If Wishes Were Magic

by Barbara Baldwin

  “There really is no story, but since you seem to think something is amiss, I’ll tell you what happened.” In less than a minute, she gave him the bare facts, leaving out all names and particulars. “So we decided to honor our advertisement and give a party for the children.”

  He looked disappointed that there was no scandal, misrepresentation or actual wrongdoing.

  “If you’ll excuse us, it’s time to leave.” AJ left the reporter no choice as he took Chanti’s elbow and guided her away. As soon as they were out of hearing, he exploded. “What the hell was that all about? If I’d had a rope, he’d be hogtied and strung out to dry by now.” She immediately noticed the drawl back in his voice.

  She smiled as he helped her with her wrap. He was still muttering as he jerked on his overcoat and scarf and she put a gloved finger to his lips. “Thank you for your support; I really did appreciate it. But your frontier justice might undo your mesmerizing effect on our patrons. If they withdraw their support, I can’t pay your commission.”

  As predicted, AJ’s brow cleared instantly and his lips curled in a grin. “Now that, darlin’, is something worth fighting for.”

  Chapter 8

  Chanti invited AJ up for a nightcap when they got back to her building, but to her disappointment, he declined.

  He kissed her sweetly before Roman buzzed them into the building. “Sweetheart, after what just happened in the car coming over here, I would be inclined to stay for more than a nightcap if I came upstairs with you.”

  She blushed at his mention of the heated kisses they had shared all the way across town. There were certainly advantages to having a driver and very dark glass between him and the back seat. She almost asked what would be so wrong with more than a nightcap when he tilted her chin up and captured her gaze, his eyes warm and dark with desire.

  “When the time is right, we’ll both know it,” he said to her unspoken question. “Are you staying in the city over the weekend?”

  The abrupt change in subject caught her off guard and she had to remember what day it was. “No, but it’s too late to get home tonight. I’ll go down in the morning. What about you?”

  “Thought I’d work on the latest letters.” He gave a shrug.

  “AJ, you don’t have to work all weekend. Why don’t you come down to Hattiesville with me? You could see Charlie.”

  “Actually, Charlie is coming up. He’s got tickets for us to a Bears football game.”

  She laughed. “You’re going to sit in the cold and watch football?”

  He grinned. “It’s a man thing.”

  “Your loss. You could have a home cooked meal. Wilma is known for her casseroles.”

  “Maybe another weekend.” He tenderly slid one finger down her cheek. “I really enjoyed tonight. Thanks for asking me on a date.” She closed her eyes as he leaned close and gave her one last kiss, his lips warm and gentle against hers. “Good night, Chantilly Lace.”

  He was gone by the time she opened her eyes.

  * * *

  Chanti caught the train home Saturday morning, and spent the day catching up on personal correspondence and reading, a luxury she rarely afforded herself. She slept in Sunday, took a long hot soak in a bubble bath and came down to the kitchen to the smells of Wilma’s potato soup and homemade bread.

  “Oh, man, I told AJ he was really missing out when it came to your cooking,” she told Wilma as she helped clean up.

  “You were actually going to bring him home with you?” Wilma teased, knowing how secretive Chanti kept her life.

  “He’s different. He has no interest in my company, other than the job he’s doing for me. He has a cattle ranch in Texas.”

  “So what will happen when this job is done?”

  Wilma asked the question that Chanti kept pushing to the back of her mind. She didn’t want to think about that; she wanted to enjoy what they had in the present. “We’ve just become good friends,” she said, not believing a word of it, and apparently neither did Wilma from the look on her face.

  “Maybe this young man is the one to settle down with,” she said.

  Chanti snorted. “Not if I can’t even get him into my apartment.” Funny how the male-female roles seemed to be reversed in her relationship with AJ. She had been hesitant at first but was now more than ready to make love, and he was the one dragging his feet.

  She hung up the dishtowel she had been using and headed for the living room where she could curl up by the fire and read the newspaper.

  She had no more than unfolded the Tribune when the headlines jumped out at her. Mori Cosmetics Targets Youngsters. “Oh, good God!” She quickly scanned the article then read it slowly as she walked back into the kitchen.

  “I swear one of these days I’m going to wring that man’s neck.” She tossed the newspaper on the counter for Wilma to read. “He used the word target like we were doing something illegal.”

  Wilma read the article while Chanti paced. “It’s not that bad, dear. Besides, won’t an article about your party for the children help your company?”

  “That’s not the point. I didn’t want any press. Many of the parents we’re in contact with can’t afford to do things for their kids. Who wants their name in the paper because they’re on welfare?”

  Her cell phone rang and she hurried to get it.

  “Have you read the paper?” AJ’s voice was welcome because he understood the problem.

  “Yes,” she gave a sigh, knowing there was nothing she could do.

  “Do you want me to hunt him down and string him up in a tree for you?”

  She laughed, relieving the tension across her shoulders. “Better not. Mori Cosmetics doesn’t need any more publicity. At least he had the bare facts right.”

  “I have to hand it to you. You knew exactly what to tell him to get him off your back without giving away too much.”

