A Christmas Message Read online

  Her heart seemed to stop.

  “Why not Holly?” Marsha asked.

  “She doesn’t deserve it,” Lindy Lee said flippantly. “She’s out of the office at the stroke of five and she’s been late for work a number of mornings, as well.”

  The bookkeeper was quick to defend Holly. “Yes, but she’s looking after her nephew while her brother’s in Afghanistan. This hasn’t been easy for her, you know.”

  Lindy Lee whirled around and Holly moved from her line of vision in the nick of time. She flattened herself against the wall and continued to listen.

  “Yes, yes, I met the boy this weekend. She brought him on Saturday when she came in to decorate.”

  “On her own time,” Marsha said pointedly.

  “True, but if she managed her time better, Holly could’ve done it earlier. As it is, the decorations are up much later than in previous years. If I was giving out bleeding-heart awards this Christmas, I’d make sure Holly got one. No, I won’t change my mind,” she snapped as Marsha began to protest. “A bonus is a bonus, and as far as I’m concerned Holly doesn’t deserve one. It’s about merit, you know, and going the extra mile, and she hasn’t done that.”

  Holly gasped.

  “But—”

  “I’ve made my decision.”

  Marsha didn’t argue further.

  Holly didn’t blame her. The bookkeeper had tried. Holly felt tears well up but blinked them away. She was a good employee; she worked hard. While Lindy Lee was correct—these days she did leave the office on time—there’d been many a night earlier in the year when she’d stayed late without being asked. She’d often gone that extra mile for her employer. Yet all Lindy seemed to remember was the past three months.

  She felt sick to her stomach. So there’d be no bonus for her. Although the amount of money wasn’t substantial—maybe five hundred dollars—it would’ve made all the difference. But somehow, she promised herself, she’d find a way to buy Gabe his special Christmas toy.

  * * *

  Even though she was distracted by her financial worries, Holly managed to enjoy dinner with Jake and Gabe that evening. Jake brought chopsticks along with their take-out Chinese—an order large enough to feed a family of eight. Several of the dishes were new to Holly. He’d chosen moo shu pork and shrimp in lobster sauce, plus barbecue pork, egg rolls, fried rice and almond fried chicken.

  Gabe loved every minute of their time with Jake. As he so eloquently said, “It’s nice being around a guy.”

  “I don’t know,” Jake commented as he slipped his arm around Holly’s waist. “Women aren’t so bad.”

  Gabe considered his comment carefully. “Aunt Holly’s okay, I guess.”

  “You guess,” she sputtered. Using her chopsticks she removed the last bit of almond fried chicken from her nephew’s plate.

  “Hey, that was mine,” Gabe cried.

  “That’s what you get for criticizing women,” Holly told him, and then, to prove her point, she reached for his fried dumpling, too. In retaliation, Gabe reached across for her egg roll, dropping it on the table.

  Jake immediately retrieved it and stuck one end in his mouth. “Five-second rule,” he said just before he bit down.

  When they’d finished, they cleared the table and settled down in front of the television.

  As Jake flipped through the channels, Gabe asked, “When are we gonna put up the Christmas tree?”

  “This week,” Holly told him. She’d need to budget carefully now that she wasn’t going to get her bonus. The tree—she’d hoped to buy a real one—was an added expense she’d planned to cover with the extra money. This year she’d have to resort to the small artificial tree she’d stuck in the back of her coat closet.

  The news that she wouldn’t be receiving the bonus was devastating. Holly’s first instinct had been to strike back. If everyone else was getting a bonus, it didn’t seem fair that she wasn’t. Still, Lindy Lee had a point. Holly hadn’t been as dedicated to her job since Gabe came into her life. She had other responsibilities now.

  That afternoon she’d toyed with the idea of looking for a new job. She could walk out—that would show Lindy Lee. Reason quickly asserted itself. She couldn’t leave her job and survive financially. It could take her months to find a new one. And although this was an entry-level position, the chance to advance in the fashion world was an inducement she simply couldn’t reject that easily. She’d made friends at the office, too. Friends like Marsha, who’d willingly defended her to their employer.

