I'll Be Home for Christmas

  “What are you talking about?” Maxim asked.

  Harvey motioned toward the file next to the mini Christmas tree some volunteer had placed on his desk. “I have the e-mails,” he stated with obvious satisfaction.

  Maxim could guess where this was going, but he’d already told his campaign manager that he didn’t want to follow up on what they’d uncovered about Mark Fairfax. He was even more reluctant to hurt Adelaide now than he’d been before—for reasons he refused to disclose to Harvey and preferred not to think about himself. “Tell me this has nothing to do with Mark Fairfax.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Short and stocky but bursting with frenetic energy, Harvey leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I have correspondence here that proves Fairfax was having a very sordid affair when he died—” he paused for effect “—with a male intern.”

  “Oh, God,” Maxim muttered and dragged a hand over his face.

  Harvey thumped the file, nearly knocking the Christmas tree to the floor. “Fairfax sent these messages to a boy of eighteen,” he said as he caught it. “They’re so explicit there’s no way anyone can argue about what was going on.” He chuckled. “Read them yourself. He had one hell of a dirty mind. It’ll be a shock to everyone.”

  Especially Adelaide. “Why are you still at this?” Maxim asked, rising to his feet. “I told you I didn’t want to know any more about Fairfax. We’re running this campaign, my campaign, on the issues.”

  Harvey stiffened, glaring at him. “A political campaign is never about the issues. You know that. At least you did when I came on. It’s a sales job, pure and simple. And I’m the best salesman in the business.”

  “Then sell—but forget Fairfax.”

  “You’re saying personal integrity isn’t an issue?”

  “The man’s dead!” Maxim said. “The only person this will hurt is the wife he left behind!”

  “You mean the wife who’s trying to take your job?” Harvey yelled. “Who just stole the Salazar endorsement? You hired me to win this campaign and now you’re tying my hands? I don’t get it! You’re the one who came to me with the tip on Fairfax. You’re the one who wanted me to see if there was anything to it.”

  Maxim had received a voice-mail message from an anonymous caller who’d accused Fairfax of a lot of things, including bribery and a vague charge of sexual misconduct. Maxim had been interested in finding out whether or not he’d taken bribe money from some of the developers in the state. He knew it would reveal why Mark had changed positions and thrown his support behind certain projects. But he’d never expected the crazy accusation of sexual misconduct to take them where it had. A homosexual affair with a boy of eighteen? “I wanted to prove he was corrupt, but—”

  “But we found something even more damning!”

  “More sensational isn’t necessarily more damning.”

  “Everyone takes bribes these days. Not everyone plays hide the salami with teenage boys.”

  “Stop it.” Maxim scowled, but Harvey wouldn’t back off.

  “He solicited sex from the young men who volunteered to work for him. That’s big news, Maxim, and people need to know.”

  The “need to know” line warned Maxim that Harvey was out of control. “The man’s dead,” he reiterated. “No one needs to know anything about—” he gestured at the file “—this.”

  Harvey began to stalk around the room. “I can’t believe it! I thought you were reluctant because you didn’t want to be perceived as desperate, grasping at straws, lowering yourself by accusing a dead man.”

  Maxim had said all that and more, but keeping what Mark did a secret had always been about Adelaide, not the campaign.

  “I thought you wanted me to pull back because we didn’t have enough proof,” Harvey went on. “So I get you proof, unimpeachable proof. This puts Fairfax and his widow right in our crosshairs. And you’re not happy about it? What am I missing here?”

  Maxim shoved the file away and managed to knock the Christmas tree off the desk himself. “No, I’m not happy. I want you to shred every last e-mail and wipe away whatever’s on your computer. And don’t you dare breathe a word of this to anyone.” This time he leaned forward. “I mean it, Harvey.”

  Apparently realizing that he wouldn’t relent, Harvey stopped pacing. “I’m only doing my job.”

  “Your job is to help me win.”

  “Without this, you’ll lose. You’re giving her every advantage!”

  Maxim threw up his hands. “Then so be it!”

  Shaking his head, Harvey kicked the miniature Christmas tree to the other side of the room. “I’m out of here. Why sully my reputation with a loss that we could easily avoid?”

  Clenching his jaw in an attempt to control his temper, Maxim carefully modulated his voice. “Harvey, it’s Christmastime. Don’t you have family somewhere? Can’t you just...take a few days off?”

  Harvey propped his hands on his hips. “Do you think you might change your mind if I do?”

  Maxim imagined Adelaide hearing about her late husband’s gay affair and knew changing his mind was out of the question. “No.”

  “Then why bother?”

  “We might be able to strategize other ways to succeed.”

  “No. I don’t pull punches, even if my opponent is a woman. I’m not that sexist,” he said with a sneer. “And I can’t stay if you won’t use the advantage I’m giving you.”

  Maxim shoved a hand through his hair. Harvey was giving him an ultimatum? “Innocent people will be hurt, Harvey.”

  “The blame for that lies with Fairfax, not me.” He reached for the file he’d dropped on Maxim’s desk but Maxim snatched it up before he could touch it.

  “No way are you taking this.”

  With a curse, Harvey turned on his heel and marched out.

