Beyond Doubt (34 page)

“Do you think we should do it? Like really hunt him down?” I asked, feeling a tinge of excitement at the thought.

“It only seems fair, doesn’t it?” Gabby asked, laughing.

“All right. What are you two scheming in there?” Jason asked, bringing a cup of warm apple cider for Gabby.

It was a week after Thanksgiving, and I went on a Christmas shopping spree to get Aaron’s house ready for the holidays. I think I managed to cover every surface with something holiday trinket.

“Mmm, delicious,” she hummed.

“Hey, where’s mine?” I teased Aaron.

“Coming right up.” He opened the fridge and grabbed the whipped cream container and began squeezing the nozzle, topping the mug off. Grabbing the chocolate sprinkles, he dusted them on top and looked over wearing a large grin.

“This is what I’m talking about,” I said, taking the mug from him as he sat next to me. Slurping some of the white stuff off the top, I sat back and felt fully content and completely lost in the moment.

The Christmas tree was over eight feet tall and was decorated with everything I could throw at it. Silver tinsel streamed from the branches as the red and white lights blinked away. And there were so many ornaments on the limbs that there was a slight droop to most. The tree only had to last three weeks and then it could fall over if it wanted, but right now I wanted everything perfect. If Aaron had missed out on a decade of Christmases with loved ones, then I was certainly going to put an end to that this year. Jason had told me that last year he and Aaron bought a six-inch felt tree at the drug store and hung it on the fridge. So not happening in my world.

“So do you think we could pull it off?” Gabby questioned.

“I think so. We’ve got his name, age, approximate vicinity. It can’t be that hard,” I said, thinking aloud.

The idea of tracking down Lily’s high school sweetheart was beyond exciting.

“This can’t be good,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“What do you mean?” Gabby said, pretending to pout. “We are only up to good—only good. Speaking of which, I can’t believe Carla is willing to relinquish the holiday to Brandy. This is completely unheard of. Do you think you can handle it? I mean hosting all of my family and your family is crazy.” She glanced at me smiling, knowing full well I was up for the challenge.

“I’ve totally got it. All the menus are planned out, and you promised you’d bring over the desserts so I’m fine. Aaron needs to have the house smelling of gingerbread, ham, turkey…”

“What do you mean menus?” Gabby interrupted.

“It’s an all day event. So I have to start with brunch then we’ll do snacks all day and then dinner.” Aaron gave me a big squeeze and I nestled in.

“Do you want me to come over on Christmas Eve to help prepare?” Gabby took a sip of her cider.

“No, because you need to make sure all the desserts are ready.”

Jason’s phone rang, and we watched him dig it out of his pocket and glance at the screen.

“Is it her?” Gabby asked.

Jason nodded. “It’ll just be a second.”

“Is it who?” I asked as he answered the phone.

Gabby motioned for me to be quiet and then whispered, “We think we found his sister.”

I didn’t know much about Jason’s family other than he didn’t really seem to have much, if any. He’d been in the foster care system for most of his childhood and only recently began researching his past.

Jason walked toward the French doors and went out onto the patio. It was freezing outside with a chance of snow, and Jason only had a sweater on so I grabbed my throw blanket and threw it at Gabby to give to him outside.

“Are you serious? Did he have any idea that he had a sister?” I asked, completely bewildered.

“Not a clue,” Gabby said, grimacing. She grabbed the blanket and started walking toward the door. “He’s been able to slowly start piecing together his family. They are all over the place. He tracked down an aunt, and it started spiraling.”

“Tell him he can invite her.”

“I don’t know if he’d be ready for that,” Aaron said.

“Exactly,” Gabby agreed. “It’s all kind of new.”

“True and I guess he can always call her back if he wants,” I said, taking a gulp of the whipped cream as Gabby opened the door slowly and handed the blanket to Jason.

She gently shut the door and scurried back to the warmth of the fire. “I think it really is her.”

“That’s crazy,” I muttered, shaking my head.

A slight ache in my hip began radiating down my leg, and I shifted to change positions. I really was looking forward to when everything would be healed completely. If it would be healed completely.

The ache in my leg was getting worse so I stood up slowly to stretch it and noticed Jason pacing back and forth on the patio.

“Do you maybe want to go check on him?” I asked Aaron who craned his neck to see Jason rubbing his temples.

“Sure.”

I shook out my leg and slowly started making my way to the kitchen as Aaron went outside, flipping the patio heating on and pulling out a chair for Jason to sit on.

