Gift Wrapped for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance (2 page)

And then a little over six months
ago, he’d announced he was going to marry his late wife’s sister.

The sun slipped behind one of the
tall buildings surrounding the plaza, and Maddie shivered. Hearing Allan’s
announcement had been the second lowest point of her life. How could she have
thought they were building a life together when clearly he’d been heading in a
different direction?

It had taken her some time to
realize it was partly her fault. After the deaths of her parents, she’d ached
to be part of a family again, and had convinced herself that she’d found a
family with Allan and Connor.

Not that Allan was guiltless.
He’d talked about a future as well, but in vague, unspecific terms. She dabbed
at a tear that had managed to escape. What hurt most was that she’d come to
love Connor. For the first few months after she’d left Vancouver, she worried
about him constantly, surprised that he’d become such a big part of her life.
The experience had left her shaken. Thank goodness for Lily, who had encouraged
her to come to Calgary to ‘start fresh’.

Everyone should have a friend
like Lily Hsu. Friends since high school, they were opposite in almost every
aspect. With encouragement from her friend, Maddie was slowly regaining her
confidence. She hadn’t dated yet, but that would come. In the meantime, she
wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“You don’t look very upset about
it.” Lily had insisted on opening a bottle of wine when she heard Maddie’s news.
Her movements were quick and efficient as she screwed in the corkscrew and drew
out the cork. She sniffed the wine and splashed some merlot in each of their
glasses.

“I know.” Maddie swirled the
wine. “Does that make me a flake?”

Lily hopped up onto the stool
across from Maddie. “Hardly.”  She raised her glass in a quasi-salute. “You’re
the least flaky person I know. Look at it this way. You were lucky to escape.”

“You never were overly
enthusiastic about me studying for my degree.” Maggie glanced across at her
friend, who didn’t deny it. “It looks like you were right.”

Lily made an impatient gesture
with her hand. “It’s not about who’s right. It’s about you being stuck in a job
that you didn’t really like. Now you’re free to get on with the next phase of
your life.”

Maddie gave a rueful smile. “I
thought I was doing that when I moved out here.” She glanced around the
spacious apartment. “I keep thinking that I’m cramping your style.”

Lily raised one shapely eyebrow.
“Don’t worry. The men aren’t exactly beating down my door these days.” She
didn’t look the slightest bit concerned.

“That’s because none of them meet
your exacting standards.” Maddie studied her friend openly. Lily had done that
thing with her hair Maddie could never figure out. She twisted it somehow with
a flick of her wrist and shoved a couple of chopsticks through the loose knot
to hold it. Maddie’s hair was long as well, but she’d never been able to
achieve the same effect.

“You need Asian hair to do this,”
her friend would say, yanking at her long black tresses. “You have the wrong
genes.”

Lily was small and stunningly
beautiful. It wasn’t unusual for men to trip over their feet when they walked
past her in the street. Born of a Thai mother and a Taiwanese father, she had
grown up in Vancouver where her parents owned an import/export business on the
fringes of Chinatown.

Maddie stared into her wine
glass. She’d promised herself to take a day before thinking about what to do
next, but that was easier said than done. She’d always worked. Even in high
school she’d had a part-time job of some sort or the other.

“So what do you think you’ll do?”
Lily had always had an uncanny ability to sense what was bothering her, and
today was no different.

“I don’t know.” Maddie took a sip
of wine. “I was going to put off thinking about it, but that’s not working.
Trouble is, I honestly don’t know what I’d like to do next.”

“You could come to work for me.”
Lily tilted her head to one side. “But somehow I don’t see you working in a
silk screening studio.” Lily owned the premiere textile silk screening studio
in Alberta, and had recently added fabric purses and casual resort wear to her
catalogue. The new items were selling so quickly she was having trouble keeping
up with demand.

“Thanks for the offer, but you’re
right.” Maddie ran her fingers up and down the stem of her wineglass. “I
suppose with Christmas around the corner I could get something temporary. All
the stores will probably be hiring.”

“Retail clerk?” Lily’s perfectly
shaped nose wrinkled in distaste. “At Christmas? You’d hate it after five
minutes.”

