It Must Be Christmas

by Jennifer Crusie

  There was a long pause before he answered again.

  Okay. Talk soon.

  That was it. Short and sweet. No suggestion of when they might get together next. She was relieved. Wasn’t she? She should be. She’d given herself a firm talking-to after she’d gotten some sleep. Put things in perspective. Did she even have time for dating right now? She looked down at the carrier which doubled as a seat. The baby was awake and staring up at her with big blue eyes. She’d been up twice during the night to feed him. Babies took up a lot of time.

  The truth was, she was nearly thirty. She figured that any man she got involved with pretty much had to come with keeper potential. It was simply the way she was wired. She’d never wasted time on things that were going nowhere. Sometimes she wondered what that would be like. Pointless? Or liberating? Either way, she had her laundry list of attributes for her future partner. Top of it were marriage and father material. Dave certainly seemed devoted to his daughter, but how long would he stay in Jewell Cove?

  She enlisted Robin’s help in caring for the baby, putting his seat in the reception area, taking turns changing him or carrying him around when he was fussy. Midmorning, two cups of coffee and four patients later, Robin came back and let her know that Todd Smith was in the waiting room and wanted to talk to her. Figuring it could only be about the baby, she checked her watch and nodded. “Bring him back here, Robin. If it’s about the investigation, we won’t want to talk where everyone can hear.”

  “Sure thing, Charlie.” Robin smiled and scooted out, returning only seconds later with Officer Smith trailing behind her.

  Next to the petite receptionist, Todd Smith looked big and imposing, especially in his uniform. He’d removed his hat and had it tucked under his arm, and she realized some of his bulk came from the impressive array of gear on his belt as well as the probability of a flak jacket beneath his clothing.

  “Morning, Dr. Yang,” he greeted.

  She smiled. “You can call me Charlie,” she offered. “Unless you prefer the title for official business.”

  He smiled back. “Too bad I am on official business.” Before she could dissect that particular comment, he motioned toward a chair. “May I?”

  “Oh, of course. Do you want a coffee or anything?”

  There was a tap on the door frame and Robin came in, carrying a steaming mug. “Here you go, Todd. Heavy on the cream, no sugar.”

  “Thanks, Robin.” He smiled at the receptionist and then grinned at Charlie. “Robin already asked when I arrived. Thanks for the offer, though.” He took a sip and sighed. “That’s way better than what Bryce makes up at the station.”

  Charlie sat in her chair and crossed her ankles. “So. I take it you have news?”

  He took another drink of coffee and then put the cup down on the corner of her desk. “Well, yes. But not the kind we hoped for.” His gaze met hers. “We did a records check. Couldn’t find any unaccounted-for babies from any of the nearby hospitals. We went back over three weeks.”

  She frowned. “Huh. I really thought that would work, you know?” She thought for a second and then voiced an idea. “What if the baby had been born at home? It happens. Not often, but it happens.”

  “You mean with a midwife or something?”

  “Sure, that too. Couldn’t you cross-check birth-certificate registrations against the hospital records?”

  He nodded and smiled. “Actually, we’ve already started on that.”

  Charlie sat back in her chair and pondered. It was hard to hide a pregnancy, or any record of it if the mom had been receiving regular prenatal care. Surely it would only be a matter of time until they found the baby’s mother. “Well, something will hopefully turn up.”

  “It takes time. The wheels of bureaucracy and all that. I just wanted to give you an update, seeing as how you’ve got a stake in this too. I was surprised to see him with you today.”

  She gave a little laugh. “I couldn’t resist. He’s sweet. Even though he kept me up all night.”

  Smith shuddered. “Yuck. Been there done that. During a few of my Uncle of the Year moments.” He laughed. “I like my sister’s kids much better now that they’re mobile. It’ll be even better when they hit Little League.”

  She looked at the officer closely, took quick stock of him. Tall, handsome, stable job, liked kids, settled … he ticked all the right boxes. But she didn’t get that tummy-lifting, butterfly sensation that she did when she saw Dave. How inconvenient.

