Gift Wrapped for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance (5 page)

Maddie knew very little about the
oil industry except that Calgary was the business epicentre of Canadian oil
production. The “oil patch,” as it was often called, drew workers from all over
the country, driving rents sky-high. Tourists often complained that almost
every motel in the province had a No Vacancy sign out.

“Okay, let’s do it.” Maddie
slipped into her cape and joined Annie on the sidewalk. A few degrees below
freezing, the air felt much colder, and they walked briskly the block to the
restaurant.

“Mr. Drummond.” A short man with
a long white apron met them at the door. “Ladies,” he intoned with a slight bow
and showed them to a table. “Franco will be here in a moment to take your order,
but I can tell you that our specials today are spaghetti carbonara and veal
marsala.” He motioned to the bottle of Pellegrino on the table. “Shall I pour?”

Chase nodded. “For me as well,
Tony. I have an important meeting this afternoon and can’t afford to muddy my
thinking by having a drink.” He watched with undisguised pleasure as the head
waiter poured some San Pellegrino in a stemmed glass for Annie, then for Maddie
and himself.

Annie held the stemmed glass
comfortably, and Maddie caught the look of pride on her face as she lifted it
to drink. “Thanks for coming with us, Maddie. This is fun.”

Maddie lifted her glass in a
silent salute. “Thank
you
.”

Chase leaned forward, all
business. “So, Maddie. I understand you wanted to talk to me about a rental?
Before you say anything, I apologize for bringing up business before we’ve even
eaten.” He gave her a wry grin. “In the movies they always wait, but I’m afraid
I don’t have that luxury today.”

“I understand. I’m interested in
renting the little shop in the lobby. It’s a perfect size for what I have in
mind.” She decided to lay her cards on the table. “Trouble is, I’d only need it
for a couple of months.” She watched him for a reaction, but got none. “From
now until the end of the year, to be precise.”

The waiter arrived and took their
orders, giving Chase time to consider her proposal. “Is this rental for
yourself? When we met yesterday, I got the impression that you were employed
somewhere in the building. I heard you say hello to David.”

Maddie felt a goofy smile
transform her face. “Yeah, David. He’s one of my favourite things about the
building. I met him a few days after I started working there. That would be
about six months ago.”

“So you haven’t worked there
long?”

Time to come clean. “I don’t work
there any more. I got laid off yesterday.” She frowned to herself. “I guess
that’s the way to describe it. The company I worked for lost an account, and I
was one of the team members.” She drew her hand across her throat. “Goodbye,
Maddie.”

He nodded. “CCT Accounting. I
heard about that.” He thought for a moment. “I’ve rented the space to someone
else.”

Maddie’s dreams crashed and
burned at his words.

“But they’re not taking over
until the New Year.” He sat back in his chair and studied her. “What type of
business did you have in mind?”

Maddie shot a quick glance at
Annie, who had been watching the exchange with interest. “I was talking to
someone yesterday who didn’t know what to buy a relative for Christmas, and I
had the idea of a gift buying service, coupled with gift wrapping. I think I
could do well.”

He nodded vigorously. “I know you
could. All I’d have to do is mention it at the Oilmen’s Club, and you’d have
more business than you could handle.”

The waiter placed a plate of
spaghetti carbonara in front of her, but the luscious smell barely registered.
“Would you really do that?”

“Of course he would!” Annie bounced
excitedly in her seat. “Wouldn’t you, Uncle Chase?”

“Thank you, Franco.” He
acknowledged the server, checked Annie’s plate, and then turned back to Maddie.
“I think you have a fan.” He looked affectionately at his niece.

“We’re a gang,” Annie said
proudly. “We’re a gang of three.”

Chase paused, his glass halfway
to his mouth. “What is this,
West Side Story
?”

Maddie and Annie looked at each
other and laughed out loud.

“What?” Chase raised an eyebrow.
“What did I say?”

“That’s what Lily said when we told
her about the gang. Wait ‘til I tell her you said the same thing.” Annie
expertly twirled her spaghetti. “You’ll like her, Uncle Chase. Too bad she had
to leave.”

