A Christmas Arrangement (10 page)

We found a clerk to help us and Danny moved my hair to the side to clasp the necklace.  I glanced around the store wondering where Eleanor had disappeared to.  “Honey, what’s this red mark on your neck?” Danny asked.

“Here?” I pointed to the painful area where I’d had the meeting with the shopping cart. 

“Yeah,” he looked up to ensure the clerk wasn’t within earshot. “It looks like a
hickey
,” he whispered close to my ear.  I saw his nose crinkle with recognizable disdain.  “Hickey” is one of those words that has an exact and clear meaning, but should never be uttered.  It’s on the list that includes panties, pimples and boobs.

Danny held an earring up to either of my ears, then stood back at arm’s length.  “Let me see that beautiful smile of yours.”  Despite him being just Danny, I blushed ferociously.  “Gorgeous!  Oh, and the jewelry too.”  He motioned to the clerk, “Thank you, I’ll take them.”

A woman cleared her throat behind Danny.  I tilted my head to look past him.  “Eleanor, there you are.  Danny, this is Alex’s mother, Eleanor Cooper.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”  He extended his hand and she shook it.  Her icy expression contrasted sharply with the comforter atop the pile in the shopping cart at her heels.  “Well then…”  Danny retracted.  He wore an actor’s smile.  You know someone is a straight-up cold you-know-what when Danny Barnes can’t elicit a warm reaction.  “I’d best get going.”  His eyes lost their sparkle.  “Thank you so much for your help, Quincy.”  He kissed my cheek and hugged me.  “Goodbye Mrs.…Cooper.”  His tone was flat.  Polite of course, but flat.  No one in the history of—ever—had taken the Danny out of Danny.  What was wrong with this woman?

The ride home, after I packed the rental car with enough purchases to furnish an entire hotel, was filled with strained silences and terse replies to my attempts at conversation. 

My spirits lifted when I saw Alex’s work car parked at home.  He and his dad helped us in with the packages.  The lady parts reacted when they saw Alex.  They missed him tremendously too.  He came to my side of the car first and opened my door.

“My two favorite girls.  How was the shopping trip?”  He leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek.  A leather purse the size of a microwave was shoved in front of my face. 

“Hi, Leaky.  Help me with some bags?” Eleanor said from behind the purse.

Jack helped with bags too and even harrumphed gruffly when his wife pushed past me into the house.  Alex eyeballed his mom with a quizzical expression as she shrugged out of her coat for him. 

“Are you going to stay for a minute, Q?” he asked.

I felt Eleanor’s icy stare and clutched the lapels of my coat together.  There weren’t enough English words to tell him how much I wanted to stay with him.  But I was afraid of what the Border collie named Eleanor would do next to herd me away from her son. 

“I—better not.”  His pleading eyes gave me a little pang in my heart.  He was being smothered as much as I was being discouraged.  “I’ve got to get to work early in the morning.  The big event is in a few days.  Lots of work to do, you know.”  The lady parts all sighed at once.  “Thank you so much for the fun shopping trip El…um…Mrs. Cooper.”  I heard Eleanor’s dismissive snort as she walked away, pretending not to hear me.

“Right, okay well, let me walk you to your car.”  “
Please
,” he mouthed. 

“Sure.”  I waved goodbye to his parents.

“What happened?” he asked when we got out of earshot. 

“I have no idea.  I think it’s obvious that she just doesn’t like me.”

“Q, that’s not true.  She likes you.”

“Well, I’d hate to be her enemy if this is how she treats people she likes,” I said.  “Anyway, I do have to get to work early tomorrow so it’s best I go.  See you later—someday.”  I smiled sadly and put my hand on his upper arm.  It’s the only contact I dared initiate as I was sure she was watching from the front window, waiting to bust a move outside to stop us from doing anything else.

He sighed and gave me a hug and a very chaste kiss on the cheek.  Then he whispered, “I’ll make this up to you, I promise.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”  I grinned up at him then got in Zombie Sue and drove home. 

An hour later, I was in bed wearing my old standby Empire Strikes Back t-shirt, knee-high striped tube socks and sweat pants.  I was watching
Miracle on 34
^th
Street
when my cell phone rang.

It was Alex. 

“Hey there.”  His voice was low and quiet.  So sexy. 

