Secret Santa (2 page)

"God, I love this job. This is so much
better than having tea with the king and queen." Dani sat back and
watched as their old friendly masturbator, Mr. Chapman, made his
way to the front of the courtroom.

"Mr. Chapman, a pleasure to see you again,"
Kenna said to the man who resembled a geeky version of Anthony
Michael Hall, even after two years of knowing him.

"Mrs. Ashton. That was real nice of you to
send me a Christmas card."

"Well, I do see you in court enough to know
you pretty well by now. Okay, Mr. Chapman, it's been almost a year
since your last arrest. Tell us what happened."

"I was doing real good like. I went to all
those meetings and I had stopped masturbating in public. The
therapist said I was crying out for attention and wanting to get
caught and we really delved into my childhood and my marriage to
find out why I was doing it so often. I mean, at church, the
grocery story, in the car, at work—anywhere I could get a hand on
it."

"Yes, I remember. What happened this
time?"

"Well, it was the pressure of the holidays.
Me and the wife are giving it a real good shot at this marriage
thing again. I'm even going to church with her and I've stopped
watching so much porn. I even stopped taking those Viagra pills I
bought from this guy in the parking lot."

Where was that gavel? Kenna thought as she
just watched Mr. Chapman dig a deeper and deeper hole for
himself.

"Her whole family was coming into town and
she wanted me to take them to the live nativity. I was real nervous
because her father doesn't think too highly of me and I wanted to
make a good impression. So there I was, waiting for them at the
nativity and I knew a quick therapeutic rub would calm me down a
bit. I ducked behind the cows near the manger and was about to
finish up when Father James found me. He was with Joseph and Mary
and well, the rest is history."

"Mr. Chapman, this is the third time you've
been arrested on these charges," Kenna said as she flipped through
the file.

"Fourth. Don't forget the time at the Fourth
of July parade last year."

"Oh, yes, of course. Father James has asked
that you not be prosecuted this time. He actually had an alternate
idea that I think we should try. It seems like jail doesn't work,
and therapy only works while you're in it. So, I am asking that you
be required to attend weekly therapy meetings, at your own cost,
for the next three years as part of your probation."

"So ordered. Maybe you need shock therapy.
Talk to the man that got his willy electrocuted before you go and
see if that may work." Judge Cooper banged his gavel and handed the
signed order to the clerk. "That's it everyone. Have a Merry
Christmas."

Chapter Two

Dani helped Kenna pick up the files as they
all said goodbye to the court workers and chatted about the town
Christmas party being held the next day. It was one o'clock in the
afternoon so Dani figured she had avoided her in-laws long
enough.

It wasn't that she didn't like them. She
did. Mo's mother, Fatima, was so sweet. His father, Emir, could be
caring in his own way. But he remained so focused on Rahmi business
that she just tuned out. She may be a princess of the small
country, but she didn't feel like it. She felt like the young girl
from Maine who ran around and hunted in the woods, or who played in
the grapevines of her father's Italian winery.

She had woken up early this morning and felt
terrible. Her in-laws were putting so much pressure on her that she
literally got sick to her stomach. Hurry up and have an heir, dress
more properly, talk to the Ambassador of Italy for us, sell the
farm and live in Rahmi… it was all just getting to her. When they
weren't visiting, she and Mo were so happy and carefree. He did all
the royal business and she enjoyed her job as Kenna's paralegal.
They went riding together and Dani had gotten Mo to loosen up
enough to go hiking with her in real jeans instead of a suit.

She opened the courtroom door for Kenna and
hurried to catch up with her as they pushed through the glass doors
to the parking lot. "It may be silly, but every time I walk through
these doors I feel the bullet tearing into my chest," Dani said in
a hushed voice, as if saying out loud would make it happen
again.

"I've gotten better. It doesn't happen as
often, but I still have nightmares."

Dani felt the shiver run through her and
decided it was time to change subjects. That was in the past. "What
are your Christmas plans?"