  “Charlie, would you mind stopping by the station, maybe tomorrow? It might be good to go over your statement from Saturday night. See if you remember anything else that might help us out.”

  “I don’t work until one. I can probably pop in tomorrow morning.”

  “That’d be great. Well, I’d better be going.” He hesitated for a minute, then caught her gaze and held it. “This Ricker guy that was here on Saturday. Are you…”

  “No.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. But she couldn’t deny that Todd looked relieved at her answer.

  “Oh. It seemed like you were.”

  “We were merely walking to meet Josh and some others at the pub. He didn’t want me to be alone is all.”

  Liar.

  She checked her watch. “Listen, thanks for stopping by. I do have another patient waiting, though.”

  He stood and nodded. “And I’ve got to get back to work. Take care, Charlie.” His smile was warm enough to melt icicles.

  “Thanks, Todd. You too.”

  When he was gone, she took a minute to sit and recover. Unless she was greatly mistaken, and she could be—her romantic radar wasn’t the best—Officer Smith had been sending out some signals. On Saturday night he’d been rather protective of her too, she remembered. She didn’t know him well, but they’d met on several occasions …

  “Charlie? Exam room one is waiting.” Robin appeared in the doorway with a smile. “Can’t blame you for needing to sit down, though. Todd Smith in uniform is…” She stopped talking and merely made the motion of fanning herself.

  Charlie couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t let Josh hear you talking like that.”

  “I suppose we shouldn’t let on that we call him Dr. Hottie then?”

  Charlie nearly choked. “Oh my God. He’d die.”

  With a cheeky grin, Robin disappeared and Charlie made her way to the exam room, grabbing the chart off the door. Enough fun—it was time to get back to work.

  Chapter Six

  Charlie wished this wasn’t the first time she’d had to give a police statement, but she’d done her share during her ER rotation. Then there was the time she’d stopped at a gas station for a pint of ice cream and had found herself in the middle of a domestic dispute. As the boyfriend had come charging across the parking lot, the cashier had locked the outside door. Charlie hadn’t thought twice. She’d taken the girl into the storage closet and locked them in until police arrived, spending several minutes trying to calm the girl down.

  Her parents had been livid that she’d inserted herself into a potentially dangerous situation. That had been the day that she’d realized that she simply did not think the same way as her mother and father did and she’d known exactly what she was going to do. She asked herself why she’d become a doctor and the answer had been clear—she’d done it to help people. That was the marker of her success—not acclaim or status or money. She didn’t give a rat’s ass about becoming chief of anything or top of her field. Prestige meant nothing to her. She’d been around it her whole life and found it to be an empty ambition. And so she’d stood up for herself for the first time ever, put her foot down, and found herself part of a small practice here in Jewell Cove. No regrets. Not one.

  Now here she was again, in the middle of a situation that wasn’t her doing, sitting, waiting. Drinking terrible police station coffee while the baby sat in his car seat, his bright eyes open and staring at a colorful toy bar she’d bought during a very necessary trip to shop for the necessities like clothing and a
proper snowsuit. An additional surprise had been Josh’s sister, Sarah, who had arrived at the office with baby items from when she’d had her children, like a playpen with a thick pad at the bottom that Charlie could use as a makeshift crib.

  Absently she checked her e-mail on her phone—nothing major other than a couple of e-bills that required payment and a few newsletters she’d read later. She picked up a magazine and flipped through it, but nothing really grabbed her interest. She was about to resort to a game of spider solitaire when the office door opened and she looked up.

  And saw Dave.

  She was immediately transported to two days earlier, sitting on her floor and kissing him. Her face had to be turning red even as she tried a friendly smile. The look he gave her was sweet, as if they shared a secret, and she melted a little bit. Why was it he could turn her to mush with just an expression?

  “Good morning, Dr. Yang,” he said easily. “I guess you’re here for the same reason I am.”

