“She was a teacher, just like you.”
“Except I’ll probably never do anything big like that.”
“You never know. You’re still young. You got lots of time. Anyway, you’re already doing something big. You’re teaching kids. And you’re raising one.”
She sighed. “It seems like such an overwhelming job sometimes. I wish I wasn’t doing it alone.”
“So why are you?” None of his business.
Lexie concentrated on rinsing off a plate and loading it in the dishwasher. “I think I might have mentioned that things didn’t work out with Brock’s dad,” she said, lowering her voice. She cast a look to where the boy was rummaging through a pile of games and card decks. “We finally had enough money for our wedding in Hawaii when he, uh, found someone else.”
“What about the kid?”
Why was he asking this stuff? It was as if he was channeling Carol.
She lowered her gaze and bit on her lip. Her words came out as a whisper. “He didn’t want to be a father.”
Stanley had no patience for men who committed to a woman and then bailed. Even worse to bail on his child.
“Sounds like a shit to me,” he said.
Carol would have come up with something softer, more comforting, like You poor girl. I’m so sorry that happened to you. Stanley scratched the back of his neck, suddenly uncomfortable.
“What he did was shitty,” Lexie said. “But it showed me that he wasn’t the kind of man I wanted. Of course, before everything blew up I thought he was perfect. Pretty stupid.”
“There’s no such thing as perfect. There’s only the one who’s perfect for you.” Gack. What was he now, Oprah?
“I wish I could find that person. I’m not sure I will. I’m beginning to think there aren’t any good men out there.”
What a bunch of baloney. “How hard are you looking?” Stanley asked.
Her only answer was a shrug.
The kid was back at the table now, game in hand. “I like this game,” he informed Stanley. “Do you?”
“I did when I was your age. Haven’t played it in a long time.”
“I’ll help you,” Brock said.
And so, Stanley Mann, the guy who’d never had kids, found himself absorbed in saving King Kandy from the ravenous candy snake. It wasn’t exactly sudoku, so why the heck was he grinning?
The kid wasn’t grinning when he lost.
“Hey, now,” Stanley chided. “No pouting.”
This made the corners of Brock’s mouth slide lower.
“Sometimes you lose. That’s what makes you strong. And you don’t always lose. Sometimes you win.”
“That makes me happy,” Brock said. “Can we play again?”
“Only if you promise not to pout if you lose.”
The kid nodded eagerly.
He did win the second game. “I won!” he crowed.
“Yep. See? Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but no matter what you always got to man up and be a good sport.”
“Man up and be a good sport,” Brock repeated with a nod.
“And now it’s time for my little man to have a bath,” Lexie said.
“But I want to play with Grandpa Stanley,” Brock protested.
“A good man always minds his mom,” Stanley said.
That was all it took. The boy raced for the stairs.
“You are so good with him,” Lexie said.
Stanley shrugged. “Kids aren’t my thing. That was my wife.”
“They may not be your thing, but my boy sure likes you. Thank you for being so good to him. To both of us.”
Okay, this was getting uncomfortable. “No problem. I better get going. Bonnie needs to go out.”
She looked a little shocked by his abruptness. “Oh, sure. Of course.”
“Thanks for dinner,” he said and started for the door.
“You’re welcome anytime,” she said. Then added “Oh, wait.” She hurried to the fridge and pulled out a plastic leftover container. “Take some of this home. Brock and I can never eat it all.”
Well, why not? “Thanks.”
It was nippy out, and it smelled like snow. If the weather did turn, maybe Lexie would need a ride to school in the morning. Or to her next physical-therapy appointment, since that friend of hers didn’t drive in the snow.
The woman needed more than some old guy to drive her around, he thought as he walked across her lawn to his. She needed a young buck she could do things with, grow old with.
“What a good idea,” Carol whispered in his ear.
“Hey, it was just a thought,” he said.
And thoughts were not the same as doing things. No way was he going to interfere in Lexie’s life and play matchmaker. That was chick stuff.
Cupid’s a man.
Stanley frowned. He knew where tonight’s encounter with his wife was going to go.
18
Sure enough, Stanley was barely settled in his recliner, looking for a good cop show on TV, when the screen went wonky and flipped from a murder scene to a cutesy café all decked out for Christmas. This looked suspiciously like the kind of movies his wife loved to watch every holiday season. There was the requisite adorable waitress, serving a customer a piece of pie, and here through the door came the man who would wind up falling in love with her. Stanley knew how these TV movies went. He’d watched enough of them with Carol.
“Oh, no,” he said and aimed the remote. Back to the murder scene. The detective was squatting next to the bloodied body. “It looks like—”
Before Stanley could learn what it looked like he was back to the café. “Love,” said the adorable waitress’s friend.
“Come on, Carol,” he said, exasperated. “I got the message already.”
The TV settled down, and the murder investigation began in earnest. Obviously, she’d gotten the message, too.
