Liz Fielding - Mistletoe and the Lost Stiletto

‘You look like her,’ he said.

‘They weren’t going to pick someone who didn’t, were they?’

‘You’ve got the same hair.’

‘The halo or the Harpo Marx? Hair can be fixed.’

‘And eyes, Lucy. Look at her eyes. You can change their colour with contacts but not their shape. And, honestly, I know that His Frogginess is capable of it, but how could he get away with it? Truly. People know her. Her history. If she was a fake, her story was a lie, don’t you think someone would have sold her out to the media?’

‘Aren’t you going to be late for your meeting?’ she said.

‘Just look, okay?’ Then, letting it go, ‘Your employee ID is in the kitchen with a swipe card to get you through the door between the store and the apartment. There’s also a store account card in the same name so that you can get anything you need. And the keypad number for the door is two five one two.’

‘Two five one two,’ she repeated. ‘Christmas Day? I think I can remember that.’

And she wiggled her toes at him, just to show him that she’d forgiven him for bringing up her mother.

Damn. She was doing it now.

Forgetting the quotes.

‘The lawyer called first thing,’ Nathaniel said. ‘He’s spoken to the police and also issued a short statement to the press to the effect that while you’re sorting out your differences with Henshawe you’re staying with a friend.’

She reached up, touched his cheek. ‘A very good friend.’ Then, ‘Nice tie, by the way.’

He was dressed for work in a crisp white shirt and the uniform pinstripes, but the tie today was candy-red.

‘I’ve decided that it’s my favourite colour.’

‘Good choice.’ But, despite the tie, he looked tired and she said so. ‘Did you get any sleep?’

‘Not much,’ he admitted. ‘I had a lot of thinking to do.’

‘Don’t tell me-I’ve turned your life upside down. It’s a bad habit I have.’

‘No, Lucy. You’ve turned it the right way up. And the time wasn’t wasted. I’ve come up with a fifth option.’

‘What?’ She was wide awake now.

‘I’m going to be late for my meeting.’ He leaned forward, kissed her cheek, headed for the door.

‘Nathaniel!’ She leapt out of bed and went after him. Then paused, suddenly shy. ‘Your tie…’ She reached up to straighten it, pat it into place, keeping her eyes on the knot, but he hooked his thumb under her chin, made her look at him.

‘It’ll be all right. I just need to straighten a few loose ends before I put it to you.’ Then, apparently forgetting all about his meeting, he caught her close, kissed her, sweet and simple, before releasing her. ‘Go back to bed, Lucy.’

‘I will if you’ll come too.’

‘You make it hard for a man to leave.’

She grinned. ‘I noticed.’

‘You don’t really have to be an elf, you know. You can stay here. Housekeeping will come in at about ten but, apart from that, no one will disturb you.’

Too late, she was already disturbed and the condition, she feared, was terminal.

‘Frank is expecting me. I can’t let him down.’

‘Of course you can’t. He’ll feed you to a troll.’ He kissed her again. ‘I’ll see you later.’ And this time he did make it to the door, where he paused to look back at her. ‘Don’t do anything rash, will you?’

‘The rashest thing I’m going to do this morning is put maple syrup on my porridge,’ she promised.

Maybe.

Diary entry: Woken by Nathaniel, all crisp and gorgeous and ready for a hard day making dreams come true in his palace of delights. Christmas shoppers. Children. And mine? And I’m not talking about Option Five. But I will have to decide what to do today.

Nathaniel can’t be right about my mother? Can he?

The meeting began just after eight.

Nathaniel began by offering his father, his uncles, what they wanted. A Hart fully committed to the company.

Only two men in the room did not leap to accept the gesture with gratitude, relief.

Christopher’s father. And his own.

He wasn’t surprised.

His uncle clung vainly to the hope that one day his own son would be able to resume his place.

His father had been hurt beyond measure that he hadn’t wanted to follow in his footsteps and was sure there would be a proviso.

‘What do you want in return, Nathaniel?’ his father asked.

‘Your agreement to a proposal.’ He passed around a folder as he began to talk.

Lucy retrieved her costume from the upstairs bedroom. It seemed less daunting in the daylight, with clothes heaped untidily on the bed.

She left them where they were, but picked up the rose and took it downstairs, where she tossed it, bud vase and all, into the rubbish bin tucked beneath the sink.

Start the day with a positive action. And a proper breakfast.

She sat on a stool, spooning porridge sweetened with maple syrup into her mouth, sipping her orange juice. Flipping through her messages, reading tweets, messages on Facebook. Catching up.

There was nothing more from Rupert. Not a man to waste words on a lost cause.

There were a dozen or more from the woman who claimed to be her mother. She ignored them, instead flicking through the photographs stored on her camera. The informal snaps taken when she was off guard. Zoomed in on the eyes. Compared them.

Could Nathaniel be right?

She flicked back to her messages.

Do you want to send a message?

Did she? She thumbed in a text:

Tell me the truth. Who are you? Really?

Her thumb hovered over ‘send’.

Two hours later, only Nat and his father were left in the room.

‘You’re in love with this girl?’ His father had listened to his plan, added his opinion but, now they were alone, he’d gone right to the heart of the matter.

‘I only met her yesterday.’

‘You’re in love with her?’

‘It’s a good plan.’

‘Can I meet her?’

‘Of course. She’s down in the grotto, working as an elf.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘I’ve got all day.’

Lucy was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a semi-circle of children sitting around her, totally absorbed, as she sang them a song. They joined in the actions, roared with the lion, hooted with the owl, quacked with the duck.

Frank, watching with a smile stretching his face, turned as Nat joined him at the window. ‘Will you just look at that?’ he said.

He needed no encouragement. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Santa’s come down with the bug and I had to send him home. The replacement is suiting up, but there’s a bit of a backlog. Lou sent some of the elves to organise coffee for the mothers and then rounded up the kids. I don’t know where Pam found her but I’d like half a dozen more.’

‘Sorry, Frank,’ Nat said. ‘She’s a one-off and she’s mine.’ He turned to his father. ‘And the answer to your question is yes.’ Love at first sight was a concept he would have denied with his last breath. Until it happened. ‘I know you’ll think I’m a fool, that it’s crazy, but I’m in love with her.’

‘No. I don’t think you’re a fool. It happens like that sometimes. Magic happens. It was like that with your mother and me. Just one look was all it took.’

Just one look…

Yes.

‘Any chance of you bringing her home for Christmas?’

Before Nat could answer, there was a movement from the inner sanctum and the children, almost reluctantly, began to trickle away.

‘Can we borrow your office, Frank? We need to talk to her.’

‘You’re not going to take her away?’

‘It’s not up to me what she does; she’s her own woman.’ A romantic maybe, but strong, too. A woman who knew what she wanted, who never allowed anyone to control her, use her.