Kisses on Her Christmas List (8 page)

Rory frowned.
“How far away does she live?”

“Not far,” she assured him.
“Just far enough that we'd get a good walk in the fresh air.”
She faced Finley.
“So, do you want to try to bake a cake?”

“What kind?”

“I have a box mix for a chocolate cake and one for a yellow.
We could make peanut-butter icing for the chocolate.
Or chocolate icing for the yellow.”

Finley slid out of her father's arms and to the floor.
“I like peanut butter.”

“So do I.”
She nudged Finley to the door.
“Go back to the bedroom and change out of your pj's and we'll get to work.”

Finley nodded and raced out of the room.
Rory followed her.
“I'll help her.”

By the time they returned, Shannon had the box cake mix on the center island, along with a mixing bowl, mixer, eggs, butter and water.

“Give me two minutes to put on jeans and a sweatshirt and we'll get this into the oven.”

She scooted out of the kitchen and into her bedroom.
The bed was neatly made.
The bathroom was also neat as a pin.
But the Wallace family scent lingered around her.
Finley's little-girl smells mixed with Rory's aftershave and created a scent that smelled like home.
Family.
She didn't even try to resist inhaling deeply.
She might not ever become a permanent part of their lives, but she liked these two.
This weekend was her chance to be with them.
She might not kiss him, but she wouldn't deprive herself of the chance to enjoy them.

Once in jeans and a University of Pittsburgh sweatshirt, she ambled out to the kitchen.
Finley climbed onto a stool beside the center island.
“What can I do?”

“I don't know?
What can you do?”
She laughed.

But not getting the joke, Finley frowned.

Rather than explain, Shannon said, “Can you break eggs into a bowl?”

She glanced back at Rory.
He shrugged.
“There's a first time for everything.”

Shannon set the bowl in front of Finley.
Pulling an egg from the carton, she said, “You take an egg, like this—” Demonstrating by putting the egg against the bowl's edge, she continued, “And crack it against the edge of the bowl like this.”
The egg broke in half, its contents spilling into the bowl.

“My turn.”
Finley grabbed an egg and hit it on the rim.
Miraculously, the white and yoke tumbled into the bowl.
She tossed the shell beside Shannon's and clapped her hands together with glee.
“I did it!”

“Yes, you did.”
Shannon handed her the open box of cake mix.
“Take out the plastic container.
We'll open it and dump that into the bowl, too.”

With Shannon giving Finley the opportunity to be involved in every step of the process of cake baking, it took a long time to get the cake into the oven.
They played two games of Go Fish while it baked.
After lunch, they made simple peanut-butter icing, spread it across the two layers and slid the cake into a carrier.

Once again, they dressed Finley in two pair of jeans and two sweaters.
When they stepped outside, the snow glowed like a million tiny diamonds.
Rory carried Finley across the field that separated the two houses.
They stomped the snow off their boots as they walked across Mary O'Grady's back porch to the kitchen door.

Mary answered on the first knock.
Short and round, with shaped gray hair, Mary wore a festive Christmas sweater and jeans.
“Shannon!”
She glanced at Finley and Rory.
“And who is this?”

“Mary O'Grady, this is Rory Wallace and his daughter, Finley.”

As Shannon made the introduction, Rory hoped
Finley wouldn't say something awful about the sweet-looking woman's sweater.

“Rory was on his way to Green Hill to take a look at the store when they were stranded on the highway and had the state police bring them to my house.”
She offered the cake.
“Since we're all getting a little bored, we brought a cake to share.”

“Well, aren't you sweet,” Mary said, opening her door to invite them in.
She pinched Finley's cheek.
“And aren't you adorable!”
She smiled at Rory.
“It's nice to meet you.”

“It's nice to meet you, too,” he said, sliding Finley through the door.
The kitchen hadn't been remodeled the way Shannon's had.
Old-fashioned oak cupboards dominated the room.
A rectangular table, with four ladder-back chairs, sat in the center.

Mary fussed over Finley.
“Let me help you with your jacket.”

Finley glanced at her dad.
Rory nodded his head slightly, indicating she should just go with it.

Unzipping Finley's coat, Mary faced Shannon.
“Sweetie, why don't you put on a pot of coffee so we can enjoy that cake properly?”

Shannon laughed.
“You're a woman after my own heart, Mary.”

After removing her coat, she walked to the counter with the ease of someone who'd been there before.
Rory watched her root through the cupboards to find the filters and coffee.
She got water and measured grounds.

Mary helped Finley onto a chair.
“And what can I get you to drink, sweetie?”