Okay, maybe not. Here she came again, in the middle of the night. This time she was perched on a little pink cloud, dressed in a short pink dress with lots of ruffles, and she held a bow and an arrow with a heart-shaped tip. Oh, boy. Just as he feared.
“Babe, you know I love you,” he said. It was how he’d always prefaced a refusal to cooperate. “I always have, I always will.”
“I know,” she said and smiled at him.
That sweet smile. It could still make his heart do a backflip.
“We had a lot of happy years together, didn’t we?”
“Yes, we did. Carol, I still miss you so much.”
“I know, darling. But try to remember how happy we were, how blessed to have had a lifetime together.”
It had been a good life.
“And now you have this lovely young woman who needs a father figure and a little boy who calls you Grandpa.”
Stanley rubbed his chin. Only a few days ago he would have replied The kid’s a pest, but he’d gotten used to having the boy around. And he had gotten a kick out of playing Candy Land with him. Playing a kids’ board game, after all these years. Who’da thought it?
“I know you’re coming to care about those two. Don’t you think Lexie deserves to be as happy as we were?”
“Well, sure. But, come on, Carol, what do you expect me to do about it? I’m not in the matchmaking business. That’s stuff women do. And Cupid’s not a guy,” he hurried to add. “He’s a naked baby.”
“Actually, in mythology he’s a youth, the son of Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods, and Venus, the goddess of love.”
“Whatever he is, I ain’t him,” Stanley said.
Uh-oh. Her eyes were starting to take on that creepy red glow again. And was she actually getting bigger?
He squeezed his own eyes shut. “Don’t be doing that, Carol. Please.”
“Stanley!”
H
e opened one eye and ventured a look. Yep, still scary-looking. He slammed his eyelid back down.
Her voice softened. “I’m not asking you to set up a date or anything. Just if you happen to see someone nice, mention Lexie. Now, how hard is that to do?”
“Just mention her, huh?”
“And see if he’s interested. You don’t even have to give out her phone number. In fact, you shouldn’t because you never know.”
“Oh, so I’m supposed to see somebody nice, hook him up with Lexie but not give him her phone number because he might not be nice.”
She frowned. “Stanley, you are being difficult.”
“No, I’m being smart. It’s never a good idea to try and set people up. Remember that book-club friend of yours you tried to match up with my poor old buddy Mickey?”
“Well, how was I to know she had a drinking problem?”
“That’s my point. You can’t always know about people.”
She sighed, and he ventured another look. Good, she was back to the genial woman he knew and loved. No more fiery eyes, and she’d shrunk back down to size.
“All right, Manly Stanley. You know best.”
“You bet I do,” he said.
“And I know you want to see your new friend happy. She’s benefiting so much from having you in her life. I’m proud of you, darling.”
He’d always loved to hear her say that. It left him feeling all warm and gooey.
He smiled wistfully at her. “I wish I could hold you again.”
“You are. In your heart.” She blew him a kiss and was gone.
Yes, she would be in his heart for the rest of his days. But he sure missed being able to hold her in his arms.
Everyone needs someone to love.
It was the last thing he heard before he fell into a dreamless sleep.
And it was the first thing inside his head when he woke up in the morning. “Lexie’s nice enough,” he said to Bonnie as he dished up her dog food, “and I get what Carol’s saying, but I don’t know anybody the girl’s age. What am I supposed to do, put an ad in the paper? She’s young. She knows how to use the internet. She can find someone there.”
But how did you really know about people you met on the those dating sites? Hard enough to find out about someone when you saw them in person. Hiding behind a computer screen, people could tell all kinds of lies about themselves.
“Not my problem,” he explained to the dog.
Bonnie wagged her tail, a sure sign of agreement, and dug into her breakfast.
Yep, not his problem.
But then he found himself in the supermarket meat section, and there was Jayce Campbell, putting out packages of steak.
Nice-enough fella, and friendly. Always used to chat up Carol. The first time Stanley had come in the store after losing her, Jayce had asked about her. He hadn’t gotten all sloppy sentimental on hearing she was gone; he’d shaken his head and said, “That sucks.” Then he’d given Stanley a free steak and suggested he get a case of beer. “That’s on me, too.”
Stanley had never seen a ring on the guy’s hand. He could almost feel Carol prodding him. The guy was okay—not bad-looking, either. Maybe Lexie would like him.
But Stanley was not in the matchmaking business.
“Hey, Mr. Mann,” Jayce greeted him. “How’s it goin’?”
“It’s goin’,” Stanley replied.
“Steak tonight?” Jayce asked.
“Yeah. Give me a good one.”
“They’re all good here. You know that,” Jayce said with a grin as he handed over a nice rib eye.
“That’ll work,” Stanley said.
He could have sworn he felt a poke in the ribs.
Say something.
He’d imagined that.
Stanley!
Shit. What was he supposed to say? He didn’t know how these millennials or Gen Xers or whatever this guy was thought. How was Stanley supposed to start a conversation about his love life?
He stalled. “Give me another one while you’re at it.”
“Sure,” said Jayce and handed over a second package. “You having company or stocking up?”
