"Yes. You're doing much better."
"Well, I'm about to take that skill to a whole new level. Now, I just have to decide if I want to use acrylic, charcoal or pastels."
Mr. K waved at me to follow him. "I have some new supplies you might find useful."
A whole new set of custom oil paints lined the shelves of Mr. K's office, and I knew I'd found my medium.
***
It took me three days of marathon painting sessions to finish the gift. Mr. K looked at it, nodded and, before returning to his office, said, "Very good."
That meant the work was pretty brilliant, because otherwise he would have spent an hour pointing out all the things that could be improved and I'd have to spend another week in revisions—and I didn't have a week. Today was Christmas Eve, and I'd finished just in time.
If not for the fact that I had friends with para-powers, the painting wouldn’t have dried in time. Fortunately, we had ways of working around wet paint.
I placed it in a large, pre-wrapped box with a giant red bow on top. I slid the cover on the box, then hustled to Higgins' office.
Lucy and Luke were waiting for me.
Lucy arched her eyebrow. "Did you finish it?"
I nodded.
"Well? Can we see it?"
"When he opens it!"
Higgins came in and grinned. "They're almost here. Are you three ready?"
I looked at my paint-stained hands and shrugged. No time to clean up. At least I had on a cute sweater.
The frigid air slapped at us with its cold fingers as Higgins led us out of the Rent-A-Kid facility and toward a limo complete with a driver. My eyes widened in surprise at the car and Higgins smiled. "My treat."
"Thank you."
We climbed in and the driver took us to the private airstrip we used to fly to our assignments.
A private jet had just landed and a man, woman and small child exited, carrying green, red and gold packages. I recognized the woman's face immediately and walked over to her. "Sheryl, hi. I'm Sam."
She hugged me, tears filling her eyes. "Thank you so much for your call. I can't tell you how much this means to me. To us." She gestured to her family. "This is my daughter, Karen, and my husband, Richard."
Karen peeked around her mother's legs and smiled.
"Hi. How old are you?" I asked her.
"Three. Mommy says I get to meet my grandpa. Do you know him?"
My heart filled to near bursting as I looked into her blue eyes, eyes that she shared with Old Charlie. "I do. I've known him my whole life. You'll love him. You have his eyes, you know." She grinned. Lucy, Luke and I helped them with their packages as they scooted into the limo.
The drive to Old Charlie's house was a noisy affair, mostly because Karen had overcome any shyness she had and asked questions about everything. We couldn't answer a lot of them, at least not honestly, but we did our best. Higgins' smile looked stretched at times, as we skirted a little too close to the truth about who we were and where we went to school, but we didn't spill any secrets.
I'd never been to Old Charlie's house and had no idea what to expect. Something bachelor-like. Sparse, maybe military. I didn't expect a cozy cottage with a garden in the front yard and a white picket fence.
Sheryl sucked in her breath. "This is where I grew up. The same house. He never moved?"
That explained it. This house had belonged to him and his wife, and now he lived there alone. My heart broke for him and I hoped my present didn't upset him even more.
We pulled into the driveway and started getting out, then paused to let Sheryl go first. She looked around nervously. "I haven't seen him in ten years, since my mother died. I don’t know what to say."
"Would you like me to go first?"
She nodded, and I led her to the front door and rang the doorbell.
Charlie answered the door and had started to say hello when he saw Sheryl and stopped, jaw open, staring at her.
I stepped aside to allow the reunion .
"Daddy," she blurted out, "I'm so sorry about what I said. Mom would never have wanted us to fight like that. She always supported your work and I should have, too. Can you ever forgive me?" Tears streamed down her face as she waited for Charlie to speak.
He choked back a sob and walked outside barefoot, pulling her into a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were right—I should have been there for her at the end, and I've never forgiven myself for that. I've missed you so much."
Karen ran up to them both and pulled on his pants. "Are you my grandpa?"
Charlie looked down at her and then back up at Sheryl. "You have a daughter?"
She nodded. "This is your granddaughter, Karen. Karen, say hi to Grandpa Charlie."
"Hi, Grandpa Charlie!" She pulled a present from behind her back and held it out to him. "Here. I made this for you."