Obviously relieved to be on a happier
subject Kenna smiled and practically glowed when talking about her
family. "Betsy and William are coming over and then we'll open
Christmas presents. I'm afraid my house may become overrun with
toys."

Dani felt a tiny ping of jealousy at the
thought of having a baby at Christmas. It wasn't like she and Mo
weren't trying. They had been since their wedding almost a year
ago. She had thought nothing of it until after six months of
trying. She tried a round of fertility treatments and then the
worst night of her life happened two months ago.

She woke up in the middle of the night with
cramps and some bleeding. Mo was in Belgium when it happened so she
had woken up in pain, disoriented, and alone. She called Ahmed and
crawled to the bathroom as tears rolled down her face. If she
thought about it, she could still feel the cold marble on her skin
and the feeling of utter despair knowing in that one second that
she had lost a baby she hadn't even known she was carrying.

Ahmed had found her and rushed her to the
hospital. He held her hand while the doctor told her that her body
had rejected the baby around a month into the pregnancy. She cried
into Ahmed's shirt and mourned what might have been.

She wasn't that surprised when Mo appeared
just eight hours later with bags under his normally smooth eyes and
wrinkles in his normally pressed suit. Ahmed had called and Mo
immediately left the meeting he was attending at the European Union
to be by her side. She had tucked away the pain and pretended it
hadn't happened. She hadn't even told Kenna.

"Well, make sure you have room for what
Godmother Dani has for her!" She laughed to hide the pain. She
loved her goddaughter, but it hurt too. "I'll see you tomorrow for
the party. I think we're bringing dessert courtesy of our French
cook. His attitude may leave a lot to be desired, but his pastries
make up for it."

"Very true. We're bringing sweet potato
casseroles." Kenna said as they approached Dani's beaten-up brown
1997 Chevy Lumina.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. Betsy said she’d teach me how
to make it. Apparently you use sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and
marshmallows. There are some things in the South I just haven't
picked up on yet," she joked.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Behave
yourself with your in-laws."

Dani just snorted as she climbed into her
car. The engine struggled to life and cold air blasted out from the
vents. Eventually she'd take the time to get the heat fixed. She
loved her car. It pissed off the king to have a princess driving
around in a busted up old car, but it reminded her of what she
could do on her own and it was an everlasting symbol of her
independence. She had bought and paid for that car all on her own
and she intended to keep it.

The drive back to the farm was quick. She
pulled around to the garage and parked her car next to Mo's black
Mercedes SLS. Dani turned off the car and peeked out from the
garage. She didn't see any of the window treatments moving, so
maybe she hadn't been spotted yet. She ducked back into the garage
and took the back hallway into the kitchen and prayed her cook
wouldn't alert the group to her presence. She was hoping to make it
to the master suite to hide out for a while before having to endure
another dinner.

She pushed open the door to the aroma-filled
kitchen and sighed. Ahmed was at the large oak table sampling some
of cook's pastries for the party. Two long, matching wooden benches
sat on each side of the warm colored table. A small vase of flowers
sat in the middle of the table. Her chef sneered his hello and then
went back to making the dough in his industrial mixer across the
room.

"Have fun in court?"

Dani had given up long ago knowing how Ahmed
knew everything. "Sure, it was a real pisser."

"I heard about Mr. Haverton." Ahmed crossed
his legs and looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Are you waiting for me or are you hiding
out too?"

"I don't hide," he said darkly.

"Of course not." Dani rolled her eyes and
grabbed a cherry tart. "So, am I being summoned?"

"Yes. Mo needs to talk to you and prepare
you for dinner tonight. It's going to be a tough one."

"Great. Any chance of you pretending you
didn't see me so I can grab a couple more of these tarts and hide
in the garage?"

"Sorry wife, too late."

Dani looked to the far door and saw her
husband leaning against the frame. He was in a black pinstripe suit
that accented his dark skin and eyes. His hair, slightly longer
than normal, was slicked back and skimmed against the collar of his
French blue dress shirt. He looked more delicious than one of the
cook's tarts.

