Santa's Posse (11 page)

She was about to
protest, but he looked so earnest and hopeful, she managed to take a deep
breath and acquiesce.  “Okay, you’re right.  I’m starving.”  She eyed the prime
rib on her plate and found her mouth watering for the tender meat.  “Wow, I am
hungry.”

“Good,” he said,
and the two finally began to enjoy their meals.  After a moment, he asked, “So,
are you finally unpacked?”

She nodded.  “And
it’s a good thing, too,” she grumbled.  “With this Santa’s Posse business,
there’s no telling when I would have…”

He cleared his
throat and she closed her lips.  “Sorry,” she murmured contritely.

He laughed.  “I
promise I’ll be at your disposal.  We’ll get it done.”

“You’re as busy as
me!” she cried.  “Busier!”

He conceded the
point with a nod.  “It’s all for a good cause.  Like I said, we’ll get it
done.  No worries.”  He appeared thoughtful for a moment.  “You’re right.  Black
Friday is just around the corner.  Do you have any Thanksgiving plans?”

She sighed
heavily.  “I promised my folks I’d come home for the day.”

“Where do they
live?”

“A couple hours
north of here.”  She sighed again.  “Mom wants me to stay for the holiday
weekend, but I just can’t miss the biggest shopping day of the year.”

“Do you have
shopping to do?” he inquired.

She laughed.  “No,
well…”  She shrugged.  “I might hit a sale or two, but no, basically I need to
be on-site should I be needed in an official capacity.”  Suddenly, her cell
phone trilled in her purse beside her.  “I’m sorry.  I meant to turn it off.” 

She reached to
silence the phone, but noticed the call was from her mother.  “Wow, speak of
the devil … er, speak of the mother … er, speak of
my
mom…”

He chuckled.

“I really should
take this.”  She rose with an apologetic shrug and dashed into the ladies
room.  “Hello, Mom.”

“Honey, how are
you?  I just called to talk to you about Thanksgiving…”

“Your ears must
have been burning because I was just talking about Thanksgiving…”

“With whom?” her
mom promptly inquired.

“Oh, um—a friend…”

“Really?  You’ve
already made a friend?  That’s wonderful.  What’s her name?”

Kellie smoothed a
hand through her hair.  Should she tell her mother she was on a dinner date
with a man?  The declaration would no doubt prompt an avalanche of questions. 

“I’ll tell you all
about my friend later,” she said in a rush.  “I’d better get back.  May I call
you tonight?”

There was a
pregnant pause on the other end of the phone line.  “What’s
his
name?”
her mother demanded gleefully.

She took in a
deep, calming breath.  “Mom, we’ll talk later.”

“Well, okay.  But
call me the minute you get home.”

Back at the table,
she slid into the booth and turned her phone off, before stuffing it back into
her purse.  “Sorry.”

“Not a problem,”
he told her, watching her with the same sparkle of humor in his eyes she’d
gotten accustomed to seeing there. 

“What?” she asked.

He only shook his
head in response.

“What?” she
persisted.

“I was just
thinking how much I like you,” he said.

She grinned. 
“Well, I … like you too.”  Suddenly, the couple heard three clipped beeps
emanating from his shirt pocket. 

“My pager,” he
said with a sigh, retrieving it.  He quickly checked the screen, and then shook
his head in exasperation as his eyes remained fixed on the tiny device.  He
appeared to be grappling with his conscience.  “I don’t want to make this
call,” he admitted finally with an apologetic smile.  “But … I have to.”  He
rose this time.  “Be right back.”

He was back in a
flash.  “Kellie, I’m sorry, but I have to go.”  He didn’t take a seat, but
instead, gestured the waitress over.

“You haven’t
finished your meal,” Kellie pointed out.

“I know.  I’m
sorry.”

She waved away his
apology.  She could see by the resignation in his eyes that he wasn’t happy to
be cutting their dinner date short.  He quickly paid their ticket, and asked
for ‘to-go’ boxes. 

“I’m really
sorry,” he repeated, once they were back in his car.

She attempted to
sound upbeat.  “I understand your work has to come first.”

