Debbie Macomber: 1225 Christmas Tree Lane

“Of course we welcome the baby,” Linc said. “He’s our flesh and blood, our nephew. ”

“Hang on a minute,” Mel murmured, looking pensive. “Ned has a point.”

It wasn’t often that Mel agreed with Ned. “What do you mean?”

“Mary Jo’s pregnant, right?”

That question didn’t require a response.

“And everyone knows how unreasonable women can get when they’re in, uh, a delicate condition.”

Linc scratched his head. “Mary Jo was like that long before she got pregnant.”

“True, but she’s been even more unreasonable lately, don’t you think?”

Mel wasn’t wrong there.

“Maybe we should bring her a gift just so she’ll know how concerned we are about her and the baby. How much we care. We want her with us for Christmas, don’t we?”

“What woman doesn’t like gifts?” Linc said, thinking out loud.

“Yup,” Ned said, smiling at Mel. “It couldn’t hurt.”

Linc conceded. “Okay, then, we’ll each bring her a gift.”

They returned to their individual bedrooms, planning to meet in the kitchen five minutes later. Linc had gone online a few weeks ago and ordered a miniature football, basketball and soccer ball for his yet-to-be-born nephew. He couldn’t speak for the others, but he suspected they too had chosen gifts that were geared toward sports. At first he figured he’d bring the football, but then he reconsidered. He’d been after Mary Jo to save money and in an effort to encourage her, he’d purchased a gold coin that he planned to present on her birthday in February. Perfect. He pocketed the coin and hurried to the kitchen.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” Mel echoed.

“Me, too,” Ned confirmed.

The three brothers hurried out to the four-door pickup Linc drove. Mel automatically climbed into the front passenger seat and Ned sat directly behind him.

“You got your gift?” Linc asked Mel.

“Yeah. I’m bringing her perfume.”

“Good idea,” Linc said approvingly. “Where’d you get it?”

“I actually bought it for Annie, but since I’m not seeing her anymore…”

“Ned?” Linc asked.

“Incense,” his youngest brother mumbled.

“You brought her what? ”

“Incense. She likes that stuff. It was gonna be part of her Christmas gift anyway.”

“Okay…” Linc shook his head rather than ask any further questions. Whatever his brothers chose to bring Mary Jo was up to them.

He turned his key in the ignition, then rested his arm over the back of the seat and angled his head so he could see behind him as he reversed out of the driveway. He’d reached the stop sign at the end of the block before it occurred to him to ask.

“Which way?”

“North,” Mel said.

“Cedar Cove is south,” Ned contradicted.

“For crying out loud.” Linc pulled over to the curb. Leaning across his brother, he opened the glove box and shuffled through a pile of junk until he found the Washington State map he was looking for. Dropping it on Mel’s lap, he said, “Find me Cedar Cove.”

Mel immediately tossed it into the backseat. “Here, Ned. You seem to think you know where it is.”

“It was just a guess,” Ned protested. Nevertheless he started to unfold the map.

“Well, we don’t have time for guessing. Look it up.” Linc put the truck back in gear and drove toward the freeway on-ramp. He assumed Ned would find Cedar Cove before he had to decide which lane to get into—north or south.

He was nearly at the ramp before Ned cried out triumphantly. “Found it!”

“Great. Which way should I go?”

Linc watched his brother through the rearview mirror as he turned the map around.

No answer.

“Which way?” Linc asked impatiently.

“South,” Ned murmured.

“You don’t sound too sure.”

“South,” Ned said again, this time with more conviction.

Linc pulled into the lane that would take him in that direction. “How far is it?” he asked.

Ned stared down at the map again. “A ways.”

“That doesn’t tell me a darn thing. An hour or what?”

“All right, all right, give me a minute.” Ned balanced the map on his knees and studied it intently. After carefully walking his fingers along the edge of the map, Ned had the answer. “I’d say…ninety minutes.”

“Ninety minutes.” Linc hadn’t realized it was that far.

“Maybe longer.”

Linc groaned silently. Traffic was heavy, which was to be expected at noon on Christmas Eve. At the rate they were crawling, it would be hours before they got there, which made their mission that much more urgent.

“Should we confront the Rhodes family first thing?” Mel asked.

“Damn straight. They need to know what he’s done.”

Ned cleared his throat. “Don’t you think we should find Mary Jo first?”

Linc nodded slowly. “Yeah, I suppose we should.”

They rode in silence for several minutes.

“Hey.” Ned leaned forward and thrust his face between the two of them.

“What now?” Linc said, frustrated by the heavy traffic, which was guaranteed to get even worse once they hit Tacoma.

“How did Mary Jo get to Cedar Cove?” Mel asked.

“Good question.” Linc hadn’t stopped to consider her means of transportation. Mary Jo had a driver’s license but didn’t need a vehicle of her own, living in the city as they did. Each of the brothers owned a car and she could borrow any one of them whenever she wanted.

Ned sat back and studied the map again and after a few minutes announced, “Cedar Cove is on the Kitsap Peninsula.”

“So?” Mel muttered sarcastically. The traffic was apparently making him cranky, too.

“So she took the ferry over.”

That explained it. “Which ferry?” Linc asked.

“She probably caught the one from downtown Seattle to Bremerton.”

“Or she might have gotten a ride,” Mel said.

“Who from?” Ned asked.

“She wouldn’t bother a friend on Christmas Eve.” Ned seemed confident of that.

“Why not?” Mel demanded.

“Mary Jo isn’t the type to call someone at the last minute and ask that kind of favor,” Ned told them. “Not even Chloe or Casey—especially on Christmas Eve.”

Linc agreed with his brother.

They drove in silence for another fifteen minutes before anyone spoke.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Ned asked tentatively.

“Sure she is. She’s a Wyse, isn’t she? We’re made of stern stuff.”

“I mean physically,” Ned clarified. “Last night she seemed so…” He didn’t finish the sentence.

“Seemed what?” Linc prompted.

Ned shrugged. “Ready.”

“For what?” Mel asked.

Mel could be obtuse, which was only one of his character flaws, in Linc’s opinion. He was also argumentative.

“To have the baby, of course,” Linc explained, casting his brother a dirty look.

“Hey, there’s no reason to talk to me like that,” Mel said. He shifted his weight and stared out the side window. “I’ve never been around a pregnant woman before. Besides, what makes you such experts on pregnancy and birth?”

“I read a book,” Ned told them.

“No way.” Linc could hardly believe it.

“I did,” Ned insisted. “I figured one of us should. For Mary Jo’s sake.”

“So one book makes you an expert,” Mel teased.

“It makes me smarter than you, anyway.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Mel argued.

“Quit it, you two.” Linc spent half his life settling squabbles between his brothers. “You.” He gestured over his shoulder. “Call her cell.”

Ned did, using his own. “Went right into voice mail,” he said. “Must be off.”

“Leave her a message, then.” Linc wondered if he had to spell everything out for them.