments for the tattoo parlor’s tree. I can pick up some food, and you can come over to my place, and we’ll make ornaments for your tree.”
“That’s sweet, but I have Duke.”
“Bring him. I’ll put a big blanket down, and he can chill while we create.”
Wren pursed her lips. “You’re serious about this?”
“Course I am. Now, what do you say? Do you wanna do some crafting with me?”
Wren forgot all about the girl hanging on him and Millie’s opinion of their arrangement, because making ornaments with Sam sounded like fun to her.
“I’m in.”