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“What do you want?” Heath asked. She reached for him, twining her legs with his as the water gushed over them.
“You know,” she moaned.
“Say it,” he said.
“Take me,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck, both of them slick as seals and dripping with suds.
He lifted her and turned abruptly, pi
“Heath, what are we doing?” A
“What a way to go,” Heath replied, stepping out of the stall and tossing her a towel.
“I think we should stick to the bed in future,” A
Heath sighed. “You’re so conventional.”
The telephone rang in the bedroom and Heath went to answer it before Daniela could get it in the kitchen. When A
“What is it, Heath?” she asked. “What’s the matter?”
Heath looked at her directly. “There’s a bench warrant out for your brother’s arrest. The D.A. says he violated the terms of his bail by traveling to Massachusetts.”
Chapter 9
A
“Calm down, I’m going to handle it,” Heath said firmly.
“Obviously some wires have crossed somewhere. Harry Caldwell is going to straighten this out, pronto.”
“He won’t be in his office now, Heath!”
“I’ll find him wherever he is. For what I’m paying him, he’ll solve this little problem if he has to take a dogsled from Springfield to Boston.” Heath went to his closet and started to dress, pulling trousers off a hanger.
“I’m going with you,” A
“You are not. You almost passed out last night, and after this day, you’ve had enough stress for at least a week. I’ll go over to Caldwell’s office and you stay here and relax.”
“Heath, I can’t ask you to keep unscrambling my messes like this,” A
“Why not? Wasn’t that our deal?”
“I thought our deal was off.”
“Not that part of it. Listen, you’re my wife. I have the ability to handle this and you don’t.” He gri
A
Daniela was washing dishes in the sink. The debris of the party was still visible, but reduced; Daniela had been busy clearing it away all day.
“Still at it, Daniela?” A
“There’s a lot to do,” Daniela said, glancing at her and smiling. “You look so relaxed this evening.”
A
“I guess it must be a relief to have the party out of the way,” Daniela said.
A
“Do you want something to eat?” Daniela asked.
A
“You’re too ski
“Always?” A
“Yes, since you got married.”
So while Heath was giving A
“Okay, I’ll have some toast,” A
“Yes, thank you,” A
“We were through at noon,” Daniela replied, “but I didn’t want this mess to greet me day after tomorrow, so we’ve stayed to get some of it out of the way.”
“You don’t have to stay any longer.”
“But, senora, the tables from the caterers have to go back, and the rest of the decorations—”
“Can all wait until after Christmas. Heath said that your daughter is coming to visit tonight and that should take precedence. Did Heath give you your bonus?”
Daniela nodded as she buttered toast and then put the plate in front of A
“Then get lost,” A
Daniela was obviously pleased. “I hope the new year is a very happy one for you, senora,” she said, patting A
That gave A
After Daniela and Victor left, a holiday hush settled over the evening, leaving A
If Heath and the lawyer were there, they weren’t answering the phone.
A
“Ho, ho, ho,” he said, encircling her with his free arm. “Oh dear, my Mrs. Claus looks somewhat worried. Where’s my joyous Christmas face?”
“How is Tim? What’s happening? Is he in jail?”
“Take it easy, he’s not in jail,” Heath replied, dumping his packages on the entry-hall table. “Harold Caldwell pulled some rabbits out of a hat and the bench warrant has now been rescinded. Curfew will not ring tonight.”
A
Heath gri
A
“De nada. Hey, you haven’t commented on my holiday accessory.” He swept off the hat and bowed.
“Very fetching. Where did you get it?”
“I bought it at the liquor store.”
“Liquor store? Have the proprietors branched out into haberdashery?”
“Nah, they had a counter display of them when I went in there to send a bottle to Ben Rowell. I couldn’t resist.”
“I hope you got him something nice.”
“A fifth of Glenlivet.”
“Good.” A
“Don’t you want to open your presents?” he asked, picking up the smallest one and shaking it suggestively.
“Isn’t that supposed to wait until tomorrow?”
“There are no rules for a Bodine Christmas. Come on, just this one package. I want to see what you think of it.”
“I thought we were going to go shopping together, ” A
“We will, we will. Everything is open late tonight. Tear into that one now.”
A
“Heath, what did you do?” A
“I made a start on the rest of our lives, I hope,” he replied, watching her face.