“You’re probably right, but
speaking of Christmas, you’ll never guess who I met today.”

“Come on, Maddie. You know I
don’t like guessing games.”

“Okay, okay. I met Chase
Drummond.”

Lily sat up a little straighter.
“Chase Drummond as in Drummond Exploration?”

“And the Drummond Building.”

“That’s right.” Lily tapped her
lips. “He owns the building you were working in. What’s he like?”

Maddie thought for a moment.
“Tall, dark brown hair, greenish gold eyes. Quite handsome, actually. And
nice.”

“Nice? No guy wants to be called
nice.” Lily wrinkled her perfect little nose.

“Well, I only talked to him for a
couple of minutes.” Maddie thought back to the scene in the elevator. “I butted
in on his conversation. He was talking about buying a Christmas gift for a ten
year old girl, and I put in my two cents worth.”

Lily frowned. “I didn’t think he
was married. His picture is in the paper a lot, and he always seems to have an
attractive woman on his arm.”

“The same one?”

Lily lifted her shoulders. “I’ve
never paid that much attention. So what about the girl? Who is she?”

Maddie looked into her empty glass.
She didn’t remember drinking the wine. “I got the impression that she’s a
relative but he didn’t actually say that. He said something about it being her
first year without her parents.”

“And he doesn’t know what to get
her for Christmas, and you offered to help.”

Lost in thought, Maddie did not
reply.

“Well, did you?” Lily was
becoming impatient.

“Did I what?”

“Did you offer to help?”

Maddie shook her head. “Sorry,
no. But you’ve got me thinking. How many people are there downtown who have no
idea what to get their loved ones for Christmas? And if they do know what they
want, they have no idea where to get it.”

Lily caught on right away. “Not
to mention the gift wrapping. Most men I know would rather eat worms than wrap
a gift. And for the ones who have already bought a gift, you could offer a
gift-wrapping service.” Her dark eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “You have such
creative ideas when it comes to gift wrapping.”

“It’s something I’ve always
enjoyed doing...” Maddie’s words trailed off. “What am I thinking? I’d need
somewhere to set up a little shop. There’s not likely to be anything available
at this time of year. And even if there was, they’d want top rates for it.”

Lily splashed some more wine into
their glasses, her brow furrowed in concentration. “You’d need somewhere
downtown. I think that’s where your business would come from, agreed? Men
mostly, who either hate the idea of Christmas shopping or don’t have the time.”
Her gaze turned inward, the way it always did when she was trying to remember
something. “Wasn’t there one of those little shops in the lobby of the Drummond
Building? You know, the ones that used to sell cigarettes and chocolate bars
and magazines?” She looked across the counter. “That would be perfect for you.”

Maddie brightened. “You’re right.
That would be an ideal spot. It was closed up before I started working there.
Something about the new building owners not wanting to sell cigarettes. It’s
been well camouflaged. They put down an area rug with some comfy seating and
massive plants. You don’t even notice that it’s there. I suppose if they were
willing to move things around, it could work.” She nodded to herself. “It could
work very nicely.”

“So. You’ll go and look into it
tomorrow, right?”

Maddie sometimes wondered if Lily
made up for her small size by being so pushy. And yet she was right...there was
no time to waste.

“I have to go back to pick up my
cheque tomorrow. I suppose I could ask David about it. He’ll know where to
direct me.”

“David?” Lily gave her a puzzled
look. “Do I know him?”

“No. David is the concierge. He
has a desk just to the right of the entrance.” She nodded to herself. “He knows
everything that goes on in the building.”

“Then he’s your man.” Lily toyed
with her wineglass. “I have a good feeling about this. You’ll go in the
morning, right?”

Maddie knew better than to argue.
“Yes, I’ll get right on it.”

“Good. I could eat something. How
about you?”

Maddie was surprised to realize
that she was hungry. “Yes, but I’m not sure what we have.” She slid off the
stool.

“It’s my turn to cook.” Lily
pulled open a drawer and pulled out a handful of takeout menus. “How about some
Thai food? It won’t be as good as my mother’s but it will do.” She picked up
her cell phone, scrolled through her numbers and was soon ordering.

