Amanda picked up the small stack of baby clothes and tucked them under her arm. “I need to go to the store so I can fix Christmas dinner, and I need to do some shopping. Your mother’s still coming over on Christmas Day, isn’t she?”
“She wouldn’t miss Emma opening presents for the world. You know that.”
“Just checking.” She trotted up the stairs ahead of him. “Can you take me into town? I gave Josh the car.”
“Sure.”
She flashed him a bright smile. “Coffee’s on. I’m going to take this stuff upstairs and hide it.”
“’Manda?”
“Yeah?” She stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
“Word to the wise—if you intend to keep this from him, you better do somethin’ about that goofy smile.”
Resisting the urge to hurl something at his head, she stomped up the stairs.
****
Josh navigated the slick roads through town carefully, winding his way south to Highway 13. There, he discovered the county had cleared the ice significantly, and he turned toward Higginsville, where he could find a far larger selection of stores, including a Wal-Mart that likely would contain the basic supplies he needed for Sandra’s project. He could let Emma pick out a couple of toys she’d like to have too—or at least take note so he could make a separate trip back and pick up something from Santa.
She rode quietly, her usual chatter silence by a worried expression. Staring out the window, she watched the glistening landscape roll by. Every once in a while, when he had to touch the brakes, she’d grip the handle on the door panel for dear life.
He glanced at her through the rear-view mirror. “We’re almost there, Princess. Where do you want to go first?”
“Thayer’s.”
“Okay, we’ll look for your mother’s bracelet first. How about some toys after that?” He hadn’t planned on alerting her to the toy spree, but he couldn’t take another minute of her unusually quiet behavior.
It worked. Her features lit with excitement, and her beautiful smile inched across her face. “Toys?”
“That’s what I said. Take a good long look at some of the things you think you want so you can tell Santa tonight when we go see him.” Something he should have insisted they do a few days ago, but unaccustomed to this role of adult-friend, quasi guardian, he hadn’t considered the visit.
Her eyes widened. “You’re going to take me to see Santa?”
“With your mom, yep. I’m sorry we haven’t sooner.”
She met his gaze in the mirror. “It’s okay. Do you think, maybe, we could look at toys first?”
Chuckling, he nodded. “Today’s your trip, Emma. We’ll go where you want to go.”
“Let’s go to Wal-Mart. They have better toys than anyone.”
He didn’t argue. If anyone would know, a child would. Although part of him longed to run her into the city and take her to Toys R Us. She didn’t know what she was missing when it came to toy giants. Or perhaps even FAO Schwarz where she could play with a lot of the fascinating things they offered. The Build-A-Bear shop too, Nancy’s kids loved. He’d just have to add those places to the first few things he did with Emma when they moved.
Navigating down the narrow, slush-filled streets, Josh entered the Wal-Mart parking lot and found a place reasonably close to the doors. He shut off the engine, braced himself against the cold, and jumped out to open Emma’s door. Instead of helping her down from the seat, he picked her up and carried her inside.
When he set her on the floor, she fastened her hand in his and headed down the aisle at a jog. Laughing, he followed at a brisk walk, her enthusiasm catching. As they passed a cart, he stopped. “Want to ride on it?”
She jumped on the back of the basket with a giggle. “Mommy never let’s me ride.”
“Well, we won’t tell her,” he answered with a wink. “But before you get excited about toys, we need to stop in Office Supplies for a minute.”
Sticking out her bottom lip she frowned at him.
“You don’t want me to rush you out of the toy aisle, do you?” He arched an eyebrow.
“No.”
“Okay. Let me get the things I need, then we can take our time.”
After seemingly considering the option, she nodded. “Okay.”
He wheeled her down the office supply aisle and picked up several sheets of foam board, a thick pad of paper, and two packages of markers. He’d already decided to do a 3-D model, and while he wouldn’t have time to work in all the colors as he would have normally, he could use a decent selection. A couple bottles of glue, some cardboard paper, and a package of pencils that included a sharpener, finished his needs.
