When the Wind Chimes - Mary Ting Page 0,48

want some?”

“I’m fine. I just had dinner.” I dropped my purse and my phone on the tea table and slumped beside her.

The lit Christmas tree twinkled in front of me with a few wrapped presents underneath. Abby must have put them there. The lights were not as bright as the Medici’s tree, but this tree was perfect for this house.

Tyler, smelling of his vanilla and honey shampoo, snuggled beside me.

“Bridget told me you’re nice. She likes you.” His brown eyes glittered along with the tree’s lights.

I draped my arms around Tyler, bringing him closer. “That makes me happy. She’s a good girl. Are you guys planning to go to the beach picnic this Saturday?”

Abby snorted. “I’m the coordinator. I have to go.”

I poked her shoulder and snickered. “No way. You?”

But I wasn’t surprised. Abby had been the Associated Student Body senior president at our high school. She liked organizing things. In college, she’d helped her professor with the last showcase for the senior class. It had been a lot of work, but it had paid off when she’d gotten an internship at the gallery in New York, where she eventually was hired.

“Are you going?” She placed her mug on the table and crossed her legs.

“If Leonardo can’t make it, I’ll have to take Bridget.”

“And if he does take her, you come with us, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan.” I had nothing better to do, and spending time with my family was the whole point of being in Kauai.

Fast asleep in my arms, Tyler hadn’t moved or said a word. I debated whether to tuck him in bed, but decided to wait.

Abby leaned back into the sofa cushion and put her feet up on the coffee table as she closed her eyes. “I forgot to tell you—Mom and Dad called earlier.”

“From the cruise? Are they okay?” I whispered sharply. Now that Tyler was asleep, I lowered my volume and I didn’t want to move, afraid I would wake him up.

“Everything is fine.” She patted me lazily on my arm with her eyes still closed. “They wanted me to say hello to you. I told them you were out. I didn’t know if you wanted them to know about your nanny position.”

“No, I don’t.” Not that I was ashamed of my job, but I didn’t want them asking me a bunch of questions. Ever since they’d found out Jayden had cheated on me, they questioned me about my friends and what I was doing on weekends. Made me feel like they didn’t trust my judgment anymore.

“They’ll arrive on Christmas Eve.”

“I didn’t ask you this before, but should I stay at a hotel? You don’t have an extra room for them.”

She tilted her head to face me. “No, you don’t have to leave. They’re going to stay in my room. I’m going to sleep on the sofa.”

I felt horrible. “I have a queen-size bed. You can sleep with me. Or have Ty sleep with you and I’ll sleep on Ty’s twin bed.”

She swatted her hand in the air with a deep sleepy sigh. “Whatever. We’ll work it out.”

“Like we always do,” I said.

Abby leaned her head against mine. Her voice cracked as she said, “I miss Steve.”

My throat tightened and my eyes pooled with tears. I had no words of comfort. I glanced at the family portrait of the three of them that hung over the mantel, wishing Steve were with us.

Her breath fluttered. “I miss him every day, but more so now. Steve loved Christmas music. He would turn up the volume and sing along. Now, our house is quiet.”

I dabbed the liquid at the corner of my eyes before it could fall. “We should play Christmas music for Steve, okay?” I squeezed my sister with the arm that wasn’t holding Tyler.

She wiped away a tear. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

“Me, too.” I swallowed my sorrow. I refused to cry in front of her.

“Oh,” she said as if suddenly remembering something and faced me with her eyes wide. “I asked my friend if she knew anything about Bridget’s mother ...”

Under different circumstances, I would have brushed her off, but this distraction was welcome.

“And ...?” I dragged out the word.

“Well.” She rubbed at her temple. “They don’t know anything about her mother.”

“That’s weird.” I paused when Tyler shifted in my arms and waited for him to settle. “Medici is well known in the community. Everybody is in his business, right? Well, not everyone, but the single women, from what I saw.”

“That’s true. I always