“You doing okay?” Gabby asked.

“Yeah. It just knots up sometimes.” And felt like my leg was on fire, I wanted to add. “I think the artichoke dip is ready.”

“Awesome. Let me help.” Gabby hopped up and got to the kitchen before I could even turn her down. She knew very well that I didn’t want people going out of their way for me or thinking I couldn’t handle things. But I had to admit the ache wasn’t making things very easy. She grabbed the set of potholders off the counter and took the dip out of the oven. The top was a beautiful golden brown and it smelled delicious.

“You can set it right here,” I said, pointing to the trivet.

I walked to the pantry and grabbed the crackers while Gabby began slicing the French bread.

“This smells phenomenal.”

“It does,” I agreed.

“Looks like Jason’s not on the phone anymore,” Gabby said, glancing through the window.

“Hope everything’s okay.”

“Me too.”

Gabby carried the steaming hot dip to the coffee table, and I followed with the slices of bread and crackers just as the guys were coming back inside.

“Everything okay?” Gabby asked.

Jason nodded and Aaron’s eyes connected with mine. Something was definitely bothering Jason and if I could pick up on it so could Gabby.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” she said softly, putting the tray down on the table.

“Meh. Doesn’t matter. I don’t know what I was expecting anyway. I don’t want to ruin what we’ve got going on here,” he said, plastering a smile on his face.

Aaron nodded and came by my side, whispering softly, “I saw you limping a little tonight. Don’t overdo it.”

I nodded and smiled at him, placing a soft kiss on the crook of his neck.

“Now, let’s dig in and hear your bright idea,” Jason said, scooping the dip on top of the cracker.

“We are going to track down Lily’s first love,” Gabby said, curling into Jason.

“Do you really think that’s a great idea?” Jason teased. “She hasn’t had the best track record.”

“That’s exactly why we need to do this. He was her first love, and in her eyes, he was perfection. If we can get them to meet and fireworks go off, it will be absolutely amazing,” I gushed.

“And if they meet and she can’t stand the toad he turned into then she can start living her life without always thinking about the what-ifs,” Gabby continued.

Aaron and Jason started laughing in between bites.

“Seriously. She was in love with him and it has colored everything,” I said, nibbling on a piece of the bread.

“I guess we’re lucky we weren’t toads,” Jason said.

“So where is this poor soul? Do you even know if he’s single?” Aaron asked.

“He’s in Utah and I have no idea if he’s single, but we devised a plan that should work flawlessly as long as you guys follow our rules,” I said.

“Really?” Aaron raised a brow. “And what are those?”

“The first one is to be ready to go to Utah after the holidays. We’re making it a ski trip so Lily shouldn’t catch on.”

“And the other rules?” Jason asked.

“There’s only one,” Gabby replied.

“And?” Jason said, the sparkle appearing in his eyes once more.

“Never ask questions,” she said.

“It will never be boring with you two, will it?” Aaron said, holding me tightly.

“Not as long as I can help it,” I said.

“Life’s too short not to make it interesting,” Gabby said. “Besides, we haven’t been on a vacation yet. We should make sure we’re compatible.”

“And if we’re not?” Jason asked, a smirk appearing on his lips.

Gabby just shrugged, smiling. “Beats me.”

“A toast to Utah and a life never dull,” Aaron said, grinning as he grabbed his mug full of eggnog.

“Utah it is,” I said, snuggling in to Aaron. “And to a life full of love.”

If only Lily would agree.

Hope you enjoyed the second book in the Beyond Love Series.

To follow Gabby, Brandy, and Lily, be on the lookout for
BEYOND REASON!

Continue reading for the playlist, recipes, and excerpts from other Karice Bolton books.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tbl orange juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup flour

1 cup pecans

3 lbs sweet potatoes, cubed

6 tablespoons butter

Preparations

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, orange juice, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon each of the cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Add sweet potatoes; toss to coat well. Pour into 9x13-inch baking dish and place 2 tablespoons chopped butter on top. Cover with foil and bake for thirty minutes.

Remove from oven.

Mix flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and remaining spices in bowl. Cut in remaining butter until course crumbs form. Stir in pecans and crumble on top of sweet potato dish and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes more, until sweet potatoes are tender.

Corn Pudding

1-15.25 ounce can whole kernel corn or fiesta corn

1 (15 ounce) can cream style corn

1 8.5 ounce package dry cornbread mix

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cheddar, shredded