* * *

Maddie studied her reflection in
the mirror the next morning. Her eyes sparkled with an enthusiasm that had been
missing for some time now. She turned sideways, studied her profile, then
turned back to face the mirror. Confident. That’s the image she wanted to
project. She had no doubt that the requirements for renting space in the
Drummond Building were fairly stringent. It might be an older building, but it
was in a prime location, and commanded some of the highest rates in the city.

Her long auburn hair hung down
her back in a single braid. Lily had assured her that her hair was perfect for
this style, and had encouraged her to leave a few strands loose. She fussed
with them now, a sure sign that she was nervous.

The truth was, Maddie didn’t need
to work. Her parents had died suddenly while on a river cruise in Europe,
victims of a virulent strain of food poisoning that had affected everyone on
the boat. Her parents and three others had died. In an effort to minimize
publicity, the cruise line had paid a large amount to the estates of the
victims. Shortly thereafter, Maddie had realized that she couldn’t live in the
family home. Memories of happy times spent there with her parents haunted her
in every room. Each time she entered the kitchen, she expected to see her
mother, and she couldn’t bring herself to go into her father’s office, where
the scent of his cigars still lingered. Real estate had been at an all-time
high, and her father’s financial consultant advised her to sell the home. As a
result, she had more money than she ever dreamed she would have, but being rich
was no consolation. No amount of money could replace her parents, and it became
a matter of pride to be self-supporting. Irrational perhaps, but she felt
strongly about it, and this recent setback had done nothing to change her mind.
She checked her appearance one last time and headed downtown.

* * *

“Good morning, David.”

The concierge smiled when he
spotted Maddie. “There you are, my girl. I heard about CCA.” He glanced up at
the clock above the elevators. It was well past her usual arrival time. “I take
it you were caught up in that.”

Maddie was touched at his
concern. “I was, yes. But after the initial shock wore off, I realized that
accounting wasn’t really for me.” She stepped aside as someone asked him for
directions.

“So tell me, what are you going
to do now?” The observant eyes didn’t miss much. She wore a flared cape over
slim slacks that were tucked into tall boots.

“That’s partly why I’m here.” She
gestured to the corner of the lobby where the smoke shop used to be. “I’m
hoping to rent that little shop for a couple of months.” She raised an eyebrow
in question. “Do you think the powers that be would consider it?”

The concierge frowned. “The smoke
shop? I don’t know. All I know is that the Drummonds didn’t want the tenant to
sell cigarettes, and when his lease was up, he refused to stop selling them, so
they countered by refusing to renew the lease.” He gave a wry smile. “It made
the papers.”

“Huh. That was just before I
moved to Calgary.” She tapped her fingers on the desk and looked thoughtfully
in the direction of the former shop. “Who should I see about renting it?”

“That would be Mr. Drummond.”

Maddie couldn’t contain her
surprise. “Are you serious? Surely he doesn’t take care of the rentals. He must
have someone who does that.”

David shrugged. “Those are my
instructions. Hey, didn’t I see you talking to him yesterday?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know it was
him at the time. I was making some silly comment about liking the revolving
door.”

David grinned. “He’ll have enjoyed
that. He fought to keep the door in place.”

“Did he?” Maddie glanced at the
door and then back at the concierge. “Maybe he’ll remember me.”

David wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh I
don’t think there’s any question about that.”

Maddie laughed. “Thanks, David.
You know how to make a girl feel special.” She turned to walk away, then turned
back. “I’ll let you know how I make out, okay?”

As the elevator approached the
top floor, Maddie took in a long, steadying breath. By the time the doors
opened, she was smiling and composed.

The reception area for Drummond
Enterprises was discreetly elegant. Brass letters mounted on the wall behind
the reception desk spelled out the company name.

Maddie had taken the time to
Google Drummond Enterprises last night. The company had been started in the
1940s and ’50s by Chase Drummond’s grandfather. According to reports, the man
had a nose for oil, a skill which he passed on to his son, who had gone on to multiply
the family fortunes. The present CEO of Drummond Enterprises, Chase Drummond,
had continued his father’s practice of diversification. It seemed that the
company had a stake in virtually every facet of the oil business. As a result,
they were one of the most successful privately held companies in the province of
Alberta.