Christmas Elopement

“Ms. Sargent…welcome! I’m so glad you got the job.” Her handshake was firm and energetic. Carrie smiled back, knowing she’d already made her first friend at Cunningham Construction.

“Thank you, Peggy. I’m glad to be here. But why don’t you call me Carrie? I’m not big on formalities.”

Peggy pumped her hand again, excitedly.”Okay…Carrie. I can’t tell you how happy I am that we’re getting some help around here…especially someone with all your experience.” She finally let go of Carrie’s hand when the phone rang.

Carrie watched the young woman as she answered the phone. There was a smile in her voice, as well as on her face. Cash was lucky to find this one, she decided, just as she saw him round the corner.

“Ms. Sargent! Welcome aboard.” He closed the space between them and extended his hand. She gripped it in hers, remembering the first time he’d taken her hand in both of his. She shook it quickly and let go, an uneasy feeling spreading through her. Poise. Confidence. Where were they when she needed them? Somehow she found her voice.

“Do you mind calling me Carrie?”

“If that’s what you’d like,” he said, and she noticed him giving her a quick once-over. She did look a little like an American flag, but a clean, crisp American flag. Maybe she should go stand in the atrium and brighten things up.

“So…Cash…where do I begin?”

He arched an eyebrow and she knew her mistake instantly. Cash. He hadn’t asked her to call him by his first name. Oh, for Pete’s sake. This was a construction company, not the UN. She continued to smile at him as if she didn’t have a clue his feathers had been ruffled.

Finally he turned around and said,”Follow me.”

His pace was brisk, no-nonsense. She had trouble keeping up. They passed his open door and he turned into the next room, stopping abruptly, with Carrie right on his heels. Somehow she managed to keep from running into him, but when he turned to face her she was close enough to feel his long sigh on her forehead. She stepped back and pretended to take in the room, avoiding those damnable blue eyes.

“This will be your office,” he said, getting right down to brass tacks.

When she finally did look, she saw an eight-foot walnutveneer folding table in the center, surrounded by eight armless brown vinyl chairs. And nothing else. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but this wasn’t it, not in a building as grand as this one.

The carpet was commercial brown tweed. A large glass wall was covered with off-white vertical blinds, the same shade as the flat-painted walls. There had to be a redeeming quality, if she looked hard enough. In her mind’s eye she pictured her first visit. If her memory was right, behind the closed blinds should be a view of the Pacific. With a little work…

“This used to be a conference room,” Cash said, forestalling her decorating ideas.”I never use it anymore, since there’s a larger one with a wet bar in the new wing. Besides, I thought we may find it convenient to be next door to each other.” For some reason he suddenly seemed uncomfortable, but he pushed on.”I’ve ordered a phone, which should be installed Monday. As to the rest, make a list of what you think you’ll need and we’ll talk about it. For now, I’ll take you down to Purchasing and Fran will set you up with basic supplies.”

He started to go and she followed.”And my computer?” she said to his back. He stopped dead in his tracks, and she almost ran into him again. Damn! She wished he’d stop doing that. He turned sideways and eyed her as if she’d just poked a gun in his back.

“Computer?”

“Well, yes. The employee handbook is a very long and arduous project—even with a word processor. And I’ll need desktop publishing for all the related forms. Then I was thinking there would be a company newsletter, and memos for special events…some graphics software would be nice for that—”

Cash held up both hands.”Whoa, slow down. We’ll get you some paper and pencils, stapler, that kind of stuff. Then we’ll see about the rest.”

She saw him roll his eyes as he turned and started off again.

“Of course, I’ll need a desk and an ergonomic chair…”

His head tilted back and he stared at the ceiling, the set of his shoulders telling her he was ready to blow a gasket, but he kept moving. Along the way she noticed work areas separated by free-standing beige partitions. Still no plants, no family photos, no doodads. Unsmiling people hunched over their work, only a few giving her passing notice. The more she saw, the more she knew her first impression of this guy had been right—a self-centered, arrogant iceman. A nice outer package with nothing inside.

