Santa's Posse (10 page)

“I’ve missed you,”
he said. 

Unsure how to
respond, she simply made a play of straightening her desktop.  “Well, we’ve
both been busy.”

“I’m sorry I
haven’t called.  As you said, things have been hectic.”

She forced a
smile.  “Don’t worry about it.  Really.”

“I am worried
about it,” he said.  “I meant to call, I wanted to call, but I’m essentially
working around the clock these days.  I’m actually splitting my time between
the mall and the sheriff’s office downtown.”

“It’s okay,” she
assured him, forcing a smile to her lips.  “Like I said, I’ve been busy too.”

“Well,” he began
tentatively, “I’m bound and determined to get off work at a reasonable hour
tonight and was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“Will you have
dinner with…?”

Suddenly, the door
to her office was thrust open and a cheerful, commanding voice called out,
“Hope I’m not intruding.  I know it’s nearly quitting time, but we have to talk…”

Kellie glanced at
the source of the voice—a tiny woman in her mid-sixties with a cap of bright
yellow hair.  The woman thrust her hand at her.  “I’m Dolores Angles,” she
said, and after shaking her hand, turned to Miles.  “Howdy, commander.  Fancy
meeting you here.”  She thumped him on the back.  “So, you ask her yet?” she
said, aiming a speculative glance at Kellie.

Miles looked
confused, his mouth slightly ajar and his eyes narrowed in question.  He shook
his head.  “Ask … her what?”

“You said she could
do the job…” she prompted.

He only shrugged
in confusion.

The woman gave him
a pointed look, and his eyes suddenly registered understanding.  “Oh…,” he
said, looking even more uncomfortable. 

“Well, ask her
then.  Time is flying and frankly, it isn’t on our side.” 

“Uh, well—” he
began, but abruptly stopped talking.

“The clock is
ticking…” Dolores said tiredly.  “Oh, for Pete’s sakes.”  She turned to Kellie. 
“Our Santa’s Posse Procurement Specialist just dropped out.  We need someone
fast and Miles here thought you would fill the bill.”

He raised a hand,
his mouth opened even wider in stunned surprise.  “I thought—
what
?” 

“You know what I’m
talking about,” she muttered impatiently.  “Ask her!”

Kellie eyed him
questioningly, but he spoke to Dolores instead.

“Well, actually,
uh, Dolores, you asked me if Kellie could do the job, and I mean, she’s
certainly capable of doing any job she sets her mind to, as she’s told me in
the past.”  He raked a hand through his hair.  “And, uh…”

“Good grief,
commander,” she said with an impatient snort, “don’t think I’ve ever heard you
so tongue tied.”  She gave Kellie a knowing grin.  “I think he likes you.”  The
older woman glanced around, and then dropped into a nearby chair.  “Okay, so
down to business.  I’m the chairwoman of Santa’s Posse—Miles has told you all
about us, correct?—anyway, my procurement specialist has a case of the vapors
or some such nonsense…”

“Uh, Dolores,”
Miles cut in, “Cassie is eight and a half months pregnant.  I’m thinking it
isn’t the
vapors
keeping her from her duties.”

“Well, she picked
a heck of a time to have a baby,” she groused.  “Anyway, we need someone to
take her place.”  Kellie found herself the recipient of the woman’s piercing
stare.  “Well?” she demanded.

“Uh…”  Kellie sat
back in her chair, and then glanced at Miles as if seeking support.  Had he
volunteered her for some duty with Santa’s Posse?  She didn’t mind helping, but
figured helping equated to giving him permission to distribute flyers.  She was
so busy with work, she doubted she could fit much else into her schedule.

“Look, the job’s
nearly done,” Dolores said reassuringly.  “We just need someone to follow up on
promised donations, make sure we receive or retrieve them, secure additional
donations, help build baskets for delivery and…”

Suddenly, a voice
came over Miles’ radio.  He snatched it off his belt and spoke into it, before
efficiently returning it to his belt.  Kellie met his gaze, her eyes appearing
somewhat dazed.  He well understood.  Dolores had the personality of a
bulldozer on steroids, but … her heart was in the right place.  He stood to
leave, his face reflecting his discomfiture. 

“You’re going?” Kellie
said wanly.

He gave an
apologetic shrug.  “Duty calls.  I’ll check in on you later.”  He spun around,
spun back, opened his mouth as if to speak, but apparently thought better of it
and turned again and strode off. 

