Holding Her Breath (Indigo) (3 page)

“She can take whatever she wants. She’s already taken the most important thing anyway,” Chace said. He shuffled toward the front door. He grabbed his coat from the back of the sofa on his way there.

“I’ll text you when we’re done.”

Chace shrugged and walked out to the breezeway. When he heard Kelly’s high-heeled black leather boots clicking past, he didn’t even look up.

“I still want us to be friends,” Kelly said.

Chace kept walking, pretending she hadn’t just said something completely idiotic so he wouldn’t have to get even angrier.

Whitney woke up early Christmas morning. The first thing she did was go to her window. She hoped for a white Christmas even though she didn’t really expect one. She closed her eyes and pulled back the curtains. When she opened her eyes and saw the frostbitten lawn, she sighed. No snow. Just a cold, gray morning.

It was cold near the window. She shivered a little and reached for her fuzzy yellow robe, which was draped over the post of her four-poster bed nearest the window. She heard her personal cell phone ringing—she’d promised to turn off her BlackBerry on Christmas Day after Jo threatened to hit her over the head with a rolling pin—and she went over to retrieve it from her night stand. Erika. Of course.

“Hi.”

“Am I the first person to wish you a merry Christmas?” Erika asked.

“Yes, you are, Erika dear.”

“Good. I thought you probably hadn’t left your room yet. I bet I woke you up.”

“Maybe.”

“I don’t know how you get up for work in the mornings ’cause you sure don’t get up if you don’t have to.”

Whitney grinned. “Why should I get up for no reason? And I was awake, for your information.”

“Yeah, uh-huh. When did you get up, then?”

Whitney rolled her eyes, but laughed before answering. “About five minutes before you called.”

Erika laughed. “See?”

“Yeah, yeah. You know me too well. How are things with the fam?”

“Great. They all asked about you.”

“Same with mine. They miss you for some crazy reason,” Whitney said. “It’s been forever since you came down here with me.”

“Yeah, I need to go down there soon. How’s that brother of yours?”

“He’s good. And engaged.”

“I know. And you know I’m kidding. For now. He knows where to find me if they break up.”

“Sure,” Whitney said. Erika and Devon were both huge flirts.

“Aunt Cheryl riding your last nerve yet?” Erika’s tone indicated that she’d guessed the answer to that question.

Whitney tapped her fingers against the window pane as she answered. “Oh, she’s well past it. Again with the man and the marriage and the babies and all that. As usual.”

“You know, she might almost have a point. A year is a long time to be single.”

“You should talk. You’re almost single. And your boyfriend lives with you.”

“Hey. Don’t you start on A.J. It’s Christmas, after all.”

“Ha. Right. Anyway, the only thing on my mind right now is making partner. You know that.” Whitney was on the partnership track at her firm and making good progress toward that brass ring.

“You know you’re going to get it.”

“I sure hope so,” Whitney said with a sigh, thinking of her supposed mentor who was overseeing her progress on the partnership track. Kim. That woman lived for Gibson and Grey, and she didn’t have much patience for things like mentoring. She only did it because all junior partners were required to mentor senior associates on the partnership track.

After Whitney got off the phone with Erika, she tightened the belt of her robe around her waist, slipped her phone into her robe pocket, and followed her nose down to the kitchen. The scent of cloves blended in with the scents of vanilla and ginger.

Jo had probably been in there at least since five that morning like she was every Christmas. Jo’s hair was covered with a red scarf, and she wore a purple sweat suit that had streaks of flour across it. The apron she wore hadn’t saved her outfit from the streaks. She was wiping her hands off on a dish towel when Whitney walked over and kissed her cheek.

“Merry Christmas, daughter,” Jo said.

Whitney hugged her and laughed. “Merry Christmas, Mother.”

“Grab that apron and start chopping the vegetables for the stuffing,” Jo said, nodding to an apron hanging from a hook near the pantry door.

