A Small Town Christmas Part 18

"Are you Mrs. Goodwin's daughter?" asked Lissa.

"Almost," said Jamie. "I'm her niece."

"Our mommy's an angel," said Mandy, taking a big lick of whipped cream.

It was a good thing Jamie wasn't holding the beaters anymore, she'd have dropped them. Dead? His wife was dead? She'd a.s.sumed he was divorced, screwed up.

Like he wouldn't be screwed up from having lost his wife? The poor guy. The poor girls. Jamie felt a sudden nearly overwhelming desire to grab them both and hug them.

"Grandpa says maybe someday we'll get a new mommy," Mandy continued.

"Maybe you will," Jamie agreed. They were sweet girls. They deserved another mommy. She could see Emma as their new mom, teaching them to quilt, dunking them in hydrogen peroxide when that demon cat of hers scratched them. But she couldn't see Emma with Josh. Odd.

"Girls," said Sarah, "would you like to help us put the food on the table?"

"Sure," said Lissa as if she'd just been offered a special prize.

Maybe for a little girl who was being raised by men-rather like being raised by wolves-the company of women was a prize. It was easy to take family for granted. You never realized what you had till you lost it.

Sarah became a kitchen general, marshaling her troops. Edna and the girls were put to work hustling steaming bowls of mashed potatoes, savory stuffing, rutabagas, peas, and Sarah's biscuits out to the big mahogany dining table while Jamie served in the kitchen as her right-hand woman, dishing up from the stove and pulling things from the fridge. The array of dishes seemed endless: candied yams, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, pickles and olives, and, of course, the green bean ca.s.serole Lissa had so carefully carried in. Last of all came the turkey, big enough to feed a whole boatload of Pilgrims.

The guests gathered at the table and Sarah continued directing operations. "John, Edna, how about taking your usual places over there. And Leo next to them. Then George. Josh, you can sit next to Sam. Jamie, how about sitting by me. And let's put the girls between you and Josh."

So she and Josh could get some kind of subliminal message about what a great family they'd all make, of course. Boy, Sarah never missed a trick. But it was her party, so Jamie didn't argue. Some of the manners her mom had worked so hard to drill into her had stuck.

She couldn't help smirking when Leo pretended to have misunderstood and took George's seat, placing himself next to Sarah. Just punishment for her meddling.

But she put on her polite hostess smile and sat down. Jamie sneaked a peek in Sam's direction to see how he liked the new seating arrangement. He looked like he'd just guzzled vinegar.

"Sam, would you say grace?" Sarah asked.

"Sure," he said grudgingly, and bowed his head with a frown. "Dear G.o.d, we thank you for all the good things you give us, for this feast, and for our family. For those who don't have family, we pray that you'd help them find some."

The sooner the better? Jamie thought as everyone said, "Amen." If that last sentence were meant to be some sort of message to Leo, it was way too subtle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mandy looking up at her. She turned to smile at the child and found her sister also looking her way with an eager-to-please smile.

Josh caught it all. He quickly looked away and reached for the mashed potatoes as Sam set to work carving the turkey.

"Dad, dark meat for you," Sam said as his father pa.s.sed his plate. "And white for Mom. What'll you have, George?"

"If n.o.body wants it, I'll take one of those legs," said George.

"How about you, Leo?" asked Sam.

"I like the breast," said Leo.

He got the other leg.

Sarah frowned at Sam, who said, "Sorry, the breast is all taken."

Leo shrugged. "No big deal. I like legs, too. These green beans are my favorite," he said to Sarah, dishing himself up a hearty serving.

"Don't get too excited," Sam told him. "Sarah didn't make them."

"My daddy made that," Mandy said proudly. "We helped."

"It's good," Jamie said to her, and was rewarded with a worshipful smile.

"So, you can cook, huh?" Sam said to Josh. "You're pretty self-sufficient."

"Between the two of us, Dad and I do okay," said Josh.

"That's all well and good, but there are some things a man needs a woman for," Leo said.

Sam frowned and Sarah blushed. She grabbed the bowl of biscuits and handed them to Jamie. "How about pa.s.sing these around?"

Jamie bit back a smile. Poor Sarah. This was not going to go down in history as the most successful dinner party she'd ever had.

After the main course and kitchen cleanup, everyone settled in the living room to play charades. The grown-ups kept it easy, throwing in plenty of books, songs, and movies the girls would know. George earned applause for acting out Kung Fu Panda, and Jamie helped Mandy act out The Cat in the Hat. A few grown-up songs got thrown into the mix though, and Jamie drew Bryan Adams's "When You Love Someone." What a joke. But she gamely acted it out anyway.

After the last charade had been guessed Sarah sprawled in her chair and said, "I'm p.o.o.ped. Jamie, how about taking care of the pie orders for me?" Edna opened her mouth to offer to help, but Sarah was too fast for her. "Josh, it's tradition for the men to help with dessert."

"Since when?" protested Sam.

"Since now," Sarah informed him.

"Can we help?" asked Lissa.

"Absolutely," Jamie told her.

In the kitchen, Josh asked, "Is she always this subtle?"

"Always. It's a family trait."

"I've noticed." He shot her a smile. "You still p.i.s.sed at me for stopping you?"

"You never gave me a ticket. Nothing to be p.i.s.sed about," said Jamie with a shrug. Just because she wasn't falling all over herself to snag him, he thought she was p.i.s.sed? There was a bit of ego for you. She concentrated on lining all the pies up on the kitchen table. "Lissa, you can get the whipped cream out of the fridge. It's in that big yellow bowl."