Dolores watched
his retreating figure.  “There goes one of the good ones,” she declared,
watching Kellie through narrowed eyes.  “You like him?”   

“Uh…” 

Before she could complete
a coherent response, Dolores gave a warning: “Don’t you hurt him.  That man has
been through a lot.  He has a heart of gold.  And we sure as heck don’t want to
see that heart of his broken.”

Kellie swallowed, feeling
as if something was lodged in her throat.  “I, uh…”

“We’ll talk about him
later,” Dolores said with a dismissive wave, rising and turning abruptly and
heading for the door.  She paused at the threshold.  “We’ll see you tomorrow. 
I’ve called a meeting for Santa’s Posse volunteers.”

“Where and when?” Kellie
managed to croak.

“Just outside the
precinct.  Six-thirty.” 

 ***

“So, Kellie,” Jill
said with a chuckle she couldn’t manage to suppress, “you let Dolores lasso you
into Santa’s Posse?”  She laughed then.  “‘Lasso, that’s funny, and I didn’t
even mean to be funny.  Get it?  Lasso?  Posse?”

Kellie’s face was
impassive, her voice droll when she spoke.  “Oh, I got it, all right.”

Jill reached
across the desk separating them and patted her boss on the arm.  “It won’t be
so bad.”

“Really?  Because
I’ve been thinking…”

“What?”

“I need a
pardner
. 
Get it?  Pardner—meaning, partner—meaning you.” 

“Oh, uh, well, I’m
afraid my holidays are so busy that…”

She sat back in
her chair and set her eyes on Jill like guided missiles, daring her to argue.

“All righty then,
pardner,” she said resignedly.  “I guess we’ve both been lassoed into Santa’s
Posse.”

Later, the two
women stood among a crowd of volunteers, listening to Dolores give a
not-so-brief talk about Santa’s Posse and specifically, the mission of the
group.  After hearing her speak about the many families helped by the group
during the holidays, Kellie couldn’t help but feel slightly better about
participating more actively in the charity event.  Even Jill conceded as much
moments later as the two now stood together awaiting a packet of written
instructions from Dolores.

When she finally
passed them a large envelope, she smiled at Jill.  “Glad to have you aboard,”
she declared.  “The more the merrier.  You can assist our new procurement
specialist.  Frankly, she’s going to need all the help she can get.”

Jill nodded and
turned to meet Kellie’s widened eyes. 

What exactly did
that remark mean? Kellie wondered. 
She’s going to need all the help she can
get
.  It felt like an ominous warning.

Dolores suddenly
clapped her hands together, and bellowed to the gathered group, “Any
questions?”

When no one
required clarification on their appointed tasks, she closed the meeting with a
command, “Get busy,” and then hustled into the precinct.

Kellie turned to
Jill.  “Well,” she said crisply.

“What exactly does
that mean?” Jill inquired with a chuckle.  She’d definitely heard a miffed tone
in that single word.

Kellie narrowed
her eyes and spoke in measured tones, unaware Miles had come up behind her. 
“It means … I’m going to have a word with our commander,” she said.  “And what
did Dolores mean by, ‘I’m going to need all the help I can get?’  What did
Miles get me into—
us
into,” she clarified.

Jill only shrugged
in response, suppressing the grin on her face. 

“Jill, am I going
to have time for all this?  Are you?” she demanded.  She shot a stunned glanced
at the huge envelope in her hand.  “Why is our envelope so much bigger than the
other envelopes?  Did you notice that, Jill?  It’s so
big!” 
Her voice
grew shrill
.
 
Why do we have the biggest envelope?” 

“Kellie, take a
deep breath,” Jill instructed, glancing up at Miles, who stood silently behind her
boss.  She noted he appeared uncertain, as if he should consider making a hasty
escape.  He actually turned to do just that, when Kellie apparently sensed
someone behind her.  She spun around, saw him, and aimed a pointer finger at
him.

“You!  Commander …
Blake,” she said in measured tones.  “What … have … you gotten me into?  And Jill! 
Jill, too!  Typical man!  Big mouth!” 

He opened his
mouth to speak, but words failed him.  He spread his arms wide, all the while
shaking his head.  Finally, he burst out laughing.  “Did you really just call
me a big mouth?”  He turned to Jill.  “Typically, people describe me as a man
of few words.”