“Your mom has a ruler doesn’t she?”
Emma nodded, her gaze straying longingly toward the nearby aisle filled with pink Barbie Doll boxes and plush animals.
“All right, we’re off.” Mimicking a train’s chugging motion, he wheeled the cart forward, touched by her light laughter.
In the toy section, Emma jumped off the cart and headed straight for the Bratz dolls. Josh stared at the figurines, questioning what had happened to plain old plastic dolls and who had decided little girls needed to play with ultra-chick, almost obscenely curvy, full-mouthed replicas of attitudinal pre-teens. Damn, he felt out of touch.
“No Barbies?”
She rolled her eyes. “Barbie is boring.”
“I see.” He didn’t, but since he’d seen several of these little dolls around Amanda’s house, he assumed Amanda didn’t object. He wasn’t about to make the mistake of doing so, either.
“Emma!”
The call rang out behind Josh, and he turned around as a dark-haired girl, close to her age, ran past to join Emma.
“Amy, look at this! They have Yasmin!” Emma picked up one of the dolls and showed it to the girl.
“Oooh,” the other girl answered.
Josh craned his neck, trying to get a peek at what doll the girls were fascinated with. But they clustered together shoulder-to-shoulder, blocking his view.
“Amazing, isn’t it? Christmas just around the corner, and they can’t wait for Santa to bring them goodies. They’ve got to have the newest one now,” a feminine voice at Josh’s left said through a laugh.
He pivoted and found a pretty, young woman with hair as dark as Amy’s, only three times as long, smiling at him. He didn’t recognize her.
“I’m Laney.” She stuck out her hand. Neatly manicured nails protruded from slender fingers. “Amy talks about your daughter all the time. It’s nice to meet you.”
Josh blinked. The strange comment clicked into place as he realized Laney referred to Emma. He shook her hand with a chuckle. Pointing out Emma wasn’t his seemed somehow insulting, particularly given his desire to fill the role of father to the best of his ability. He chose to ignore the remark. “It’s nice to meet you as well. They’re in the same class?”
She nodded. “Emma lives with her mom, right? I know Amy spent the night not too long ago.”
Oops.
Caught, he couldn’t bask in the glory of pretending to be Emma’s father. He disliked the idea of being a divorced dad far more than being unrelated. “She does. Amanda and I go back several years. I’m taking her shopping for her mom, but we had to stop here first.”
“That’s the way kids are.” Laney raked her gaze down all the way to his feet. She took her time bringing it back up to give him another smile. Interest sparked behind her dark eyes. “So you live in Lexington? I don’t recognize you.”
“No, not anymore. I grew up there. I came back to spend the holidays with Amanda and Emma. You aren’t local either, are you?”
She shook her head. “My husband was—until he ran off with a college student in Warrensburg when Amy was three.”
That explained the appreciative look she gave him. He shifted his weight and looked back to the two girls who were excitedly going on about something a little farthe
r down the shelf. Not sure how to respond to that tidbit of unwanted information, he offered, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not,” she answered with a deep, husky laugh.
The girls giggled. Emma made a silly face, sticking her tongue out as she imitated something Josh couldn’t recognize. Amy laughed harder, and their chatter turned back to names he’d never heard before. Gauging by the way they gestured at the cartons of dolls, he assumed they referred to Bratz.
His heart skipped a beat, Emma’s exuberant happiness touching some deep part of him he hadn’t ever made contact with before. She looked so happy right now, laughing with her young friend.
When she looked up, like she was checking to make sure he still waited nearby, she flashed her bright smile at him. Approaching, she passed him a box with a dark-haired doll dressed in a gold evening gown. “May I have this one, Josh?”
“Sure, sweetheart. If you’d like two, go ahead and pick out another. Then, we need to update our Santa list.”
“Two? Really?”
The disbelief in her face told him she didn’t often get more than one at a time. His stomach clenched a little, saddened by the observation. “How about three?”
Her eyes turned as wide as saucers before joy lit their deep blue depths. With a little skip, she darted back to the row of dolls.
