CHAPTER THREE

Preston stood in the middle of his living room with his hands on his hips and looked around. It was nice, his little deco-style house. It had good bones, and clean lines, along with the geometric ornamentation that was so popular when the house was built ninety-five years ago.

He’d bought the place after his divorce, and had spent the last year and a half painting and remodeling, while and adding updates that respected the deco look.

He’d bought the bare minimum of simple furniture that complemented the style. But the furnishings were sparse: a sofa and a matching chair. A kitchen table and a bed. Not even a coffee table or a nightstand.

And there were no homey touches, no comfy pillows or pictures or anything personal anywhere. The bathroom was utilitarian in the extreme and the kitchen had the bare minimum of cookware.

The only thing that could be even remotely considered décor was the huge wall-mounted television every single man owned. It was the epitome of a bachelor pad. Despite the time and effort he’d put into the painting and remodeling, it was still a house. Not a home.

He wasn’t sure Sabina would even want to live here.

Not that her place was much better. As a soldier, she traveled light, and he suspected most of her furnishings were part of the lease. But if he was going to invite her to share the house and make a home with him, he needed to make his house someplace inviting, a place to unwind and relax, a place where they’d make memories while spending time together.

Damned if he knew how to do that.

He shrugged and headed for the shower, leaving his SAPD uniform in a trail down the hall and across the bedroom. Maybe he could get some ideas online. There was a YouTube video with instructions on pretty much everything. It was a hell of a note. He was nearly forty years old and didn’t know how to decorate his own house.

He supposed a lot of men didn’t.

He took a hot shower and tried not to think about the next few days. Christmas was four days away and was looking bleaker by the minute. Sabina was on radio silence, and he hadn’t heard word one from his asshole family. Not that he expected to.

He’d already offered to work the twenty-fifth so Mike Werner could spend the day with his daughter and lady love, but that still left a long, lonely Christmas evening by himself watching corny holiday movies on the oldies channel.

Maybe next year would be different.

He pulled on a long-sleeved tee and was running his fingers through his wet hair when the doorbell rang. A second of hope flared before common sense reared its ugly head and curiosity took its place. It wasn’t Sabina, and it wasn’t his mom.

UPS, maybe.

He looked through the peep hole, blinked a few times, then opened the door with his mouth still hanging open in surprise. Eagle Begay stood on his front porch holding hands with a pretty blonde Preston had met once before. Her name was Laurie? No, that wasn’t right. Um, Lacey.

Eagle and Lacey both had tentative smiles on their faces.

What the hell were they doing here?

“Uh, hey guys. Come on in.” He opened the door wider and gestured for them to enter.

They trooped in and he motioned them into the living room. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“We’re fine,” Eagle said.

“What can I do for you?” Preston asked.

“We’re here to kidnap you,” Lacey said cheerfully, and smiled engagingly.

“Kidnap me?”

“Lacey’s idea,” Eagle said. “We’re going out to dinner tonight before my shinali gets here tomorrow and thought you might like to come along.”

“His grandmother’s not much for restaurants, so we’ll be cooking at Eagle’s place until she goes home,” Lacey added.

Sabina had probably put them up to this.

Nice of her, and nice of them, but completely not necessary.

“It’s…it’s okay,” Preston stammered, trying to decline gracefully. “You probably want to spend the evening together alone. You know, just the two of you. You don’t need a third wheel.”

Lacey put her hands on her hips. “It’s not okay. We’d like you to come. Besides, what are you gonna do if you don’t come with us?”

“Actually, I was going online to look at some decorating ideas for this place. Make it a little more appealing. Someplace a woman might want to live.”

“Inviting Sabina to move in?” Eagle asked.

“Something like that. I don’t think this impresses her much.” He gestured around the room. “It’s pretty spartan.”

Lacey’s eyes narrowed and she looked around the room thoughtfully. “It is. But we can do something about that. Let me think a minute.”

Eagle rolled his eyes. “Ramos, you did not say what I think you said to Lacey.” He shook his head. “That was like saying sic ’em to a bulldog.”

“Oh, hush, Eagle. I love to decorate. I really like to pretty things up and make a house or an apartment homey. So sue me.”

“You like to pretty things up?” Preston asked, hoping for a little assistance, but wasn’t going to ask for it.

“Love to. And Preston, you have a point. The furniture you have in here is great, obviously quality, but I’ve seen Bachelor Officers’ Quarters that were more inviting and welcoming than this place.” She took another look around the living room. “Kitchen?”

He pointed to the door and Lacey disappeared. “Her thing?” he asked Eagle.

“Completely. Her apartment’s all done up.”

She reappeared shaking her head. “The kitchen needs some attention, too. Like maybe something to cook with. Something to eat on. What about the bedrooms and bathroom?”

Preston shrugged and pointed down the hall. He and Eagle had barely sat down when she reappeared. “How about instead of dinner we grab some take-out then hit a few home stores and spiff up this place a little bit?” Lacey asked. “Let’s make it more attractive for Sabina.”

He hadn’t wanted to go to dinner with them, but this was something else entirely. Lacey was actually offering him some much-needed help. He’d be an idiot not to take her up on it.

He turned to Eagle. “Are you okay with spending the evening traipsing through home stores?”

“Won’t be the first time I’ve gone with her,” Eagle said dryly. “My apartment barely knows itself these days.”