“If the shoe fits!”
Kellie declared.  “And I think it does—as in, it … it fits in your mouth…”

“What?” he said,
bewildered, but smiling bemusedly.

“You know what I
mean!  You definitely put your foot in your mouth when you volunteered Jill and
me for this job!”

“Well, Kellie, to
be fair to Miles,” Jill said wanly, “he didn’t really volunteer
me
. 
That was more
you
,” she pointed out.

“Well, he … he apparently
volunteered me!”

He chuckled and
raised a conciliatory hand.  “Look, I’m so sorry.  I can’t tell you how sorry I
am.  But the truth is, I didn’t volunteer anybody for anything.  Dolores
stopped by my office, asked me what I thought of you…”

“And what’d you
say?” she prompted, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“I said you were
an inordinately capable individual.”  He raised a hand.  “Scout’s honor. 
That’s all I said.”

She gave him a
dubious look.  “Okaaaay.”  Cocking her head, she studied him through narrowed,
suspicious eyes. 

“She set me up!”
he insisted.  “Honestly, I didn’t know she had a job in mind for you.”  He
attempted a smile then, a big, apologetic, disarming smile.

She continued to watch
him, eyes still narrowed suspiciously.

He gulped and then
gave another earnest smile.  “It’s true, Kellie.  I didn’t volunteer you for
anything.”  He paused and shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, but perked up. 
“I’ll help you!” he said with a triumphant grin.  “That’s the ticket.  I’ll
help you with that big, fat envelope.”

“But you already
have a job with Santa’s Posse,” Jill pointed out.

“Yeah, you’ve
probably got your own big, fat envelope,” Kellie said in a defeated voice.

He shook his head
ruefully, and then pulled a thin, white, folded, letter-sized envelope from his
back pocket.  “My envelope is smaller than yours,” he said wanly.

Kellie eyed the
tiny envelope in his hand with disdain.  “
You call that an envelope
? 
Something is really wrong here,” she said, turning to Jill and shaking her
head.  “Something is definitely wrong…”  She spun around.  “Where did Dolores
go?  I really need to talk to…”

“Dolores has left
the building,” another nearby volunteer informed.

Kellie emitted a
haggard sigh when she spotted a small envelope in the volunteer’s hand.  She
considered asking to trade.  Apparently the woman noticed the hopeful gleam in
her eye, since she scurried off.

She took a step
toward her, but Jill took hold of her arm.  “Don’t bother.  Would you trade?”

Kellie sighed
resignedly.  “No.”

“Are you free for
dinner?” Miles spoke up.  “Tonight?  We can talk about the disparity in the
sizes of these envelopes,” he offered. 

Jill smiled and
bid them goodbye.  “See you tomorrow.”

Miles turned to Kellie
again.  “Come on.  Let’s get dinner.  We didn’t get to go out last night.”  He
grinned persuasively.  “You look hungry.”

“Oh?  Is that how
I look?”  She pinned
him
with a look.

Kellie pulled
another sheet of paper from the envelope on the tabletop in front of her. 
“Miles, look at this!”  She thrust it at him.

He carefully wiped
his hands with a napkin, before holding the paper over his plate to study it. 
It was a list of items needing to be picked up from a nearby retail chain and
then stored in readiness for Santa’s Posse deliveries.

As he read over
the information, Kellie had a pique of conscience over her earlier behavior. 
She was typically calm and collected, but some inner voice had told her that
her involvement in Santa’s Posse was destined to expand exponentially.  She
simply didn’t have the free time to do everything Dolores expected from her.

“Miles, I’m sorry
I called you a big mouth,” she said suddenly, sighing.  “I know if wasn’t your
fault Dolores drafted me for this job, but I’m just feeling overwhelmed.”

“You and me both,”
he said.   

She groaned and
pointed to the sheet of paper still in his hands.  “How am I going to transport
all that stuff?  I have a small economy car—not a pickup!”

He only smiled
reassuringly in return, and then rose up slightly to retrieve the envelope from
her.  He stuffed the single sheet back inside, and then stowed the packet
beside him on the booth seat, out of her reach.

She watched him,
mouth agape.  “There’s so much to do!” she cried.  “And how am I going to
manage it with Black Friday just around the corner?”

He only smiled
again, and then reached over to install her uneaten plate of food squarely in
front of her.  “Let’s forget all about Santa’s Posse for now and enjoy a nice
dinner out.”