A Magical Christmas by Heather Graham Page A

minutes,” Julie said lightly, “and everybody’s happy.”
    “I’m so damned sorry if I upset the gerbils,” Jon snapped.
    Julie’s eyes were ice-blue with cool contempt.
    “These kids can’t just do whatever the hell they feel like doing while you’re celebrating, Julie,” he said.
    “They weren’t doing anything that terrible,” she grated back.
    “Well, well, busy day!” Jack said, brushing aside the darkening words between them. Jack offered Jon a kindly smile. “We’re going to be getting out of your hair, Jon,” Jack added. “Let you have your home back.”
    “It was a great sale,” Millie said, smiling as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Your wife made a really, truly, great sale!”
    “You’re right, she did,” Jon heard himself saying.“So where are you two going? Such a great sale can’t have been fully celebrated already.”
    Jack Taylor started to frown; Millie arched a brow. “Jon,” Julie began uneasily, “Millie and Jack were just on their way out—”
    “That’s silly. Hey, we owe Julie a real celebration, right? We’ll go out somewhere great to dinner. How does that sound?” Jon demanded.
    “No, no!” Jack protested.
    “You and Julie should celebrate,” Millie said.
    “Don’t be silly—trust me, Julie would be crushed if you didn’t come with us.”
    He didn’t add that Julie would surely just as soon
not
celebrate with him.
    As it was, Julie didn’t look thrilled; again, it didn’t matter. Jon walked around into the kitchen area, calling to his younger children. “Ash, Jordan, wash up, quick. We’re going to take Mommy out to dinner. Oh—Jordan, go call Christie. Tell her we’re taking Mom out.”
    Jordan, hands filled with gerbils, frowned. Ashley jumped up, giving him a hug and kiss at last. “Good, Daddy. Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese’s?”
    “Well, I’m not sure Chuck E. Cheese’s would be Mommy’s pick for a restaurant, and tonight is just for her. We’ll get to Chuck E. Cheese’s soon, though, I promise.”
    “Right. Mommy will get to take you.” His wife’sdry voice sounded from directly behind him. He hadn’t realized that she had followed him back to the kitchen.
    She backed off somewhat when he spun around. The absolute dry and bitter edge left her voice when she spoke. “Jon, this isn’t necessary. Jack and Millie bought me champagne. And I think that Christie will refuse to go. The rest of us aren’t really dressed, and you’re wearing paw prints.”
    “Two minutes and I’ll have on a clean shirt and jacket,” he said curtly.
    Julie looked as if she were about to protest.
    “Mommy, Mommy, we’re going out special for
you
!” Ashley cried happily. “I’m so happy! It’s like your birthday.” She diverted Julie’s cold gaze from Jon’s eyes.
    “Oh, yeah. Just like,” Julie said.
    “I’ll just be a minute,” Jon told them.
    “But, Jon—” Julie protested.
    “Is there anything to eat in the house?” he demanded bluntly.
    She flushed. “I was—I was busy with Pearson late. Making his offer, negotiating… I mean, it all happened in one afternoon. I didn’t get a chance to go to the store, and we were in sad shape to begin with. But I didn’t see it as a problem; I’d figured we’d order pizza in.”
    “We’ll go out.”
    “But it’s rather late—”
    “I haven’t eaten all day. I don’t want a damned pizza. Decide where you want to go.”
    He left her in the kitchen.
    They went to an Outback Steakhouse, a mistake, because they had to wait almost an hour for a table. Even Ashley, who loved to hold the little buzzers that summoned each dining party when their table became ready, lost patience waiting for her little gray cube to jiggle.
    Still, once they were seated and fed, dinner was decent enough. Or he was starving by then, one or the other. He wasn’t in a mood to cut fat—he was in a meat mood. He-man canned beer and red meat mood. If he clogged a few arteries that night, so be it. His steak