Unwrapped (15 page)

“I just loved that movie.” She hurried over and hooked an arm through Patrick's, forcing the woman to step back. “So aren't you going to introduce us, Patrick?”

He didn't look thrilled by the idea. “Jacqueline, this is…” His brow knotted. “Brittney?”

The woman's eyes widened. “Bridget.”

Patrick nodded. “Right. Bridget, this is Jacqueline.”

The fact that he didn't remember Bridget's name made Jac feel a little better. But only a little. “It's so nice to meet you, Brittney,” she said. “And I hate to rush off. But our baby”—she looked at Patrick and patted her stomach—“is making my tummy a little queasy, and I think I need to lie down.”

Bridget looked at Jac's flat stomach and then at Patrick. “Our baby?”

Jac thought Patrick would try to explain. He didn't. Without one word he took Jac's arm and helped her into the truck. Once she was tucked inside, he slammed the door, gave the woman a brief nod, and headed around to the driver's side.

Gerald hopped in the backseat with his peppermint cocoa. “What was that all about, Jac? For a second I thought there might be a catfight. And wouldn't it be better if Patrick had a girlfriend?”

Gerald was right. If Patrick had a steady girlfriend, there was a much better chance that he'd forget all about the baby. Except suddenly Jac realized that she didn't want him to forget about Lulu. She wanted Lulu to have what she and Bailey hadn't. She wanted her to have a father who would never forget her. A father who would bring her a present on her birthday and flowers on her graduation, and walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

Slightly stunned by the epiphany, she watched as Patrick climbed into the truck. The wind had ruffled his hair, added a blush to his cheeks, and made his lips chapped. Without thinking she pulled some lip balm from her purse and unscrewed the lid. She dabbed some ointment on the tip of her finger, then leaned over the console. She only meant to quickly spread the balm on his lips. But at the first touch of his mouth, her finger froze, and she found herself melting into clear green eyes as another epiphany hit.

She was going to marry Patrick McPherson.

W
hat do you mean you're skipping Christmas?”

Cassie's shocked look almost caused Wheezie to chuckle. Or maybe what she found so amusing was the other shocked faces in the room. McPhersons didn't like change. And having traditions altered was even worse.

“We're not skipping Christmas, Cassandra,” Mary Katherine said in a soothing voice that was the exact opposite of her daughter's high-strung one. “We're simply celebrating it on a cruise ship.” She glanced at her husband, who sat right next to her on the couch. “Isn't that right, Albert?”

Big Al looked like he was having trouble swallowing a hard pill. His Adam's apple bobbed a couple of times before he cleared his throat. “If that's what you want, Mary.”

“Are you saying that you don't want to go, Albert? Because if you don't—”

“No. No.” He put an arm around her and pulled her close. “A cruise will be just another opportunity to spend time with my lovely wife.”

It was strange, but as he pulled her close, Mary looked about as happy as her husband. If Wheezie hadn't just heard it from the horses' mouths, she would think that neither one of them wanted to go on a cruise. Or spend more time together.

“But Christmas?” Cassie continued. “Why not wait and go on a cruise after the holidays?”

“It's not that big of a deal, Cass.” Matthew came in from the kitchen, munching on some of the gingersnaps Wheezie had brought. “As it turns out, Ellie and I won't be here either. Her parents have decided to renew their vows on the day before Christmas. So we're driving to Kansas.”

“Oh no,” Mary said, before she seemed to catch herself. “I mean, how wonderful for your parents, Ellie. I'm sure you and Matthew will enjoy spending time with them.”

“Well, if you guys are heading out of town,” Jake said, “Melanie and I might just take the kids skiing. The twins and Chase have been dying to get on the slopes.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “And since we got them skis this year, it will work out perfectly.” He glanced at Rory. “What about if you and Amy join us? We could get tickets on the Polar Express for Douglas. And I'm sure Gabby would love to get in some skiing.”

Wheezie doubted it. Especially when Gabby had her heart set on meeting her biological father. Not that it was going to happen. The man had turned out to be as big a horse's ass as Wheezie had thought. He had no desire to come for Christmas to meet his daughter. In fact he'd made it perfectly clear during their phone conversation that he had no desire to meet Gabby ever.

Now Wheezie had to figure out how to break the news to her niece.

“Great,” Cassie fumed. “Everyone just run off on your cruises and ski trips and leave the rest of us here alone.”

James reached out and took her hand. “With the size of your extended family, Cassandra, I wouldn't really call it being alone. Besides, my dad and his wife have been bugging us to come to Pittsburgh for Christmas. Why don't we do it this year?”