Rory held his breath.
She hadn't mentioned the sweater, but she'd gotten a little nervous over having a
stranger help her with her jacket.
They weren't out of the woods yet.

Finley smiled.
“Milk.”

Rory breathed again, as Shannon retrieved some plates and coffee mugs from the cupboard and joined them at the table.
“That'll only take a minute.”

Rory faced Mary.
“You have a lovely home.”

She batted a hand in dismissal.
“I had such plans for this, then my Joe died.
And I just sort of lost interest.”

“But we're hoping to have a contractor out here next summer, aren't we, Mary?”

Mary's face saddened a little more.
“I thought you were leaving if you sold the store.”

“Probably.”
She glanced at Rory, then back at Mary.
“But we already looked at the books with the cupboard samples.
All you need to do is finalize your choices and you can easily have the entire kitchen remodeled before fall.
If you want, you can call me every night with an update or tell me your problems and I'll help you figure out how to solve them.”

Mary sat beside Shannon and patted her hand.
“You're very good to me.”

Rory suppressed a smile.
It seemed he and Finley weren't the only strays that Shannon cared for.
A few times it had popped into his head that her kindness to him and Finley might be an act of sorts to keep herself in his good graces when he looked at her store on Monday.
He'd dismissed that thought, but now he could totally put it out of his mind.
Shannon Raleigh was a genuinely nice woman.

His heart twisted a bit.
She
was
a nice woman.
And Finley liked her.
If he were in the market for a romance, she'd be at the top of the candidates list.

But he wasn't looking for a romance.

The coffeemaker groaned its final release and Mary jumped from the table.
“Cut the cake, sweetie, and I'll get the coffee.”

In a few minutes, everyone had a slice of cake and a cup of coffee or glass of milk.
They talked some more about Mary's plans to remodel her house, then Mary asked Finley about school and Finley launched into an unusually happy, unusually lengthy discussion of her classes, her classmates and recess.

Mary seemed to soak it all up, but Shannon really listened, really participated in the conversation with Finley.

When the cake was gone and the conversation exhausted, Shannon rose from the table and gathered their plates, which she slid into the dishwasher.
“We really have to get going.
Not only do we have to make something for dinner, but it will also be dark soon.”

Mary rose, too.
“That's the bad thing about winter.
It gets dark too early.
And with all these clouds, you can't count on the light of the moon to get you home.”

Finley laughed.
“That's funny.”

Mary tickled her tummy.
“I'm a funny lady.”
She pulled Finley's jacket from the back of her chair and helped her slide into it.
“You can come back anytime you like.”

Finley nodded.

“Just always remember to bring cake.”

At that, Finley giggled.

After sliding into her parka, Shannon picked up her cake carrier and headed for the door.
“I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Oh, you don't have to.
I'm fine.”

“I know, but Mom and Dad are arriving one day this
week for the holiday.
So you'll be invited to Christmas Eve dinner.
I'll need to give you the time.”

“Sounds great.”

Shannon gave her a hug, opened the door and stepped out onto the cold porch.

Carrying Finley, Rory followed her.
“She's great.”

Leading them down the stairs, Shannon said, “She is.
But she was even funnier when her husband was alive.”
She peeked back at Rory.
“He had a heart attack two years ago.
She's really only now getting back into the swing of things.”

“That's hard.”

“Yeah.”
She caught his gaze again.
“But lots of life is hard.”

He knew she was referring to her divorce, which she'd barely explained.
Still he could tell that life—marriage—hadn't treated her any more fairly than it had treated him.
It was no wonder they got along so well.
Both had been burned.
Both knew nothing was certain.

They finished the walk chitchatting about nothing, making conversation to alleviate the boredom.
But when they got into the house and Shannon pulled off her knit cap, throwing snow around her kitchen when she freed her hair, a knot formed in Rory's stomach.

He liked her.
He wanted to kiss her so much that he'd almost acted on the impulse twice.

He didn't want to get married again.
He wasn't even sure he wanted to get in a serious relationship again.
But he
liked
her.

And he wanted to kiss her.

And if he didn't soon get out of this house he was going to act on that impulse.

T
HE SNOW ITSELF
might have stopped by Sunday morning, but on Monday morning the air was still cold, the wind wicked.

They set out to get Rory's car from the interstate at seven o'clock, but discovered it had been towed—with all the other stranded cars—to a used car dealership in the next town over, so the roads could be plowed.

