The Heart of Christmas (27 page)

She stared at the wall, halfway in a daze. “I can’t believe we did what we did.”

“Neither can I,” he admitted. “I’ve never set fire to anything in my life. Wait, I take that back. I once helped my grandfather do a weed burn when I was a teenager. But this...this was totally different. Damn, an old house can go up quick. I’m still a little freaked out by the power of that blaze, and relieved that it went exactly as planned.”

“Thanks for doing it, Kyle. I appreciate it. You’re a true friend.”

“No problem. So...are you okay with the fact that even after everything we’ve done, you won’t be with Rex? I mean, he can’t stick around here. Not after so many people went out on a limb to fake his death.”

“We killed an identity, an identity that was false to begin with.”

“He’s still got to go somewhere else and start over, Eve.”

She knew that. But at least this should be the last time. “Of course. And I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t really sure she would be. She felt shell-shocked and uncertain about what tomorrow might bring—whether or not they’d really get through this as cleanly as they hoped. She also wondered if Rex would miss her, and if he’d make the most of the chance they were trying to give him.

“He seems cautious with people, afraid to open up,” Kyle said. “But I guess that’s understandable, under the circumstances. I like him.”

“Kyle?”

“What?”

She closed her eyes, battling the effects of all the adrenaline of the past few days. “I’m going to have his baby.”

There was a long silence. Then he said, “Does he know that?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Well, you’re going to be okay. We’ll make sure of it.”

She straightened her spine. “No one has better friends than I do.”

She had a lot to be grateful for, she told herself. At least when she thought of Rex in the future, she’d be able to imagine him living without the constant threat of The Crew—and know that she and her friends had been the ones to set him free.

32

T
he next few days proved to be an agonizing wait for Rex, because he couldn’t go anywhere or even do much, except communicate with Virgil via email and play card games with Mrs. Higgins in the guesthouse.

Eve was so busy with her work he hardly saw her. But he received a call from her when she overheard Gunderson and the others at breakfast the day after the fire, talking about whether or not he’d been killed in the blaze. Then he got a call from Kyle when The Crew showed up at his place with the photo to confirm that he was indeed the person who’d rented the house that burned. And on Saturday morning, he had a call from Chief Bennett when Gunderson and friends showed up at the police station to ask if a man by the name of Rex Taylor had died.

Chief Bennett told The Crew that the fire was so hot, there wasn’t much left in the way of remains, but what little they’d found was being sent for DNA testing. Then he’d asked them if they could help him locate some next of kin, since no one had seen or heard from Rex Taylor since the fire and the person who died must surely be him.

They declined, of course, but that seemed to satisfy them, because when Eve called him again, it was to say that they’d checked out.

So it wasn’t until Sunday morning, when Eve and Kyle showed up at Ted’s place with a copy of the
Gold Country Gazette,
that Rex realized the past eight years—that entire era of his life—was really over. No one had actually died in that fire, but the man he’d been before had died in a figurative sense. Now he had the chance to become anything he wanted.

“What do you think?” Ted asked.

They were all sitting in Ted and Sophia’s kitchen while Sophia made them a late breakfast.

Rex glanced up but he was fighting a sudden surge of emotion so he quickly returned his attention to the picture on the front page, which showed the charred remains of Kyle’s old rental. The heading below it read Man Believed Killed in Fire Caused by Faulty Wiring. “This looks legit,” he said. “I don’t think anyone would question it.”

Ted leaned forward to clink his orange juice glass against Rex’s. “Success.”

Rex smiled. He was grateful to Eve, Kyle, Ted, Mrs. Higgins, Sophia—all of them. But with Eve, he felt a lot more than gratitude. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“So now what?” Kyle asked. “Where will you go?”

“I have a friend who lives on the East Coast,” Rex said. “I’ll stay with him until I can create my new identity.”

“And how will you do that?” Ted asked.

“When you’ve been to prison, you generally learn who can get you a fake ID.”

“A good one?” Kyle asked.

“Undetectable.”

“This particular contact isn’t associated with The Crew...” Ted began.

“No. Not even remotely.”

“And then what?” Sophia asked.

“I’m not sure.” Initially, he and Virgil had split up to make it harder for The Crew to find them, but now that Rex was supposedly dead, he no longer had to worry about bringing any danger to Virgil and his family. He supposed he could stay there indefinitely....

Rex wished he could offer his friend the same release from the past Eve and her friends had made possible for him. But faking two deaths—especially so close together—would strain the bounds of credibility. “Virgil also has a personal security company,” Eve explained. “So Rex will have work right away.”

“Your friend’s giving you a job?” Kyle asked.