“Are you at home?” I asked.

“Yeah, they finally went to bed.  Let me get this in quick before they discover me.  I’m holed up in the basement pretending to check on the furnace.  I miss you,” he said. 

“I miss you too.”

“So, I guess I know why my mom was acting that way tonight while you were shopping.”

I groaned, anticipating hearing how I’d said or done the wrong thing.  “Is it because we’re having an affair?  She knows about my ex—” heavy sigh, “—I mean my husband.”

“She told me all about that.  I explained the situation and told both of them how brave you were with him.  They were impressed.”  I rolled my eyes at that untruth.  “No, I’m talking about today when apparently you were making out with some guy at the store?”

“What?  Is she insane?”

“Based on what she’s been telling me I’m not sure.  You were at the jewelry counter, with a tall, dark, well-dressed man.  Handsome too from what I hear.”

“You’re kidding, right?  Oh—wait, you mean
him
.”

“She says you have a hickey.  That you were trying to hide it from me with your coat lapels when you got home tonight.”

I thunked my forehead. 

“I didn’t give you—I mean, that’s like junior high.  I haven’t been that desperate, have I?” he said.

“My
hickey
,” I shuddered as I said the word, “came from my collision with a shopping cart, just
before
I ran into Danny at the store.”

“You mean,
Danny
,Danny?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“My mother is crazy.”  He sighed and then there was a long pause.  “I should also tell you she thinks you’re pregnant.  She says now it all makes sense as to why you were talking about morning sickness with K.C.”  He cleared his throat.  “You aren’t…?”

“Yeah.  And Danny Barnes is the father.  He gave me a hickey in the middle of the department store as we made out.  All while your mother shopped for linens.  Can you ever forgive me?”

“Maybe.  If you give me a chance to give you one myself.”

“Baby or the other thing?”

“Either one.”

“I was just kidding about the baby,” I said.  “And the other thing, actually.”

He chuckled.  “Just as long as I can be alone with you for more than five minutes, I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“I’m imagining the possibilities.  If you were there with me too, I’d settle for sitting outside in the middle of a snowstorm.  Just as long as it’s somewhere they can’t find us.”

CHAPTER NINE

We had a little going away party for Allie at the flower shop just after closing.  It was a small gathering; me, K.C., Daphne and Allie.  Alex would have come, but he was making up hours at work for the time he spent skiing with his dad and
mine
two days before. 

Jack Cooper and my father were becoming quite the buddies these days, which couldn’t have made me happier for Alex.  He called me after their trip up the canyon and told me about their adventures in Mantown.  Alas, he wasn’t able to see me then because his mother had made dinner for them and that couldn’t be missed.  She’d made all kinds of plans that couldn’t be missed by her Leaky, and none of those plans had any room for me.  But, at least his parents approved of someone from my family, and I was glad it might take just a little pressure off of Alex for having made such a terrible choice in me.

K.C. put the Christmas radio station on the overhead stereo speakers as I put up the closed sign and locked the front door.  Daphne had made all kinds of treats and we had plenty of paper products from the warehouse club store just waiting to be used.  I’d also brought the Elf treats from home that had multiplied exponentially the closer we got to Christmas.  Even I couldn’t keep up with eating them now. 

We sat around the design table and asked Allie questions about the TV show and how she’d auditioned.  She was her usual humble self, but I was so proud of her and this huge accomplishment. 

“So the big media day is tomorrow, huh?” Allie asked in an obvious attempt to divert the attention from herself.

“Yep, and now I can rest easy because K.C. is taking care of Santa for us,” I said.

“Are you just going to go without Santa’s elf this year?” Allie asked.

Dang it.  I’d completely forgotten about the elf.  I’d been in such a good mood too, since my replacement ornaments had showed up earlier that day.  My face must have shown the panic I felt.

“You know what?” Allie said.  “I think I might know where there’s an elf costume.  Remember when Sandy was in Robin Hood in high school?”

I nodded.  Of course I did.  Our big sister had played Maid Marion and even though she wasn’t the title character, she was the star of the show.

“Well that year, her boyfriend played Robin and Mom made his costume.  It’s still at our house in the Halloween box.  Tights and everything.  I bet mom could sew some faux fur on the hems.  She’s got plenty left over from Dad’s Santa suit.  You could be the elf.”