Whitney grabbed the apron and tied it around her waist. “I talked to Erika this morning. She said to wish you a merry Christmas.”

“When is she coming down here again?”

“I don’t know. She said she hopes soon.” Whitney diced a stalk of celery as she spoke.

“She still with that no-good A.J.?”

“You know it.” Whitney picked up a knife and began chopping onions. Her mother didn’t like A.J. any more than Whitney did. He didn’t treat Erika with enough respect, even if Erika refused to see it.

Whitney prepared vegetables and her mother baked, sautéed, and measured. All the while, they talked about Shorty’s business, Devon going back to school, and Alicia wanting a new car.

Brianna ran into the kitchen, shouting that it was time to open presents. Whitney put down the knife and wiped her hands on the front of her apron. She scooped the girl up in her arms so that she could no longer run circles around the island in the center of the kitchen.

“Presents, huh? I guess you think Santa left you something.” Whitney tickled the little girl under her chin.

She giggled. “Of course he did,” the little girl said with an adorable lisp. Her two front teeth were missing. She put a tiny fist on her non-existent hip.

“Oh, really? And what is it you think he left you?” Whitney said.

The little girl’s big, round eyes widened and so did her toothless grin. She clapped her hands together. “Lotsa cool toys!”

Whitney laughed. “Is that so?”

She nodded vigorously. “Just wait. You’ll see.” She started squirming to be let down. “Let’s go. We have to get everybody and open up presents!”

Whitney set the girl down. She grabbed two of Whitney’s fingers. Her little cousin dragged her around the house, harassing the rest of their family to get up so that they could all open presents.

Least happy was Whitney’s sister, Alicia. Alicia had crept back in the house only a few hours ago. Whitney, a light sleeper, had heard it all.

“What were you doing out until three in the morning?” Whitney kept her voice low so that only Alicia would hear her.

“None of your business.” Alicia groaned and pulled a pillow over her head.

“Whit, ‘Leesha. We gotta open presents,” their cousin said.

“Go ahead, Brianna,” Alicia said. “We’ll be down in a minute.”

“We’re right behind you,” Whitney said, smiling at her little cousin. “You’re doing such a good job waking everybody. Keep up the good work.”

“Okay, but I’ll be back in fifty-five minutes if you don’t come downstairs,” she said in a serious tone.

“Okay,” Whitney said. The girl skipped out of the room. Whitney turned back to her sister. “So you’re not going to tell me where you were?”

“Nope.”

“Do our parents know about you going out any time you feel like it?”

She shrugged and yawned. “Dad wants to believe I’m always up to no good because I’m hard headed. Why disappoint him?” Alicia pushed back her covers and slowly swung her feet out and over the side of the bed.

“Be nice.”

“He’s always trying to boss me like I’m Brianna’s age or something. He needs to get it in his head I’m not a baby. He still trying to tell me where I can go and what I can do.” She rubbed her eyes, muttering about people waking her up in the middle of the morning.

“He’s your father. He cares about you,” Whitney said, wishing the father nature had given her had cared half as much as Shorty did.

“Whatever. Tell him if you want. He’ll yell. I’ll yell. It’s our routine,” Alicia said before standing and stretching. She wore shorts with candy canes on them and a matching camisole. Alicia had always been rail thin. A combination of being a picky eater and taking after Shorty’s side of the family saw to that. “Last night wasn’t the first time I ever snuck out, you know.”

Whitney had curves her sister always complained about with envy. She went to the gym, but she wasn’t obsessed with it like some of her friends were.

Alicia yawned, slipping on a flannel robe. “We better get down there before Brianna has a fit.”

Whitney followed her sister downstairs. A large pot of coffee was brewing in the kitchen, and it smelled too good. She reached for the coffee maker as her mother scooted her in the opposite direction.

“You know better. Coffee in a minute, but we better go open these presents before these children eat us alive.”

Whitney grumbled, but stumbled to the family room, knowing her mother was right.