Preston’s F-150 had a camper shell and could hold a lot of stuff. They climbed in and Lacey leaned over and named a popular cookware store in one of the malls. “We don’t have to go broke on kitchen goodies, but Sabina’s going to want a set of basic pots and pans if she doesn’t have any,” Lacey said. “Does she have cookware? Tableware? Knives, forks, plates, cups?”

Preston nodded. “She has tableware, at least some. But little in the way of pots and pans.”

Despite the heavy traffic, they made good time and before long were standing in the middle of a high-end cookware store. Preston stared in consternation at the array of every cooking device imaginable, from the most basic to the most frivolous. Lacey was already sweeping down the aisle, loading gadgets into a basket. “I’m glad she knows what she’s doing,” Preston murmured. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”

“Welcome to the club,” Eagle mumbled.

They waited patiently making small talk and Preston found himself liking Eagle. The man was articulate and funny, as well as friendly and surprisingly warm. He was easy to talk to, and Preston wished to hell they hadn’t gotten off to such a rocky start on their mission together. Eagle was a man he’d like to have as a friend.

Lacey showed Preston her choices and he agreed they would work. He handed over his credit card and soon they were lugging her selections, which turned out to be considerable, to the truck. “Where to next?” he asked as they got back in the truck.

Lacey thought a minute. “Basic comfort. Stuff like end tables and a coffee table. Nightstands for the bedroom. A few throw pillows to soften things and curl up with for a nap. And pillow shams and a bed skirt to accent that gorgeous quilt in your bedroom. Family heirloom?”

Preston felt an unexpected pang. “My abuela made it for me and my ex-wife.” He made a rueful face. “It’s probably the last family heirloom I’ll ever get.”

“Well, shit,” Eagle murmured.

“Anything else probably should wait for Sabina to choose for herself. I’d hate to buy a lamp she detests,” Lacey said with a smile.

“I didn’t know you could detest a lamp,” Preston said.

“You can. Believe me, you sure as hell can,” she assured him.

They laid waste to two more stores before Lacey was satisfied, it was well after dark before they pulled into Preston’s driveway. “Now we have to lug all this stuff in,” Eagle groused.

“That’s right. And as soon as it’s unloaded, you can go on a take-out run while Preston and I get it all unpacked and put it where it goes.”

It didn’t take long to get the camper unloaded. Preston and Eagle placed the retro coffee table, end tables, and nightstands where Lacy instructed them to, and then she sent Eagle on a pizza run while she and Preston dealt with the new pillows and shams for the bedroom and the beautiful new bed skirt. Preston crossed his arms and looked at his bed. “I like it.”

“It sets off the quilt beautifully,” she sighed. “Now let’s see if the pillows for the living room work.”

Of course, they did. Preston was admiring the effect when Eagle came in bearing two huge pizzas and a six pack of soda. They sat down at his dining room table with paper plates and dug into the pizza. “This is delicious,” Lacey said as she practically inhaled a slice. “You get these often?”

“We do. There’s not much else in the area. The Deco District’s nice but it’s kind of a restaurant desert,” Preston admitted. “The grocery store’s deli does a lot of office business. It’s always busy.”

“No worse than living on the rez,” Eagle said. “We had practically nothing. Shinali would have had to drive forty miles. Needless to say, we did our own cooking.”

“I thought we’d take her out while she’s here, but Eagle says she wouldn’t like it,” Lacey said. The girl looked uncertain. “I’m a little nervous. I don’t know how she’s going to feel about Eagle dating a bilagaana woman.”

“A what?” Preston felt his brows go up.

“A white woman,” Eagle said. His eyes softened as he looked at Lacey. “She’s going to like you, Lacey. Especially since, you know.”

“I hope you’re right,” Lacey murmured.

Hmm. Eagle and Lacey were keeping a secret.

He gave a mental shrug. None of his business.

They managed to demolish both pizzas and all the soda. Lacey volunteered to help him put away the new cookware but he assured her he could manage. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he said as they gathered up their jackets. “Both of you.”

“I didn’t do much,” Eagle protested.

“You kept me company in some scary places,” Preston said with mock solemnity. “Lacey, you did a marvelous job. This place is ten times better than it was. I love it, and Sabina will too.”

She beamed. “I’m so glad you like it, and I hope Sabina does. We love her, you know.”

“So do I,” Preston said quietly.

“I’m sorry you’ll be spending Christmas by yourself,” Lacey said. “I’ve had a few Christmases alone over the years when Dad was deployed and I couldn’t get to either grandmother. They’re not fun.”

“I’ll be fine,” Preston assured her. “It’s one of the hazards of dating a soldier. Especially one who does Sabina’s job. It’s part of who she is, and I respect her for it.”

“Thanks for that,” Eagle said. “Not every partner does.”

Lacey gave him a big hug, and he and Eagle shook hands. He stood at the window and watched Eagle’s taillights until they disappeared at the corner.

It all boiled down to Sabina, he thought as he pulled his shades and stripped down to his underwear. They had reached out to him because of her. It wouldn’t surprise him if she’d asked them to come over and to take him under their wing. Spend a little time with him. They’d asked him out to dinner for her.

Surely, they hadn’t done it because they loved him.

Still, he appreciated it, no matter their motivation.

Lacey was a sweetheart. Eagle was no fan of his, but the man had been warm and friendly, more so than Preston expected him to be. Actually, he seemed to like Preston. If only. Eagle was a decent guy.

Preston wouldn’t mind having a friend like Eagle Begay.