Rex nodded. “One I’ll take until I can get financially stable. I’ve decided to leave my own business to my employees since there’s no way, as a dead man, I’ll be able to sell it. I’ve written up something that Eve will send to my assistant—dated the day I returned here, just to be safe.” He’d brought all his money to Whiskey Creek, so he had a sizable amount, but it wouldn’t be enough to start his own business. He’d be lucky if it carried him through the immediate process of reestablishing himself. He needed to save.

But at least this would be the last time he’d ever have to begin from scratch.

“When will you leave?” Kyle asked.

Obviously it would be better to leave sooner rather than later. Virgil had bought him a plane ticket. But, with the holidays, Rex couldn’t get out until the red-eye on Christmas Eve. “Late tomorrow night.”

“You’ll be staying in the guesthouse until then?”

“Unfortunately not,” Ted said. “Alexa’s coming home from Disney World tonight, and we don’t want to have to explain who he is or why he’s been here. No need to burden someone so young with such a big secret.”

“Do you need a place?” Kyle leaned back so that Sophia could ladle some eggs onto his plate. “Because you could stay with me.”

“No way,” Ted insisted. “He’s not going anywhere near there. What if one of your workers happened to see him? They’re always showing up at your house.”

“They don’t come by that often,” Kyle said. “And I live alone. Besides, it’s only for a night and a day. Where would he be better off?”

“My place,” Eve said. “He’ll be coming home with me after breakfast. The inn is closed the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth, so...I’ll be home.”

“That’s nice. Then you two will have a little time together before he has to go. But what about your parents?” Kyle asked. “They live so close to you.”

“I had to bring them in on the secret,” she answered. “My mother was just too upset when she thought Rex had died. It didn’t seem fair to them, especially when I know they’d never tell a soul.”

“I would’ve done the same,” Ted admitted. “But we can’t tell anyone else. We’re all in agreement on that, right?”

“Absolutely,” she said.

“Have you chosen your new name?” Sophia asked as she carried the pan back to the stove.

“I told Eve she could pick it,” he said.

“Well?” Ted prompted. “What’s it gonna be?”

Eve took a sip of her juice. “I like the name Lincoln.”

“For his first or last name?” Kyle didn’t seem overly impressed.

“His first name.”

“Where’d you come up with that?”

“I’ve heard it around. It’s not so unusual.”

“What about a last name?”

“McCormick. Lincoln McCormick. It’s sexy yet distinguished—not too old or too young.”

“It sounds like a lawyer,” Sophia said with a laugh, and took her seat at the table. “What do you think, Rex?”

Rex let his gaze linger on Eve. “I like it. At least she didn’t name me Sue,” he added with a grin.

“Well, there are definitely worse names,” Kyle agreed.

“I wish you could wait another day or two before you go,” Sophia told him. “Spending the night on a plane won’t be much of a Christmas.”

“The airlines were all booked. I had to take what I could get,” he said. “But, thanks to you guys, this will be the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

That was true on the one hand. On the other? It wasn’t going to be easy to leave Eve.

* * *

Eve’s final day and night with Rex felt like a honeymoon. She’d never made love so many times in such a short period. Even when they weren’t making love they stayed in bed and talked. But she grew sad whenever she saw the clock and realized how quickly the minutes were ticking away.

“We only have a few hours left,” she said as they lay curled up together Monday afternoon. “And right now those hours feel like seconds.”

“I’d bring you with me if I could,” he said, but she wasn’t sure he meant it. At the moment, he was in no position to take on a wife. And leaving Whiskey Creek would’ve been so difficult for her. Without her income, she wasn’t even convinced they’d survive financially, for the first while, anyway.

When the time came to drive Rex to the airport, however, she felt she could give up anything except him.

“Be happy,” she told him when she let him out of the car.

He picked up the small duffel bag that contained everything he owned—his computer and the few clothes and personal belongings he’d purchased after San Francisco—and came around the car to her side.

She got out to kiss him.

“I’m sorry I have to leave you.” He rested his forehead against hers and slid a hand over her stomach as if he was remembering that she wasn’t the only one he was leaving behind. “I’ll call you occasionally, tell you how I’m doing. And I’ll send more money for the baby.”

She nodded and blinked fast, trying to stanch the tears that suddenly welled up. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t make their parting any more difficult by crying.

Before the desperation she felt to hang on to him could get the best of her, she forced herself to let him go. “Forgive your family. And, for whatever you did wrong that had such an impact on your life, forgive yourself.” She started to get into her car, but he pulled her back into his arms.

“I encouraged my little brother to...to make a jump into a lake that ended his life,” he whispered into her ear. Then he released her and, without looking at her again, slung his bag over his shoulder and started for the entrance.