By the time they returned to Green Hill, the store was already open for business.
When they entered the crowded first-floor sales department, color, scent and sound bombarded them.
Throngs of noisy people crowded the sales tables.
Red, green and blue Christmas ornaments hung from the ceiling, along with strings of multicolored lights and tinsel.
The scent of chocolate from the candy department wafted through the air.
“Jingle Bells” spilled from the overhead speakers.

Shannon cast a quick glance at Finley, who was being carried by her dad.
Her eyes had grown huge.
Her mouth was a little
O
, as if she were totally surprised or totally horrified.
When she threw arms around Rory and buried her face against his neck, Shannon guessed she was horrified.

Rory held her tightly.
“Finley, honey, we've been over
this already.
I told you the store would be decorated for the holiday.
I told you there would be Christmas songs.”

Finley only snuggled in closer.

After the lovely weekend that had caused her to begin to bond with a man and child she couldn't have, Shannon had promised herself she would keep her distance.
No more private conversations with Rory.
No more helping to discipline Finley.

But a frightened child had to be an exception to her rule.
She grabbed Rory's hand and led him in the direction of the elevators.

“Come on,” she said, ignoring the
thump, thump, thump
of her heart from the feeling of Rory's hand tucked inside of hers.
“Before you know it we'll be in my office where, I swear, there isn't as much as a poinsettia.”

Pushing through the crowd, Shannon got them to the elevator and immediately dropped Rory's hand.
She pressed the button for the third floor.
The door closed, blocking out most of the sights and scents of Christmas, but “Jingle Bells” still piped into the little box.

Finley huddled against Rory.
She wasn't upset or panicky.
Just huddled.
Once they got into the undecorated administrative offices she would be fine.

Shannon faced Rory.
“Even though we lost the weekend, we can get down to work right away.
There are four administrative departments.
Buyers, human resources, accounting and advertising.
If you take one day with each department, that will give you a full day on Friday to walk the store and some time for questions and explanations.”

“Sounds good.”

The elevator reached the second floor.
“Jingle Bells” became “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
Finley
looked to be getting antsy, so Shannon kept talking.
“I only have four departments because I combined a lot of things for efficiency.”

“That makes sense—if you've combined the right departments.”

“MIS with accounting.
Public relations with advertising.”

He shrugged.
“Should work.”

The elevator pinged.
Shannon sucked in a breath.
Though they were entering the housewares department, it was as decorated with shiny red, green and blue ornaments as every other floor in the store.
And the Christmas music?
Well, that was piped everywhere, except into the administrative offices.
So “Rudolph” still echoed around them.

She hurriedly ushered Rory around the tables of sheets and towels, past the shelves of small appliances, past the rows of dishes, glasses and stemware.

When they finally reached the swinging door into the administrative offices, she pushed it open with a sigh of relief.
The second it swung closed behind them, “Rudolph” became a soft hum.
As they hurried down the hall, even the hum echoed away.

At the end of the long, thin corridor, she opened the door that led to her office suite.
Wendy was already seated at her desk.

“Good morning, Ms.
Raleigh.”

Shannon shrugged out of her coat.
“No need to be formal for Mr.
Wallace's sake.
We spent the weekend together.”

Wendy's eyes widened.
“The whole weekend?”

Rory slid Finley to the floor and helped her out of her little pink jacket.
“Couldn't get to my car until today.”

“It was a mess,” Wendy agreed, scrambling to take
Finley's coat and Rory's topcoat and hang them on the coat tree.
“So what are you planning for today?”

“Since we're late, I'm only introducing Rory to the staff this morning.
Then he can pick a department to spend time with this afternoon.”

Wendy said, “Sounds good to me,” but her gaze fell on Finley.

Rory put his hands on his daughter's shoulders.
“She'll just come with us.”

Since she'd promised herself she would distance herself from Rory and Finley, Shannon didn't argue that Finley would be bored.
Instead, she set her briefcase on her desk then led the Wallaces into the hall again.

“Accounting is in the suite closest to the door.
Buyers are in the next suite.
Advertising and PR are in the third suite and the human resources department is on the fifth floor.
They need extra space for testing and continuing education so they have half the floor.
The cafeteria has the other.”
She met Rory's gaze.
“So where to first?”

With a quick glance down at Finley, he said, “Let's just stay behind the door for as long as we can.”

Understanding that he didn't want to take Finley out into the decorations and music until he had to, Shannon said, “How about buyers then?”

“Sounds great.”

She led Rory and Finley to the first door and opened it onto a narrow office with a row of desks that led to an executive office in the back.
Papers were everywhere.
Invoices, catalogues, samples.

