I'll Be Home for Christmas

by Fern Michaels

  “Come on, boss, I’ll walk you out to the parking lot. How’s Eva today?”

  Angie slipped into her jacket and hung her purse on her shoulder before she turned off the lights. She pressed a switch, and a colorful corrugated blind came down, totally covering the entrance to the gift wrap department. She waited a moment until she heard the sound of the lock slipping into place. She’d installed the sliding panel at her own expense, much to Josh Eagle’s chagrin. She then locked the walk-through door to the gift wrap department. Not just any old lock, this was a special lock that Josh Eagle couldn’t open with the store’s master keys. She’d also installed her own security system with the ADT firm. Josh had taken her to court on that one, too, and lost, with the judge saying Angie was protecting her investment and as long as she wasn’t asking him to pay for her security, there was no problem. Back then the score had been one-zip.

  “Uh-oh, look who’s standing by that big red X you painted on the floor!”

  Angie looked ahead of her to see Josh Eagle glaring at her. “You’re late!”

  He was good-looking, she had to give him that. And he had dimples. Right now his dark brown eyes were spewing sparks. He was dressed in a power suit and tie, his shirt so blinding white, it had to be new. It was all about image with Josh Eagle.

  Angie looked down at her watch. “Actually, I’m leaving right on time, Mr. Eagle. My lights are off, the heat has been turned down, the security system locked and loaded, and my door is locked. It’s one minute past six. The store closes at six.”

  “I called a meeting for six-fifteen for all department heads. That means you’re supposed to be in the conference room promptly at six-ten. You’re still standing here, Ms. Bradford. What’s wrong with this picture? Well?”

  Angie sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you, Mr. Eagle? I do not work for you. Judge Atkins sent you papers to that effect. I have copies in case you lost yours. What part of I-am-not-one-of-your-employees don’t you understand?”

  Josh Eagle looked like he was about to say something, then changed his mind. Angie started walking again, and when she got to Josh and he didn’t move, she stiff-armed him.

  “You touched my person,” Josh said dramatically as he pretended to back away.

  “Will you get off it already! Do you sit up there in your ivory tower and dream up ways to torment me? I did not touch you. I put my arm out so you wouldn’t touch me. In case your vision is impaired, I have a witness. Now, I suggest you get out of my way and don’t come down here again with your silly demands. This shop is off-limits to you!”

  “Just a damn minute, Ms. Bradford. If you want to go to court again, I’m your man. I want to know what you’re going to do about wrapping my customers’ Christmas gifts this year. That’s the main topic to be discussed at tonight’s meeting.”

  “We’ve had this same discussion every September for the past five years. You had the same discussion with my mother for the five years prior to my arrival, and the outcome has always been the same. This year is no different. Pay me to wrap your customers’ gifts, and we’re in business. If you don’t pay me, I cannot help you. I’m in business to make money just the way you are. Try to wrap your feeble brain around that fact, then get back to me or have your lawyer call my lawyer. Good night, Mr. Eagle.”

  

  Outside in the cool evening air, Angie dusted her hands together. “I thought that went rather well.” She sniffed the air. “Someone’s burning leaves. Oh, I just love that smell.”

  Bess opened her car door. “I think you enjoy tormenting that man. I agree he’s sorely lacking in the charm department, but my mother always told me you can get more flies with honey than vinegar. The guy’s a hottie, that’s for sure.”

  “Ha! Eye candy. The man has no substance, he’s all veneer. On top of that, he’s greedy and obnoxious. With all that going against him, I wonder how he manages to charm that string of women he parades around all the time,” Angie sniffed.

  “His money charms them. Josh Eagle is considered a good catch. You know, Angie, you could throw your line in the pond. You reel him in, and all this,” Bess said, extending her arms to indicate the huge parking lot and the department store, “could be yours!”

  Angie started to laugh and couldn’t stop. “Not in this lifetime. See you tomorrow, Bess.”

  “Tell your mother I said hello.”

  “Will do,” Angie called over her shoulder.

  

  Angie sat in her car for ten minutes while she played the scene that had just transpired back in the store over and over in her mind. Would Josh Eagle drag her into court again? Probably. The man had a hate on for her that was so over-the-top she could no longer comprehend it. In the beginning she’d handled it the way she handled every challenge that came her way: fairly and honestly. She fought to win, and so far she’d won every round. Remembering the look on Josh Eagle’s face, she wondered if her luck was about to change.

  Well, she would think about it later. Right now she had to stop for pizza and go to the rehab center on New Durham Road, where her mother was waiting for her.

  Angie reached for her cell phone to call Tony’s Pizza on Oak Tree Road. She ordered three large pepperoni pies and was told they would be ready in ten minutes. That was good, the pies would still be hot when she delivered them to Eva and the other patients at the rehab center.

  On the ride to the pizza parlor Angie thought about her mother. A gutsy lady who had worked part time to help with the family bills. Back when she was young, with a family to help support, she’d worked three days a week for Angus Eagle, a man her own age whose wife deplored housework. Her mother had cooked and cleaned for Angus, and in doing so they had forged a friendship that eventually resulted, one Christmas morning, in his turning over the gift wrap department at his store to her with a lifetime lease.

