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It’s beautifully wrapped in shiny red paper with gold dragons and holly. “This is so perfect. I don’t want to disturb it. Thanks for the wrapping.”
“You’re very welcome. Happy holidays to you.” He places the wrapped box into a black gift bag.
“You as well.” I take the bag and leave the mall to drive back to Snow Creek.
Once home, I printJesseon the tag that’s tied to the gift.
Then I change my mind. I remove the tag from the gift. This way, if they find it, they won’t know who it’s for. When someone opens it, they’ll find out it’s for Jesse. That way, if someone catches me with a gift before I have a chance to slide it under the tree, no one will know who it’s for.
Good thinking, Bree.
Now…to figure out how to slide it under the Pikes’ Christmas tree without anyone knowing.
I’ll go over to the house under the pretense of visiting Maddie. I’ve even got the guidebook to give her as an early Christmas gift.
Perfect.
I slide the small gift into my purse, grab both guidebooks, and return to my car to drive to the Pikes’.
“Brianna,” Maureen Pike says when she opens the door. “How nice to see you.”
“Nice to see you too, Mrs. Pike. Is Maddie home?” I glance over Maureen’s shoulder to regard their tree.
“I think she’s up in her room. I’ll go see.”
The Pikes’ Christmas tree is in the living room, next to the foyer where I’m standing.
I look around, making sure there’s no one here. I hear some clanking in the kitchen, but if I act quickly…
A moment later, the gift is under the tree, hidden in the back.
Perfect.
Maddie comes out from the hallway. “Hey, Bree. What’s up?”
“I was out shopping, and I picked up European guidebooks for us. I wanted to drop yours by.” I hold up the books.
“Sure. That sounds like fun. Come up to my room.”
Maddie fires up her laptop, I grab one of the guidebooks, and we both sit on her bed, our backs against the headboard, the laptop sitting between us so we can both see.
“So we’ll be in London for the first six days,” Maddie says. “I want to see Buckingham Palace, of course. Westminster Abbey. And Rory says we have to go to Fleet Street and have a meat pie.”
I wrinkle my nose. “What?”
“It’s a reference to the urban legend of Sweeney Todd. You know, the demon barber of Fleet Street?”
“You mean the musical?”
“Yeah,Sweeney Toddby Sondheim. But it started as an urban legend. Rory says Brock took her to this amazing pie place on Fleet Street.”
“Meat pies?”
Maddie taps on her keyboard, and a photo of a giant pie emerges. “You know, like potpies. Don’t you like potpies?”
“Sure I do. I guess I just thought that we’d be eating something more…elaborate.”
Maddie laughs. “British food is anything but elaborate,” she says. “I’ve been doing some research. Lots of meat and potatoes. Sausages.”
