All I Want for Christmas (14 page)

Gaylynn beamed at her. “I know. But we’re
going to keep it simple. We’ve set the date: June eighth, next
year. Of course, you’re going to be a bridesmaid.”

“Uh, that goes without saying. I’d turn that
wedding out if you didn’t let me be in the wedding party,” Nedra
joked. Then she grew serious. “What did Jarae say?”

Gaylynn sighed. “I haven’t told her yet.”

“She’s going to be happy for you. I know she
will.”

“Oh, I know,” she replied. “It’s just that
she gets so bitter and down. I want to enjoy the happiness for a
little while. Mama will be thrilled, but, of course, she’ll say,
‘It’s about damn time; eight years and two kids later’.”

Nedra laughed hard. Gaylynn did such an
excellent imitation of Darcie Lee. “Girl, stop it. My face is
hurting.”

The sisters exchanged Darcie Lee stories and
gasped for air between giggles. After a while, Gaylynn tapped Nedra
on the shoulder and pointed. Dwayne stood in the open office
doorway gazing at them. Nedra grabbed a tissue from the box on her
desk and wiped her eyes.

“I need some water,” said Gaylynn. She went
to the pitcher on a side table and poured herself a cup. “Oo-wee,
that was a good laugh. Hi, and excuse us.”

“No problem. It’s nice to see two beautiful
women having a good time.” Dwayne strolled into Nedra’s office and
gave Gaylynn a head-to-toe glance.

“Dwayne, this is my younger
sister, Gaylynn.” Nedra wanted to slap the leer off his
face.
Just like any predator, always on
the prowl.
“This is Dwayne Grover, the
mayor’s confidential assistant.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Gaylynn, taking a
sip of water. “Let me get back to my office. I’ll call you later,
sis.”

“Sure thing.” Nedra waved goodbye and faced
Dwayne. She rolled her eyes as he stared at Gaylynn’s butt as she
walked away.

“Very
nice meeting you, Gaylynn,” called Dwayne. He seemed about to
smack his lips, but then he pivoted his attention back to Nedra and
smiled. “So you’re in a good mood for the holidays, I
see.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. What can I do for
you?” Nedra moved back behind her desk. She didn’t sit, but crossed
her arms and looked at him.

“I just stopped by to wish you a Merry
Christmas. Are you coming to the Gala?” Seeming not to notice
Nedra’s less than warm reception, Dwayne perched on the edge of her
desk.

Nedra knew that Mayor Bates hosted a fancy
Christmas party each year, held at a banquet hall that was owned
and operated by his brother. An invitation to these parties was a
hot ticket. He didn’t skimp on food or entertainment, and guests
had a chance to meet powerful and influential people.

Nedra realized that Dwayne’s gaze had settled
on open files. Scooping up the stack of papers on her desk, she
replied, “No, I have other plans.”

“Right, you’re still kickin’
it with Carlos Jacobs. The so-called
volunteer
and all-round good guy,”
replied Dwayne, barking a raspy chuckle.

Her temper boiled up. “Okay, what is your
problem, Dwayne?”

“I don’t like phony dudes. At least with me
you’d know what you’ve got.” Dwayne leaned forward and pointed at
her.

“Yes, a cheating, married man who only thinks
about himself. And you have the nerve to slam somebody else.
Please.” Nedra raked him with a gaze of scorn.

Dwayne stood and smoothed
down the front of his expensive, brown-tweed sport jacket. “At
least I’m not a criminal doing community service to keep my ass out
of jail.” He gave a nasty smirk when Nedra blinked at him. “Yeah,
you heard me. Your lover man didn’t volunteer to be at the
Thanksgiving Holiday Hospitality dinner. His mama, the judge,
worked a deal to get him out of serious trouble; something to do
with drugs and guns. Why don’t you ask Mr. Right? You have a
very
Merry
Christmas.”

Nedra’s heart hammered in her chest as she
watched Dwayne stroll out of her office. Without turning around, he
waved a hand as he continued to chuckle. The roaring in her ears
didn’t block out the sound of his glee at having dropped a bomb on
her.

Rod came out his office and patted her
shoulder. “Nedra, are you okay?”

“Sir?” Nedra swallowed hard. She couldn’t
look away from the space where Dwayne had just stood.