  His praise made her feel warm inside.

  “Whoops, that must be Charlie pounding on my door.” Chanti heard him open a door and mutter something before he came back on the line. “Gotta go. Charlie says if we don’t get there early, we won’t have time to get thoroughly drunk by kick off.”

  Chanti just shook her head, chuckling. “Tell Charlie to get you home at a decent hour. We have work to do tomorrow.”

  “If you were here, I could give you a kiss good-bye,” he softly drawled, making shivers race up and down Chanti’s arms.

  “It’s not like I didn’t ask you,” she replied.

  There was a moment of silence on the other end. “I know, and I really, really wanted to.” Chanti heard Charlie shout in the background. “Look, now’s not the time. We’ll talk; soon.”

  “Have fun.”

  He said good bye and Chanti hung up, staring off into space. Did he mean talk, talk, or was he referring to something else? She liked AJ more than anyone she could remember. He was honorable -- an old fashioned word but an important trait to her. He had a great sense of humor, liked many of the same things she did, and he was damned hot to look at. Okay, so it wasn’t love, but being friends seemed like a good foundation to build on.

  Although always happy to go to work when Monday rolled around, Chanti was suddenly even more anxious for the work week to start.

  * * *

  “Jake needs to talk to you ASAP,” Annie said by way of greeting first thing Monday morning. She was practically bouncing in her chair, and Chanti could only assume it was good news.

  “Does this call for a party committee meeting?” She smiled at her assistant.

  “Another meeting?” AJ groused as he came through the doors, wearing dark glasses.

  “Hard night?” she couldn’t help but tease.

  “Hell, I didn’t make it ‘til night. Those boys know how to party. Ah,” he sighed as Annie handed him a cup of steaming coffee. “When I leave here, Annie, darlin’, I’m going to steal you.”

  “Ha! You think,” Chanti replied for her assistant. “Annie, tell Jake to come up in about twenty minutes
, and if he thinks we need to, we’ll have Mr. Anderson here sit in on the meeting.” She looked at AJ with a smile. “If he’s sufficiently recovered by then.”

  Chanti settled behind her desk to read the stack of letters not from children that Annie had left on a pile in the middle of her blotter. She read and sorted, realizing there were some from women who wanted make-overs, the vision she originally had for the Frost contest. She tossed these into a basket.

  She and Annie had designed a letter that Annie would send to all these women, thanking them for their time and indicating someone would get back to them. And of course, Annie added a coupon for some cosmetics. The makeover campaign would be dealt with after the holidays. She laughed as she realized her priorities had definitely changed.

  The rest of the letters were bogus – a man wanting to win the lottery, not once but twice, and someone wanting a free house. Selfishness had no place in her plans for the holiday season and those letters quickly found the recycle bin.

  She noted Annie’s scribbled note on the last envelope she picked up. “This one’s scary.”

  Sliding out the single piece of paper, Chanti noted there was no return address, so she almost didn’t read it, but Annie’s note bothered her. The harshly scribbled black words jumped off the paper.

  “Dear Bitch, you owe me. I want one hundred thousand in cash sent to post office box 497 today.” It was signed Santa’s elf.

  “Well, for goodness sake.” She dropped the letter on her desk and sat staring at it. Her heart pounded before she reminded herself it was just some nutcase trying to make an easy buck. Because of Dean’s article in the Tribune, they would probably get more letters from people who wanted something for nothing.

  When Annie buzzed her that Jake was there, she grabbed the letter, tore it in tiny pieces and tossed it in the trash. She would not let it affect her good mood.

  “Ms M, you gotta see this,” Jake raced into her office, coming right around the desk and rapidly typing into her computer. “We set up a website for Chantilly Frost before the campaign started. Until today there had been very little activity, but now? Wow, it’s incredible.”

  “What is that?” She looked at the computer screen, the cosmetic logo and sample products across the top and then a long list of what appeared to be emails.

  “It’s a blog site,” Jake replied. “And today there are over a hundred hits, all having to do with the Tribune article.”

  “Well, I guess Dean’s article was bound to create a little publicity.”

  “You don’t understand. All these are from women, and they all want to help! I’ve spent the last two hours reading every one and you wouldn’t believe it.” His enthusiasm was catching, and Chanti found herself reading the messages as he scrolled down the list.

  “They want to help with the party, or get toys and donations from their neighborhoods. Some say if children want jobs for their parents, they can help line them up. And look,” he paused, scrolling down to one he had highlighted, “this woman wants to adopt children!”

  “The news article didn’t say anything about having children for adoption!” Chanti exclaimed, concerned that things were rapidly getting out of hand. “After all, there are probably legalities involved with that and I certainly don’t want to get the company in trouble.”

  Jake read the message out loud. “Dear Chantilly Frost. I think what you’re doing for Chicago’s children is incredible, and I would like to help in whatever way I can. My husband and I aren’t able to have children and would even consider adopting if your letters have children who are asking Santa to bring them parents for Christmas.”

  “Oh, my,” Chanti breathed. “This has gotten way out of hand.”