Chase flushed; Maddie suspected
that wasn’t something that happened very often. “Yes, too bad.” He turned back
to Maddie. “There will be some paperwork to complete, but that sounds fine.
When do you want to set up?”

“Yesterday.” She held his gaze.
“Thank you, Chase. I appreciate this.”

“You’re welcome.” He cut into his
veal. “Marilyn will make sure you get to see the right people, and they will
co-ordinate with the building superintendent regarding access.”

Maddie thought of the man she’d
seen earlier and her heart did a little flip flop in her chest. “Right,” she
said.

“Get some business cards printed
up and a few colourful flyers. Between me and my top executives, we belong to
just about every men’s club in town. I play handball several days a week, and
there’s a bulletin board in there, as well as at the gyms we frequent.” He
seemed to be enjoying himself. “This is just like starting out all over again,
but you don’t have much time to get the word out, so you’ll need all the help
you can get.”

Maddie put down her fork. “At the
risk of sounding blunt, why are you helping me? I wasn’t even sure you’d let me
have the space, let alone help me out.”

His expression softened. “Two
reasons. First of all, Annie likes you and she’s an excellent judge of
character.”

Annie’s head bobbed up and down,
her mouth full of spaghetti.

“And secondly, because David
speaks highly of you. I spoke to him before I came over here today, and he told
me you’re one of the few people who ever bothered to learn his name, and that
you say hello to him every day.” He looked at her steadily. “I like that.”

“Thank you.”

Annie wiped her mouth with her
napkin. “This is so cool. I’ll get to see you all the time.”

“Yes, you will.” Maddie grinned
at the youngster, but her mind was spinning. There was so much to do; it was
almost overwhelming.

“What will you do when the
Christmas season is over?” Chase poured some more sparkling water.

“I haven’t thought that far
ahead, but I’ll find something.” She finished the last of her spaghetti. “Now
isn’t a good time to be looking for a new job anyway what with the holidays and
all.”

“I’d have to agree with you
there.” He toyed with his fork, then set it deliberately on his plate.

“Your friend, Lily. What type of
work does she do?”

Annie couldn’t keep quiet any
longer. “She’s a clothes designer! I saw some of her designs at a fashion
show.”

Chase looked from his niece to
Maddie, a puzzled frown on his face.

“There was a fashion show at
Draper’s,” volunteered Maddie. “Annie and I had been talking about it, and I
told her that my friend was going to be there. Actually, she owns a very
successful silk screening studio and she’s recently expanded into fashion.”

“And you know her well?” Colour
crept up his neck again.

“We’re roommates. We went to high
school together and then we both went on to study at Simon Fraser University in
Vancouver. Lily took Applied Arts. I didn’t know what interested me so I did
what everyone does in that case. I was going for my BA.”

“And you ended up in accounting?”

“I’m putting that down to
temporary insanity.” Maddie shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a fine occupation.
After all, we all need accountants, but I didn’t realize how much I disliked it
until yesterday.”

He chuckled and looked up at
their server, who was clearing the plates. “Dessert anyone? Or coffee?” He
looked from Annie to Maddie.

“Not for me, thanks,” said
Maddie. “I don’t usually eat this much at lunch.”

“Me neither.” Annie had managed
to finish her whole meal. “But thank you.”

“The cheque please, Franco.”
Chase leaned across and placed his hand on Annie’s. “So you’ll take care of my
girl when it’s time for her to visit Lily’s studio?”

Maddie had been wondering when
he’d bring Lily back into the conversation. “Yes, I will.” She stopped to
think. “I’m going to be quite busy for the next little while. Would it be okay
if Lily picks up Annie?”

Chase’s eyes danced. “Well, I
don’t know...”

“Uncle Chase!” Annie knew her
uncle well.

“Yes, of course.” He put on a
serious face. “But you have to give me advance warning, young lady. None of
this running off without telling anyone.”

Annie nodded soberly. “Yes, Uncle
Chase.”

Maddie had been right. Not much
got past Chase Drummond.

Maddie was busy making lists when
Lily got home from work. She kicked off her shoes, snagged a bottle of water
from the fridge and climbed up on a stool across from Maddie. They’d often
joked about needing a step stool, but Lily always managed.