Her boss glanced at the fancy wall clock.
“Look, it’s almost eleven. Since you were leaving at noon anyway,
you can go now. Tracy can handle the office.”

“I... I don’t think...” Nedra fought against
the feeling that there was a deep, dark hole opening up beneath her
feet.

“Not much is happening since most folks took
the day off. Go ahead and start your long holiday weekend. It’s
fine.” Rod gave her a fatherly pat on the shoulder.

“Yes, sir,” Nedra said.

Rod started for his office, but hesitated.
“You sure I can’t help?”

“No, I’m okay. Thanks.” Nedra sorted through
several folders on her desk. Placing them back into a file cabinet
in a corner of her office, she locked it.

“Merry Christmas,” Rod said quietly as he
left.

“Same to you.”

Nedra could not bring herself to repeat his
words; not when her Christmas looked to be the very opposite of
merry. She suddenly lost interest in the routine of leaving her
desk neatly arranged. Purse on her shoulder, she marched out of the
office building with no thought of last-minute shopping or
decorating.

Chapter 9

Carlos hummed along with a
jazzy version of
No Place Like Home for
the Holidays
as he sat in his office. He
glanced at a new picture of Carly. Dressed in a pretty red dress,
she sat in Santa’s lap. The photo had been taken the night before
at the Town Centre shopping mall. With a smile at the memory of how
much fun they’d had, Carlos went back to reviewing the payroll
records.

Brian came in and snapped his fingers to the
music. “Man, I’m going to the mayor’s Red Stick Gala. If I’m lucky,
those fine twin nieces of his will be there, Tasha and Sasha,
wow-wee!”

“Do you even know the true meaning of this
holiday? It’s about love.” Carlos didn’t look up from his task, but
shook his head.

“That’s what I’m sayin’. I’m more than
willing to spread it around.” Brian shook his hips and bobbed his
head to the beat.

“I’m pretty sure we’re talking about two
different kinds of love, man.” Carlos continued to verify the
electronic time records on his computer.

“Hey, don’t try to spoil my jam just ‘cause
you’ve decided on the ball and chain. I’m still free to mingle. I’d
tell you to come and take one of the twins, but Nedra will probably
be there.” Brian pulled a long face.

“Nedra won’t be there.” Carlos scrolled to
another screen as he answered.

Brian nodded with a grin. “Perfect. Your
folks can babysit and we can rock with the twins. Just like the old
days, huh? Damn, we had good times in college.”

“Nedra won’t be there because we’ll be
together Saturday night. We’re taking Carly to the Christmas
Village display. The Pointe Coupee historical society has Main
Street in New Roads decorated like an eighteenth century small
town.” Carlos glanced at Carly’s photo again. “They’re going to
love it.”

“How touching,” replied Brian, pretending to
wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. “Maybe I’ll give up rockin’
one of the twins and meet y’all over there. Hmm, let me think… hell
no.”

“You need help,” Carlos shot back.

“You have your idea of holiday good times and
I have mine. My stomach is talking to me. Want to get some lunch
from The Po-boy Shoppe?” Brian turned towards the office door and
stopped short. “Well, hello.”

Nedra nodded to him and then transferred her
gaze to Carlos. “Hello. Sorry if I’m interrupting a meeting.”

Carlos got up from his chair and crossed the
room to Nedra. He kissed her forehead and grabbed her by the hand.
“Come on in, baby. This is my partner in crime, Brian Gaines.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Nedra. She gave
Brian a polite smile that soon faded.

“You got here at just the right time. We were
talking about lunch,” Carlos added.

“We need to talk, Carlos.”

Brian cocked an eyebrow them. “Uh, I’ll catch
you later, bru.”

Carlos glanced at him briefly. “Okay.” After
Brian left, he turned back to Nedra and noticed her troubled
expression. “What’s wrong, babe. You sound all serious. Don’t tell
me you started cooking early and burned dinner.” He laughed.

“When did you decide to make a fool of me,
Carlos? That’s all I want to know.” Nedra’s voice trembled, but
then she seemed to gather strength. Her expression became rock hard
as she stared at him.

“Where did that come from?”

