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“Are you going to buy one of those for Charlie?” Alex asked in a teasing voice.
“No! Never!” Grandma exclaimed. “But I can’t think about Charlie. Not when Burton’s stopping by the store.”
“Burton?” Krista said. “I thought you were interested in Charlie?”
“I am.” Grandma threw up her hands. “But what was I supposed to say to Burton when he saw my profile and asked to meet me?”
“No,” Krista suggested. Her grandmother really did not have the hang of online dating.
“On that note,” Alex said, “I’m gonna change.”
Change into what? Krista wondered. Before she could ask the question, she got distracted watching Alex leave them with his sexy, hip-rolling walk. The attraction was still going strong, she admitted.
Her grandmother grabbed Krista by the hand. “I’ll give you a quick tour before I put you to work.”
Talking so fast her words nearly ran into each other, Grandma showed Krista sections of the store that contained lighted yard art, personalized ornaments, collectibles and Nativity scenes. The biggest surprise was the ball crawl tucked away in a far corner, its pit filled with green and red balls.
“What a good idea!” Krista exclaimed. “If you get children into the store, you’ll make sales to their parents.”
“It was Alex’s idea,” Grandma said. “He got us to make up flyers and post them around town. I don’t know what we’d do without him.”
Even when Alex was out of sight, Krista thought, someone brought him to mind.
“We’re starting the children’s activities soon,” Grandma said. “Do me a favor and try to convince your mother to run the ball crawl. We’ve got a chair over there.”
Krista’s mother was at the cashier’s desk, fur-trimmed reindeer antlers sticking from her head. She didn’t have much color in her face aside from the splotches of rouge on her cheeks, but her eyes were bright.
“Darling, you made it!” her mother cried. “We can use the extra hands today. I’ve got a feeling our Santa Claus is going to be very popular.”
She indicated a point over Krista’s shoulder. The tall man in the red suit heading their way was lean and muscular instead of soft and round. His posture and manner of walking were familiar. Krista squinted to see past the white beard.
“Is that Alex?” Krista asked.
“Isn’t he a dear?” Grandma replied. “Milo was already booked at the mall so Alex said he’d step in.”
“After you begged him,” her mother said.
“I didn’t beg. I bribed him with Christmas cookies.”
Her grandmother went to meet Alex, who was already gathering a small group of children in his wake. Taking him by the arm, she led him to a thronelike chair that hadn’t been on Krista’s tour of the shop. The children talked excitedly and jostled for better positions in the line that was forming.
“Time for me to switch places with your grandmother. I’m on crowd control.” Krista’s mother emerged from behind the cash register, preparing to enter the fray.
Krista laid a hand on her mother’s arm, waylaying her. “Let’s trade jobs, Mom. If you run the ball crawl, you’ll be able to sit down.”
“I don’t need to sit down.”
“Yes, you do,” Krista said firmly. “You just got out of the hospital, and you promised Rayna you’d take it easy.”
“That snitch!” Her mother crossed her arms over her chest, gnawing thoughtfully at her lower lip as she openly surveyed Krista. “If I let you manage the line, you can’t do it looking like that.”
Krista sighed and stuck out her hand. “I’ll put on the antler ears.”
“I’ve got a better idea.” Krista’s mother crossed to a nearby display, plucked a package from the shelf and held it up. The illustration on the front showed a curvaceous model wearing green tights and a short red dress. “You can be Santa’s elf. Won’t that be fun?”
CHAPTER THREE
THE BABY WAITING IN LINE to see Santa Claus was seriously lacking in Christmas spirit.
No more than six months old, she was an adorable little thing with wisps of dark hair and big brown eyes that dominated her face. She’d be cuter if her fists weren’t clenched and her wails weren’t loud enough to drown out the holiday music.
“That baby has an excellent set of lungs.” The speaker was a beautiful blonde in an eye-catching burgundy coat who Krista had noticed browsing the store aisles.
“Good stamina, too,” Krista said.
The little girl refused to be soothed no matter how much her mother cooed to her and bounced her. With a start, Krista recognized the mother as an acquaintance from high school. Once upon a time, before Krista had lost touch with everybody in Jarrell, she and Tracy Timmons had served on the high-school-yearbook committee together.
“I’m sorry.” Tracy apologized to the children in line and their waiting parents, not for the first time. “I’d leave but my little boy is next.”