  “You’d better keep what you’ve found on Fairfax to yourself,” Maxim called after him, but Harvey made no commitment one way or the other. He collected his briefcase and slammed his office door as he left.

  Maxim sank into his chair. Would he read about Mark Fairfax and the intern in the paper tomorrow? Harvey had to have some way—favorable to himself, of course—of explaining why he was no longer heading up the Donahue campaign.

  So where did that leave Adelaide?

  * * *

  Adelaide spent Monday morning shopping, which was what she’d done during the weekend, too. She was filling Sub-for-Santa orders for a local charity. She still had some difficulty getting around on her injured leg, but at least it was merely bruised and not broken. Shopping gave her something to do. After being stranded in the mountains with Maxim, she didn’t feel like going right back to work. She’d decided to take two weeks to focus on the holidays, to allow her mind a rest from the campaign and the confusion she felt now that she knew Maxim better. Before the crash, winning that senate seat had meant everything to her. It’d given her a reason to go on. Now she wasn’t even sure she wanted to stay in the race. But with so many people counting on her, she couldn’t withdraw and lay off all her employees, especially at Christmas. Besides, she didn’t know what she’d do with herself if she didn’t spend the next months campaigning. She’d already bowed out of her solar business, put Rhonda Cummings, who’d worked with her for years, in charge, and Rhonda was doing a fine job.

  Maybe she’d continue—but at a less frantic pace. If she didn’t win the primary in June, she wouldn’t be disappointed. She actually preferred Maxim to win. Now that she knew him and liked him, it was easier to forgive the comments he’d made about Mark’s lackluster performance. He’d misjudged Mark. He didn’t know him that well.

  So would she go back to the solar business? That seemed the logical choice, but the idea didn’t excite her and certainly wouldn’t make Rhonda happy.

  Maybe it was time to do some traveling. She’d a
lways wanted to see Europe, Australia, Alaska. She’d pictured Mark at her side, but maybe Ruby, her former neighbor and closest friend, would want to go.

  No, Ruby had just opened a dress boutique downtown. She couldn’t leave it.

  Once again, Adelaide seemed to find herself in no-man’s-land...

  Her cell phone rang as she was standing in line to buy a video game system. Setting her bags on the floor so she could reach her purse, she fished out her phone and checked caller ID.

  She didn’t recognize the number but answered, anyway. “Hello?”

  “Adelaide?”

  Maxim. She would’ve known his voice anywhere. “Yes?”

  “How are you?”

  “Better. You?” She tightened her grip on the phone. Crazy as it was, she’d missed him. He hadn’t contacted her since they’d been home.

  “I’m okay, I guess. Listen, do you have plans for tonight?”

  She might’ve thought he was asking her out. She’d been yearning to hear from him. But the reluctance in his voice made her leery of assuming too much. She sensed that he didn’t want to be making this call. “Is this where you try to convince me to drop out of the race?” she teased.

  The question seemed to take him by surprise, as if it hadn’t occurred to him. “Are you open to that?”

  “Probably not.”

  He sighed. “Too bad.”

  “So this isn’t about the primary.”

  “No.”

  Then he was worrying that she might be pregnant. She’d bought an over-the-counter test that boasted almost immediate detection, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to use it. It was more comfortable to live in denial, at least until she’d adjusted to the possibility.

  But maybe there was a reason he needed to know now. Maybe he was going to ask the tall blonde he sometimes brought to political events to marry him...

  Adelaide cringed at the jealousy that thought evoked. The fantasies she’d had of Maxim during the week she’d been home told her she’d developed a crush on him, but she trusted it wasn’t more than that. “I’m free. Where would you like to meet?”

  “Would you mind if I came over after dinner?”

  After dinner. He wasn’t trying to parlay this into any type of date. She interpreted that to mean he regretted what had happened between them and hoped she wasn’t pregnant.

  She felt her shoulders slump. “No. I-I wouldn’t mind.” They had to face reality sometime, didn’t they?

  There was a brief pause. “Will we be able to speak privately?”

  How would he react if she was pregnant? Let’s wait until we’re sure we have something to worry about before we start making difficult decisions gave her no indication. He knew she’d want to keep the baby; she’d already told him as much. Would he pressure her to get an abortion instead?

  She swallowed hard. “We’ll be alone.”

  “Great. I’ll see you tonight.”

  He was gone without a goodbye.

  “It’s your turn,” someone said, nudging her from behind. She was holding up the line.

  Gathering her sacks, she paid for the game system and headed down the center of the mall and out to her car. Her leg was aching too much to do any more walking—and she’d lost interest in shopping. She had to take that pregnancy test. It wasn’t fair to keep Maxim in suspense if he needed to know, and she could use the intervening hours to cope, whatever the results.

  If she wasn’t pregnant, she’d put the plane crash behind her. And if she was, there’d be no forgetting the crash because it would change her entire future.