  Her mother never tired of telling her the story of that particular Christmas that changed her life, even though Angie, who was fifteen at the time, remembered it very well. Angus’s wife hadn’t wanted to be bothered wrapping presents for Josh and her husband, so she’d turned the job over to Eva. Each time her mother told the story, she would laugh and laugh and say how impressed Angus had been at her flair for gift wrapping.

  It was always at times like this, when Angie grew melancholy, that she thought about her own life and why she was doing what she was doing with it. She’d gone to work on Wall Street as a financial planner, but five years of early mornings, late nights, and the long commute was all she could take. Then she taught school for a couple of years but couldn’t decide whether or not teaching was a career to which she wanted to commit herself. Five years ago, she’d happily given it up without a second thought when, after her aunt Peggy got into a serious automobile accident in Florida, her mother suggested that Angie take over the gift-wrapping business. Eva had rushed down to care for Peggy, knowing she was leaving her little business in good hands, and was gone four years.

  After her aunt’s passing, Eva had remained to take care of her sister’s estate, returning to New Jersey only a year ago.

  It was nice having her mother home again, in the big old house on Rose Street.

  Angie giggled when she thought about all the young guys, the sons of friends her mother had invited to dinner on Sunday in the hopes one of them would be suitable for Angie. So far, she’d made a lot of new male friends, but none of them was what she considered blow-my-socks-off material.

  As always, when she got to this point in her reverie, Angie’s thoughts turned to her beloved father and his passing. It had been so sudden, so shocking, so mind-bending, it had taken her years to come to terms with her loss. How she missed the big, jolly man who had carried her on his shoulders when she was little, the same man who taught her to ride her first bike, then to drive her clunker of a car. He’d hooted and hollered at her high school graduation, beamed with pride at her college graduation, and could hardly wait to show her the brand-new car he’d bought her. It was all wr
apped up in a red satin ribbon. Oh, how she’d cried when she’d seen that little silver Volkswagen Jetta convertible. These days she drove a bright red Honda Civic, but the Jetta was still up on blocks in the garage on Rose Street. She planned to keep it forever and ever.

  Angie dabbed at her eyes. It was all so long ago.

  

  Twenty miles away, Eva Bradford sat in the sunroom of the Durham Rehab Center, waiting for her daughter. The television was on, but she wasn’t listening to the evening news. Nor was she paying attention to the other patients, who were talking in polite, low tones so others could hear the news. Her thoughts were somewhere else, and she wasn’t happy with where they were taking her.

  Eva looked up when the evening nurse approached her with a fresh bag of frozen peas to place on her knee. She was young like Angie with a ready smile. “You know the drill, Eva, thirty minutes on and thirty minutes off.” The nurse, whose name was Betsy, reached for the thawed-out bag of peas Eva handed her.

  Eva wondered if she’d ever dance again. Not that she danced a lot, but still, if the occasion warranted it, she wanted to be able to get up and trip the light fantastic. Knee replacements at her age were so common it was mind-boggling. She looked around the sunroom and counted nine patients with knee replacements, one a double knee, four hip jobs, and two back surgeries. Of all of them, she thought she was progressing the best. Another few days and she was certain she would be discharged with home health aides to help her out a few hours every day. She could hardly wait to return to the house on Rose Street in Metuchen.

  Eva turned away from the cluster of patients who looked to be in a heated discussion over something that was going on in the Middle East. She did her best to slide down into the chair she was sitting on so she wouldn’t have to look at Angus Eagle who, according to Betsy, had just been transferred from the hospital to receive therapy for a hip replacement he’d had a month ago. She knew the jig would be up when Angie arrived with their nightly pizza. At this moment she simply didn’t want to go down Memory Lane with Angus or be put in a position where she had to defend her daughter’s business dealings.

  She hadn’t seen Angus for a long time. At least five years—she really couldn’t remember. She tried to come up with the exact year. In the end she thought it was five years ago, the same year her older sister, Peggy, a childless widow, had been in that bad car accident. She’d gone to Florida and stayed on for four years because her sister’s health had deteriorated, and with no children to help out, it was up to her to see to her sister’s comfort. Then, she’d stayed to handle all the legal matters, and sell the house, the furnishings and the car. She’d been home for a year now. She swiped at the tears that threatened to overflow.

  Would Angie take care of her the way she’d taken care of Peggy? Of course she would. Angie had a heart of gold and loved her. She couldn’t help but wonder who was going to take care of Angus Eagle. Not that hard-as-nails son whose mission in life was to make Angie give up the gift wrap department. Well, Angus could certainly afford in-home health care around the clock.

  Eva looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway holding three large pizza boxes, one for the two of them and two for the other patients. Angie was so kind. She watched as Angie handed two of the pizza boxes to Betsy and moved across the room to join her mother. Angie hugged and kissed her.

  “How’d it go today, Mom?”

  “Not too bad. I think I’ll be out of here in a few days. Honey, Angus Eagle arrived today for additional therapy. He had a hip replacement a month ago, according to Betsy. He’s sitting over there between Cyrus and Harriet. Don’t look now.”