Her son was a serious child of about four years old who kept his eyes straight ahead, probably for fear Tracy would pluck him out of line before he got his turn with Santa Claus. He rushed forward the instant the child ahead of him was through.
“Don’t move ’til I get a picture.” Tracy balanced the wailing baby on one hip while attempting to focus her camera. Before Krista could offer to hold the baby, Tracy thrust the child at Alex. “Would you hold her, Santa? That way I can get both kids in the shot.”
Alex didn’t have a choice. He took the baby and settled her on his knee, his hand supporting her back, his white teeth showing through his beard. The baby stared up at him out of watery eyes and quieted.
“Would you look at that?” Krista remarked to no one in particular. “It’s a Christmas miracle.”
Laughter sounded from behind Krista. The blonde. Tall and slender with the bone structure of a fashion model, the other woman was even prettier when she was amused.
“It’s no miracle,” the woman said. “It’s Alex.”
“You know Santa?” Krista asked.
“I’m here because of Alex,” the woman said. “See the blond boy in line? That’s my five-year-old son, Derrick. He chickens out every time I take him to see Santa. I’m hoping this time will be different.”
“Alex is really that good with kids?” Krista asked.
“Look how that baby loves him.” The blonde gestured to the little girl, who was laughing and tugging on Alex’s white beard. “When Alex and I were together, my nieces and nephews couldn’t get enough of him. Neither could I.”
That didn’t sound like something a married woman would say. Krista checked the blonde’s left hand for rings. It was bare except for the faint outline of pale skin on her fourth finger.
“Alex is an ex-boyfriend, not my ex-husband.” The woman had misinterpreted Krista’s look. “It never went far between us, probably because he was on the rebound.”
Krista couldn’t stifle her curiosity. “I didn’t realize Alex had been serious about anyone.”
The woman’s expertly made-up eyes widened. “Do you know him well?”
Krista squashed a sudden impulse to lie. “Hardly at all.”
The blonde seemed to relax. “Alex and I knew each other in high school but we didn’t date until a couple of years after graduation. I was crazy about him, but some woman did a number on him. I think she moved to Paris or someplace like that.”
Krista inhaled sharply. It would be easy to confuse Prague with Paris after so many years had passed.
“Funny how these things work. I married the very next guy I dated. Our divorce was final last month,” the woman continued. “Oh, look! Derrick’s next!”
The woman dug her camera from her stylish black leather purse and hurried past Krista. Derrick hung back, his feet frozen in place. Alex patted his knee.
“You’re a pretty big boy,” Alex called to him. “Just promise not to squash me. Okay?”
“Okay,” Derrick parroted, a giggle in his voice. He ventured forward and climbed on Alex’s lap.
A flash went off and then another as the blonde snapped photos. Tracy spotted Krista and they exchanged pleasantries before her baby started crying again. It wasn’t much quieter after Tracy left the store. Conversation hummed and carols played, making it difficult for Krista to puzzle through what the chatty blonde had told her.
Krista didn’t think she’d “done a number” on Alex. But who else could the blonde have meant?
The timing was right, but everything else about the blonde’s theory seemed wrong. Krista and Alex had only dated for two weeks. If he’d had strong feelings for her, wouldn’t he have asked her to reconsider moving to Europe?
“Excuse me, but could you tell me where to find Leona Novak?” The man asking the question was roughly her grandmother’s age. He’d lost most of his hair, but not his appeal. His chin was strong, his cheekbones high, his forehead wide.
This had to be Burton. His smile and the hint of mischief in his eyes made him immediately likeable. Grandma, it seemed, had made a good decision.
Krista shoved aside her questions about Alex and gave Burton her full attention. “She’s behind the cash register.”
“Oh, yes. I see her now,” he said. “She’s even lovely dressed as Mrs. Claus, isn’t she?”
Krista had been under the impression her grandmother and Burton had never met. “You already know my grandmother?”
“Your grandmother? Then you must be Krista.” He affected a bow. “I’m Charlie Crosby, your grandmother’s suitor. I stopped by to surprise her.”
Charlie? Not Burton?
“Nice to meet you, Charlie,” Krista said, the wheels in her brain turning. Burton could show at any time. “I’ve heard about you, too.”
