Gift Wrapped for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance (4 page)

“That’s a deal.”

Annie studied the chalkboard
menu, eyes wide with delight. Maddie assumed that her uncle took her to more
traditional restaurants. Every second table seemed to be occupied by someone
with a laptop, and many of the others were engrossed in their iPhones.

“What would you like?” she asked
the youngster.

Annie became uncharacteristically
shy. “Could I have a chai please? I’ve never had one before and I’ve been dying
to try one.”

Maddie hesitated. She’d never
tried one herself, but she couldn’t see that it would do the child any harm.
“Why not?” she said brightly. “I’m going to have a latte.”

They were soon settled at a table
by the window. It was obvious to Maddie that Annie was trying to contain her
excitement. She sipped at her drink, and Maddie’s heart expanded to see the happiness
on the child’s face.

“It’s good,” she said and took
another sip.

“I’m glad you like it. I’ve never
actually had one, myself.”

“Would you like to try?” Annie
turned the cup around and nudged it across the table.

“I think I would. Would you like
to try my latté?”

“No thanks.” She watched
expectantly as Maddie tried the chai.

“You’re right, it is good,” she
said, surprised. “Now I see what all the fuss is about.” She returned the cup
to Annie and shrugged out of her cape. “So you liked Lily’s clothes?”

“They were wonderful. And to
think that she does the silk screening, as well.” She sipped thoughtfully at
her drink. “We had a demonstration of silk screening at school, but it was just
lettering on a t-shirt.” She looked at Maddie, eyes free of guile. “Does Lily
ever give tours of her shop? I’d love to see it some time.”

Maddie tried to remember if her
roommate had ever mentioned a tour. “I don’t think so.”

Annie tried to hide her
disappointment. “Maybe some day. I have a lot of other things to learn, I know
that.” A slight frown creased her brow. “Last night my uncle asked me what I
want for Christmas and when I told him he just looked at me as though I was
crazy.”

Maddie didn’t know if she should
go there, but she wanted to know. “What did you want?”

“A sewing machine.” She gave her
head what could only be called a frustrated shake. “I have to be able to sew if
I’m ever going to become a designer.”

Maddie was surprised. She would
have thought that Chase would be delighted to have the problem solved. “What
did he say?”

Annie thought for a moment. “He
was going to say something, but then Cynthia came out with one of those phony
laughs and said I couldn’t possibly want a sewing machine, that I’m far too
young.” Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she brushed them back impatiently.
“I’ll bet she doesn’t even know how to use one herself.”

“Who is Cynthia? Your
housekeeper?”

“No. She’s my uncle’s
girlfriend.” She stared into her chai. “She never pays any attention to me. How
does she know whether I can use a sewing machine or not?” She shrugged, and the
helpless gesture wrenched at Maddie’s heart. “Anyway, Uncle Chase said, ‘Don’t worry,
we’ll come up with something’.” She sipped at the chai. “This is really good.
Thank you.”

Maddie took a moment to recover
her aplomb. “Have you ever done any sewing before?”

Annie nodded. “That’s what makes
it so unfair. I know how to work one. We had a play at school, and I helped out
with the costumes.” She made a funny face. “It was plain sewing. Nothing
glamorous like the fashion show today, but I do know how a sewing machine runs.
Mrs. Z. showed us what to do.”

“Mrs Z.?”

Annie giggled. “We call her Mrs.
Z. because her last name is really long and hard to pronounce. But she sure
knows how to sew.”

“Sounds as if you like her.”

Annie acknowledged the comment
with a quick nod, and then looked out the window, her thoughts somewhere else.
When she finally spoke her voice was low. “She sticks up for me when the other
kids make fun of me and call me names.”

Maddie couldn’t imagine why
anyone would make fun of this delightful child, but then it had been a long
time since she was in school. Things had changed a lot.

“What do they say?”

The child turned around, her eyes
bright with tears. Maddie could see that she was fighting to hold herself
together. “They call me Little Orphan Annie.” She very deliberately took a
napkin from the dispenser, folded it once and dabbed at her eyes. “They say all
I need is curly hair and I could be in the movies.”

Maddie’s throat closed up as she
thought of what the child must have endured.