"What can I do?" asked Mandy.

"As soon as I start putting the pie on plates you can carry them out to people." She handed a small tablet and pen to Lissa, who had now returned with the whipped cream. "Now, you can go out and take orders, see who wants what. We have apple, pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate mint."

Lissa nodded and scurried off.

"What should I do, boss?" asked Josh.

Go away. This man was stirring up hormones that had been hibernating for way too long. "You know, you really don't have to be out here."

"I know," he said. "I want to."

"Then I guess you can help me cut the pies." She found another pie cutter and handed it to him and he positioned himself next to her. Her head came up to his shoulder. What would it be like to lean her head against that strong chest?

What would a man this big be like in a towering rage? That last thought drenched the fire growing within her immediately. Of course he'd have a temper. All men had tempers.

"So, I guess I was just imagining that you were p.i.s.sed when I stopped to help you change that flat tire the other day."

"You were ruining my good deed."

He nodded slowly. "Ah. So it's not that you don't like cops."

"I didn't say that. I was married to one."

"Not good?" he guessed.

"There's an understatement."

"We're not all pigs."

"Daddy is a pig," put in Mandy. "He eats a lot."

Josh rumpled her hair. "Is that so?"

Mandy nodded and smiled up at him adoringly. So maybe not all cops were created equal.

Or maybe this one simply hadn't cracked yet. Jamie couldn't help but remember the story of the Tacoma police chief who killed his wife and then shot himself. That could have been her if she'd stayed with Grant. An image crashed into her mind-Grant showing her his service revolver and telling her, "Just remember, baby, accidents happen." How did you ever know when the pressure would get to a man, when too much of the violence and the dark side of human nature would finally make him crack and turn him into something as dark as what he dealt with? It was a c.r.a.p shoot.

Gambling was for fools.

"Are you cold?" asked Josh. "You're shivering."

She forced herself to come back to the moment at hand, cutting into the pecan pie. "No. I'm fine." Just fine, just as she was.

So when the day finally ended and they were all leaving and Josh said to her, "So, I'll see you around?" she made sure he got the message loud and clear.

"It's possible. It's a small town."

The shutters fell on his open smile. Good. He'd gotten the message.

Emma returned home from her family Thanksgiving feast with a special treat for the man in her life: turkey. Not the entire contents from the foil-wrapped packet Mom had sent home with her, but a nice-sized chunk.

"Pye, Mommy has something for you," she sang as she walked in the door.

Pyewacket immediately appeared, trotting down the hall, tail held high.

"Were you a good boy while I was gone?" she asked.

He rubbed against her legs like a normal cat, like a cat who loved his mommy. Like a cat who smelled turkey.

Baby steps, she told herself. Right now he loves me for my turkey. Someday he'll love me for myself. She set the foil packet on the table, opened it, and pulled off a piece of turkey from the pile sitting atop the mound of stuffing. "You're going to love this." She proffered the treat.

Pyewacket advanced and took it in one delicate bite. Then he squatted down and proceeded to enjoy the feast.

She put out a hand and petted her boy. He didn't hiss or scratch her. He simply took his turkey and left.

She stood and sighed. "Someday you're going to love me," she called after him. But when?

Winning the love of an orphaned black cat was the least of her problems, she reminded herself. If she didn't turn her business around pretty soon Pye would be homeless again and so would she. Well, okay. She wouldn't be homeless. She'd be living with her parents and looking for a job. And her baby would be at the animal shelter on kitty death row since Mom was allergic to cats. No one would adopt him because the little guy was about as far from lovable as a cat could get.

What was she going to do?

Be thankful, she told herself. You got a free meal today and have leftovers for tomorrow. It's more than half the world's population gets.

She could hear Mrs. Nitz's TV blaring through the duplex wall. What was Mrs. Nitz doing home? Didn't she have any place to go on Thanksgiving?

Emma looked at the foil-wrapped bundle of leftovers sitting on her table. n.o.body made stuffing like Mom. It would taste so good tomorrow.

It would taste even better today, and Mrs. Nitz probably loved stuffing. Who didn't? Emma slipped back out and went to bang on her neighbor's door. She'd already had her feast, and, after his stuck-up behavior, a certain cat sure didn't deserve any more treats.

SEVENTEEN.

Josh couldn't get Mrs. Kravitz out of his mind. Had the woman been alone on Thanksgiving? Had she gotten rid of G.o.dzilla Rat? Would anyone ever paint and repair those shutters?

The day after Thanksgiving was chilly but sunny-a perfect day to nail up shutters.

His dad agreed, so ten A.M. found Josh and his family on Mrs. Kravitz's front porch, Lissa holding out a plate of the cookies she'd learned to bake from Sarah.

"We thought you could use a couple of handymen," Josh explained.

Her face lit up like he'd just told her she'd won the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. "Oh, how sweet!"

"These are for you," added Lissa, holding out the plate.

"They look delicious. Did you make them yourself?"

"My sister helped."

"Well, you're both very talented," said Mrs. Kravitz. "Come in, everyone. I'll make a pot of coffee."

Josh was ready to get to work, but he knew the importance of the ritual cup of coffee. So he sat and drank, and let Mrs. Kravitz sing his praises to his dad and get their whole family history.

With the girls right there they brushed past the whole thing of Crystal's death at the speed of light and Mrs. Kravitz got the message and changed the subject. But the quick conversation opened the door to a corner of Josh's heart where he only got trapped late at night after the house grew silent and he'd crawled into bed alone.