  Besides, if she left her job, there’d be dozens who’d leap at the opportunity to take her place. No, Holly would swallow her disappointment and ride this out until Mickey returned. Next Christmas would be different.

  “Can Jake help decorate the Christmas tree?” Gabe asked.

  Jake was sitting next to her and Holly felt him tense. His face was pale, his expression shocked.

  “Jake.” Holly said his name softly and laid her hand on his forearm. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure. Sorry, no decorating trees for me this year,” he said in an offhand way.

  “Why not?” Gabe pressed. “It’s really fun. Aunt Holly said she’d make popcorn and we’d have cider. She has some ornaments from when she and my dad were kids. She won’t let me see them until we put up the tree. It’ll be lots of fun.” His young face pleaded with Jake to reconsider.

  Holly gently placed her hand on her nephew’s shoulder. “Jake said another time,” she reminded him. Jake hadn’t participated in any of the usual Christmas traditions or activities in more than twenty years, ever since he’d lost his mother and sister.

  “But there won’t be another time,” her nephew sulked. “I’ll be with my dad next year.”

  “Jake’s busy,” Holly said, offering yet another excuse.

  “Sorry to let you down, buddy,” Jake told Gabe. “We’ll do something else, all right?”

  Gabe shrugged, his head hanging. “Okay.”

  “How about if I take you ice-skating at Rockefeller Center? Would you like that?”

  “Wow!” In his excitement, Gabe propelled himself off the sofa and landed with a thud on the living room carpet. “I wanted to go skating last Saturday but Aunt Holly doesn’t know how.”

  “She’s a girl,” Jake said in a stage whisper. Then he looked at her and grinned boyishly. “Frankly, I’m glad of it.”

  “As you should be,” she returned under her breath.

  “When can we go?” Gabe wasn’t letting this opportunity slip through his fingers. He wanted to nail down the date as soon as possible. “I took skating lessons last winter,” he said proudly.

  Jake hesitated. “I’ll need to get back to you once I see how everything goes at the store. It’s the Christmas season, you know, so we might have to wait until the first week of the new year. How about Sunday the second?”

  “That long?”

  “Yes, but then I’ll have more time to show you some classic moves. Deal?”

  Gabe considered this compromise and finally nodded. “Deal.” They clenched their fists and bumped them together to seal the bargain.

  The three of them sat side by side and watched a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond for the next half hour. Jake was beside her, his arm around her shoulders. Gabe sat to her left with his feet tucked beneath him.

  When the program ended, Gabe turned to Jake. “Do you want me to leave the room so you can kiss my aunt Holly?”

  “Gabe!” Holly’s cheeks were warm with embarrassment.

  “What makes you suggest that?” Jake asked the boy.

  Gabe stood in the center of the room. “My dad emailed and said if you came to the apartment, I should dis-discreetly leave for a few minutes, only I don’t know what that word means. I think it means you want to kiss Aunt Holly without me watching. Right?”

  Jake nodded solem
nly. “Something like that.”

  “I thought so. Okay, I’m going to go and get ready for bed.” He enunciated each word as if reading a line of dialogue from an unfamiliar play.

  Jake winked at Holly. “Pucker up, sweetheart,” he said, doing a recognizable imitation of Humphrey Bogart.

  Holly rolled her eyes and clasped her hands prayerfully. “Ah, sweet romance.”

  As soon as the bedroom door closed, Jake pulled her into his arms. The kiss was everything she’d remembered and more. They kissed repeatedly until Gabe came back and stood in front of them. He cleared his throat.

  “Should I go away again?” he asked.

  “No, that’s fine,” Holly said. She had trouble speaking.

  “Your timing is perfect,” Jake assured the boy.