“Spoiling her, huh?”
Josh chuckled. “I can’t help it. She’s got me around her pinkie.”
“Just don’t let her know, and you’ll be fine,” Laney replied with a grin. “Are you staying in town long?”
He hesitated. Amanda hadn’t agreed to leave with him yet, and telling this woman he was taking them with him would only get him in deep trouble if Laney relayed it to Amanda. “For a while, yeah.”
“May I leave my number in case you feel like drinks sometime?”
Stunned, Josh stumbled over his tongue. He hadn’t seen that coming. He’d been too wrapped up in Emma’s jovial display. “Ah…” he faltered before he cleared his throat. Recovering, he gave her a polite smile. “No thank you, Laney. If you ask around a bit, you’ll learn quickly I’ve always been Amanda’s.”
There was a certain sort of peacefulness that settled over him as he answered. It felt right. Like he’d somehow tapped in to something he hadn’t quite put to rest in the years away, and now that he had, that restless energy finally found an outlet and dispelled.
He looked back at Emma, his smile widening. Glancing down in his cart, he considered the supplies he’d purchased for Sandra’s project. Emma deserved that money. Amanda did too. Seeing this snippet of her happiness only reinforced that thought. He absolutely had to find a way to convince Amanda into selling the land, if for no other reason than to keep Emma grinning as she was right now.
“Emma?” he called out softly.
“Yeah?”
“Did you pick out what you wanted? If we don’t hurry, we won’t get back in time to see Santa tonight.”
She trotted over with two other boxes in hand and dropped them in the cart. Rising on tiptoe, she pulled on his hand until he bent down at her level.
“Can Amy spend the night tonight, Josh?”
Uh oh. She expected him to have the answers. Would Amanda care? He had work he had to accomplish this evening, and he couldn’t devote a lot of time to entertaining them if she was busy. But the pleading quality in Emma’s eyes tugged at his heart. He couldn’t tell her no, even if Amanda told him to. Couldn’t confront upsetting her like that.
He moved to whisper in her ear. “Can you two play quietly tonight? I have a lot of work to get done.”
She bobbed her head. “I promise.”
“Then you may ask.”
With a little squeal, she threw her arms around his legs and hugged tight. Stepping back, she looked up at Laney. “Miss Ulson, may Amy stay the night tonight?”
“That’d be fine.”
Bouncing toward her friend, Emma broke the news amidst many anxious bursts of words. The two young girls jumped up and down in place, holding hands. Excitedly, they pounced back on the toys, fascinated by the other items that came with each of the tiny dolls.
“What time do you want me to drop her off?” Laney asked.
“Seven-thirty okay?” That way, he wouldn’t obligate Amanda into having to cook for Amy, at least.
“We’ll be there.” She looked to her daughter and raised her voice. “Amy, come on, we have to go if you’re going to stay with Emma tonight. Mom has lots to get done first.”
With a farewell hug, Emma and Amy parted ways.
Twenty-four
Carrying an armload of plastic bags, Josh opened Amanda’s front door for Emma. He chuckled as she rushed past, brandishing her new Yasmin doll in her right hand. “Mommy, mommy! Look what Josh got me!”
Silence hung in the house, save for the ticking of the antique clock on the mantel. Josh cocked his head, listening for footsteps overhead.
“Mo-om!” Emma hollered up the staircase.
When Amanda didn’t answer, her little features fell, along with her shoulders, and she slunk back into the living room. She took a seat on the floor near the tree.
He watched her for a minute, noting the keen disappointment in her body language and her vanishing excitement. All during the ride home she’d told him every tiny tidbit of information she knew about the Bratz dolls. A dissertation he’d invited, but he hadn’t expected to hear the details she provided. What he gathered clearly, however, was that the girls her age coveted this particular doll, and the local store sold out before she’d gotten the chance to have one. She’d been walking on wings until she discovered her mother wasn’t home.
“Hey, Princess,” he called as he rearranged the sacks,.
She spared him only a brief glance. “Yeah?”
