Christmas Every Day Part 37

"You would. You're two of a kind." Both women seemed to get a perverse pleasure out of needling him, Nik thought.

Sara raised her sandwich in a silent toast to Julia as the latter turned to look at her.

Julia thought she saw something in Sara's eyes that she qcognized. A wariness. The same sort of wariness that had once been a part of her own world until Brom had slain her dragons and made the nightmares go away. She wondered what Sara's demons were and if Nik was the one who could make them die.

She'd seen the way her brother looked at Sara. Perhaps he didn't even know it yet himself, but he was taken with the -qvoman. More than taken. If she didn't miss her guess, Nik was halfway in love with Sara.

Julia mentally reviewed the sleeping arrangements and qniled to herself as she coaxed another spoonful of apple qauq between her daughter's messy lips. She was glad she qqtad placed Nik and Sara next door to each other. Proxim ;qty always helped move things along. q She only hoped that Nik wouldn't be slow on the uptake.

The picnic went on for another two hours and then, as if ! mutual consent, the party broke up. The other men on com's baseball team and their families took their leave.

Within fifteen minutes the park was quiet. Sara looked around and s.h.i.+vered.

"Are you cold?" Nik asked, surprised. The sun was hot.

"No, I was just thinking."

"About what?" he coaxed.

Behind him, Kane was helping Jennifer fold the tablecloth while Katie dashed back and forth beneath the canopy they had temporarily formed.

Brom was taking the basket back to the car as Julia changed yet another diaper. Despite all the activity, he and Sara might have been alone for all the attention Nik paid to the rest of them.

Sara ran her hands along her arms, remembering. "What a great park this used to be."

"Used to be?" He looked around. The park was clean and well kept. He could see the lake just beyond a stately row of trees. There were barbecue pits strategically scattered about to the left of the playing field. "Looks pretty good to me now."

She blinked and then smiled. Turning to him, she nodded' Yes I guess you're right. It still is. " She started walking toward the car, determined to shake off her mood. " " I had no idea you played that well."

Nik laughed as he slipped an arm around her. "Neither did I."

1 icy stayed at Brom's house long enough to shower and then change.

Leaving the children with the housekeeper Brom took everyone to Casino Camelot. There they had dinner in the restaurant that Julia had designed, and then took in a show afterward.

Kane settled back comfortably in the limousine and draped his arm around Jennifer's shoulders. He wondered how he had managed to live all those years without her. He knew he couldn't do it now. She was as much a part of him as his soul. The soul she had helped him find.

He looked at his brother-in-law. "I'll give you one thing , Brom. You certainly know how to entertain your guests."

"It's my business." Brom smiled expansively, content that everyone he cared about had enjoyed themselves tonight. He had a thriving business, a beautiful, loving wife, a daughter he adored and a family he could always count on. Life, he decided, didn't get much better than this.

He gathered Julia closer to him as he looked at his cousin. Sara sat opposite him, beside Nik. She didn't look entirely comfortable. Brom detected the slight tension outlining her body, as if she was fighting some internal battle with herself

Stop fighting, Sara. You'll only lose if you win, he thought.

Brom smiled at her encouragingly. He didn't want Sara to miss out on all this. This was the kind of life she was meant for, not the nomadic one she had adhered to. He wanted her to experience that sense of belonging that he had because of Julia and the baby. But he knew he couldn't show Sara the way. She was going to have to find it on her own.

Brom glanced at Nik. Maybe they could find the way together If he didn't miss his guess, Nik and Sara would make an excellent pair.

Harold brought the limousine up the winding path to Brom's front door.

Brom took Julia's hand as he got out and helped her from the car. The others followed close behind' Thank you, Harold. I won't be needing you any longer tonight. "

Brom pressed a series of numbers on the keypad at the -fqent door, then unlocked it. He stepped aside and let everyone file by. "it's been a long day and I've got more planned for us tomorrow." He looked at Jennifer and Kane. "Why don't we call it a night and turn in? "

"Sounds good to me," Kane agreed. He laced his fingers through Jennifer's. Katie was safely tucked away in the nursery with A. J.

That meant that the rest of the night was theirs. He was looking forward to it.

Sara felt restless, as if she was a Thoroughbred standing q:at the starting gate, waiting for the gate to open. Except that q:;he end of the race was a foregone conclusion. She knew qqe'd never get to sleep feeling like this.

"I think I'll raid your refrigerator if you don't mind." She looked from Julia to Brom. Julia nodded her permission. "I don't feel much like sleeping just yet."

Brom gestured toward the kitchen. "Help yourself. My house is yours."

Sara flashed a grateful grin. "At least that hasn't changed." Raised next door to one another, they had practically lived in each other's houses while they were growing up, until Sara moved. "Night, everyone.

See you in the morning."

She avoided looking at Nik as she pa.s.sed him.

"Nik, can I see you a minute?" Kane drew Nik aside in the living room.

"I'll be there in a minute, Jennifer," Kane promised his wife.

He waited until everyone else had left the room.

"What's wrong?" Nik perched on the edge of one of the sofa's arms, waiting.

"Nothing. I couldn't help noticing the signals going on between you and Sara."

"You mean like walk and don't run?" Nik quipped. "Mostly don't walk,"

he added.

"Exactly." Kane felt a little awkward. It wasn't his style to b.u.t.t in to other people's business. His personal inclination had always been to guard his own privacy. But living within a family, a real family, had taught him that there were times when interfering was necessary. If you cared.

"I don't know if this means anything to you but, working as a detective, sometimes I stumble across information that becomes useful later, like the piece of a puzzle you can fit in only after other pieces are in place."

Nik looked at him, confused. "Are you trying to tell me something about Sara?"

"Maybe, in a way." Kane stumbled along the unfamiliar terrain. "This is actually about her father, Raymond: '

Nik nodded. "I've met him." He crossed his arms in front of him. "Go on, I'm listening."

Kane shoved his hands into his back pockets and began to pace around the room as he spoke. "Raymond Santangelo 's a h.e.l.l of a guy. I've known him for about three years and you couldn't ask for a better cop.

But he's got this gambling problem. Had, actually," Kane amended.

"From what I know, he hasn't bet a penny in almost a year. Up until then, he played the horses whenever he could. Blew everything he had at the track. That's why his second wife left him."

"Second wife?" Nik hadn't realized that Sara's father had been remarried. Or divorced.

Kane nodded. "The one he married after Sara's mother. Anyway, one night, while we were on a stakeout, he talked a little more than he probably would have under normal circ.u.mstances-stakeouts can get awfully boring."

Nik had little doubt that no matter how bored he became , Kane would never divulge anything personal unless he fully meant to.

"Santangelo told me that he left his first wife because he didn't want his daughter finding out about his gambling problem. He didn't want to look like a weakling in her eyes. When he couldn't seem to lick his problem, he thought that it was best to sever all contact with her under the circ.u.mstances rather than to have her find out."