“I’m tired,” she said, unscrewing
the top and taking a long drink. “It’s been a long day.” She glanced at
Maddie’s lists. “I see you got the place.”

“Yes.” Maddie could tell there
was something wrong, but she knew Lily well enough not to push. She shuffled
the papers and tried to push down her mounting panic at the amount of work to
be done. “I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time.”

Lily reached for the lists and
studied them for a few moments. “When were you planning to open for business?”

Maddie watched her friend
carefully. Lily’s normal “take no prisoners” attitude seemed to have deserted
her. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with her reaction to
Chase Drummond.

“I think around the fifteenth of
November. That will give me time to get some printing done, put up some flyers,
get in supplies and get some arrangements in place with a few stores.

Lily tapped the lists, deep in thought.
“Do you think you’ll have any problems when it comes to money? What if someone
tries to stiff you?”

Maddie had considered that. “I
don’t think that’s going to happen.” She gave a short laugh. “This may be a
large city, but it’s a small town if you know what I mean. The people who ask
me to shop for them will be so grateful they’ll fall all over themselves to pay
me. Besides, they all know each other in the oil business. With Chase Drummond
as my landlord, they wouldn’t dare give me a bad time. Their reputations would
be shredded.”

Lily toyed with the water bottle.
“Are you going to hire anyone? This could be a very popular service, and in
case you haven’t noticed, there’s only one of you.”

Maddie shook her head. “I think I
can get away with having people contact me on my cell, at least in the
beginning. They can either come to the shop or I’ll go to them if necessary. I
think I’ll play it by ear.”

“You can always hire someone
closer to Christmas if it comes to that.” Lily removed the chopsticks from her
hair and pulled a few strands around to the front, winding them around her
finger.

“What did you think of Chase?”
she said finally. She wouldn’t meet Maddie’s eyes, but at least she had
mentioned him. It was progress of a sort.

Maddie took a moment to collect
her thoughts. “He was amazing, actually.”

Lily’s head came up. She seemed
startled.

“He’s going to help me with
getting out the word.” Maddie couldn’t help but smile as she recalled Chase’s
generous offer. “He says he’ll tell all his oil buddies about my service, and
he even offered to put some flyers up in the gym. And when I went to sign the
papers for the shop, I couldn’t believe the price they quoted me. I mean, it
was next to nothing. I thought they’d made a mistake but they said no, Mr. Drummond
had personally set the price.”

Lily’s keen business instincts
took over. “Why would he do that?”

“I asked him.”

“Really?” Lily offered a slight
smile. “That was gutsy. What did he say?”

“He seems to think that because
Annie likes me I must be okay.” She hesitated.

“There’s something else. What?”

“It’s about David. You know, the
concierge in the building; I’ve mentioned him to you. He likes the fact that I
got to know David by name, and that I say hello to him every day.”

“Interesting.” Lily pulled the
strand of hair across her lips. Her gaze drifted to the window, where
snowflakes fell against the glass. “There’s something about him...” Her voice
drifted off.

Maddie waited for Lily to
continue but when she remained silent, decided to jump in. “I noticed your
reaction to him when he came in.”

Lily glanced at her out of the
corner of her eye. “Was it so obvious?”

“Not to him, but I know you and I’ve
never seen you like that before.”

Lily’s eyes took on a faraway
look. “When he walked in, something passed between us, you know?”

“Hello! Jeez, Lily, a person
would have to be in a coma not to notice the sparks between the two of you.”
She sat forward. “Why did you run?”

“I didn’t run.” It was a
half-hearted attempt at denial.

“Then what do you call it? It
sure looked like running to me. The man stood and watched you race across the
street as though somebody had ripped out his heart.”

“You see? That’s what I mean!”
Lily released the strand of hair she’d been playing with and flicked it over
her shoulder.

“Lily...” Maddie shook her head.
“What are you talking about?”

“He doesn’t know me!” She
clenched her hand into a small fist and pounded it against her chest. “They
never do. They see an attractive Asian woman and they get all these fantasies.”
She held up a hand. “Don’t bother denying it, Maddie, it’s true. Many of them
think an exotic looking woman is a status symbol.” Her dark eyes blazed with
anger. “And the rest of them think you’re going to be submissive.”