Rachel’s long-lost father.
8
LUCAS WAS AWAKENED Christmas morning by a high-pitched shout of delight.
“I got my bicycle! Hey, everybody, Santa brought my bicycle!”
Lucas yawned and shoved a hand through his hair, noting that it was just after six-thirty. Christmas started early when there was a kid in the house, he thought.
He pulled on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, sliding his feet into his shoes without bothering with socks. And then he headed for the living room to see what else Santa had left beneath the tree—as if he hadn’t helped place the stuff there only hours before.
Clay was practically bouncing off the walls of the living room. “Uncle Lucas, Uncle Lucas! Look what I got!”
Lucas made a production of admiring the shiny ten-speed bicycle he and Wade had spent nearly two hours putting together the night before. It had seemed like a simple enough project—until they’d realized the instructions were written in Martian. Lucas knew computers and Wade knew police procedures, but neither of them was a wizard with a wrench.
Lucas nodded toward the pile of presents beneath the tree. “Looks like Santa left more than one gift.”
Clay nodded eagerly. “Daddy said for me to wait until everyone was up before I opened them. Are you up now, Uncle Lucas?”
Bundled into a fuzzy bathrobe, Emily slipped a steaming mug of coffee into Lucas’s hand.
Lucas nodded at her in gratitude before turning back to the excited boy. “I’m up now.”
Clay promptly pounced on the stack of brightly wrapped presents. Wade and Emily snuggled together on the couch and watched, Emily snapping pictures every few minutes, Wade smiling indulgently. Lucas sat in a comfortable armchair, sipping his coffee and wondering how it would feel to play Santa for his own kid.
An unlikely prospect, to say the least.
After exclaiming in delight over his haul from Santa, Clay turned his attention to the gifts remaining under the tree. “What about these?”
“Read the tags,” Wade said. “You can hand them out.”
Clay distributed the packages hastily, eager to find out what was in each one, whether they were for him or the others.
Emily gasped when she opened the diamond earrings from her brother. “Lucas, they’re beautiful! But this is too much.”
He smiled and shook his head. “It’s the first present I’ve given you in fifteen years. Enjoy.”
She was already fastening them into her earlobes. The diamond engagement ring that had been her gift from Wade glittered on her left hand.
Wade seemed almost as pleased with the fishing reel Lucas had selected for him. “This is great, Lucas. The nicest one I’ve ever had. Thanks.”
Lucas nodded. “You’ve obviously made my little sister very happy. I’m glad she met you...even if you are a cop,” he added wryly.
Emily swiped at her eyes. “You really are a very sweet man, Lucas.”
He cleared his throat and took another sip of his coffee to avoid having to reply.
Clay opened his gift from Lucas. “Oh, wow. Cool. A Rebelcom. Thank you, Uncle Lucas.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it.”
Emily looked a bit puzzled as she studied the beeping black plastic box. “What did you say that is?”
“A Rebelcom,” Clay repeated, showing her the illuminated screen. “It’s a portable computer game system. Tommy Porter has one, and it has the coolest games in the world on it.”
“All nonviolent and entertainingly educational,” Lucas assured them.
“Designed and marketed by Rebel Software Corporation of Los Angeles, California,” Wade murmured, reading from the box the game had come in.