Angel Lane (27 page)

“I can't see,” Mandy protested. Josh lifted her up onto his shoulders and in the process wound up standing closer to Jamie. She tried hard to swallow a hiccup.

And then another. This was ridiculous. She stood and fumed
as the guys from Fire Station Number Nine drove past in their fire truck, siren blaring.

“There's Sam,” said Emma, elbowing her. “Sam,” she called, and waved. Not that he could hear her with all the noise.

Right behind the fire truck came Heart Lake's finest, bringing more noise and flashing the lights on their patrol cars. Why wasn't Josh in one of those cars instead of here, next to her, giving her the hiccups?

The swing-dance club paused for a quick performance, shaking their hips to Kellie Pickler's version of “Santa Baby.” “I thought we were going home after this,” Jamie said to Emma out of the corner of her mouth.

“I want to stay longer,” Emma said. “You're supposed to be trying to cheer me up. Humor me.”

“This is not a movie moment,” Jamie informed her.

“Not yet, but it could be.”

No it couldn't. They should have left before the parade. It was a lame parade anyway.

“Santa Claus!” cried Mandy, pointing.

Even though she was frustrated and totally irritated with her friend, Jamie couldn't help smiling at the sight of Tony DeSoto perched on the back of a flatbed truck and surrounded by candy-throwing elves, waving, and holding his padded belly, faking a Santa laugh. Speakers blared “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

“This is just like
A Christmas Story,
” Emma gushed. “Well, the parade part anyway.”

“I'm glad you're enjoying it,” Jamie said. “Next maybe you'll get a miracle on Thirty-fourth Street.”

“I'd take a miracle on Lake Way,” Emma replied.

Her smile suddenly vanished, and Jamie wanted to kick herself.
Way to go, bigmouth
.

As penance, after the parade she stayed and wandered the booths with the girls and Emma, Josh keeping a respectful distance between them. Like that helped. With every step, every turn, she was aware of him like a giant guardian angel in a blue parka and jeans.

Lissa drifted into the tent where Jamie had bought Emma's earrings. The girl had expensive taste.

Emma followed her right on in, saying, “Oh, Jamie bought me some earrings here.”

Of course, they all had to troop in.

“Look, Daddy,” said Lissa, dragging him over to the table. “Can we get these?”

Jamie positioned herself by the door and pretended to watch the people drifting past, in and out, trying to keep some distance between herself and Josh.

Even though Lissa had lowered her voice, Jamie couldn't help hearing her tell her dad, “I want to get these for Jamie.”

Not only was the dad falling for her, so were the kids. This was so not good. She stepped outside the tent, but she could still hear.

“I don't think that would be a good idea,” said Josh.

“Why not?” There was an element of whine in Lissa's voice now.

“It would embarrass her. We don't know her that well.”

“Yes we do,” insisted Lissa.

Now Mandy chimed in. “Jamie's our friend.”

“I want to get her these,” Lissa insisted. “I have money.”

“Those are more money than you have.”

“I have money,” piped Mandy.

Jamie wanted to burst in and say, “Don't, girls. I'm a bad investment.”

“They're still too much,” Josh said firmly.

“Daddy, can't you give us a little more?” begged Lissa. “I'll do extra chores.”

This was awful. She moved away, burying herself in the crowd of people.

A moment later Emma, Josh, and company joined her. Lissa was pouting and Josh had lost his easy smile. Emma looked thoroughly confused, as though she'd just seen a movie with an ending that didn't make sense.

Jamie knew she wasn't really responsible for this, but she couldn't help feeling as if she, somehow, had to rescue the afternoon. She fell in step alongside Lissa. “That was really nice of you to want to buy me earrings.”

“You heard?” Lissa looked at her, chagrined.

“I did. But your dad is right. It's important to learn not to spend money you don't have. And besides, heart earrings are more of a boyfriend-girlfriend thing, aren't they?” She was painfully aware of Josh walking behind them, probably pretending not to listen.

“But you bought some for Emma,” Lissa pointed out, shooting down that argument.

“Well, they're for BFFs, too.”