“What was the exact moment? Did you size me
up as a desperate, single woman at the Holiday Hospitality dinner
or was it when we met for coffee that first time?” Nedra pulled her
hand free, adjusted her leather purse on one shoulder and crossed
her arms.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,
Nedra. Look, if I did something to upset you…”

Nedra cut him off. “Upset me? That doesn’t
begin to describe how I feel.”

“I can tell you how I
feel
–
confused as hell. I didn’t decide to
make a fool out of you, as you put it, and I’d appreciate an
explanation for this sneak attack.” Carlos stared back at her, his
temperature rising. At that moment Nedra looked as tough and
uncompromising as his mother.

“When did you decide
to
volunteer
at
the dinner?” Nedra gazed back at him and nodded as she watched his
expression change. “So the fog is clearing?”

“Okay. Okay.” Carlos felt like he’d just
gotten a slap upside the head. He closed his office door and turned
back to her.

“No, sweetie, it’s not okay,” Nedra
snapped.

“Just hear me out. I wanted to tell you, but
my mother… What I mean is…” He stopped and rubbed his face.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re
thirty-five years old and the first thing you do is blame your
mommy?”

Carlos held up both hands. “If you’d just
calm down and let me explain.”

“
You ran to mommy after you
got caught with drugs and guns. This story just gets better and
better. I jumped into bed with a criminal and
a mama’s boy. I’m in the running for the Biggest Sucker of the
Year award.” Nedra squeezed her eyes shut.

“That’s not fair, Nedra. Stop beating up on
me a minute and let’s talk.” Carlos raised his voice and that got
her attention.

Her eyes flew open. “Fine, Carlos, talk.” She
patted one foot as she looked at him.

“Let’s sit down,” he said in a quiet tone and
pointed to the seating area. Nedra didn’t move. “Please.”

With a sniff, she marched over to the round
table, pulled out a chair and sat down. “I can’t wait to hear your
explanation.”

Carlos sat beside her and moved to put an arm
around her shoulders, but she drew back sharply. He held up both
palms. “Okay. Okay. How do I start?”

“With the first lie you told,” Nedra tossed
back.

“Part of my agreement with the DA was that I
volunteer to fulfill two hundred hours of community service. They
found marijuana and two hand guns hidden in the storeroom of my
Easy Town shop. One of my employees had ties to the Forty-Sixth
Street gang, but they couldn’t prove that the drugs and guns
belonged to him. My fingerprints were on the packages around them
and this guy wouldn’t talk. Since I had no previous record, and you
should remember that, the DA was more than willing to let me do a
diversion program.” Carlos let out a deep sigh and sat back against
his chair.

Nedra stared at him. “There’s more.”

“I had to give information about the cars
that came through my shop. Apparently, drugs and guns were
concealed in them. State troopers in Louisiana and Mississippi had
been tracking these guys and finally made a traffic stop. They were
driving those cars.” Carlos relived the stab of fear he’d had when
the police first questioned him and Brian.

“So they thought you were helping traffic
drugs and guns. Were you?” Nedra raised an eyebrow.

“What? No, of course not!” Carlos huffed a
few times to get his temper in check. “I’ve got too much to lose by
doing something so stupid. Not even with my shops struggling to
break even.”

“
Oh, so the cops thought you
did it for extra money to keep up that lifestyle you’re used to. Is
that it?” Nedra sounded like a hardcore police
interrogator.

“They’re trained to follow all angles and to
be suspicious, so yeah, they dug into my finances. I gave them as
much help as I could.” Carlos looked away.

“You knew or at least had an idea that your
employee was shady.” Nedra tilted her head to one side.

“No way, I would have fired his ass quick.
But I kinda figured a few of the customers that rolled in were…
urban entrepreneurs.” He flinched as Nedra let out a sharp
hiss.

“That’s a cute way of saying you got cozy
with street gangstas, Carlos. What the hell were you thinking?
Wait; don’t even answer because it’s none of my business. I’ve
known you for a month, so maybe I don’t have the right to demand
anything from you.” Nedra closed her eyes again for a few seconds
and then reopened them. “And your mother?”

“She advised me and talked to the assistant
DA assigned to my case. That’s all. No laws or rules were broken,
but others might assume my mother put pressure on the DA to give me
special treatment. That’s not true,” Carlos added quickly. “The
diversion program is used a lot in cases like mine.”