"It was worth a shot," she shrugged and
popped another pastry into her mouth. "So, what's up?"

"We need to talk before my parents find you.
Come on, let's go to my office."

Mo turned and headed down the hallway toward
his office. She looked at the tarts longingly and grabbed a couple
more before following her husband. It couldn't be good if she was
being called into his office.

She passed the beautiful Impressionism oil
paintings that hung on the walls and the pictures of family she had
snuck in after they had been married. His house—mansion really—had
been more like a museum. As soon as they married, she started
taking down some of the "priceless art" as the king called it. It
may be priceless, but it didn't mean it was pretty. So she took
them down and replaced them with pictures of her family, Mo's
family, and the two of them instead. She was slowly turning the
museum into a beautiful home.

Dani walked into Mo's large office and
waited while he shut and locked the door. Oh, this was definitely
not good. She walked over the thick Persian rug and took a seat in
a high-back brown leather chair near the fireplace. The warmth of
the fire chased away some of the sense of impending trouble.

"I need to prepare you. Something has
happened and I am afraid you will feel the brunt of it," Mo told
her as he pulled up an ottoman. He took her hand in his after
sitting down and gently looked at her. "My eldest brother's wife
has had her fifth baby. It was a girl."

"I thought she wasn't due for another two
months," Dani said as her brows drew together.

"She wasn't. It was an emergency. Dani, my
brother has five girls and now his wife is unable to have any more
children. From my understanding, they had to perform a hysterectomy
in order to save her life. My other brother has been married for
six years and still has no children. Do you understand what this
means?"

Dani rolled it around in her head some and
then felt her mouth open into a perfect O.

"It means that the royal Rahman line is
completely dependent on me having a son."

Dani's stomach flipped and she shoved Mo
away from her. She lunged for the gold-plated trashcan and promptly
threw up.

Chapter Three

Paige Davies Parker cut the final string to
the quilt she was making for her baby. She couldn't wait to give it
to him or her. That was if he or she ever decided to make an
appearance into the world.

Paige folded the lovely green and
cream-colored quilt with a large P embroidered on it and put it
under the white counter in her store. She placed her hands on her
large belly and rubbed what she guessed was a foot as she looked
around her store. Cole had helped her decorate for Christmas. Huge
red, green, and gold ribbons decorated the windows and mistletoe
hung over the entrance to her shop, Southern Charms.

Her famous Derby hats sat in the back room
mixed with some winter knit caps she tested out this winter. Gold
handmade jewelry glowed against the green velvet table coverings
she had set out for the holidays.

She looked up at Chuck, her large chocolate
lab-doberman mix, as he sauntered down from the upstairs apartment.
Although she and Cole had bought the house just a stone's throw
away, she still kept her apartment to use while she was at work.
She had turned some of the rooms into hat-making rooms, but the
place also held a special place in her heart. It was where their
baby had been conceived. Well, maybe. It could've been that time in
the back of the truck under the stars, or out in the field one
night, or, well that time at their house on the dining room
table.

It didn't matter. Cole had the bar where he
hung out with all his FBI buddies and she had her girl apartment
with ribbons and feathers galore. The bell rang and Paige looked up
to see her almost sister-in-law, Katelyn Jacks walk in.

"Hey! Oh my god, aren't you about to just
burst?" Katelyn asked as she stared at her belly.

"Unfortunately, no I'm not. I saw the doctor
yesterday and he said it was going to be at least 5 more days. You
have no idea how I long to see my feet again," she laughed.

"It'll be here before you know it. Were you
able to get my grandmother's hat done? I feel horrible asking for
it while you're so pregnant," Katelyn said.

"Don't worry about it. It gave me something
to do." Paige pulled out a big hatbox and opened it. "I think Mrs.
Wyatt will love it."

Katelyn peered into the box and at the
bright red hat with a dark green and gold ribbon tied into an
intricate bow off to the side. Her grandmother would love it.