  Jake left shortly after that, and once she’d let him out of the apartment, Holly leaned against the door, still a little breathless. Being with Jake was very nice, indeed, but she had something else on her mind at the moment—Intellytron the SuperRobot and how she was going to afford one before Christmas.

  Chapter Nine

  It’s hard to stumble when you’re

  down on your knees.

  —Shirley, Goodness and Mercy,

  friends of Mrs. Miracle

  Holly gave the situation regarding Gabe and the robot careful thought during the sleepless night that followed their dinner. She’d asked Jake about it when Gabe was out of earshot.

  “There are still plenty left,” he’d told her.

  “But they’re selling, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, sales are picking up.”

  That was good for him but unsettling for her. If she couldn’t afford to pay for the robot until closer to Christmas, then she’d need to make a small deposit and put one on layaway now. She didn’t know if Finley’s offered that option; not many stores did anymore. She’d have to check with Jake. She dared not take a chance that Intellytron would sell out before she had the cash.

  While she was dead set against letting Jake purchase the robot for her, she hoped he’d be willing to put one aside, even if layaway wasn’t a current practice at higher-end department stores. If she made their lunches, cut back on groceries and bought only what was absolutely necessary, she should be able to pay cash for the robot just before Christmas.

  Tuesday morning she packed a hard-boiled egg and an apple for lunch. For Gabe she prepared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, adding an apple for him, too, plus the last of the sugar cookies. Gabe hadn’t been happy to take a packed lunch. He much preferred to buy his meal with his friends. But it was so much cheaper for him to bring it—and, at this point, necessary, although of course she couldn’t tell him why. The leftover Chinese food figured into her money-saving calculations, too. It would make a great dinner.

  On her lunch hour, after she’d eaten her apple and boiled egg, Holly hurried to Finley’s to talk to Jake. She’d been uneasy from the moment she’d learned she wasn’t getting a Christmas bonus. She wouldn’t relax until she knew the SuperRobot would still be available the following week.

  Unfortunately, Jake wasn’t in the toy department.

  “He’s not here?” Holly asked Mrs. Miracle, unable to hide her disappointment.

  “He’s with his father just now,” the older woman told her, and then frowned. “I do hope the meeting goes smoothly. It can be difficult to read the senior Mr. Finley sometimes. But I have faith that all will end well.” Her eyes twinkled as she spoke.

  Holly hoped she’d explain, and Mrs. Miracle obliged.

  “In case you didn’t hear, Jake went over the department buyer’s head when he ordered those extra robots,” she confided, “and that’s caused some difficulty with his father. J. R. Finley has a real stubborn streak.”

  Mrs. Miracle seemed very well-informed about the relationship between Jake and his father. “The robots are selling, though. Isn’t that right?” she asked, again torn between pleasure at Jake’s success and worry about laying her hands on one of the toys. The display appeared to be much smaller than last week.

  “Thankfully, yes,” Mrs. Miracle told her. “Jake took quite a risk, you know?”

  Holly shook her head.

  “Jake tried to talk Mike Scott into ordering more of the robots, but Mike refused to listen, so Jake did what he felt was best.” Her expression sobered. “His father was not pleased, to put it mildly.”

  “But you said they’re selling.”

  “Oh, yes. We sold another twenty-five over the weekend and double that on Monday.” She nodded sagely. “I can only assume J.R. is feeling somewhat reassured.”

  “That’s great.” Holly meant it, but a shiver of dread went through her.

  “Several of our competitors have already sold out,” Mrs. Miracle said with a gleeful smile.

  “That’s terrific news.” And it was—for Finley’s. Parents searching for the toy would now flock to one of the few department stores in town with enough inventory to meet demand.

  “How’s Gabe?” Mrs. Miracle asked, changing the subject.

  “He’s doing fine.” Holly chewed her lip, her thoughts still on the robot. “Seeing how well the robot’s selling, would it be possible for me to set one aside on a layaway plan?”