He gave her a look
that she couldn’t read, and then reached a hand across the space separating
them.  He squeezed her hand.  “Yeah, work,” he said cryptically, but then
smiled sadly.  “I hope you’ll give me another chance.”

“Sure,” she said.

Back at the
condominium complex a few short miles away, he pulled into his parking space. 
He hurriedly got out of the car and rounded the front to open her door for
her.  He extended a hand, which she accepted.  “Thank you,” she said.

He smiled in
response, and then began walking her across the lot to her door.  “Miles, you didn’t
have to walk me up.  I know you’re in a hurry.”

He shook his head
briskly.  “They can wait an extra minute or two.”  With that declaration, he
sought her gaze, smiled, and then before she actually registered what was about
to happen, he kissed her—a sweet, merging of lips that caused her to go weak in
her knees.

When they parted, she
gazed into his crisp blue eyes.  With concentrated effort, she managed to keep
from lifting a hand to her lips.  They still tingled from the delicious kiss.

He smiled.  “I’ll
call you soon,” he said, turned, and hurried back across the lot.

She stepped into
her condo, closed the door behind her, and moved to the living room window. 
She watched across the parking lot, until only a couple moments later, he
jogged out of his condo.  He was dressed in uniform, and to her surprise,
glanced up and met her gaze.  His eyes locked on hers.  She felt a curious
physical jolt from the sustained eye contact. 

Finally, he
nodded, waved, and climbed into his unmarked car.  The sound of the car’s siren
still echoed in her ears moments after he had gone.

***     

“Okay, fill me
in,” Kellie’s mother Marcia said delightedly.  “I want all the details.  How
did you meet him?  What does he do?  What does he look like?”

“Mom,” she said,
“we’ve only just met.  You’re getting way ahead of yourself. No need to book
the church just yet,” she added drolly.

Her mother was
silent for several long seconds.  “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“You can be,” Kellie
answered honestly.

“I want
grandkids.”   

“You have grandkids.”

“None from you.”

She couldn’t argue
the point.  “How’s Dad?”

“Changing the
subject?”

“Do you blame me?”

Marcia sighed. 
“You’re right.  I know I push.”  Her mother was silent for a moment.  “Honey,
you know I’m proud of you, right?”

“Well … sure,” she
said, surprised to hear the words from her mother’s lips.  She knew she would
have preferred that she’d followed in her brothers’ footsteps and been married
by age twenty-five.  But heck, twenty-nine wasn’t old.  She had plenty of time
should she wish to eventually settle down. 

“Honey, in less
than a year, you’re going to be thirty, and then…”  The pause that followed was
heavy with meaning.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have a clue what it meant.  She had
no doubt her mother would soon fill her in.

“Yes, Mom,” she
prompted tiredly, wondering what had possessed her to give her mother that
verbal encouragement, and wishing she’d taken something for the headache she
knew was forthcoming.

“When you hit
thirty, you’ll be closer to …
forty
than twenty!”

H
eadache
! 

Kellie sighed
loudly. 
Count to ten
.  “So?”

“Just saying…”

“Okay, well, I’m
going to bed.  I’m suddenly feeling…”

“What?” her mom
asked fearfully.

“Old.”

“Oh, honey,” she
scoffed, “you’re not old.  Not yet.  But…”

“Mom, I’ll call
you about Thanksgiving…”

“You haven’t told
me about your young man…”

“He’s not my young
man.  And we’ll talk later.”

“Come on, honey,
just give me one juicy tidbit.  He has to be special if
you’re
giving
him the time of day.  Anybody who can get your mind off of your work has to be
special.”

Kellie was silent
for a second or two, and then replied, “He’s closer to forty than twenty.”

***

The following
Monday, Kellie sat at her desk, her facial expression pensive.  Jill entered
her office, and she hardly noticed.

“My, you’re
preoccupied,” Jill remarked.

She sighed.  “I
was just thinking about a conversation I had with my mom.”

“Oh?  Is
everything all right?”

“She thinks I’m old.”

“You’re not even
thirty!  If you’re old, I must be dead.”

Kellie chuckled,
but quickly sobered. 

“What’s the
trouble?” Jill asked with concern.  “You know you’re not old.  There has to be
more to this story.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Go on,” she
prompted.