“But what about Wheezie and Patrick?” Cassie said.

“Don't worry about me.” Wheezie flapped a hand. “I have no desire to travel anywhere. After the excitement of last Christmas, it will be nice to have some peace and quiet.” She glanced over at her Nordic-looking nephew. “Paddy and I will keep each other company.”

Patrick wasn't listening. He sat on the other side of his mother, staring at the fire that crackled in the fireplace, completely lost in thought. Wheezie figured she knew what occupied his mind. According to Matthew, Jacqueline's flight back to New York had been scheduled for that morning. If the look on her nephew's face was any indication, Patrick wasn't exactly happy about it. Wheezie wasn't either. After doing a little more research, she'd decided that fate had picked the perfect match for Patrick. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get Jacqueline back to Denver.

“So you're not going to put up decorations?” Cassie looked around the room. “No Christmas trees, no lawn Santas, no lights? And what about the annual Christmas Eve party? You know how all the relatives look forward to it.”

There was a hint of sadness in Mary's eyes as she organized the magazines on the coffee table. “You can still have outside decorations and Christmas trees at your own houses. And I'm sure someone else will volunteer to have the Christmas Eve party. If not, the family will still meet up for midnight mass.”

“I don't mind having it at my house,” Wheezie volunteered. There was a long stretch of silence punctuated by the family's exchanged looks of uncertainty. Looks of uncertainty that really irked her. “Unless you think I'm too old and senile to handle a party on my own.”

“Of course not, Louise,” Mary Katherine said. “We just don't want to burden you with such a big project. And didn't you just say that you were looking forward to a less stressful Christmas?”

“Stressful?” She snorted. “Since I pretty much put on a party at my bar every night for almost forty years, I can plan a family get-together with my eyes closed.” She got to her feet, thankful that her knees didn't stiffen up like they normally did after an extended amount of sitting. “Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do some planning.”

With everyone's eyes glued on her, Wheezie shuffled from the room. In the study she sat down on the couch and massaged her legs. Beneath the black pants, they felt shriveled and like they didn't belong to her. In Chicago she had walked miles every day. Now she could barely walk five feet without stumbling. It was embarrassing, it was humiliating, and it really ticked her off.

Lying back, she adjusted a throw pillow beneath her head and crossed her hands over her chest. It seemed that lately she'd done her best sleeping in the coffin pose. Obviously her body was preparing for the end. With a disgusted snort, she rolled to her side. But she had barely gotten comfortable when the door opened and Gabby came charging into the room.

“Aunt Wheezie?”

Wheezie thought about not answering. She knew why Gabby was looking for her, and she wasn't ready to break the bad news about her father. Of course she had to do it sometime. She peeked over the couch to find Gabby already heading out the door.

“I'm here.”

Gabby turned, and her eyes lit up. It was a shame that Wheezie was going to douse that light. Gabby closed the door and hurried over to the couch. “So? Did you talk to him? What did he say? Is he coming?”

Wheezie sat up and tried to find the right words. Unfortunately, there wasn't a good way to break the news that your father was an asshole. “Yes, I talked to him,” she said.

Gabby studied Wheezie for only a second before her face fell. “Oh. I guess he doesn't want to meet me.” She lifted her shoulders in the most pathetic shrug Wheezie had ever seen. “That's okay, Wheeze. I mean, why would he want to meet me after all these years?” She swallowed hard. “It was really a stupid idea—”

“He's coming.” The words popped out of Wheezie's mouth without her brain being involved. Just her heart. And the pure elation that washed over Gabby's features made Wheezie's mouth keep flapping. “In fact, he sounded very excited to get to meet you. No doubt he's been wanting to meet you for a while and just didn't know how to go about initiating it.”

“I knew it!” Gabby did a little jump and punched the air with her fist. “I knew he was having second thoughts and all he needed was an invitation.” She flopped down on the couch while Wheezie scrambled to find a way out of the hole she'd dug for herself. Thankfully, God gave her a ladder. “So did you already tell Mom and Dad that he's coming to Grandma Mary's Christmas Eve party?”

“I was going to.” Wheezie tried to look upset. “But then I found out that your parents are planning on taking you on a ski trip for the holidays.” She held up her hands. “So I guess we should plan your father's visit for another time.”

“A ski trip?” Gabby shook her head. “You must've misunderstood, Wheezie. My dad and mom wouldn't want to leave the family at Christmas.”