“I’m an orphan too.” She didn’t
know where the words came from; they just popped out. She picked up her cup to
cover her own confusion.

“You are?” Annie looked at her as
though she didn’t quite believe her ears.

“Uh-huh. It was five years ago,
so I was a lot older than you, but I don’t think it matters how old you are, it
still hurts.”

Annie nodded in agreement, her
eyes locked on Maddie’s. “My father died about two years ago in an accident on
an oil rig. He was what’s called a trouble-shooter.” She had both hands on her
cup of chai and rotated it back and forth between her palms. “My mom died eight
months and twelve days later. I saw that in the paper, and for some reason it
stuck in my head.” She inhaled slowly. “The newspaper said that the cancer hit
her so quickly she didn’t get a chance to grieve.” She looked up. “That doesn’t
seem fair, does it?”

Maddie could only shake her head.

She was still sitting, staring
into her cup, when Annie’s small hand covered hers. “I’m sorry I brought this up.
I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Maddie raised her head and looked
into the amazing eyes of this woman/child. Most of the adults she knew would
have crumpled when faced with the amount of grief this young girl had endured,
and yet here she was, doing the comforting.

“I’m glad you told me,” she said
with a soft smile. “Too many people refuse to acknowledge their grief, as
though ignoring it will make it go away. They pack it up and shove it away in
some dark corner, hoping that they never stumble on it again. But I think
that’s wrong. I think you should remember your parents every day, and not be
afraid to be sad when you think of them. You’ll always miss them, but in time
it won’t hurt so much. One day, happy memories will come along, and eventually
they will crowd out the unhappy ones.”

Annie looked at her quietly for a
moment, as though trying to memorize her face.

“Can we be friends?” she asked
finally.

Maddie opened her arms, and the
child walked into them. “Absolutely,” she said. She looked over Annie’s
shoulder and saw Lily approaching. “And here comes number three.”

Annie pulled back. “Number
three?”

“Yes. Lily’s here. We’ll be a
gang of three friends.”

Lily sat down with an exaggerated
groan. She brought with her the fresh, crisp air of outside and her own
personal scent, the ingredients of which she refused to divulge. “My feet are
killing me.” She reached down and massaged her arches.

“Shall I get you something?”
Annie rose, eager to be of assistance.

“That would be great,” Lily said.
“I’d love some chai.”

“That’s what I had!” Annie
squealed her approval and dashed off to the counter.

“You just made her day,” said
Maddie, watching as Annie paid with a credit card. She brought the tea back,
set it in front of Lily then turned to Maddie. “Did you tell Lily that she’s
part of our gang?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Gang? What
is this,
West Side Story
?”

“No.” Maddie winked at Annie.
“Just three girls supporting each other.” She changed the subject. “So how did
the show go?”

“There was a buyer in the
audience from a boutique in Edmonton. I didn’t know she was there, that’s what
took me so long.”

“They don’t usually go to
showings at retail outlets, do they?”

“No, but apparently she was in
town and heard about the show and as they say, the rest is history.” She
paused. “She wants an exclusive for Edmonton, and I’m thinking about giving it
to her. My product would be lost in among all the designers in the large
stores, and this would be a great way to experiment, for both of us.”

“Sounds like you’ve already decided.”

“Yes, I suppose I have.” She
reached for her purse and turned to Annie, who had been hanging onto every
word. “I forgot to pay you for the chai.”

“Oh, no. Please let it be my
treat. Maddie paid for me.”

Lily grinned and saluted with her
cup. “In that case, thanks!” She closed her eyes and took a sip. “So, Annie.
What got you interested in fashion?”

The child thought for a moment.
“I think it was when my parents used to go out for the evening. My mother
always let me watch her get ready. She had a little makeup table in their
bedroom with lights and everything. She’d sit there in her slip and put on her
makeup and we’d talk about...oh, about everything. She always had her dress
hanging up, and we’d decide what jewelry she was going to wear, and what shoes.”
Her eyes took on a dreamy, far-away look. “My mom had a lot of her clothes made
and she took me with her a few times when she went for fittings. I was just a
kid then, and it seemed like a magical place to me, yet I understood what they
were doing.”