  Eleven

  Adelaide stared at the unopened pregnancy test she’d just put on her bathroom counter. She’d actually bought three more on her way home. They were sitting in the sack at her feet, held in reserve to ensure an accurate reading. Over the past week, she might’ve gone through the motions of getting ready for Christmas, but the possibility of a baby had been constantly at the back of her mind. Although she’d dreamed of becoming a mother, she’d put that hope out of her life when she’d learned Mark was infertile. She’d asked him, over and over again, if they could eventually adopt, but he’d been opposed to it. He’d said there was too much risk involved, that they had a good life and he didn’t want to spoil it.

  She’d talked him into it in the end, but she’d gotten the feeling he’d only relented to placate her, to ease some of the tension that’d crept into their marriage. And by then it was too late. A month later she was attending his funeral.

  Oddly, she didn’t feel the gut-wrenching loss that normally accompanied any thought of her late husband. Did that mean she was learning to live without him? Or was it the hope of having a child that buoyed her spirits?

  If she was pregnant, it would be more than a little ironic that it had happened with Maxim...

  “Get this over with,” she said aloud.

  The face that looked back at her from the mirror was flushed with excitement, even fear. But it wasn’t until she reached for the box that she knew for sure which way she wanted the test to go.

  “Please, God, let me be pregnant,” she murmured. At forty-one, she didn’t think she’d have many more chances.

  * * *

  Maxim hated the thought of what he had to do, but he didn’t see any alternative. He had no doubt that Harvey was going public. There wasn’t any way to stop him. He wouldn’t have as much to gain but, for Harvey, the notoriety of destroying Fairfax’s reputation and ruining Adelaide’s chances to win the primary would be enough. He’d see it as an opportunity to build his own reputation as unrelenting and successful at all costs. Maxim had to tell Adelaide before she found out from the media.

  But...how?

  He had no idea. She’d blame him, and she had every right to. If he hadn’t passed that anonymous tip on to his campaign manager, Harvey would be as much in the dark as the rest of the world.

  He’d thought about the situation all day, but he still didn’t feel prepared as he drove to her house, which was located in Carmichael, along the American River.

  Adelaide owned a big rambler with a sizeable yard and a gorgeous view. Although it was in a neighborhood of other expensive homes, the mature landscaping gave the property a sense of seclusion. He knew because he’d been there before. When Mark was alive, he and Adelaide had hosted a political fundraiser.

  Now that he stood on the doorstep next to a huge poinsettia, staring at a Christmas wreath, Maxim found it difficult to make himself knock. But he knew he had no choice.

  She answered wearing a snug-fitting pair of jeans, fur-lined boots and a classic beige sweater. Her blue eyes seemed even bigger with her hair pulled back.

  Seeing her again reminded him how attractive she was, but he’d only forgotten it in the anxiety of the past few hours. Before that, before talking to Harvey this morning, he’d pictured her almost every time he closed his eyes. It’d been all he could do not to call her.

  “Hey.” He gave her a smile he didn’t feel.

  “Hi.” Opening the door wider, she let him in.

  The inside of Adelaide’s house hadn’t changed. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, Maxim wished he’d picked a different place to meet. He could remember speaking to Mark in this very room, could see their wedding picture hanging on the wall.

  He hated how much Adelaide idolized her late husband. He knew it would make the next few minutes all the more painful.

  He hated it for other reasons, too...

  “Can I get you a drink?” she asked.

  “No, thanks.” He couldn’t pretend this was a social visit. Always a believer in doing the hard things first, he planned to jump right in, but she spoke before he could begin.

  “Is this about the blonde you sometimes bring to political events?” she asked.

/>   The blonde? He thought back, trying to figure out who she meant. Then he remembered. She must be talking about Liz, a woman he’d met at the gym. They’d dated occasionally, before Liz had gotten engaged to her personal trainer. But it had never been serious. She wasn’t nearly as intelligent, capable or attractive as Adelaide. He’d known that from the beginning, had always been more attracted to the woman across the room than the one on his arm. “No.”

  She seemed to relax a little, which surprised him. She’d been worried about Liz?

  “Oh. Well...” She motioned to the nearby sofa. “At least sit down.”

  Because she’d very likely be throwing him out in the next few seconds, he decided to remain standing. He wished he could touch her, maybe take her in his arms as he broke the news. But that would only make what he was about to say worse.

  “That’s okay,” he said. “Listen, I’m sorry to bother you so close to Christmas. You probably have a million things to do, but...”

  For some reason, he couldn’t get the words past his lips. He didn’t want her to hear that her husband had cheated on her with another woman, let alone a man. No, a boy.

  His mind raced, trying to find some other way to break the news, but she interrupted him by touching his arm.

  “Does this have anything to do with the fact that...that we didn’t use any birth control when...well, you know.”

  He froze. What was she talking about? He’d assumed she would’ve done a pregnancy test by now and that he would’ve heard if their time together had resulted in a pregnancy. There’d been no communication between them in over a week. “I thought—I mean, you’re not, are you?”

  Her chest rose. “Actually—” she offered him a smile so hopeful it made him catch his breath “—I am.”

  Maxim felt as if someone had just punched him in the gut. “What’d you say?”

  Concern and insecurity entered her eyes, eyes that were normally clear and decisive. “Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?”

  “No. You’re pregnant. Isn’t that what you just told me?”

  She seemed close to tears, but didn’t cry. She nodded.