  Annie had followed Jake into her office and now spoke up. “Why not use these women to help with the party? I mean, since it’s sort of taken on a life of its own, we could use the help.”

  Chanti thought of the threatening letter demanding money. What if the people emailing the website were perverts, or deranged criminals?

  She pushed the number to the conference room. “AJ, can you come in here please?” While she waited, she asked Jake, “Is there a way of mass emailing all these people?”

  He nodded. “Anyone finding and posting to this blog will be checking back to see what’s happening. Why?”

  “What’s up?” AJ sauntered in, and his presence had an immediate calming effect on Chanti. He didn’t have to even look at her or touch her, and she felt back in control. She quickly brought him up to speed on the blog site.

  He whistled. “What do you want to do?”

  “If Jake posts to the blog that anyone wanting to help must email us their personal information, you know -- name, address, phone number – can you run background checks on them, and if so how long does that take?”

  AJ raised a brow in contemplation. “You think people would use a Christmas party for kids for nefarious reasons?”

  Chanti knew it sounded farfetched. “I have to protect the company’s interests; that’s all.”

  AJ seemed to accept that. “I can do the checks as they come in. Jake, have all interested parties email the information to my email. That will save time going into the blog site constantly.” He gave him the address then turned to Chanti. “What are you going to do with the people who check out okay?”

  “We’ll set up a meeting and see how to best use them. Just give me a day’s notice and we can do something in the atrium downstairs.”

  He gave her a conspirator wink. “Does this mean Dean gets invited to the party since he gave you free publicity?”

  “Ha! What he did was give me a huge headache and even more work to do.”

  “And you love every minute of it, don’t you?” He gave her an affectionate smile and Chanti knew he was right. But she also knew there was more to it than that.

  “I love making good things happen.”

  Chapter 9

  It was two days before they managed to bring the women together who had replied to the blog site with information and AJ had completed background checks. Chanti actually recognized quite a few names, as many of Chicago’s middle and upper class were very involved in many of the same charities she was.

  The meeting went well, as AJ charmed them in much the same way as he had the matrons at the theatre. He’d had the foresight to ask for additional information, and as the women arrived, he handed them a card, the color of which matched the committee signs placed around the room.

  Chanti stood back and watched in amazement as he and Annie ran the meeting, first thanking everyone for coming and being willing to help during such a busy time of year. He then split them into committees, asking them to select a chair and come up with what they could do to help on such short notice. With his soft Texan drawl, he answered all their questions with a smile and she just shook her head and grinned as they all, young and old, looked smitten.

  As the women sat at the various tables, drinking tea and coffee, the buzz of conversation grew as their enthusiasm caught. AJ turned to her with a smile.

  “There you go, Ms Morrison. All you have to do is collect their notes at the end of the meeting and make sure each chairwoman has your phone number.” He turned to walk away.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Back to the peace and quiet of the conference room. This reminds me too much of one of my mom’s parties.”

  “And you love every minute of it,” she threw his words back at him. “Thank you.” She leaned toward him and without thinking, kissed his cheek. She heard a few sighs behind her and her cheeks grew hot.

  “Now you’ve done it,” he whispered. “We’ll be the talk of the town before nightfall. You’ve compromised me, and this may call for some serious renegotiation of my contract.”

  AJ had a tendency to talk in riddles and to tease, and Chanti looked up to see if he was serious or if his words were meant to convey an entirely different meaning. His eyes were dark with desire; his lips tilted ever so slightly in a sexy s
mile. He wanted her, and Chanti’s heart raced with anticipation.

  * * *

  Later that evening, Chanti dressed to go to the holiday Chamber of Commerce reception, still somewhat dazed at how the afternoon had gone. In the space of three hours, the children’s Christmas party had been taken over by committee. Annie had given the chair of the refreshment committee the caterer’s name and phone number; another committee got the information on the stockings being ordered and told Chanti they would “deal with the decorations.”

  Other committees were in charge of toys and donations, the chairs saying they would be in touch with Annie or AJ to keep abreast of what the children were asking for. Chanti was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to do more shopping, but all the women were whirlwinds of activity, and she knew the party was going to be a great success.

  There was even what AJ had labeled the “impossible committee” and the chair was a woman Chanti remembered seeing at the theatre the other night. AJ had introduced her as Martha Langford, and she had assured Chanti she would “take care of everything.” Chanti would have to remember to ask AJ just exactly what that meant.

  She sighed, giving herself a last look in the mirror. They were down to less than two weeks and AJ had finally convinced her that even if they didn’t find all the children, she could always do a Valentine’s Day party for the rest. Though he might have been kidding, she was seriously considering the idea. She had become so enamored with the children’s unselfish requests that she had begun conversations with her legal department about setting up a foundation.

  When she exited her studio apartment through her office, she noticed the light on in the conference room. It was after eight, and she had thought she was the only one left on the top floor. She should have known better. AJ had been burning the midnight oil, too.

  “You don’t have to work all night,” she said, walking beside the long table to where he sat at the end. She watched his gaze slide appreciatively up and down her length, and was glad she had dressed up.