“I wanted to give you something,” Lissa muttered.

“You've given me smiles,” Jamie said, hugging her.

“I want to give you a present,” Lissa said simply.

As if Jamie would always be in her life. She almost wanted to cry. “Sometimes the most special gifts are things you make, like drawings.”

“That's for little kids,” Lissa said in disgust.

“Or cards. I know lots of grown-up ladies who like to make cards.”

“I guess,” said Lissa, sounding unconvinced.

“The best gifts aren't always things we buy, they're gifts from the heart that help us remember special times together. Honest.”

Lissa nodded, digesting Jamie's words of wisdom.

“Look, Daddy, hats!” cried Mandy, running ahead to a booth sporting all kinds of goofy hats, and Emma took off after her and Lissa, leaving Josh and Jamie to follow along behind. Subtle as always.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” she said, keeping her gaze straight ahead.

“It's not that I didn't want her to give you those,” he added.

“I know.” She kept her gaze straight ahead.

“I just don't want to make you feel like we're pressuring you somehow. Although if I thought it would work, I would,” he added, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

Now she couldn't help but turn to look at him. “I'm sorry, Josh. You seem like a great guy.”

“Actually, I am.”

“It's just too scary for me.”

“I wish you could bring yourself to trust me. What if we turned out to be perfect for each other? What if, instead of scaring you, I made you feel safe?”

She shook her head. “I always thought I'd feel safe with Grant. The year I was married to him was the scariest year of my life.”

Josh nodded. He shoved his hands in his coat pockets as they walked. “I hope you find somebody who makes you feel safe. You deserve it. Until you do, maybe we can be friends.”

“Do you really think that's a good idea?” asked Jamie.

“No, but it beats not seeing you at all.”

Jamie nodded to where Emma stood, modeling a Cat in the Hat stovepipe hat for the girls. “There's your perfect woman.”

“She's great. Too bad she's not you.”

They joined the others and Lissa held out a cap for Jamie to try on. It was orange with a coxcomb and designed to make her look like a giant chicken. She struck a pose. “It's me, dontcha think?” The girls giggled and Jamie plopped it on Lissa's head. “Oh, no. It's you.” She held one of the hand mirrors so Lissa could check it out.

The child smiled at her reflection. “Can we get it, Daddy?”

“It's your money,” he said.

“No, it's my treat,” Jamie insisted. “Mandy, you pick one out, too.” That was bright. Here she was trying to distance herself from this family and now she was buying funny hats for the girls. And right after giving Lissa a lecture about not buying gifts. She needed a shrink.

By four the temperature was dropping and the sky was turning gray and the air was smelling like snow. “Well, girls,” said Josh, “what do you say we go home and let Grandpa cook up that pizza?”

“Pizza!” cried Mandy, jumping up and down.

“Can Jamie and Emma come?” asked Lissa.

Josh gave Jamie a you-can't-stop-a-train shrug, and before she could come up with an excuse Emma was saying, “Sure. We can come.”

“Okay, we'll see you there,” Josh said. He pulled Jamie aside and whispered, “Just friends. I promise.”

Just friends was so not going to work, not when every time she was with him she felt like a female Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Jekyll fretting that this experiment was a bad idea and Hyde wanting to grab Josh and swing from the chandelier together.

“Nice of you to commit us,” Jamie growled at Emma after they'd gotten directions and were walking to Jamie's beater.

“If you don't go after this guy you need to be committed,” Emma informed her. “Anyway, I want to go. I have no life.”

“I'll take you home and you can drive yourself.”

“You've got new, all-weather tires and I don't,” Emma argued. “I need your car.”

“I'll loan it to you.”

“I can't drive a stick. You're stuck. This will cheer me up,” she added. “I want one of us to live happily ever after.”

Jamie grabbed her arm and shook it. “Don't talk like that. We're both going to live happily ever after. You'll see.”