“Stocking up.” Okay, if there was a way to smoothly transition from talking about steak to women Stanley didn’t know it. He took the blunt approach. “Got a woman in your life?” Maybe he should have been more general. Maybe the guy was into men.
“You know somebody?”
Stanley shrugged, keeping it casual. “Got a nice neighbor. She’s new in town.”
“Yeah? Is she quiche?”
Quiche. Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche. Stanley remembered that expression. So, Jayce was asking...what?
“Is she hot?” Jayce clarified.
That term Stanley knew. “Yeah, she’s pretty cute. She’s looking to hook up. You interested?”
Jayce’s eyes lit up like Stanley had just offered him a winning lotto ticket. “Sure. Why not? Got a number for her?”
Lexie wouldn’t want him passing out her phone number like it was a party favor. “Tell you what. Give me yours, and I’ll pass it on.”
“Okay,” Jayce said and did. “Tell her to call me if she’s interested.”
That had been simple enough. Stanley smiled as he made his way to the checkout stand. He’d done a favor for his neighbor and made Carol happy. All in a day’s work.
* * *
Lexie was surprised when Mr. Mann stopped by her house Saturday morning. Lately he’d only been coming over to fetch Bonnie or drop off some grocery item she needed, so him popping over to visit felt about as natural as Scrooge dropping by with presents.
Brock had been right there the minute he heard their neighbor’s voice. “I have a wiggly tooth,” he informed Mr. Mann, then opened his mouth and demonstrated.
“You sure do,” Mr. Mann agreed. “Want me to yank it out?”
Brock took a step back and shook his head violently. “Mommy says it will fall out all on its own. When it does I’ll put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy.”
“When I was your age and had a loose tooth, we tied a string around it, then hooked the other end to a doorknob and slammed the door,” Mr. Mann said. “Came right out.”
Brock’s eyes got big, and he took another step back.
Okay, that was probably enough reminiscing about past tooth experiences. “Is there something we can do for you, Mr. Mann?”
“Stanley,” he reminded her.
“Stanley,” she said. That whole first name thing was going to take some getting used to. Her grandma had always told Lexie it was disrespectful to call her elders by their first names.
“Uh, no. I just, uh, happened to, uh, be talking to a guy at the grocery store and, uh, mentioned you.”
“Mentioned me?” Where was he going with this?
“He works in the meat department. Nice guy, not married. I told him you were new in town.” Stanley produced a slip of paper with a name and phone number on it. “He said to call him if you’re interested.”
So Stanley Mann was playing matchmaker. How sweet, Lexie thought, touched.
“That’s awfully kind of you,” she said and took it.
“Maybe you can meet for coffee or drinks or something.”
“Maybe we can,” she agreed. “Thanks.”
He nodded, cleared his throat. “Well, uh, see you two later.” Then he turned and went down the front-porch steps, looking like a man anxious to escape.
Lexie smiled as she shut the front door. A nice man. Wouldn’t that be a change.
She did call later that day.
A sexy, low voice answered, making her body vibrate like a tuning fork, and she had an instant image of a cowboy on the cover of a romance novel. Was the rest of him as gorgeous as his voice?
“I’m Lexie Bell,” she said. “M
y neighbor, Stanley Mann, told me about you.”
Jayce Campbell gave a half chuckle. “He’s a cool old dude. He said you’re new in town.”
“I am.”
“That can be a pain in the ass. But hey, I can fill you in on everything you want to know.”
“I’d like that.”
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Tonight?” she repeated. Gosh, instant date.
“Sure. Why not? I’m in-between.”
In between what? Well, women. Duh. All right, he was in-between and so was she, so why not?
“Okay,” she said.
“I can pick you up.”
The few first (and usually last) dates she’d had she’d chosen the place to meet and had arrived separately. She wasn’t going to change that strategy, no matter who had recommended this man.
“I’ll meet you,” she said. “Where’s a good place?”
“Smokey’s. That place is lit.”
“All right.” Hopefully, Shannon could stay with Brock. “What time?”
“Seven?”
“Seven it is,” she said. It would give her time to feed Brock before she left. “How will I recognize you?”
“I’m pretty tall. I’ll be wearing jeans and a leather jacket. But don’t worry, I’ll spot you. I’ll be looking for the best-looking woman in the place.”
Flattery and he hadn’t even seen her. She hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed. She hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed.
“All right. See you later,” she said. And just like that she had a date.
She was grinning like she’d won a prize at the fair when she ended the call. Until she looked down and saw the stupid boot on her foot. Yeah, that was attractive. She should have told him she’d be the one in a walking boot.
Oh, well. There wasn’t much she could do about the boot. She wouldn’t be in it forever, and any man with a brain would understand that.
She called Shannon. “Any chance you can come over and hang out with Brockie for a couple of hours tonight? I have—wait for it—a date.”
“A date? You met somebody? You used that dating app and didn’t tell me?”
A Little Christmas Spirit Page 18