When they reached the purchasing department, a middle-aged woman with short gray hair swiveled away from her computer and eyed them curiously. Thank God, a computer! At least he believed in modern technology, Carrie thought as Cash half turned for introductions.

“Fran Wilson, I’d like you to meet Carrie Sargent, our new Human Resources Manager.”

Fran stayed seated and peered over her half-glasses.”Nice to meet you,” she said with cool efficiency.

“Carrie…” His gaze met hers briefly, then flitted away.”I’m going to leave you with Fran. She’ll introduce you around and get your supplies.” He glanced at his watch.”I have an appointment, but I’ll be back just before noon. If you don’t mind working over lunch, we could discuss that list of needs of yours and prioritize a few assignments.” Now he held her steady gaze and awaited a reply.

“F-fine,” she stammered, not sure why she was still here. Flutie had made a big mistake if he thought she could work for this man.

He left her staring after him. She forced her gaze away from the doorway and back to Fran, who seemed to be scrutinizing the new kid’s hair and wardrobe. Fran wore a smart gray knit suit the color of her hair, which meant she was in perfect harmony with her drab surroundings.

Ah, a plethora of challenges. Well, S, if you’re going to stay, there’s no time like the present to meet one of them head-on.

Carrie took a seat in front of Fran’s desk and heaved a sigh. Leaning closer on her elbow, she looked the woman in the eye, smiled and said,”So, Fran…do you have any pets?”

Three hours later Cash jogged up the back stairway and went directly to Carrie’s office, wondering if he’d made a mistake in planning lunch with her the very first day. Surely she’d have more questions later, but by then he’d be out of town. Besides, there was no better time than day one to let her know his employees call him”Mr. Cunningham” and that she’d have to tone down her flamboyant attire.

He pushed a stray hair off his forehead and straightened his tie as he neared her office, never slowing his pace till he crossed her threshold, then he nearly staggered backward. Gone were the folding table and chairs. In their place sat an old oak desk, a typing stand perpendicular to one side, with Carrie pecking away at a computer keyboard atop it. What the—?

“Cash! Isn’t this great?” She gestured with a sweep of her arm.”Fran and I found the desk under a tarp in the shop. We had to move a lot of boxes off it and clean it up, but I love it. Much better than any new thing. The guys in the shop were real sweet and carried it up here. And look at this.” She turned her palm up toward the computer.”Fran said it’s just been gathering dust in the storage room since she got her new one.”

With hands on hips, Cash took it all in. It didn’t have the crisp contemporary feel everything else did, but the price was right.

“I’ll need a new chair, though,” she said, her fingers back at the keyboard, doing who knew what. A person would think she’d been here forever.

She looked up from her work.”Is it time for lunch yet? I could eat the back end of a skunk I’m so hungry.”

He knew his mouth had dropped open, but he found it difficult to either move or speak.

“Oh, I forgot. You’ll probably want to look at your messages first,” she said, pounding away at the computer.

“Uh…right.” He managed to find his voice.”Just give me a minute.” He walked to his office, feeling as though he’d stepped into some time warp, and this was his first day on the job instead of hers.

The feeling lingered on the short drive to Fish Hopper’s and all through lunch as he listened to her ideas for—he had to remind himself—his company.

When she took a breath and drank some iced tea, Cash seized the first quiet moment.”I’m glad you’ve started on the new policy manual, but there’s something else I’d like you to think about.” She set her glass down and waited. Well, what do you know? She can keep her mouth shut.

“There’s been a higher-than-usual amount of turnover and absenteeism lately. Morale seems a little low, too.” Carrie smiled and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, looking as though he’d just offered her dessert instead of a challenge.”Maybe you could come up with a few ideas to help turn things around.” She seemed to vibrate with enthusiasm, as if she might overflow any moment if he didn’t let her speak. He leaned back in his chair and watched her green eyes widen as she took a deep breath and began.

“I have a couple ideas already.”

Surprise, surprise.

“But will you excuse me a minute? Have to go check out the plumbing.” She started to leave the table, then whispered near his ear,”My dad’s company actually did the plumbing here, you know.”

