And she never looked forward like this to a business meeting.
It was promptly at six that Jake entered Rusty’s Steak House. The hostess greeted him and he’d hardly finished saying he was meeting someone when Shea entered behind him.
“We’re ready,” he said to the hostess after greeting Shea.
She led the way to the quiet table near the side. The restaurant was sparsely occupied. No one sat at the tables near theirs.
He helped Shea take off her coat, surprised to see the silky white blouse she wore. Noticing further she was dressed up–not the usual jeans and T-shirt she normally wore.
“You look nice,” he said as he sat opposite her and hooked the cane on the back of the empty chair.
“Thank you. It’s the Christmas season, I thought I’d dress up a bit.”
She smiled brightly and then looked at the waiter when he brought the menus.
“I already know what I want,” she murmured, leaving the menu closed.
“Filet mignon, I remember,” Jake said. He glanced at the menu and then gave their order.
“So are you nervous about tomorrow?” she asked.
“Not especially. I’ve given testimonies in court, so I figure this won’t be as bad.”
She laughed. “I hope not. You had the questions ahead of time and the TV station is supporting the project, not like they are trying to trip you up.”
“True. How are things going at your work?” he asked.
“Slow.”
She told him about the lack of focus and interest as they drew closer to the holidays.
“We don’t see much of that at the station,” Jake said. “Mostly because so few of us have Christmas Day off. This’ll be my first one off in a long time.”
“You’re still coming over, right?”
“Yes, around ten you said.”
He was looking forward to spending time with Shea with nothing to worry about–no cold cases, no Christmas for kids. Just the two of them sharing a holiday together.
She nodded.
“So tell me,” Jake said after their meals had been placed in front of them. “How did you end up here in Mondano when your family isn’t from here. From what you’ve said you’re close to your family.”
“Cal’s from here. My folks moved to Florida as soon as I graduated from high school. They waited so I could finish out my schooling. I’m the youngest, the rest of my brothers and sister had already moved out. So while I do have siblings and cousins and grandparents still in my hometown, I felt no strong pull to return with my parents gone.”
“So you and Cal decided to open your business here? Not Silicon Valley in California?”
“Cal’s parents are still here, and it’s not that far from the eastern part of the state. I can visit after only a few hours’ drive. So it seemed like a good idea. Now we’ve been here seven years, and our company’s grown a lot.”
“So no plans to relocate?”
“Not for me. I love it here. I like the changing seasons, the friendly people, the church I attend. Our company’s like a family almost. We’re close to our employees and each other,” she finished, taking a bite of her filet.
“Oh, this is so good,” she said with a smile on her face.
Jake enjoyed his steak as well, without quite the obvious swooning that Shea had no problem demonstrating.
He was glad to see her enjoying her meal. Occasionally in the past he’d dated women who were on strict diets, which made it hard to find a restaurant they’d both enjoy.
Dating? Were he and Shea dating?
This would count as a date. Especially when their conversation veered to the personal instead of staying completely on topic of the Christmas project.
He liked the idea. He liked Shea. She was easy to talk to, fun to be around. And pushed him a bit outside his comfort zone.
He never thought he’d be looking forward to the happiness he expected now on the faces of the kids when they delivered the presents. He remembered Jason’s expressions when he got the new shoes and new jacket.
Jake had yearned for something like that when he’d been a kid. Only he never got it. Maybe there was something to this philanthropic project. He’d been too focused on criminal behavior and investigations in the past.
He would never have asked for this assignment. But now he wasn’t as upset with his lieutenant as he had been.
“So what do you remember about your parents?” Shea asked.
“Not a lot.”
For the next few minutes–and with prompting from Shea--he searched his mind for the few elusive memories he had.
“So the moral of that is to always have a plan in place in case you die young,” he ended up.
“Or be born into a family with lots of siblings, aunts and uncles and long time family friends who could step in and take over if a couple ends up gone before their time,” she said.
He nodded. How would his life had gone if his parents hadn’t died? Or if he’d had a slew of relatives around to take him on? To share family values and stories.
What did he have to pass on to his kids?
Whoa. He stared at his empty plate. Kids? He hadn’t ever thought about getting married and having kids. Glancing at Shea, he was glad she couldn’t read minds.
Was being with her giving him ideas?
“I’ll have the creme brulee for dessert,” Shea said as she slid her plate a little bit away from her. “That was delicious, but I still have room for dessert.”
They ordered coffee and dessert. Even after the creme brulee was gone, they lingered in conversation.
Finally Shea looked around.
“Yikes, we’re like the only ones still here.”
Jake followed her gaze and noted only one other table still had customers.
“Guess it’s time to go.”
She nodded. “You need your rest, your big television debut is tomorrow.”
“Thanks for reminding me.”
She grinned. “We’ll be watching,” she said as Jake signaled the waiter.
He walked her to her car.
“Thanks for dinner. I had a great time,” she said as she unlocked the door.