Shannon faced him.
“I'm sure you're not surprised that we're finalizing our spring merchandise.”

He laughed.
“Not in the least.”

She stopped at the first desk.
“Lisa, Robbie, Jennifer,
Bill…” All four employees glanced up at her.
“This is Rory Wallace.
He's our first prospective buyer.”

Everyone perked up.
Superenthusiastic hellos greeted Rory.
He stifled a laugh.
Everybody was clearly trying to give a good first impression.

He met Missy McConnell, the head buyer, then Shannon herded him and Finley out of that office and into accounting.
Five desks had been crammed into the narrow space and everyone sat staring at a computer screen.

Having already established a drill, Shannon simply introduced people as she walked by their desks.
Though this group looked a little more wary than the enthusiastic buyers, Rory nodded and smiled.

In department three, advertising and PR, copy layout littered a big table in the center of a much wider main room.
Employees sat at drafting table desks.
The department head, John Wilder, was just a tad too happy for Rory's tastes.
Finley wasn't thrilled with him, either.

“So are you going to sit on Santa's lap?”

Finley's little mouth tuned down into her perfect
U
frown.
“No.”

“Ah.
Too old for that now, huh?”

“No, I don't believe he exists.”

John laughed, but Finley tugged on Rory's hand.
“I don't like it here.”

Rory covered for her with a little laugh.
“We've been meeting people since we arrived.
She's probably ready for a break.”

Shannon moved them toward the door.
“That's a great idea.”
In the hall, she stooped in front of Finley.
“How about if we go up to the cafeteria and have a soda?”

Her little mouth pulled down even farther.
“I want to go home.”

Shannon shot a glance up at Rory, and he crouched beside Finley.
Putting his hands on her shoulders, he said, “I told you this would be boring and you said you didn't care as long as we went to the beach afterward.”

Her bottom lip puffed out.
“I know.”

“So you've got to keep up your end of the bargain.”

Her lip quivered.
“I don't have anything to do while you talk.”

“Things will slow down this afternoon and we'll stay in one department.
We'll find you a chair and you can sit and play on your computer.”

“It's noisy when you talk.”

“It is,” Shannon agreed suddenly.
“And lots of those offices don't have room for an extra chair.”

Rory glanced up at her, mortified that she was agreeing with Finley, ruining his defense.

“So why don't we set you up in my office?
Wendy will be right outside the door, if you need anything.
And I have a TV in case your computer games get boring.”

“If you have Wi-Fi, I can watch TV on my computer.”

Shannon laughed.
“My screen's bigger.”

Finley laughed, too.

Rory peeked over at Shannon again.
Her abilities with Finley were amazing.
She'd said she'd babysat some of her friends' kids, but she seemed so much smarter than a part-time, fill-in caregiver.

Unless he was just lacking?

Ah, hell.
Who was he kidding?
Ever since Finley entered this new diva phase, he'd been behind the eight ball, playing catch up rather than proactively parenting.
Shannon, an objective person, knew exactly what to do because she saw things more clearly than he did.

They walked Finley back to the office at the end of the hall.
Wendy looked up as they entered.
“That was fast.”

Shannon said, “We took a quick introduction tour and Finley got bored.
So, we've decided to let her watch TV in my office while we go up to human resources.”

Wendy rose.
“That's a great idea.
I also think we have some cola in your refrigerator…maybe even some candy.”

“No candy before lunch,” Rory said.

Shannon smiled.
“I should think not.
We've got a great cafeteria upstairs.”
She caught Finley's gaze.
“They make the best French fries.
Give us an hour to talk with the people in human resources and I'll race you upstairs.
Winner gets a milk shake.”

Finley gasped with excitement.
Wendy laughed and took her hand.
“You two go on.
Finley and I will channel surf until we find some cartoons.”

When they were in the hall, Rory ran his hand along the back of his neck.
“Thanks.”

Shannon began walking up the hall.
“For what?”

He hurried to catch up with her.
“For being so good with Finley.”

“Finley is a very easy child to love.”

That made him laugh, but Shannon didn't join him.
“You're serious.”

For that she stopped.
“Yes.
Why are you surprised?”

He pointed at his chest.
“I love her because she's mine.
But this diva phase has even me backing off sometimes.”

“That's because you take everything too personally.”

“She is my daughter.”

“Right.”

“You know, we've got five whole days of entertaining her.”

“I know.”

“And Finley's not going to settle into your office for an entire week and just play baby angel.”

That time she did laugh.

“So what do you say we form an alliance?”