  “I guess so.” She pushed on the arms of the chair and stood. Her heels increased her height by a few inches, but she was still a good five inches or more shorter than he was. She tugged at her black skirt, brushed her hands over the fabric.

  “Dr. Yang? Come on in.” The officer on duty called her into the office and she picked up the car seat. She was starting to get used to the weight of it.

  “It’s good to see you, Dave.”

  She moved to pass him and he caught her arm. “How about an early lunch when you’re done?” He leaned close, his words soft. “I don’t have to be at work until one.”

  “Me either,” she confessed, and then wondered why she’d been so quick to answer. Hadn’t she decided yesterday that it was better to just let things go? Besides, he’d been the one to say talk soon and then hadn’t texted again … Clearly it was much easier to put him off with a text message than it was face-to-face.

  “So we’re on? You can fill me in on how this little guy is doing.” He peered down into the seat, a goofy smile on his face.

  She hesitated. It was just lunch, after all. Perfectly platonic and public, right? And she did have to eat before doing her stint as the walk-in doctor this afternoon.

  “The Tuesday special at Breezes is meatloaf and mashed potatoes,” he urged.

  “That sounds fine to me. I’ll see you when you’re done.”

  She didn’t want to keep the officer waiting, so she slipped inside the office and took a chair to answer any lingering questions about Saturday night.

  It didn’t take as long as she expected, and she was out thirty minutes later. Dave was sitting in the chair she’d vacated, flipping through the same magazine. “Ready?” he asked, standing.

  “I guess.” She put her scarf around her neck and then went to put on her coat. In an instant, Dave was there, helping her slip her arms into the sleeves and balance the baby. “Thanks,” she murmured, buttoning the buttons and taking her gloves from the pockets.

  “It’s a cold one,” he observed as he held the door and they stepped outside into the police station parking lot. “Did you walk over from the clinic?”

  “No, I drove here straight from home.” She looked around and didn’t see his truck. “You walked up, didn’t you?”

  “I did.”

  “Guess you’re riding with me, then.”

  He took the carrier from her hands and they started across the parking lot. Dave was right, it was bitterly cold; the kind of aching cold that seeped through clothing right into the bones. She hadn’t worn boots today either, and her heels and nylons gave no protection against the weather. Halfway across the lot, her shoe slipped on a sheet of ice and she felt herself careening backward.

  “Oopsie daisies!” The funny expression slipped from Dave’s lips as his hand caught her elbow, keeping her upright. “Careful there.”

  She could feel the strength of his fingers through the thick wool coat. “Thanks. I should have worn boots today.”

  “No kidding. Don’t get me wrong, your legs look great. But those shoes are not made for ice and snow.”

  She got out her keys, feeling a bit fluttery from the compliment. “I know. I figured with just four hours at the office today, I’d skip the boots.”

  The heater took a minute or two to kick in, and the drive was so short that Charlie’s toes had barely started to thaw when they parked on the street outside the café. It was only eleven thirty; they’d arrived before the lunch rush. This time, when Charlie got out of the car, Dave took her arm securely so she wouldn’t slip on any black ice on the sidewalk, and carried the baby with his other hand.

  Breezes was toasty warm and smelled heavenly when they walked in. A local radio station played over the speakers and despite the cold outside, it was cheery and bright on the inside. It had already been decorated for Christmas, with gaudy tinsel draped along the lunch counter and silk poinsettias on every table. Above the wide window overlooking the harbor, a gold and red and green shiny sign said MERRY CHRISTMAS and in the corner, an artificial tree was up and lit with colorful lights and red and green ornaments.

  “Lunch for two today, Charlie?” the waitress, Linda, called out from the kitchen. “I’ll be right out. Just putting up a takeout order. Sit where you like.”

  Charlie chose her usual table without thinking; a table for two with comfortable wood captain’s chairs and an unimpeded view of the docks. “Hey,” Dave said as he hung his coat on the back of his chair and then sat down. “I can see the boatyard from here. Cool.” He pulled a spare chair over and put the car seat on it. “There you go,” he said softly, smiling down at the tiny face staring up at him. “You get a chair like everyone else.”