“I did, too,” he said.
Once the door was unlocked, he turned her back to him and kissed her. The kiss went on for several delightful seconds.
Jake wished he’d picked her up so he could take her home. And be invited inside. Maybe another time.
“Good night,” she said breathlessly a minute later.
Jake watched her leave the parking lot before he limped to his car.
Promptly at one the next afternoon, Shea had the large screen television at work tuned to KZFF. The others in the group wandered over to watch as well.
After a brief introduction by Sara Stanton, she introduced Jake.
He looked terrific, Shea thought.
“Wow, he looks as good there as he does in person,” Esther said.
Shea turned the volume up a bit.
“So tell us about the Mondano Police Department’s Christmas program,” Sara said.
Along the bottom of the screen a trailer scrolled from right to left with the web page link clearly displayed.
The interview went well. Sara asked all the questions she’d provided Jake beforehand. At the conclusion, she urged city residents to join in and make this a special Christmas for all the children in Mondano.
“Your guy did good,” Cal said at the end when Sara introduced her next guest.
Shea turned off the TV.
“I hope we got a lot of response. The station really covered it well.”
“We’re all looking forward to the wrapping party and delivering the gifts,” Esther said.
“When you see some child’s face light up, you’ll be so happy you volunteered,” Shea replied. “My heart melted when we bought a jacket for Jason. He was beyond happy.”
Shea finished a couple of tasks she had going, then headed for police headquarters. She was too impa
tient to see the web response to wait until Friday.
Hurrying to her desk at police HQ she was happy to see Jake had obviously just returned. He was shrugging out of his jacket.
“You did great!” she said, hurrying over to his desk and giving him a big hug.
He smiled. “It went well. Are you here to see if we have any response yet?”
“I am. And it’ll air again this evening and even more people will see it then,” Shea said.
She took off her jacket and booted up the computer at her desk.
“Oh, this is so cool. There are eighty responses so far.”
She downloaded the responses to an excel file and then printed copies for both of them.
Taking one to Jake, she brought hers and sat at his desk.
“So new kids here. Not too many. I need to cross check with our list to make sure they aren’t already on it. And some new volunteers. We can call them this afternoon while they’re still really enthusiastic.”
Jake looked at the files on the side of his desk. “Guess they’ll have to wait a little longer.”
“I know they’re important, but this is, too, and it’ll all be over soon.”
“You know I get my cast off on Tuesday.”
“Will you be returning to active duty then?” she asked.
“Not until the doctor declares me fit. I have a little physical therapy to endure to make sure everything's up to speed.”
They began making calls.
An hour later Janey came into their room with a pile of papers.
“The phone is ringing off the hook with volunteers offering to help, or send money, or send toys. Marcie’s helping. I couldn’t keep up with it all. Here’s what we’ve gotten so far.”
She handed the stack to Shea.
Janey looked at Jake. “And we got a couple of callers asking how to reach you. You’re a star.”
He scowled at her comment. “No star, just hoping for more for the kids.”
“This year’s Christmas Cop is doing better than Harry ever did,” Janey said as she left the room.
“You’ll probably be the Christmas Cop for the foreseeable future if this goes smoothly,” Shea said in a teasing tone.
“Unless someone else gets on the DL next year and I can foist it off on him.”
Shea was delighted with the response from the general public. She couldn’t wait for delivery day to see the kids she'd deliver to and watch as they realize what’s happening. She cherished the memory of Jason when he got his shoes and jacket.
It was after six when Jake looked up. “Want to grab a bite to eat?” he asked.
Shea finished her note and looked at him. Checking her watch, she nodded. “Yeah. I’m getting blurry eyed cross checking all these. And after seven I’m expecting another flurry of responses on the web.”
“We can get to them tomorrow,” Jake said. “This has been a long day.”
“Let’s go back to my place and order in. I feel like kicking off my shoes and really relaxing,” Shea said.
“I’ll follow you over.”
When they reached Shea’s condo, Jake was again amazed at the festive feel to her living room. He remembered a scrawny tree at the home. And sometimes there’d be presents, but as he recalled they were often for the younger kids.
“Want to start a fire?” she asked when they’d taken off their jackets.
He nodded.
“I’ll call for dinner. What sounds good to you?”
“I don’t much care. Anything you want is fine with me.”
“Well, you’re easy. How about pot roast? The cafe near here has take out. I can order and then zip out to get it.”
“Or I can go. Sounds good.”
Jake went to the fireplace. There was a small stack of wood to one side. He laid the wood and then used one of the long matches to light it. In only a couple of minutes a small fire began to generate some warmth.
Shea finished ordering and turned with a smile.
“Thanks. That’ll be cozy tonight. I’m glad it’s only cold and not snowing again.”
He joined her on the sofa.
“In fifteen minutes, I’ll zip out to get dinner,” she said, relaxing, shoes already off. She tucked her legs under her and gazed at the fire.