“I’m going to take these upstairs. If I turn the bathtub on, do you think you could get yourself cleaned up so we could take your mom out to eat?”
“Are we still going to see Santa?” she asked, a touch of mistrust in her narrowed gaze.
“Of course we are. I told you we would, and we will. Right after we eat. Let’s get ready so when your mom gets home we can head straight out.”
With a little sigh, she nodded and pushed herself off the ground to her feet. “I can’t wash my hair though.”
One foot on the stairs, he hesitated. Were there rules, laws, about helping her bathe? Would Amanda think it odd? Would anyone else?
Too many risks left him uncomfortable with the idea of helping her. Looking down as she pushed past him, he said, “I think your hair’s fine. I’ll help you put it in a ponytail when you get out. You can wear your jeans.”
She shook her head and stubbornly set her jaw. “Mom hasn’t done laundry. My jeans don’t fit.”
How one topic related to the other, he didn’t quite understand, but her folded arms and little scowl told him loud and clear this wasn’t an argument he’d easily win. “Okay. Can you find something else?”
“All I have are dresses.”
“Well, that’s fine. Tell you what, I’ll go pick it out while you get clean.”
“Okay,” she answered with a beaming grin. Before he could ascend another stair, she raced up the rest and careened around the corner into her room.
If he had half her energy, he’d never again confront another day where the work he had to do outweighed his motivation. God, he remembered being close to that age. When Santa was full of magic, and Christmas Break meant days of snowball fights, sledding, and nothing but play. Like summer, only with snow. It’d be nice to find that kind of joy in the holidays again.
Sighing, he trudged up the stairs to the guest room Amanda mentioned. With his supplies on the bed, he stuffed the other bag under it, hoping she and Emma wouldn’t get nosy in the next two days. Although he still had yet to find something for Amanda from himself, he didn’t want to spoil Emma’s surprise. He’d ask Mae to help with the wrapping later.
After double-checking that no corners stuck out from beneath the bed skirt, he headed for the bathroom in Amanda’s room and turned on the water. When he had it at a decent temperature, he found some clean towels and went to Emma’s room. “Emma, it’s ready.”
Stark naked, she traipsed past him carrying a plastic basket full of toys.
Josh fidgeted. Exactly what he’d been trying to avoid. He wasn’t family. Someone, somewhere, would frown on this, and he didn’t want even a hairsbreadth of room for someone to accuse him of inappropriate behavior. He draped the towel around her shoulders and turned his back to her. “You have everything you need?”
“Yep.”
“All right. I’ll come check on you in a few minutes.”
As the bathroom door clicked shut, he went back to the guest room where he spread his materials on the bed. Stepping back, he assessed them, planning out what he’d need to do and creating a general outline in his head. He’d color the foam board first—red to replicate brick. He’d use a full sheet for the parking lot and grounds area also. In a typical work-up like this, he’d include landscaping, but this was the rough first stage. He’d come back to that once he had Sandra’s initial approval.
He’d like to have a lift-off roof when he completely finished, allowing for a glimpse at the inside. But that would involve a trip to a craft and miniature store, and the only one he knew of was in Kansas City. Another aspect that would have to wait.
Still, in a few days’ time, he’d have a suitable presentation. Complete enough Sandra could have a strong idea what to expect.
Satisfied, he wandered into Emma’s room to rummage through her closet. A tidy line of clothes hung from the solitary rod, and beneath, neatly paired shoes lined the floor along the back wall. He tugged on a dark blue sweater, embroidered along the neck with rhinestone-studded hearts. Feminine, just like a little girl should be. But as he reached for a short, jeans skirt, something brown and corduroy near the back caught his attention.
He pulled it out, discovering a soft jumper and smiled. He tugged a lightweight, long-sleeved, cream-colored, shirt off a hanger, and set the two garments on Emma’s bed. At her dresser, he rummaged for a pair of socks. Instead, he found opaque tights, the same color as the jumper. He added them to the bed too.
All I Want for Christmas is Big Blue Eyes Page 20