“No! Really?” He could picture a fleet of work vans with happy-face toilets painted on the sides.

She smiled and gave a proud nod before swinging her hair around and heading toward the restrooms.

Through the tinted window Cash watched a sea lion struggle to top a boulder that rose above shallow waters. Each time he tried, a wave would take him back out. With another valiant effort he shimmied higher, finally flopping over on his back, looking exhausted as he prepared for a nap. He knew just how the guy felt, Cash thought as Carrie rejoined the table.

She turned in her seat and followed his gaze.”Aren’t they adorable?” Then she faced him again.”Do you ever go over to the aquarium and watch the otters? I love the way they groom themselves with their little hands. Kind of like raccoons, don’t you think?”

Cash leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers and trying his hardest to get the conversation back on track.”I’ve never been to the aquarium and I’ve never given much thought to sea otters. Now about—”

“You’ve never been to the aquarium? Oh, Cash, you don’t know what you’re missing. Monterey has one of the biggest and best in the world. Some of the tanks are thirty feet high…with sharks in them! You know—” she glanced over her shoulder at the sea lion, then back to Cash”—it would be great to have a Saturday or Sunday outing for all the employees at the aquarium…They could bring their families, too.” She slapped the table, seeming proud of herself.”Yep. Just what you need to boost morale.”

Cash lifted his arm and stared at his watch. Thank God it was time to leave. Just wait till the next time he ran into Flutie. How could that man possibly think she would last at a company like Cunningham?

He picked up the check and calculated fifteen percent. Standing, he extracted two singles from his wallet, then dug in his pocket for change and counted out the thirty-six cents he needed. When he placed the tip on the table, he noticed Carrie eyeing him from the side of her face.

“Come on…We’ll talk more about your…ideas…in the car,” he said, escorting her out.

All the way back to the office, Carrie talked nonstop. She never seemed to falter in her positive attitude and her firm belief that her ideas could solve any problem.

She sprang from her side of the car as soon as they parked and came alongside him.”So what do you think?” she asked.

He thought he had a headache. The fact that he’d be out of town on job sites for the next week only marginally relieved the throbbing in his temples. He should have nipped this thing in the bud. Now he’d have to wait till he got back. He stepped up his pace to the front door and tried to convey his shortness of time, if not patience. She practically ran to keep up.

“Okay,” he conceded.”Your intercompany newsletter idea sounds fine.” And less expensive than some of the other things.”And you can order a new chair.” Whoever replaced her would need one anyway. He opened the door and let her precede him. “Is there anything else for now?” Once inside, he brushed past her and punched the elevator button. She caught up as the door slid open and they stepped in.

“Just one more thing.”

Exasperated, he shot her an impatient glance, and she finished quickly.

“About those morale boosters. There’re a couple of little things I could do while you’re gone that could show immediate results. Nothing extravagant.”

She was looking up at him with those adorable green eyes, reminding him of a little girl pleading for a pony ride. With eyes like those, she’d probably gotten away with her outrageous behavior all her life. It occurred to him to ask exactly how much these”couple of little things” were going to cost him, but then he’d be late for his next appointment while she enumerated the endless details.

The door slid open and he strode toward his office, grabbing a stack of messages off Peggy’s desk as he passed. Carrie was right on his heels. At his doorway he stopped and faced her, making it clear that he had other things to do and she wasn’t invited in.

“Okay. Try a few things.” He watched her face light up, and he couldn’t help but smile.”But be conservative with the spending, okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but instead walked to his chair and turned his attention to the messages in his hand.

“Thanks, Cash,” he heard her say, halfway to her own office.

He dropped the notes on his desk. Damn. He’d meant to tell her not to call him that. And her clothes…

He rocked back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his aching head. Oh, my God! I’ve hired a hurricane…and let her loose in my nice, neat, orderly world.