“This is nice. I don’t have a fireplace at my apartment.”
“It was one of the requirements for me when looking for a place. We had one growing up and I remember all the winter holidays we’d all gather in the living room with a fire roaring and lots of laughter and fun. My mom said she misses it in Florida, but it’s never cold enough where they live to use one.”
They ate dinner in front of the warm fire. It had begun to snow again, but the storm was not supposed to bring more than a trace.
When the food had been procured and divvied up, they sat on the sofa. When he began to eat, Jake looked at her television. “Do you have another Christmas movie to watch?”
“Always. How about Holiday Inn? It’s for more than Christmas, but a winner.”
He shrugged. “I’ve watched more movies since I met you than I have in the last five years.”
“Don’t get out much, do you,” she said with a smile.
“Usually working, or grabbing as much sleep as I can with the hours I work.”
“Too much work isn’t good for anyone.”
“Maybe.”
They finished eating and Shea found the movie. They sat side by side on the sofa, Jake’s foot on the coffee table. Shea brought a lap robe to cover their legs and scooted closer to Jake. She relaxed when the movie started. Tonight was turning out to be a wonderful night.
Chapter Twelve
Tuesday morning Shea arrived at St. Anne’s at ten o'clock. The parking lot was already half full.
The cold spell continued and Shea wore her heaviest jacket and a knit stocking cap to keep warm. Once they began deliveries, she’d be in and out of her car.
She relished the warmth of the hall when she entered.
Toys had been delivered and were staged on long tables along the side wall by category. The volunteers already present were preparing long trestle tables with wrapping paper, scissors, tape and tags. Shea had the master list and Jake also had a copy.
“Ready to start?” Father Damian asked greeting her.
“As we’ll ever be, I think. Did any of the food arrive yet?”
“Some of the canned goods arrived yesterday. We have the kitchen all set up to receive the cold foods and Betsy has the list of families. As soon as we have volunteers for the food detail, we’ll start boxing and bagging meals to be ready to go when the presents are.”
“Wow, I’m amazed at all the toys. I know we have almost 150 kids, but the number of toys is overwhelming.”
“You’ll see, this runs pretty smoothly. We’ve been doing it for seven years, remember. This is just your first time.”
She nodded. “Has Jake arrived?”
“I haven’t seen him. But some of the police from the station are over by the coffee. Help yourself to a cup. The Alter League also put out donuts.”
“Sounds good, thanks.”
Shea put her clipboard and backpack by a chair at the wrapping tables. She glanced around and was pleased to note things did seem to be coming together in some sort of order. She hoped it would continue.
Walking over to the coffee station, she recognized a couple of the cops standing around talking. She hadn’t had much to do with any of them beyond the ones in IT and the lieutenant. And Jake.
She wondered if she could slip in between them to the coffee urn and get a cup.
“Naw, Jake’s not the type,” one of the men was saying.
Shea stopped when she heard his name. She kept her head down. What was he not the type of?
“So you don’t think he’s interested?” another asked.
“With some geeky pink hair programmer? Are you nuts? He’s just using her for help for this project. As soon as that cast comes off, he’ll be back at w
ork and I guarantee you we’ll never see the pink hair wonder again.”
Shea caught her breath. She knew she should move away. Or make herself known, or something. But she felt glued to the spot.
“I’ve seen women Jake’s dated. They’re nothing like her.”
“They spend a lot of time together.”
“It’s for the project, guaranteed.”
She spun around and walked back to her backpack, blinking back tears.
Was the cop right? Had Jake spent time with her just because of the project? She knew she’d been helpful and that he’d railed against the task in the beginning.
But all the evenings they’d spent together had to count for something.
She saw Jake enter the large hall. Her first impulse was to march over to him and ask him if what his coworker had said was true.
But what if it was true? What if he said so?
She turned back to the table, taking off her jacket and stocking cap and putting them on the back of the chair. She grabbed her clip board and headed for the toys.
Jake joined her a couple of minutes later.
“Father Damian said there’s coffee,” he said walking up beside her. He was using his cane but she noticed his walking cast was off.
“So you’ve graduated,” she said, looking at his foot.
“Still feel a bit wobbly. It came off this morning. And I have more exercises that I knew would strengthen ankles. But I’m almost back where I hope to be. We ready for this?”
“I hope so. Let the games begin.”
Before long volunteers lined up to get the individual sheets that listed households. Kids, toys, food and all were on the sheets. Once everything was wrapped, packaged together and checked off, the items went to the door where volunteers who were delivering packages awaited.
The air was festive. The hall was filled with laughter and conversation and Christmas carols playing softly in the background.
Shortly after noon, pizza was delivered with enough pie to feed all who were present, plus those delivering the gifts. Volunteers took turns eating. When those delivering presents returned for another batch, they quickly ate.
It was after one when Cal and the crew from their company showed up.
The Christmas Cop Page 9