Lily touched Annie’s silky hair.
“Did you get this beautiful hair from your mother? You can do anything with
hair like this.”

“Really? The kids at school make
fun of it.”

Lily gave an unladylike snort.
“Well they would, wouldn’t they? They’re jealous, that’s all it is.” She
pointed to her hair, which was anchored by the ever-present chopsticks. “Can
you imagine the ribbing I took with this? They were always telling me I should
put it in a pigtail. Either that or they were calling me a Chink. I was born in
Vancouver General Hospital for heaven’s sake.” She took a sip of chai. “People
can be so stupid.”

“Can I touch it?” Annie edged
closer, obviously fascinated by this exotic creature who spoke her mind so
bluntly.

“Sure.” Lily reached up and
pulled out the chopsticks. “As a matter of fact, it’s starting to feel heavy.”
The mass of hair came free, and she rotated her neck, causing her hair to
ripple down her back. “That feels so good,” she said, her voice low and throaty.
“It feels almost as good as...well, hello there!”

Maddie had seen Lily in just
about every situation imaginable, but she’d never seen her react the way she
did when Chase Drummond walked into the coffee shop. Lily Hsu, who was
accustomed to commanding the attention of every man with a pulse, was looking
at Chase as though she’d never seen a member of the opposite sex before.

“Uncle Chase!” Unaware of the
electric undercurrents zinging between her uncle and Lily, Annie jumped up, ran
to him and threw her arms around his legs.

Chase acknowledged his niece with
a pat on the head, but he kept his gaze on Lily. A shaft of sunlight came
through the window, creating dark blue highlights in her hair. For a moment,
Maddie thought he was going to reach out and touch it, then he recovered.

He tore his eyes away and nodded
to Maddie. “I’m sorry you had to wait so long, but Marilyn did warn you, didn’t
she?”

“She did, yes. Please don’t
apologize. I didn’t realize I’d have to see you personally to ask about a
rental.” She looked at Annie. “We decided to wait here until you were free.”

Annie tugged at his hand. “Sit
down, Uncle Chase. Sit down.”

“Oh no, I don’t think so.” He
glanced at Lily. “Well, maybe for a minute.” He folded his tall frame into a
chair. “So, it looks like you ladies are having a tea party.”

“Can I get you something?” Annie
jumped up again.

“No, I don’t think so. I promised
to take you out to lunch, remember?” He was looking at Lily as though he’d like
to make a meal out of her. “We could all go together.” He shot a quick,
questioning glance at Maddie before re-focusing his attention on Lily. “I don’t
think we’ve met.”

“Lily Hsu.” She extended a small,
elegant hand. “Nice to meet you, Chase.” She stood up abruptly. “I’m afraid I
can’t join you though.” She glanced at her roommate, but Maddie couldn’t read
her expression. “I have appointments all afternoon.”

Chase stood. “I’m sorry to hear
that.” He motioned to her chai. “You’re not going to finish your tea?”

“No.” Lily almost knocked her
chair over in her haste to leave. She paused for a moment and made eye contact
with Annie. “We’ll see each other again, okay? Maybe you could come out to the
studio some time.”

“Oh, I’d love that!”

Lily nodded. “Maddie will set it
up.” She looked at Chase for a fleeting moment, and Maddie thought she caught a
hint of sadness in her roommate’s expression. “Goodbye.” She made her way to
the door.

“Did you hear that? Lily says I
can go to her studio.” Annie was too excited to notice that her uncle wasn’t
listening. He was watching Lily as she walked to the corner then crossed to the
other side. Maddie had no idea where her roommate was going; it looked like she
was running away.

“Shall we go?” Chase smiled down
at Annie. “I thought we’d go to that Italian place today. What do you say?”

Maddie could have told him that
anywhere would have been okay with Annie, but for once she managed to keep her
opinion to herself.

“Okay with you?” He turned to
Maddie.

“I don’t want to interfere,” she
said.

“Come with us.” Annie grabbed her
hand.

“Yes, come with us. We can talk
business over lunch, if you don’t mind.” Chase glanced at his watch. “It looks
like our board meeting is going to carry on after lunch.” His eyes glittered
with barely concealed excitement. “Our chief geologist brought us some exciting
news this morning.”