He cracked his neck from side to side trying to alleviate the tension. Maybe he should have been more specific when he told her to keep the spending conservative. Then again, she’d seemed happy with that old desk and computer. Nah. The new employee manual would keep her occupied. He had other things to worry about right now. Next week was soon enough to decide what to do with his new employee.

He picked up the first message and swiveled to the window, phone nestled at his neck. He was getting all worked up over nothing.

Besides…how much damage could she do in just one short week?

Five

“Gus? Am I calling at a bad time?” Carrie hiked her right shoulder to the receiver and lifted a pen and paper from Fran’s desk.

“Nope. Just finished restocking the bar…Ten minutes till I open the door. Everything goin’ okay, lass?”

“Hunky-dory. I just called to get a name and phone number from you. Do you have a business card or receipt or something from that T-shirt place you use for the pub?”

“Hold on. I think I know where I put it.” She heard the phone clunk against the counter and she smiled, picturing the old place. In a way she missed working at Day’s, but this job was right up her alley. Challenges galore. Besides, she had dinner at Day’s most nights and still lived upstairs.

“Here it is,” Gus said, huffing into the phone.”Got a pencil?”

“Yep. Shoot.” She wrote out the name and phone number, then made plans for a late dinner with him. When she hung up, Fran was eyeing her, an obvious question on the tip of her tongue.

“Boyfriend?” she asked shyly, acting as though she knew it was none of her business.

Carrie laughed and shook her head.”No, no. Gus is my father’s best friend…kind of my surrogate dad since mine went back east. I rent an apartment above his pub.” Fran’s eyebrows shot up, concern on her wrinkled brow.”It’s a very nice pub, actually.” Then the idea came to her.”Fran! Why don’t you join us for dinner tonight?”

Her hand flew to her chest.”Oh, no. I couldn’t intrude.”

She was dying to go, and Carrie could see it in the lonely widow’s face.”It won’t be an intrusion at all. You’d be doing me a favor, since I need a ride home anyway.”

Fran smoothed back her perfectly coiffed hair.”Well, if you need a ride—”

“Great! It’s settled then. Unless there’s a problem with Fefe…”

“Oh, no. I go shopping or to movies some nights, and she’s perfectly content to snuggle on the sofa and sleep while I’m gone.” She frowned and thought a moment.”Maybe we should stop by and let her go out to do her business, though.”

“No problem. Then I can meet Fefe in person.” Carrie smiled, pecking her finger at the picture Fran had brought in to show off her toy poodle.”Now…about those T-shirts…”

Another hour and they put down the employee list with a sigh. They’d done their best to guess how many smalls, mediums, larges and extra larges. Now they were debating color and style.

“The knit shirts with collars are nice, don’t you think?” Carrie looked up from the catalog to Fran’s small face. She pushed her glasses a notch higher on her nose, then glanced at Carrie before pointing to the price.

“The T-shirts would be several hundred dollars less…with as many as we have to order.” She shot Carrie a worried”Know what I mean?” look.

“Ah, yes. We’ll have to order some extra, too, in case somebody needs a different size and for future employees. T-shirts it is. Now what about color?”

“The dark teal with mauve lettering is very attractive,” Fran said, looking at the chart.

“Hmm…Yes, it is. But do you think the macho men in the field and shop would like it?”

“I see your point. How about this?” She pointed to a burgundy shirt with a hunter-green logo.

“Ooh. I like that. And with the holidays coming, won’t it look great on everyone…with all the red and green decorations?” Carrie watched Fran purse her lips and drop her chin.”What? Did I say something wrong?”

Fran fidgeted with the corner of the page and avoided eye contact.”No…it’s just that…well, Mr. Cunningham doesn’t decorate for the holidays.”

“You’re kidding?” She wasn’t, by the look on her face.”Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?” Carrie winked, and the older woman’s mouth curved upward in a conspiratorial grin.

“You don’t mean to say—”

“Oh, yes. That’s exactly what I mean to say.” They shared a silent moment, imagining the shock on Cash’s face when he returned. Suddenly Carrie sprang out of her chair.”You call in the T-shirt order and I’ll go talk to the guys in the yard. They must be clearing at least one job site that has a big pine tree on it.”