“That’s a good sign.” Charlie winked at her. “Hopefully your grandmother is as smitten with me as I am with her.”
He tipped his nonexistent hat and sauntered away. The blonde was finally through snapping photos. She lifted her son from Alex’s lap, planting a lingering kiss on Alex’s cheek before she straightened.
It very much seemed like the blonde wanted Alex back. Krista couldn’t worry about that now, not even to puzzle through why she was concerned about it.
She needed to figure out how to keep her grandmother’s men from bumping into each other.
“IT’S LOVELY TO SEE YOU again, Alex.” Julia Merrifield lingered beside the Santa display when it was time to break for lunch. “I’m so glad I ran into your dad and he told me you’d be here. You were awesome with Derrick.”
Alex returned his attention to Julia from where Krista was talking to an elderly man in a trench coat. His white hair stuck up like the mad scientist in the Back to the Future movies.
“Derrick must have been ready to sit on Santa’s lap this year,” Alex said. “Look how eager he was to get to the ball crawl with that friend of his.”
“That could be true.” Julia leaned toward him. “But you are pretty great.”
“Thanks.” Alex wasn’t sure what else to say. Julia was warm, caring and indisputably gorgeous. He had no desire to get involved with her again, though. Eleanor Novak had been on the mark about his desire to settle down and raise a family. On some level, he’d always wanted that. As the years went by and he got older, the realization had grown stronger.
Considering Julia’s numerous positive qualities, she should have been the perfect woman for him. Alex still couldn’t explain why she wasn’t.
Neither was Krista, who’d be thousands of miles away in just a few days. That fact didn’t stop Alex from thinking about her proposition every time he looked at her. The elf dress didn’t help. Even wearing green stockings, she looked damned sexy.
“Will I see you at Timeout after Christmas?” Julia named a local sports bar popular for its happy hours and the variety of beers it served. “You’ve probably heard Malt Green is getting the old crowd together.”
“I didn’t know Malt was in town,” Alex said slowly. He and Malt had once been as close as brothers, sharing a love for mountain bike riding and landscape photography. “How is he?”
“You two didn’t keep in touch?” Julia sounded surprised. “He’s doing fantastic. His company’s really taken off so he says he can afford better than malt liquor.”
“Good for him.” Alex had to force out the words, although he wished Malt nothing but the best.
Julia wrinkled her nose. “Am I remembering wrong or didn’t you used to talk about going into business with him?”
Together Alex and Malt had dreamed up a company that sold calendars and date books depicting professional-quality landscape photographs. Malt now ran Greenscapes Ltd. alone out of Toronto.
“I joined my dad’s landscape business instead.” Alex reminded himself it was the right decision.
“I imagine you’re great at it.” Julia affixed a bright smile to her face. “I better get Derrick out of the ball crawl. Hope to see you at Timeout.”
Alex nodded but didn’t commit. “Catch you later.”
The moment Julia was gone, Alex zeroed in on Krista. She was still with the man in the trench coat, but it now seemed as though they were dancing. When the man stepped to his left, Krista countered by moving to her right. When the man went right, she stepped left.
Whatever was going on, it was too intriguing to resist.
“I keep telling you I don’t want an artificial tree!” the man exclaimed, loud enough that Alex could hear him as he approached.
“How can you be sure until you look at them? If you don’t care to buy now, pick one out for our after-Christmas sale.” Krista noticed Alex and grabbed him by the arm. “We have a fabulous selection. Don’t we, Santa?”
Alex felt like a conspirator who didn’t know what the end game was. “We sure do.”
“I’m not here to look at trees,” the man protested. “I’m here to see Leona Novak.”
“I’ve already told you,” Krista said, “I’m not sure where she is.”
As far as Alex knew, Grandma Novak hadn’t budged from the cashier’s station. “I think she’s—”
An elf shoe kicked Alex in the shins.
“Ow,” Alex said.
“Why don’t I try to find her for you? In the meantime, Santa, will you show Burton the trees?” Krista put emphasis on the man’s name.
“But he doesn’t want—” Alex began. Krista squeezed his arm hard, causing him to lose his train of thought.
“Excuse us a moment,” she told the man and pulled Alex aside. Her hair smelled great, as clean as a winter breeze. Alex was tempted to take her in his arms and breathe in the scent. He doubted she’d be amenable to that at the moment.
