The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection (11 page)

“
I’ll watch her,” Joey
assured him. “I’ll make sure she won’t get hurt.” Mitch’s eyebrows
rose, and Sophie assumed she must have looked equally surprised,
because the boy continued. “Well, Mom said I’m going to have to get
used to watching my little sister. I might well practice on
Angie.”

“
Please, Daddy? I’ll be
careful. Joey will watch me. And you can see me from
here.”

She had him there. “Okay, princess. Stay
close to Joey, and I’ll come and get you when the pizza is
ready.”

~~~~

Another meeting
with
the church girl. Is he getting
serious about her? If he marries this hometown sweetie, his
daughter will have a momma, and the old bird in Chicago won’t have
much of a case against him.

Duncan stood in the bushes outside the Pizza
Barn and shot several pictures of the couple. They’d sent the kids
off to play. Probably did that so they could have some alone time.
Thanks to the lighting, they looked more like they were on a date
rather than having a night out with the kids. He raised his camera
to his eye.

“
Excuse me.” A raspy voice
from behind him sent shivers down the PI’s spine. Standing outside
a restaurant window with a camera was not a good place to be
caught. He’d hoped the darkness and the four-foot bushes would hide
him. Slowly, he turned, and seeing nothing but a massive chest, he
directed his gaze up.
They sure grew these
farm boys big around here.
He gulped and
attempted a feeble smile.

“
Evening,
officer.”

~~~~

True to his
word, Joey watched Angie, making sure she stayed
with him in the play area. Mitch started to relax.

“
So how are the
mini-sessions going?” Sophie asked.

Mitch kept his gaze on Angie as he answered.
“Great. Thanks a million for the idea. I’m booked almost every day
for several hours right up until Christmas. I’m glad I have the
equipment to make the prints and offer a good price.”

“
I’m glad it’s working out.
And you’re getting your name out there. I’ve heard good things from
the gossip mill.”

“
Oh?” That brought his
attention to her.

“
Yeah, Mildred Feenstra
told the quilting group you were quite a catch. You might get
bookings from a lot of single ladies for a professional
portrait.”

“
Umm, okay.” He felt his
face heat and his throat constricted. He searched his mind for a
change of topic. “So, how’s the roller skating job
going?”

Her face fell, and he wondered if he’d hit a
sore spot with her. Had she lost her job?

“
The job is okay, but I
don’t get that many hours, and it doesn’t pay well. At this rate,
it’s going to take at least another year to save up enough just for
the plane ticket, let alone living expenses while I get my
bearings. Once Joanie is back on her feet, I’m hoping to get a
waitressing job at a nice restaurant. Or I can cook.”

“
You’re welcome to cook at
my house. The reason we came here tonight is because I burned
another meal.” Mitch kept his voice light, but his heart took a
beating with every word she uttered. She planned to leave as soon
as possible. Fame and fortune lured her like it had lured Sarah.
Big city life, crammed schedules, and endless traffic.

Everything Mitch had wanted to leave
behind.

Angie came back to the table. “Look what I
got, Daddy.”

Mitch fingered the little fur-covered
plastic figurine and studied it solemnly. “Uh, that’s nice,
sweetheart.”

“
You don’t know what it is,
do you?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Sorry. No. What is
it?”

“
It’s a Puffy Monster. I
won it in the ball toss game.”

“
You did? Good for you,
sweetie.”

“
I’m gonna give it to Baby
Jesus.”

“
You’re what?”

“
I’m gonna give it to Baby
Jesus, just like the Wise Guys. They just gave him a bunch of
boxes. I’m going to give him a toy.”

“
That’s it!” Sophie nearly
jumped out of her seat.

Mitch wasn’t sure which female at his table
to try and figure out first. But Sophie seemed to understand Angie.
She reached over to give the girl a hug.

“
Angie, you’re a genius!
That’s just what this program needs. I was trying so hard to find
something special the kids in each grade could do for the show. We
can have the first graders each give something to the Baby Jesus,
just like the Wise Men. That’s perfect!”

Angie beamed, showing the wide gap in her
front teeth.

“
We could do this right
after the Wise Men give their gifts during the play. The narrator
can say something like ‘What would
you
give to the Holy Babe?’ and have
each of you come up to the microphone. We can tie in other parts of
the play with modern day references. Like when Mary and Jesus
couldn’t find a room at the inn. We can have the second graders
present the ways they would help people in need.”

She started to pace around the table,
heedless of the stares from other patrons in the restaurant and the
waiters who skillfully stepped around her, balancing large
trays.

“
What can I have the third
graders do? There’s the animals. Maybe one class can share
something about their pets. And there are the angels, singing the
Good News. I’ve gotta write some of these ideas down. She sat back
in her seat, grabbed a napkin, fished a pen out of her purse, and
started to write.

Their pizza came and Joey joined them at the
table. Sophie, despite her earlier hunger, kept writing, too
excited to eat. Occasionally she’d cry, “Perfect” or, “Oh yeah!”
and write some more. Twenty minutes later, she had an entire napkin
covered. She put it in her purse with a deep sigh. And then she dug
into her cold pizza.

Mitch watched her eat. It was good to see a
girl enjoy her food. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Sarah eat
pizza. It had always been salad with a vinaigrette dressing and
unsweetened tea. Her pregnancy had added to her weight worries.
She’d watched every ounce she gained and her biggest concern
afterward was losing it all. Mitch had dealt with night feedings,
since Sarah had needed her sleep.

But that was in the past. He really needed
to let go of his bitterness. He had Angie, and could never regret
that. But sometimes he wished he had someone who would be willing
to share the responsibility. He could picture Sophie in that role.
But she had plans. Big plans that didn’t include him. He needed to
stop thinking about her. About the cute way she bit her lip while
she wrote. About the way her wavy hair came loose from her ponytail
and framed her face. About the way she excited him like no woman
had in a long, long time.

