The Christmas Promise(21)

He pulled a picture out of his wallet and handed it to me. “That’s my grandson. He’s been in Japan at an air base there. His grandmother and I haven’t seen him in two years.”

I studied the dark eyes staring back at me in the photo as Marshall talked on. “Are you all right, Gloria?”

I looked at the picture again. “Yes. His face reminds me of my Matthew, that’s all. He’s very handsome,” I said, handing the photo back to him.

I left his office, thinking. There had been so many faces over the years. A pang cut through my heart as it always did when I saw someone who reminded me of Matt. I pushed through the front doors and dropped my purse on the sidewalk. I moaned as the contents scattered, a tube of lipstick rolling beneath a car. I knelt on the pavement, peering under it. “My favorite shade, too. Wouldn’t you know?” I said, stretching for the tube. “No way I’m leaving Morning Rose behind.” I took off my boot and swiped at the tube, grunting with each stretch. Finally, I flung my purse and used it to drag the tube back to me. I brushed the dusting of snow off my clothes and blew strands of hair out of my eyes. I was way past due for a trim. I felt around my head for the missing bobby pin and pinned the stray hairs back.

Once I had everything together, I got in my car and pulled away from the curb but stopped when I saw Robert Layton getting out of his SUV in front of his office next door. “Robert!” I said, yelling out the passenger-side window and honking the horn.

He closed the office door and stepped to the car window. “Morning, Glory!” He laughed, stomping snow off his shoes.

“When I saw you I realized that you can help,” I said.

He leaned over to hear better. “What’s that?”

“If I hadn’t dropped my purse I would have missed you entirely. Don’t they call that serendipity?” He looked confused but I barreled on. “I have a girl who needs work.”

He pretended to collapse inside the window. “I was that close to my office door and a quick getaway.” He raised his head and looked at me. “The last time I gave one of your girls work she stole my printer, my office chair, and my favorite pen. I’m still not over it. I loved that pen!”

I leaned toward him. “I feel bad about that; I really do,” I said. “Sometimes they’re ready to make a change and sometimes they’re not. She wasn’t ready.”

“Thanks for telling me now!”

“But this girl is different,” I said. Robert opened and closed his hand as if holding a puppet; he’d heard all that before. “She’s very mature for her age.” Robert gestured for me to keep laying it on thick. “She has another mouth to feed and the father is nowhere to be found.”

“There it is!” he said. “There’s the kicker.” He sighed and waved at someone on the street, thinking. “Is she a big-boned girl? Does she look like she could haul off a desk or maybe the conference table?”

I slapped the steering wheel. “She’s a petite little thing,” I said. “No bigger than a minute.”

Robert ran his thumb over the passenger-side mirror, clearing away the snow and dirt, then held up his hands. “All right, Gloria. I’ll give one of your girls another shot.” I clapped my hands together. “I need someone to help Jodi on a part-time basis with phones and filing. She’ll have to answer to Jodi and you know how she is. She’s a much tougher boss than I am. If her pen comes up missing she’ll get a bloodhound after your girl.”

I reached over to shake Robert’s hand. “Deal! Can I have her call Jodi right away?” He nodded, defeated. “You won’t regret this, Robert,” I said. “She’ll be perfect for your office and she won’t take a thing.”

He backed away from the car, bending over to see inside. “Promise?”

“No,” I said, laughing, and pulled away.





It was snowing when Chaz walked to work that afternoon. Large flakes collected on the sidewalk and he hurried toward Wilson’s. It was getting colder each day. The weather people spouted that it was the coldest weather in ten years and the roads were constantly freezing. He saw Mike sitting in the middle of the town square but it was too late to pretend he hadn’t seen him. He threw up his hand and waved. No matter what Chaz did, it seemed that guy was always around reminding him of how cold it was outside.

Although it was going to take longer, he chose to walk around the square instead of through it so he could avoid Mike. He kept his head down and hurried for the store. Chaz recognized the guy in front of Wilson’s talking with someone in a car. On several occasions Chaz had seen him going into the building next door. He was a lawyer or something. The car drove away and Chaz crossed the street. “Hey,” the lawyer said. Chaz nodded and walked through the front door. He noticed a girl off in the corner. She was behind the sales rack in Women’s Clothing and her blond hair caught his eye. She kept pushing it behind her ear but it would fall again, and she’d cock her head just so to keep it in place. Fred Clauson stepped to his side and briefed him on a couple of late-night deliveries. Chaz listened but kept his eye on her. She was the most beautiful girl he’d seen since moving to town. He couldn’t see the rest of her body behind the clothes rack, but knew it had to be as beautiful as her face. He didn’t approach her, reasoning she wouldn’t be interested, and followed Fred to the security office.