Blood Vow (Black Dagger Legacy #2)(138)
To see the most beautiful heavy-duty Ford truck with a blah-blah-something or another for an engine and double cab blah-blah with eight gazillion horses under the hood and yada, yada, yada, suspension, gear-shifting whatever— All that stuff.
Mary hung back and let them all go, the security lights coming on and giving her a great view of Ruhn’s total shock and then tentative excitement.
And then the male was turning to Rhage and not looking him in the face. Rhage knew what he was doing, though, and wrapped Ruhn up in a big bear hug—while Bitty danced around like a firefly.
Yes, Mary thought, this was the best Christmas she’d ever—
“Mary.”
Turning at the soft sound of her name, she glanced behind herself. Then frowned. “Lassiter?”
“I’m over here.”
“Where?” She looked all around. “Why is your voice echoing?”
“Chimney.”
“What?”
“I’m stuck in the fucking chimney.”
She raced over to the fireplace and got on her hands and knees. Looking up into the dark flue, she shook her head. “Lass? What the hell are you doing up there?”
His voice emanated from somewhere above her. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“What are you—”
An arm came down. A very sooty arm that was encased in a red sleeve that had white trim. Or what had been white trim and which was now smudged with ash.
“You’re stuck!” she exclaimed. “And thank God no one lit this fire!”
“You’re telling me,” he muttered in his disembodied voice. “I had to blow out Fritz’s match like a hundred times before he gave up. Fuck, that sounds dirty. Anyway, just remind me never to try to be Santa for your kid, okay? I’m not doing this again, even for her.”
Mary stretched a little farther in, but the logs on the hearth stopped her. “Lassiter. Why can’t you free yourself by dematerializing—”
“I’m impaled on a hook that’s iron. I can’t go ghost. And will you just take this?”
“What?”
“This.”
He turned his hand toward her and there was … a box … in it? A small navy blue box.
“Open it. And before you ask, I already cleared it with your pinheaded hellren. He’s not jel or anything.”
Mary sat back and shook her head. “I’m more worried about you—”
“Justopenthefuckingthingalready.”
Taking off the top, she found a slightly smaller box inside. That was velvet. “What is this?”
As she lifted the lid, she … gasped.
It was a pair of diamond earrings. A pair of perfectly matched, sparkly, diamond …
“A mother’s tears,” Lassiter’s slightly echo-y voice said softly. “So hard, so beautiful. I told you everything was going to be all right. And those are to remind you of how strong you are, how strong your love for your daughter is … how, even in the worst of times, things have a way of working out as they should.”
Blinking away tears, she thought of her crying in the foyer in front of the angel, crying because all had been lost.
“They’re just beautiful,” she said hoarsely.
Slipping one out of its box, she took out the pearl in her lobe and replaced it with the diamond. Then did the same on the other side.
“Mary!” Rhage said from the open door. “You gotta come see—”
He stopped and then smiled. “So he gave them to you, huh.”
“He did.” She put the box aside. “But, Rhage, we have a problem—”
“You weren’t supposed to tell him!” Lassiter barked.
Rhage frowned. “Lassiter?”
“Fuck you!” came the muffled response.
Mary pointed to the hearth. “Lassiter is in a Santa suit, stuck in the chimney, impaled on something that means he can’t dematerialize. So we’ve got a problem.”
Rhage blinked once. And then threw his head back and laughed so loudly the windows shook. “This is the best fucking Christmas present ever!”
“Fuck you, Hollywood!” Lassiter yelled from inside the chimney. “Fuck you so hard—”
Brothers started filing in, and Rhage was all over it, reporting the situation—while nearly wetting his pants laughing.
Then Rhage marched over, put his hands on his knees, and hollered up, “How’s it feel to be a proctologist, angel! You like that tight squeeze? I’d call you something else but my daughter’s in earshot. Starts with ‘d’ and ends with an ‘o,’ though!”
“I’m gonna kill you as soon as I’m out of here!”
“You want a Little Mermaid doll to keep you company? Or, wait, I’ll send that stuffed tarpon up—”
“Eat me!”
As the two exchanged festive holiday cheer, and the rest of the household gathered around and laughed until they were hoarse, and V decided that maybe they could run a chain from the back of Ruhn’s new truck, Mary stepped out of the way and just watched her family.
“Mom?”
Focusing on Bitty, she smiled and stroked the girl’s long dark hair. “What, my love?”
“Merry Christmas, Mom.” The little girl came in for a hug. “This was the best Christmas ever, don’t you think? I mean, I know it’s my first, but I don’t think it gets any better than this.”