Yup, he had to forget about all that and
focus on being a dad to Angie.

“
L
et me get
this straight. You’re all
coming here, to my house for Thanksgiving? You’re going to sit
around my table for a holiday family gathering, knowing I’m the
only one of your children who didn’t learn to cook?”

As much as Mitch loved his mother, at the
moment he wanted to reach through the phone and throttle her.

“
It’s your turn to host it,
Mitch. Everyone else has had a turn. Several turns. You’re the only
one who’s never hosted it. When you lived in Chicago, it was
understandable. But now that you’re in Zutphen, in Eric’s house,
you can take your turn hosting a holiday. What better time to have
a housewarming? Besides, you won’t have to worry about cooking.
I’ll bring the turkey and your sister and brothers will each bring
something to go with it. All you have to do is supply the
house.”

“
You do realize that I’m a
single father, and that this house barely looks lived in, right? I
have absolutely no talent for decorating, and no desire to
learn.”

“
Not a problem. I’ve got
the whole week off from my job, so I’ll come over and help you get
your house all spiffed up.”

“
Mom, that’s not
necessary.”

“
Really? Do you have a
girlfriend who’s doing it for you? I heard you’ve been seeing
someone.”

“
I’m not dating anyone,
Mom.”

“
Eric and Laurie’s former
neighbor told them you had pizza with a pretty girl and her son in
the Pizza Barn a week or so ago.”

“
He’s not her son and it
wasn’t a date. We just shared a booth because the place was crowded
and they would have had to wait.”

“
Did you invite her to join
us for Thanksgiving dinner?”

“
Of course not.” Mitch
rolled his eyes. Rita Carson was an unstoppable force at times. Too
bad the local grapevine had reached her ears.

“
You should invite her. I
hear she’s taken Angie under her wings.”

“
The former neighbor
again?”

“
No, your cousin Tess. She
lives in the next town over but she still shops at Zylstra’s
Grocery.”

Mitch closed his eyes and massaged his
forehead. “Sophie is directing the Sunday School Christmas pageant,
so she sees Angie twice every week.”

“
And a few times in
between, I’ve heard. Well, if she’s not redecorating your house,
then I’ll be there next Monday morning. See you!” She disconnected
before Mitch could get another word in.

He stood at the kitchen
counter, staring at his phone.
What just
happened here?

“
Is Grandma Carson coming
over?” Angie called to him from her seat on the couch where she’d
been watching Saturday morning cartoons.

“
Looks like it, sweetness.
She wants to decorate the house and have everybody come over here
for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“
Goodie!” The little girl
hopped down and skipped toward him. “Can I help her? When is she
coming?”

“
I bet she’ll be happy for
your help. She’ll be here on Monday.”

“
Oh. How many more days is
that?”

“
Two more.”

“
Is she going to decorate
my room, too?”

“
If you ask her to, I bet
she will. She might not have time this week, but she’d be happy to
help you.”

Angie wrinkled her nose. “Can I ask Miss
Sophie to help me decorate my room instead?”

“
Sophie? Why? Don’t you
like the way Grandma’s house looks?”

“
It’s okay. And I think
she’ll make our living room and kitchen look nice. But I want
Sophie to help me with my room because… because… I don’t know. I
like her. She always looks so pretty, and I think she’d make my
room look pretty, too. And she said purple was her favorite color,
too. Please? Will you call her? If Miss Sophie helps me decorate my
room before Grandma gets here, then I won’t have to tell Grandma
she doesn’t need to do it for me. And then she won’t be sad that I
don’t want her to do it.”

Mitch had no argument for that. Besides,
after the news he’d received the day before, he needed someone to
talk to, someone who would understand. He looked up Sophie’s number
and dialed. If she truly needed more work, maybe she’d be willing
to put in a few hours as an interior decorator.

~~~~

“
What do you
mean, you’re in jail?” Melinda Billingsworth
cleared her throat and straightened her spine, resuming the
polished, cultured image she’d worked so hard to
achieve.

“
You wanted proof the guy
was a lousy father, and I tailed him. I almost froze to death
sittin’ in my car and watching him. He had a few hot kisses with a
local girl, but he wasn’t doin’ nothin’ you could use against him.
I stood in the bushes while he took his daughter out for pizza. The
police caught me there and warned me to mind my own business. I
figured the only way the guy would look like a neglectful dad was
if the girl got herself kidnapped, so I tried. How was I supposed
to know that the school had a list of names they could release each
kid to? The secretary went to check, and I left. But she got my
license number and they tracked me down. I’ll need to add my bail
to your expenses.”

“
You’ll do nothing of the
kind. I hired you to get evidence that Mitchell Carson is not fit
to raise my granddaughter. I expected you to have more sense than
to walk into a public building and take her.”

“
I would have just nabbed
her, but the kid is never alone. The dad is always with her when
she’s outside. He takes her to school and picks her up. If he goes
to the store, she goes with him. I tell you, the guy watches his
kid like a hawk. So I figured I’d go up to the school and tell them
her dad was in an accident and I was sent to take her there to see
him. It didn’t work.”

“
I will pay you for your
expenses up to this point and nothing more. You can consider
yourself dismissed from this job.” She disconnected before Duncan
could argue.

Melinda knew she would probably end up
paying the fool’s bail. But it was clear she would have to do her
own dirty work. The holidays were coming up, and that bohemian her
daughter had married was probably busy shooting photographs for
people. If she played her cards right, she could probably gather
some evidence of neglect.