  She was very aware that the boatyard was visible, and instead of meeting his gaze or responding, she kept her eyes down and reached for the menu tucked in a wire holder on the table.

  Linda didn’t waste any time bustling over with two glasses of ice water. “You beat the rush today, folks. And oh my soul, who is this adorable boy?” Linda peered into the car seat and smiled. “Aren’t you handsome,” she cooed, and Charlie couldn’t help but smile.

  “I’m watching him for a few days. He’s our baby in the manger.” Charlie knew the grapevine would spread the news anyway, so she filled Linda in on the details. “Dave and I were just at the station, answering a few final questions, and thought we’d grab lunch before going to work.”

  “Oh, of course. What can I get you? The special’s meatloaf and your choice of potato with carrots, and we’ve got a holiday special happening all month long. Stuffed turkey breast with mashed potatoes and gravy, peas and carrots, cranberry sauce, and dessert.”

  “I’ll have that,” Dave said quickly. “Sounds perfect.”

  “And you, Charlie?”

  Dave’s meal sounded like an awful lot of food. Usually she went for a salad or a bowl of soup, but today she was starving. Besides, she could go home after work and have something light, right?

  “I’ll have the meatloaf with mashed,” she answered, smiling. “Thanks, Linda.”

  “It’ll be right up,” she answered. “I’ll bring you some coffee while you wait. It’s wicked cold today.”

  The radio station was interspersing holiday songs with their regular playlist, and Charlie caught herself tapping her toe to a country version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” “Not to be corny,” she suggested, “but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.”

  He nodded. “I know. Now that the tree’s up in the square, every single window is lit up and decorated. I mean, a lot of stuff went up right after Thanksgiving, but it’s a full-court press now.”

  She smiled, waited while Linda poured their coffee, and then replied as she added milk to her cup. “So, are you a Santa or a Scrooge?” she asked.

  He grinned. “Maybe a little of both. Sometimes it can get to be a bit much. The hoopla and the crowds and how it can all seem like a competition. But then there are other things I like about it too. We always had good Chr
istmases growing up. There wasn’t always a lot of money to go around, but with the five of us there was always something fun. There was always a new board game every Christmas, and sports equipment. One year the three of us boys all got new baseball gloves. We took them outside to play and I swear I couldn’t feel my fingers when I came back in, they were so cold. We used to have New Year’s Eve movie nights too, with all of us crowded around the TV and my mom would make popcorn and Kool-Aid. It was the only time we were ever allowed to stay up past midnight.”

  “That sounds so fun. It was only me at home, so the only time anything like that happened was if I had a friend over, or went to their house.”

  “And that didn’t happen very often?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. My parents always threw a Christmas Eve cocktail party. It was not really … kid friendly. And they went out for New Year’s, and I had a sitter until I was old enough to stay alone.” She shrugged.

  “Wow. You missed out on a lot.”

  She shrugged again. “It was what it was.”

  Linda came back bearing two huge plates of food. “Oh my word,” Charlie exclaimed, but the aroma was so good that her mouth was already watering. “That smells so good, Linda.”

  “You just holler if you need anything else. I’ll be back with dessert and more coffee in a bit.”

  The café was starting to fill up now, the lunch regulars filtering in, rubbing their hands together to keep warm. The tunes on the radio were drowned out by conversation as Charlie and Dave dipped into their meals. Gus, the main cook at the café, hadn’t let them down. Charlie’s meatloaf was moist and flavorful, the potatoes smooth, the carrots sweetened with just a hint of something.

  “If I could cook like Gus, I’d never eat out,” Charlie admitted. “I do okay in the kitchen, but the guy is a master of comfort food.”

  “I agree. His crab cakes are almost as good as my mother’s.” Dave dipped a piece of turkey in cranberry sauce and popped it in his mouth. “And this sauce is not from a can.”

  “I think Gus would rather die than cook anything that wasn’t from scratch.” Charlie laughed. “So, what are your plans for this Christmas?”