Shorty put a CD in the stereo in the entertainment center. Moments later, Christmas-themed jazz filtered out of the speakers on low volume. Her family was sprawled around the living room. Everyone was half asleep except for the kids, who were almost sitting underneath the Christmas tree. They were arguing about who would get to open the first present. Half the adults in the room had cameras aimed at the kids.

Uncle Larry, Janet, Aunt Brenda, and Glen sat on one side of the room. Aunt Cheryl, who was in a sour mood and frowning already that morning, sat on the other side with her sons. Uncle Larry’s and Aunt Janet’s older kids from their first marriages hung in the background. Whitney’s favorite cousin, Uncle Larry’s eldest child Melinda, wasn’t there yet. She was getting into town that night, having wanted to spend half of Christmas in New York with the people at the homeless shelter at which she volunteered.

“Okay, everybody. Presents,” Jo said, clasping her hands. She hurried over to the kids and helped them hand out packages wrapped in colorful paper decorated with snowmen, reindeer, and Santas.

“How long do you think this is going to take?” Devon muttered from where he was standing next to her.

“Why, you got somewhere you gotta be, Grinch?” Whitney said with a playful smile. When she saw his face, her smile faded. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“He’s been like this for a week,” Alicia said. “He can’t get along with his girl.”

“Stay out of my business,” Devon snapped, walking away from them and going over to stand next to Uncle Larry.

Whitney heard squeals of delight and turned her attention back to the present opening. Wrapping paper was briskly ripped off of packages. Toys came out of shiny boxes. Soon, the living room was filled with the lights and sounds of new toys, shredded wrapping paper, and some very happy children.

After tearing through the gifts everyone had bought for them, the children started insisting everyone else in the room open their presents. Brianna and L.J. had made gifts for each family member. Brianna hand-delivered Whitney’s to her.

“What’s this?” Whitney took the package.

“Won’t know until you open it, silly.” She giggled.

Whitney smiled and turned the lumpy package over and over in her hands. The red and gold wrapping paper was wrinkled and secured with masking tape. She opened it and found inside a hair tie glued to a piece of cardboard with her name written on it in multi-colored crayons. Around her name were various drawings—a briefcase, a cell phone, a square with circles on the bottom that was apparently a car since the word “Lexus” was written on it, only it was spelled “Leksus.”

“Did you make this all by yourself?” Whitney squatted down next to the little girl.

“My brother and me made it.” She looked over at L.J., and both of them burst into giggles. “It’s for your lawyer desk at work. My teacher has one on her desk. You need one, too.”

Whitney felt a pang of guilt as this made her think about work, but only a small one.

“Thank you. I’ll put this on my desk as soon as I get back to work.” And Whitney fully intended to put the homemade craft next to the marble, black and gold nameplate that sat on her desk at the office. She hugged Brianna and kissed her cheek. “This is the best present anyone’s ever given me.”

Brianna smiled shyly and ran over to Aunt Janet. She wrapped her arms around Janet’s legs.

When it came time for Jo to open presents, she told Whitney hers was too much, but Whitney insisted it wasn’t. It was a simple gold and emerald necklace and earring set. Emerald was her mother’s birth stone. Anyway, nothing was too much for her mother. Jo had given her so much—the love of two parents before, during, and after her second marriage. The love her absent father had never given. Even though Shorty was like the father she’d never had, she knew she and her mother would always share an extremely special bond.

For Shorty, and for Jo just as much as it was for him, Whitney had gotten a new laptop. Jo always complained that theirs kept freezing up on them, and their desktop computer was pre-historic.

“A Mac!” Shorty crowed. “I was in the Apple Store the other day looking at this very one.”

Devon snorted. “Always gotta show us up, huh? I bet that necklace costs what I make in a month,” he muttered to her. “And I don’t even want to think about what that computer cost.” He plucked at one of the low-hanging ornaments on the tree.