  The older woman’s smile faded. “Oh, dear, the store doesn’t have a layaway option. They haven’t in years. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

  Holly wasn’t surprised that layaway was no longer offered, but she figured it was worth asking. Holly clutched her purse. “I... I don’t know.” Her mind spinning, she looked hopefully at the older woman. “Do you think you could hold one of the robots for me?” She hated to make that kind of request, but with her credit card temporarily out of commission and no layaway plan, she didn’t have any other choice. The payment she’d made on her card would’ve been processed by now, but she didn’t dare risk a purchase as big as this.

  “Oh, dear, I’m really not sure.”

  “Could you ask Jake for me?” Holly inquired. She’d do it herself if he was there.

  “Of course. I just don’t think I could go against store policy, being seasonal staff and all.”

  “I wouldn’t want you to do that, Mrs. Miracle.”

  “However, I’m positive Jake would be happy to help if he can.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “He’s rather sweet on you.”

  Sweet? That was a nice, old-fashioned word. “He’s been wonderful to me and Gabe.”

  “So I understand. Didn’t he bring you dinner last night?”

  Holly wondered how Mrs. Miracle knew about that, unless Jake had mentioned it. No reason not to, she supposed. “Yes, and it was a lovely evening,” she said. The only disappointment had come when Gabe asked him to help decorate the tree and Jake refused. The mere suggestion had distressed him. She hadn’t realized that the trauma of those family deaths was as intense and painful as if the accident had just happened. If it was this traumatic for Jake, Holly could only imagine what it was like for his father.

  “Did you know Jake and his father leave New York every Christmas Eve?” Mrs. Miracle whispered.

  It was as if the older woman had been reading her mind. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Jake and his father leave New York every Christmas Eve,” she repeated.

  Holly hadn’t known this and wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Isn’t that a shame?”

  Holly shrugged. “Everyone deals with grief differently,” she murmured. Her brother handled the loss of his wife with composure and resolve. That was his personality. Practical. Responsible. As he’d said himself, he couldn’t fall apart; he had a boy to raise.

  Sally had been sick for a long while, giving Mickey time to prepare for the inevitable—at least to the extent anyone can. He’d loved Sally and missed her terribly, especially in the beginning. Yet he’d gone on with
his life, determined to be a good father.

  Perhaps the difference was that for the Finleys, the deaths had come suddenly, without warning. The family had awakened the morning of Christmas Eve, excited about the holiday. There’d been no indication that by the end of the day tragedy would befall them. The shock, the grief, the complete unexpectedness of the accident, had remained an unhealed wound all these years.

  “He needs you,” Mrs. Miracle said.

  “Me?” Holly responded with a short laugh. “We barely know each other.”

  “Really?”

  “We met last week, remember?”

  “Last week,” she echoed, with that same twinkle in her eye. “But you like him, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I guess I do,” Holly admitted.

  “You should invite him for a home-cooked dinner.”

  Funny, Holly had been thinking exactly that. She’d wait, not wanting to appear too eager—although heaven knew that was how she felt. And of course there was the problem of her finances....

  “I’d like to have Jake over,” she began. “He—”

  “Did I hear someone mention my name?” Jake said from behind her.

  “Jake!” She turned to face him as his assistant moved away to help a young couple who’d approached the department. From the corner of her eye, Holly saw that the husband and wife Mrs. Miracle had greeted were pointing at the SuperRobot. Mrs. Miracle picked up a box and walked over to the cash register to ring up the sale.

  “Holly?” Jake asked.

  “I need to put Intellytron on layaway but Mrs. Miracle told me you don’t do that,” she said in a rush.

  “Sorry, no. I thought you were going to use your Christmas bonus to purchase the robot this week.”

  “I’m not getting one,” she blurted out. She was close to tears, which embarrassed her.

  “Listen, I’ll buy the robot for Gabe and—”

  “No,” she broke in. “We already talked about that, remember? I won’t let you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because... I just won’t. Let’s leave it at that.”