“Such a smart girl,” K.C. said.  “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Do you think it would fit me?” I said.

“He was really tall.  Probably around six feet,” Allie said. 

“How tall are you,” Daphne asked me.

“I’m 5’9.”

“So it will probably fit,” Daphne said, clapping her hands with excitement. 

“What will we do without you, Allie?” I asked.  “You’re the brains around here.  We’re going to miss you.”  I blinked and suddenly there were tears in my eyes. 

“Well now, this is supposed to be a party.  No tears allowed,” K.C. said through sniffles of her own.  “What’s a girl gotta do for a drink around here?”  Allie laughed and K.C. caved.  She sobbed and gave Allie a hug.  “Who’s going to laugh at all my jokes while you’re gone?”

We allowed ourselves one more minute of hugs and tears, then vowed to be happy for the rest of the evening.  Daphne poured some eggnog while Allie called our Mom. 

“Mom said she’d do it,” Allie said after she hung up.  “She seemed pretty excited about it too.  I think she feels bad about Dad not being able to be Santa for you.  Sewing the costume is her way of trying to make it up to you.”

“Good old Mom,” I said.

“Hey, speaking of Santa, did you hear about the idiot that’s been going around egging and toilet papering people’s houses?” K.C. said.  “He’s dressed up like Santa, so the only description people can give the police is that he’s wearing a red suit and a white beard. Plenty of those around this time of year.  Supposedly, he stole a baby Jesus out of the manger scene in someone’s yard.”

“People are jerks,” Daphne said. 

“That’s my kind of Christmas spirit,” I joked.

We talked and ate and somehow the subject of my Secret Santa was brought up. 

“I’m feeling like it might not be Alex who’s leaving those gifts,” Allie said, after I explained all the circumstances surrounding them.  “It just doesn’t sound like him.”

“I’ve been thinking that myself,” I said.  “He’s been so occupied with his parents and work, I haven’t even seen him for the last four days.”

“That’s like an eternity for you two,” Daphne said, smiling. 

“Don’t I know it?”  I smiled back.  “But when he has to go out of town for an assignment, I might not see him or hear from him for weeks or months.  We try to make the most of our time together, knowing we’ll be apart for a long time.”  I popped a chocolate mint truffle into my mouth.  “That’s why I can’t see him spending what little spare time he has dropping off gifts when we could just as well spend the time together,” I said, my words made sloppy from the chocolate. 

The picture of female attractiveness, I was—muddy colored spit dribbling down my chin.  Poor Alex.

“What about Randall?” Allie asked quietly.  She knew about the first few months after I moved into our grandma’s house when The Ex and or one of his many relatives would leave nasty things on my front porch like road kill or garbage.  I’d jokingly referred to them as “The Gifts” as a coping mechanism.

“I’ve considered that too.  But so far, since we had our meeting at Alex’s house he’s actually been kind of normal.  He’s cooperating with the divorce and everything.  And don’t you dare say anything to Mom.  She doesn’t know we’re still married.”

“I know, I know,” Allie said.  “I’m still sworn to secrecy.”

K.C. stood up, her necklace jingling as it bounced on her chest.  “It’s obvious there’s only one thing to do.”  The rest of us exchanged bewildered looks.  “An intelligence gathering mission.  We can almost conclude from the evidence presented that Alex isn’t leaving these gifts, and they sound like they’re from an admirer who needs to be set straight.  We’re just the ones to straighten him out.” 

I groaned out loud.

“What?” K.C. said.  “Don’t you want to know who’s been sending these things?  I mean, what if it’s some stalker?  Or what if it
is
your ex-ish husband?  You should find out before Alex jumps to any conclusions.  He’s got enough on his plate.  He doesn’t need to be worrying about you being stalked by some Looney-tune.”

“Aren’t you at all curious who the real Secret Santa is?” Daphne asked.

“I suppose.  Now that we’re talking about it, it’s becoming a little worrisome.  The chocolates were great—when I thought Alex had sent them.  Still, a neighbor
could
have sent those.”

“A rich neighbor,” Allie mumbled.  “And what about the notes that came with them?”

I blew my breath out.  “They were cute too, when I thought it was Alex.”

“Can you say stalker movie?” Daphne said.