It almost felt like happily ever after at Josh's house as they sat at the kitchen table, eating George's slightly burned pizza and playing
Sorry
. The house was a simple tract home with rooms done in neutral colors. Jamie had seen a painting of the girls hanging in the living room as they passed through on their way to the kitchen. It looked like the work of an amateur, short on
skill, long on love, and she couldn't help wondering if it had been painted by the girls' mother. Other than a well-worn crocheted afghan on the big, brown leather sofa, motherly touches were sadly lacking. Still, there in the kitchen, warm from the heat of the oven and filled with the sound of little-girl giggles, it felt like home.

“I won!” Lissa finally crowed as she moved her piece to the finish. “I'm good, I'm good,” she chanted.

“And modest, too,” observed Josh, who had actually done his share of crowing when he won the first game.

“Daddy, stop making fun,” Lissa said, and gave him a shove.

He pretended to fall off his chair, making the little girls giggle and the big girls smile. He resurfaced with a comeback. “You have to be humble if you're going to be the Virgin Mary.”

“Daddy, that's not for real. That's pretend.” But still obviously important. Lissa turned to Jamie and Emma. “Can you come to our Sunday school program next week and see me? Mandy's going to be an angel,” she added to sweeten the pot.

“Oh, gosh, we can't miss that,” Emma answered for both of them.

“I'll have to check my calendar,” Jamie said evasively. Lissa looked instantly worried. “But I'm sure I'm free,” she added, and the child beamed at her.
Great. Is this how you distance yourself? You're only making things worse for everyone. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

“Okay,” George said as he finished wolfing down the last piece of pizza. “Who wants root beer floats?”

“I do,” chimed the girls.

Jamie looked out the window and saw fat flakes of snow falling.
Even though she'd probably be fine with her new tires, she wasn't looking forward to driving home in the snow.

Josh followed her gaze to the window. “I hate to tell you this, but it's been coming down for the last twenty minutes.”

“Oh.” That meant the roads would already be bad.

“How about letting me drive you both home after our floats?” Josh suggested.

“Good idea,” George seconded.

“But my car,” Jamie protested.

“Dad and I can bring it to you as soon as this latest mess melts away. Or I can drive your car.”

“Then how would you get home?”

“It's not that far to walk from your place.”

Two miles in the snow? That was crazy. “We'll be fine,” Jamie decided. “But we'd better leave now.” She stood and Emma followed her lead.

“Okay,” Josh said, and went to the coat closet. But when he was done fishing around for their coats he'd gotten his parka out, too.

“Oh, no,” Jamie protested.

“Oh, yes.” He grinned. “It's easier than pulling you out of a ditch anyway.”

She sighed and resigned herself.

“Grandpa, can we make a snowman?” asked Mandy, root beer floats now completely forgotten.

“It's cold out there,” George protested. “Why don't you see if our guests will help you and your dad make one before they leave. Since you don't have to worry about driving in the snow now,” he explained to Jamie.

George and Sarah were in cahoots, Jamie was sure of it.

“Great idea,” said Emma, and a moment later she was rushing out the door after the girls.

George and Sarah and Emma were all in cahoots.

Reluctantly, Jamie followed them outside.

Josh was already busy, helping Mandy roll a snowball into something bigger.

“This is getting out of hand,” Jamie whispered to Emma.

“No,” Emma corrected her. “This is getting good. Remember that scene in
The Family Man
 . . .” she began.

That was it. She'd had enough of Emma and her movies and her matchmaking. She grabbed a handful of snow and deposited it down her friend's back. “What movie is that from?”

Emma let out a yelp and squirmed away. She bent and picked up a handful of snow, but Jamie was already darting across the lawn.

In another minute they were all hurling snowballs at each other. Finally the focus shifted to Josh, with all the girls pelting him. He held up a hand. “Okay, okay, I give.”

“I want to finish the snowman,” said Mandy, who was starting to shiver.

“You're getting cold, little girl,” Josh observed.

“But I want to finish . . .”

“I know, I know. We'll work fast. Everybody help.”

A few more minutes and they had a snowman standing in the front yard with branches for arms, two tennis balls for big, googly eyes, and a carrot nose, and the chicken hat Jamie had bought for Lissa sitting on its head. And two little girls were laughing hysterically.