The Slow Burn (Moonlight and Motor Oil #2)(47)

I wanted to see my baby boy’s reaction to the Christmas lights.

What I did not want was to do that with just-made-out-hot-and-heavy-with-Toby red lipstick smears the first time I faced Margot as Toby’s girl.

I looked up at him.

And when I did, this man who put Christmas lights on my house and put it out there about his mom and didn’t hide he was seriously into me and fucked like a god, I knew I’d been right.

If Tobias Gamble gave me a hint we could take it there, I’d fall in love with him.

We were taking it there.

And I’d fallen in love with him.

Honestly?

Izzy was right.

Because that happened when he carried me, sobbing in his arms, to Addie’s bed after I’d gotten done with Perry.

And I fell deeper when he dropped everything and came to me after Brooklyn got kidnapped, and once he got me home to my sister, he went out and scoured the county looking for him.

But I wasn’t in the right place in those times.

Even with all life was throwing at me, I was in the right place now.

So there it was.

It was official.

And I was totally down with that.



“It’s not centered, move it to the left,” Margot ordered.

There were three chickens roasting in the oven. The potatoes were peeled and ready to boil and mash. The beans were trimmed, ready to boil, and the bacon and onion chopped, ready to fry then toss together. The rolls were store bought, but they were heat and eat and delicious, so they were easy to pop into the oven and pull out after the chickens were carved. Iz had brought a pumpkin chiffon pie with a gingersnap crust and it was a miracle I didn’t shove my face in it the minute she’d unveiled it.

Deanna’s homemade cheese ball was decimated, the remains sitting on the coffee table.

The men had placed the lit garlands I had over the mantle and around the doorways to the family room, dining room and kitchen and up the railing on the stairs.

Now Toby and Johnny were assembling the fake tree in the window of the family room under Margot’s scrutiny while Deanna, Iz and I unearthed ornaments.

Dapper Dan was helping the women.

Brooks was underfoot of the men.

I did not bother monitoring this. Johnny and Toby would no sooner step or set a Christmas tree on my son than they’d slit their own throats.

Instead, I was unwrapping festive baubles trying really hard not to giggle myself sick.

No one was acting any differently.

This was because nothing was different.

Toby was into me. I was into Toby.

They all knew this.

So I was wearing more makeup, some hairspray, Tobe was in a button-up, we’d recently had sex and made out repeatedly.

No biggie.

And I thought that was hilarious.

“Now a little to the right,” Margot commanded.

“Margot, it’s fine where it is,” Dave said.

I looked to my sister to see her lips were twitching.

“It’s not centered,” Margot said to her husband.

“Johnny and Toby have been movin’ that damned thing back and forth for the last twenty minutes,” Dave retorted. “It’s fine where it is.”

I looked to Deanna to see her flat-out smiling.

“It hasn’t been twenty minutes, and along the drive you can see the house from the street through the trees,” Margot declared.

“Barely,” Dave muttered.

Margot went on like Dave didn’t speak. “And what will the neighbors think if they see a tree in Adeline’s window that’s off-kilter?”

“There’s at least three acres, most of it forest between Addie and either of her neighbors, so I don’t reckon they’ll care,” Dave fired back.

“Well, I care because whoever sees that tree will know at least Tobias put it there and they’ll think he doesn’t care enough about Adeline and Brooks to center their tree,” Margot countered.

“Think they’ll be more apt to jabber about the fact that Toby and Johnny spent now until New Year’s tryin’ to center a tree, instead of decorating the damned thing and then eating chicken, rolls and that pie that looks like it was made by the hand of God and not Izzy,” Dave rejoined.

“I know one thing that isn’t helping,” Toby put in. “You two bickering about this.”

I looked that way and watched him catch Johnny’s eyes.

“Here,” he declared.

They set the tree down.

“It needs to go back to the left!” Margot cried.

Toby looked to me and did what he did when he didn’t want to get into it with Margot.

Ignored her.

Now Johnny . . . Johnny handed her shit. He teased her like crazy.

Not Toby.

“You got a tree skirt, baby?” he asked.

I jerked my chin across the room. “In that box over there, honey.”

He moved that way.

“Baby,” Izzy murmured.

“Honey,” Deanna mumbled.

They both giggled, even Deanna, who wasn’t a giggler.

Okay, maybe folks were noticing a difference between Toby and me.

But they were noticing it to wind up to giving me crap about it.

“See those lights outside?” Izzy asked.

“I sure did,” Deanna answered.