“How old were you?” she called after him.

After a slight hesitation, he turned to face her again. “Sixteen.”

“How old was he?”

A muscle moved in his cheek and his voice sounded choked when he eventually spoke. “Twelve.”

He glared at her as if, now that she knew, she’d condemn him, but she felt nothing except pity as she stood there, clinging to the edge of her open door. “Did you intend for something like that to happen?”

The pain on his face nearly wrenched her heart from her chest. “Of course not!”

“Then quit beating yourself up,” she said. “I mean it, Rex. Enough penance. Just let it all go—at last.”

Tears filled his eyes, but she didn’t stay to see if those tears ever spilled down his cheeks. She knew he was a proud man, that he wouldn’t want to break down in front of her or anyone else, and she didn’t want him embarrassed by his attempt to finally share his pain. So she did what she could to preserve his dignity. She climbed into the driver’s seat and drove off.

* * *

When Christmas dawned, Eve opened her eyes to a stream of pale yellow sunlight shining through her window and reached across the mattress, remembering what it had been like to have Rex there for the past couple of days.

How long would it take him to get used to the name Lincoln McCormick? she wondered.

She could only imagine how hard it had to be to change something
that
integral to one’s identity. It was hard for her to even think of him with yet another name.

Her phone rang, and she scrambled out of bed to pluck it off its charger. She hoped it was Rex—
Lincoln
—checking in to let her know he’d arrived safely at his destination.

But it was her mother.

“Merry Christmas!” Adele chirped as soon as Eve hit the talk button.

Eve dropped back onto the bed. It felt like an insurmountable task just to get up. “Same to you,” she said with a yawn and a stretch, but went back to staring helplessly at that little ray of sunshine. She’d get through this, she told herself. Somehow, she’d pick up and go on, for the sake of her child, her parents and her friends, if not for any other reason. Unlike Rex, she’d always had a lot of support.

“Did you get Rex off to the airport okay?”

Eve remembered the tears in his eyes and once again understood what it had taken him to share that painful history with her. “I did,” she said, but she couldn’t dwell on Rex or she’d end up in tears again. “When do you and Dad want to exchange gifts?”

“The sooner, the better as far as we’re concerned.”

“You sure sound chipper,” Eve said.

“Aren’t
you?
You and your friends pulled off quite a feat and gave Rex a new lease on life. That’s the perfect Christmas gift.”

Chipper
wasn’t the word to describe her state of mind at the moment. “Yeah, well, I’m happy about it.”

“You should be. Can you get ready and come over now?” her mother asked.

Eve let her breath seep out quietly so Adele wouldn’t hear the sigh it would have been otherwise. She didn’t want to leave the house, didn’t want to celebrate Christmas. But she couldn’t ruin the holidays for everyone else.

“Sure.” She did her best to inject some energy into her voice. “Give me an hour, okay?” Hopefully, a hot shower would get her moving, because she’d never felt more lethargic.

“Hurry,” her mother said. “I want to see if you like what I got you.”

Whatever it was didn’t matter. It could be the moon and the stars, and it wouldn’t be enough to fill the joyless vacuum Rex had left. “I’m sure I will,” she said.

Somehow, Eve managed to shower and dress. Then, because she’d let all kinds of things slide this past month while she was occupied with Rex, she had to wrap the robotic vacuum she’d purchased for her mother and the wallet she’d gotten for her father. When she finally finished that herculean task, she trudged down the drive.

“Isn’t it a beautiful Christmas morning?” her father asked when Eve walked in. He was sitting in his recliner, watching football. “Feels almost like summer.”

It was definitely deep winter in her heart. “I’ve seen prettier,” she grumbled, but she purposely said it in a low enough voice that her father didn’t hear her. When Charlie raised his eyebrows as a way of asking her to repeat what she’d just said, she agreed it was a gorgeous Christmas.

“I’ve got homemade egg nog,” her mother announced. “Come on into the kitchen and I’ll get you a glass.”

“Okay.” She placed the presents she’d brought under the tree and dutifully followed her mother, and she was soon glad she had. Life was somehow easier when she was sitting at the table, basking in the love and comfort of being in her mother’s presence. How many Christmases had she spent with her mother hurrying about, doing the cooking, and her father enjoying a good football game in the other room?

“Should we open presents after breakfast?” Eve asked.

“I was thinking we should do it before,” her mother replied.

“Right now?”

“As soon as I get the turkey in. I’ve just been seasoning it. I like to cook it low and slow.”

Eve got up to lift the heavy pan for her—something her father would have done if she hadn’t been around—and then closed the oven.