Page 84 of Cold Threat

“Then I will,” Aimee said before he could stop her. “Your mother comes into the room and finds you smearing your ...well, you know ... all over everything. Then you smile at her and say, ‘Oooooh, smooshy!’”

Tony was afraid to look at River, but her exuberant laugh made him finally risk a glance. She was wiping tears from her eyes, and the elation he saw on her face made his extreme embarrassment almost bearable.

“I guess our nickname isn’t completely kind,” Beth said between spurts of laughter, “but we’ve always kept its meaning between ourselves. Until you.”

Even though Tony was somewhat horrified that his mother had shared such an embarrassing story, he wondered if it was because she sensed that River was more than just his friend.He couldn’t be certain, but he suspected it was true. Mothers seemed to have some kind of emotional ESP when it came to their children.

“I’m honored,” River said with a grin, “but if there are any other stories like this in Tony’s past, it might be best to keep them to yourself. As it is, I may never see him in quite the same way.”

This caused another round of giggles, and Tony just rolled his eyes. He got a cup of coffee and sat down again, purposely not meeting anyone’s eyes. Aimee’s sudden snort set them all off again.

“I’ll just finish my coffee in my room,” he said, standing up again. He felt someone tug at his sleeve.

“Please don’t leave,” River said. “We’re sorry. It’s just that ... well, you’ve always been this perfect person. You know, in charge of yourself. A protector. A ... warrior type. Thinking of you as a baby was funny. And touching. I’m sorry if we embarrassed you.”

He looked at his sister and mother, who were nodding. But he noticed Aimee’s mouth quiver. He frowned at her, and she blurted out, “Yes, we’re sorry, Smooshy.”

Of course, this brought another round of laughter. He had two choices. Either he could stomp off and then try to figure out howto come back downstairs after tossing away any shred of dignity he had left, or he could tough it out until his family and River moved on to something else. Being honest with himself, he was rather happy that his childhood misfortune had given River a chance to laugh and get the pressure off for a while. He decided his ego was worth the jolt and stayed in his chair. He smiled and shook his head.

“When you ladies are finished, can we change the subject?” he said.

“I guess so,” River said. “Although I’ll be dealing with some very disturbing images the rest of the day.”

“That’s okay,” Aimee said. “I’ve had to do that my whole life.”

Her dramatic sigh made Beth start to laugh, but she covered her mouth with her hand. After a moment, she said, “Okay. That’s it, girls. Let’s settle down. I think Tony has suffered enough.”

“Moving along,” Tony said firmly, drawing the words out, “I assume Dad is on the way home? It’s starting to snow pretty hard.”

“He told me he needed to check in at the station, and then he’d head back here,” Beth said. She got up and pulled the kitchen curtains back. “It’s really starting to ramp up out there. Maybe I’ll call him and...” She stopped and then turned around to smile at them. “He’s just pulling in. Nothing like waiting until the last second.”

A couple of minutes later, the front door opened. A few moments after that, Ray came into the kitchen, two large bags in his hands.

“What’s that, honey?” Beth asked. “I told you I’d stocked the kitchen.”

“I know, but I was in the mood for some fun finger food. I don’t want you cooking supper tonight, Beth.” He frowned and looked around the kitchen. “You haven’t started anything yet, have you?”

“No, I haven’t. I had something in mind, but I like the way you’re thinking.” She smiled at him. “What did you buy?”

Ray set the bag down and took out three logs of summer sausage, two trays of sliced cheese, a large bag of chips, and several different kinds of dips. Then he took out two cartons of eggnog, some soft drinks, and some hot chocolate mix.

“Oh, Ray, this looks perfect,” Beth said. “I’ll slice the sausage.”

“You’ll do nothing of the sort, Mom,” Tony said. “We’ll do it. You just sit down in the family room and relax. We’ll get everything ready and bring it in.”

“How about a Christmas movie tonight?” Aimee said. “I know it’s not Christmas yet, but it’s the season.”

Beth laughed. “We’ve watched several already, but I’m game to watch another one. You can never have too many Christmas movies.”

Everyone voiced their approval, and a vote was taken. Since it was split betweenThe Bishop’s WifeandWhite Christmas, Ray took a coin out of his pocket.

“Heads, it’sThe Bishop’s Wife,” he said. “Tails, we’ll watchWhite Christmas.” After flipping the coin, he called out “Heads! Dudley the angel wins.”

“Sounds great,” River said. “I’ve only seen the movie once. Years ago.”

Aimee’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? Wow. I’ve probably watched it at least twenty times.”

“My parents didn’t really encourage Christmas movies when we were kids,” River said. “And after my father left, Christmas wasn’t really important to my mom. I only watched it because I stumbled across it once on TV.”

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