She sighed again. 
“Mom’s never agreed with my career aspirations.  She’s all about home, hearth,
grandkids.  You know how it is.  Sometimes she gets to me—makes me feel as if
I’ve failed some test.”

Jill shrugged. 
“So?  If you want those things—home, hearth, husband, kids—you still have
plenty of time.”

“That’s how I see
it, too,” she said, feeling slightly better.  “Hey, did you need something?”

“I just took a
call from Mr. Williams at the toy store downstairs.  Since you’re the Santa’s Posse’s
new
procurement specialist
...”  She grinned cheekily, emphasizing the
words as she passed Kellie a slip of paper.

She scanned it
quickly, and then glanced up, lifting her brows.

“He has several
items he wants to donate,” Jill said.  “Apparently he has some Teddy Bears and
assorted toys for us, and asks if we can take them now.  He said something
about needing the space on his shelves
yesterday
.  He’d like to bring
the items up ASAP.”

“Oh, okay.  Hey,
any idea where we’re supposed to store these donated items?”

She shrugged. 
“Beats me.”  She perked up suddenly.  “We have some space in our supply
closet.  We can ask him to put the toys there until we find a better place.”

“Sounds good.  Would
you mind calling him back?  I have an appointment to meet up with a woman who
happened to stop by the mall today and spotted the empty retail place next to
the smoothie stand.  I’m meeting her in a couple of minutes.”

  “Sure, I’ll make
the call.”  Jill paused.  “One thing, I have to dash away too, for twenty
minutes or so.  Is that … all right?”

“Sure.  Everything
okay?”

“A friend in
need…” she answered, but didn’t divulge additional details.

“Okay then, see
you in a bit.”  

Kellie left her
office, confident Jill would place the call to Mr. Williams about the toys. 
Moments later, she met up with her prospective renter, intent on selling the
retail space.  After a half hour with the woman, who it turned out was very
interested in leasing the store, she dashed back to her office in anticipation
of another important phone call. 

She was staring
down at her clipboard when she stepped across the threshold into the executive
offices, making a note of a detail related to her recent conversation with the
prospective renter, when she nearly tripped over something in her path.  She
somehow managed to right herself, and then glanced curiously at her feet.  Her
eyes widened in surprise and her mouth dropped open. 

Jill’s work area
was stacked with Teddy Bears and other toys.  She pressed through to the supply
closet, yanked open the door with difficulty, and was stunned to see it filled
to the brim with dolls.  She pushed the door closed and struggled to cross the
room to her office door.  There, she pulled it open and gasped.  Mr. Williams
had made use of her office, as well.

The entire area
was covered with toys.  Several stuffed animals of various sizes and shapes were
perched on her desk, and an immense, purple Teddy Bear occupied her leather
chair.  The scene was surreal, reminding her of a holiday movie she’d seen as a
child.

Suddenly, she heard
the sound of Jill’s stunned voice.  “
What is going on here
?” she cried.

Kellie turned and
muddled her way back to the outer office, where Jill stood frozen at the
threshold of the room.  She met Kellie’s gaze, her eyes wide with wonder.  “Is
this Toyland?” she asked.

“It looks like
it,” Kellie answered.  “Did you have any idea Mr. Williams had so many toys for
us?”

She shook her
head.  “No, he didn’t mention
this
,” she said, gesturing at the crowded
room around her.

“Well, it’s an
awfully generous donation,” she murmured, glancing around and wondering where
they were going to store the items.  “Jill, do you have Mr. William’s number
handy?  I do need to thank him,” she said doubtfully, glancing around her. 

“Yes, I’ll get it
for you.”

Suddenly, the
phone rang in her office.  “Oh, I have to take that.  I’ll … be right back.”

She waded through
the toys and into her office, grimacing when she realized her caller might give
up on her if she didn’t get to the phone soon.  When she finally reached it, she
snatched it up, and then, unable to move the gargantuan Teddy Bear that was currently
wedged into her chair, she plopped down onto its lap. 

She had just ended
the phone conversation when Miles pushed into the room.  The sudden burst of
the opening door launched a pile of dolls and stuffed toys across the room. 
One flew toward Kellie like a guided missile, missing her face by mere inches.