With a reassuring pat to Fran’s hand Carrie strode off, devilish excitement pulsing through her veins. It was only Thursday, and Cash wouldn’t be back till next Wednesday afternoon—the day before Thanksgiving. Perfect. He said she could try a few morale boosters. What better way to bring about a few smiles than decorating a Christmas tree? Oh, and of course there was the matter of family photos and plants in each employee’s work space…

It was all she could do to keep from skipping down the hall. She could see the happy faces already. The first newsletter would go out tomorrow, along with paychecks. In it they’d read her suggestions. Yesiree, Bob, by Wednesday afternoon this place would be humming.

Wednesday afternoon Cash stood the collar up on his trench coat and leaned into the biting wind as he made his way to the back door. Just inside, he checked the second hand on his wristwatch, then jogged up the emergency stairwell. At the top of the third floor he looked at his watch again and calculated the time. Damn. Ten seconds slower than last week. He was getting soft. Time for a good workout at the gym.

He took off his coat and folded it over his arm as he strolled down the hall to his office, humming along with the Christmas carol that was playing over the—

He stopped in the middle of the hall and listened. The soft instrumental sounds came from everywhere. He’d never used the sound system except to page someone. Was it a radio or tape? But more important, where had one come from, since the company had never owned either? It took only a heartbeat to figure out who was behind this. Well, he’d just have to set things straight with Ms. Sargent.

With each long stride, the music swelled in his head and he remembered earlier Christmases, times when the sounds of loud singing and bawdy jokes roused him from his boyhood dreams, when glasses were flung into the fireplace amid gales of drunken laughter.

By the time he’d approached Carrie’s office, he’d worked up a good head of steam. How could anyone get a honest day’s work done with music playing? He rounded her corner ready to do battle but the office was empty. Well, not exactly empty. She wasn’t there, but a large potted ficus stood in front of the glass wall, the blinds pulled completely open. A framed portrait of Carrie with her father hung on an adjacent wall. So she’s made herself right at home, has she? Not for long. Hadn’t she noticed there were no personal effects in the other employees’ areas? If she had, did she think it coincidental?

He stood in the doorway and pushed his suit coat back with his balled fists, wondering where the loose cannon he’d hired was hiding…and why he’d ever hired her in the first place. God knew there’d been enough warning signs that spelled Trouble.

He stalked to his own office, threw his top coat over a side chair and went in search of Trouble. It shouldn’t be hard to find all that red hair, not to mention she never shut up. He could hardly wait to see what kind of getup she had on today. He wondered if she even owned a simple navy or gray suit.

He started with Peggy, but she wasn’t at her desk, either. He noticed the answering system had been switched on. At three o’clock in the afternoon? Now whose idea was that? He raked his hair with his fingers and nodded his head. Stupid question.

He headed for Fran’s desk. Certainly she’d know what was going on.

But when he got there, instead of Fran, he found an ornately framed photo of a pompadoured gray poodle next to a flowing English ivy that cascaded to the floor. Pivoting in the aisle, he saw more of the same on other desks. One short week and the place looked like some great-grandmother’s parlor. Plants and photos, plants and photos…

He heard laughter and voices from somewhere and stopped to listen. They were coming from the atrium. A moment later he was back at the elevator, punching the button for the third time. He was tempted to take the stairs when the door finally opened. He rode to the lobby, seething. Didn’t anybody believe in work around here? He’d been out of town many times before, and nothing like this had ever happened. He would have thought his old-timers would…The elevator opened, and the music he’d heard earlier grew louder, along with laughter and the shuffling of boxes, tinkling of…

He bounded out and came to a dead stop. Hands on hips, he stared at the atrium in front of him, not believing what his eyes told him. Dozens of busy little elves dressed in burgundy-and-green T-shirts darted around in front of a tree that towered at least twenty feet above them. Tall ladders had been erected on all sides, with employees perched near the top leaning into the tree. Bulbs were being handed to them from a chain of hands stationed on lower rungs and the floor below.