“It seems that the family all have other plans. Your grandmother and grandfather are going on a cruise, Matthew and Ellie are going to see her parents, and Cassie and James are going to see his. And Jacob, Melanie, and the kids are going skiing with your family.”

“No!” Gabby jumped up. “I don't want to go skiing. I want to stay here and meet my bio dad.” She got a determined look in her eye. “I'll take care of my parents, Aunt Wheezie. You just make sure that my bio dad gets here for Christmas.” Before Wheezie could say anything, she headed for the door. She had just reached it when Patrick stepped into the study, looking even unhappier than he'd looked before.

“Hey, Uncle Paddy,” Gabby said. “I can't talk now, but I'll see you in the morning to go motocross riding.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she sailed past. When she was gone, Patrick closed the door and turned to Wheezie.

“Okay. What's going on, Wheeze?”

Exhausted from all the lies she'd told Gabby, Wheezie flopped back down on the couch. “If you're talking about your parents going on a cruise, I don't have a clue what's going on. Especially when neither one of them seem real happy about it.”

Patrick walked around the couch and stood over her. “I'm not talking about my parents' cruise. I'm taking about Gabby's biological dad coming for Christmas.”

Wheezie's eyebrows lifted. “Eavesdropping?”

“It seems to run in the family.” Concern filled Patrick's eyes. “Does Rory know?”

“No. And I don't think that there's any need to tell him. Not when Gabby's father has refused to meet her.”

Patrick's concern quickly turned to anger. “He doesn't want to meet her?”

Wheezie shook her head. “He claims he's too busy with work.”

“Asshole.” Patrick sat down next to her.

“That's exactly what I thought. Which is exactly why I didn't tell Gabby. It would only hurt her. I'm hoping she'll go on the ski trip with her parents, and I'll be able to delay telling her until after the holidays.”

Patrick ran his hand through his hair. “Why now? She's never expressed any interest in talking to her father before.” When Wheezie didn't answer right away, he drew his own conclusions. “The baby,” he whispered. “This is all because of my irresponsibility.”

“There's no reason to blame yourself, Patrick. All kids want to know who their biological parents are. So it would've happened sooner or later.” She studied his stern profile. “So I heard that Jacqueline went back to New York. I guess you couldn't convince her to stay.”

He hesitated for only a moment before giving Wheezie an early Christmas present. “She didn't leave.”

“Oh, really? So she's decided to take you up on your offer and move into the condo next to you?”

“No. She's as stubborn as her sister. But at least Bailey thinks logically. Jacqueline doesn't have a logical bone in her body. She lives in some kind of a dream world.” He got up and walked to the fireplace. “Damn, the woman drives me crazy.”

“And yet you're attracted to her.”

His shoulders tightened before they relaxed. “Yes, I'm attracted to her. God only knows why.”

Wheezie smiled. “We're often attracted to qualities in other people that we have trouble finding in ourselves. You're too logical, Patrick. Maybe a dreamer is exactly what you need.”

“Whether I need it or not, that's what I'm going to get.” He paused for a moment. “I've decided to marry her.”

Wheezie had the sudden urge to jump up and punch the air like Gabby had done. “What made you change your mind?”

Patrick shrugged. “I want my child to have my name, live in my house, know me as her father.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And I want Jacqueline. More than I've ever wanted a woman. It's not love, but, unlike my siblings, I've never believed that the love of my life would drop out of the sky. Instead I got a woman pregnant. I don't know why it happened. All I know is that the deed is done, and now I need to make the most of it.”

Wheezie wasn't so sure that the love of his life hadn't dropped out of the sky on Halloween night, but she kept her mouth shut. “So when's the wedding?”

“Tomorrow. I already called Judge Murdock.” He turned to her. “We're getting married at the courthouse.”

It was much more than Wheezie could've asked for. Time was not on her side. “When do I need to tell Barkley to have me there?”

An uncomfortable look settled over his face. “I'd prefer that you didn't come, Wheeze. If you come, the entire family will be mad that they weren't invited. And once Mom finds out, she'll want a church wedding and a big reception, which would cause her to cancel her cruise and everyone else to cancel their holiday plans. And I don't want to ruin Christmas for everyone. So I'd like you to keep it under wraps until we're married.”

Wheezie didn't think it had as much to do with ruining everyone's Christmas plans as with Patrick wanting to keep things simple. Unfortunately, Wheezie had a sneaking suspicion that there would be nothing simple about Patrick and Jacqueline's marriage.