  “And this means…what?” Angie asked as she sprinkled hot peppers on the pizza, then handed her mother a huge slice. She chomped down on her own as she casually looked around. She had no trouble locating the elegant-looking Angus Eagle. At seventy years of age, he still looked dashing, with his snow-white hair, trim body, and tanned complexion. It had been a few years since she’d seen him in the courtroom alongside his son. How angry he’d looked that day. Today he looked like he was in pain. A lot of pain.

  “Well…I don’t know. I’m sure he hates us both. He’s probably regretting giving me that lifetime lease. You know that old saying, blood is thicker than water. Josh is his son, so it’s natural for him to side…whatever,” Eva dithered as she bit down into her slice of pizza.

  “Business is business, Mom. Isn’t that what you always told me? Sometimes people make deals that go sour. As long as it’s done legally, the way your deal was done legally, you live with it and go on. Josh and I had a rather heated exchange as I was leaving the store this evening. By the way, it’s cold out in case you’re interested. I think today was the first day that shop felt warm.”

  “What happened? Wait, look—is he eating your pizza?”

  “Oh, yeah, and he looks like he’s enjoying it. What happened? Well, Josh thought he could dictate to me. He called a meeting for six-fifteen for all department heads. I’m sure you remember he does that every September. He wants me to gift wrap his customers’ packages. For free. I told him if he paid me, I would. It was a standoff. I have an idea. Want to hear it?”

  Eva smiled at the excitement in her daughter’s voice. She leaned forward to hear what she just knew was going to be a smashing idea. “What’s he doing now?”

  “Watching us. I am going to decorate the shop like a fairy land. Gossamer, angels, Santas, sleighs, Santa sacks. I’m going to gift wrap Santa sacks for the kids. I already ordered the red and green burlap. Colored raffia ties for around the sacks. I’m going to suspend some reindeer from the ceiling with wires. Bess said her husband will make us a wooden sled and paint it. The best part is the room is big enough to do all this. We’ll get some publicity with the local paper. Parents will bring their kids to see it and, hopefully, shop. Extra business for Eagle’s, but Josh won’t see it that way, would be my guess. This is the part you might have a problem with, Mom, but hear me out, okay? I’m going to, for a price, agree to wrap purchases from other stores. On a drop-off, pick-up-later basis. I’ll hire a few extra people, and we’ll do it after hours, when the store is closed. Josh won’t have a comeback because I pay my own utilities.”

  “Can you do that, Angie?”

  “My lawyer said I could, so that’s good enough for me. Josh will fight me, but that’s publicity for me. I’m looking at it as win-win. You look worried, Mom. Are you seeing something I’m not seeing?”

  “Well…You know me, I’m just a born worrier. If your lawyer says it’s okay, then I guess it’s okay.”

  Angie frowned. What was wrong with her mother? Normally, she’d be up for anything to make the shop prosper. She risked a glance in the direction of Angus Eagle. Caught staring, she offered up a wide smile. To her delight, Angus winked at her. Now that’s something I’ll have to think about later.

  “How’s that new company doing with your special order?” Eva asked.

  “Mom, you won’t believe it, but they came through royally, and the price is unbelievable. One-of-a-kind baubles, artificial greenery that looks better than the real stuff, and it’s been sprayed, so it even has a balsam scent. I ordered tons of stuff. Their ribbon is satin. Real satin, all widths. Our Christmas packages are going to be over the moon. And it’s just a little cottage industry in a small town called Hastings, in Pennsylvania. They’re going to start shipping the merchandise to the house next week.”

  Mother and daughter spent the next hour discussing a real tree versus artificial, paper wrap versus foil wrap, and other unusual ways to wrap gifts.

  A bell sounded in the hallway. Betsy appeared to take away the frozen peas. She chatted for a moment, asked Eva if she wanted to return to her room or stay to watch television. “Five minutes, ladies.”

  “I guess I better get going, Mom. I’ll be back in the morning with the order from Dunkin’ Donuts. Two dozen donuts, right? Same number on the coffees?”

  Eva smiled. “Plus one more for Angus
.”

  Angie picked up her jacket and purse before she hugged and kissed her mother good night. She was almost to the door when she saw Josh Eagle standing in the doorway staring at her. She was about to move past him when a devil perched itself on her shoulder. “Spying on me, Mr. Eagle? Or are you stalking me? Shame on you!” She said it loud enough so everyone in the room could hear.

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Ms. Bradford. I’m here to see my father.”

  Angie whirled around and pointed to the clock. “Well, that figures! You have three minutes to visit. Oh, is that a gift for your father? A Hershey’s bar! How kind of you. Money-hungry jerk,” she hissed, before she sailed through the doorway and down the hall.

  “Witch!” Josh hissed back, but loud enough to be heard by the patients. “Hey, wait a minute, you forgot your broom!”

  Angie stopped in her tracks and turned around. “What did you just call me, you pompous, money-hungry, no-good pissant?” Venom dripped from Angie’s lips as sparks flew from her eyes.

  Josh Eagle immediately regretted his words, but he couldn’t back down now. “I called you a witch and said you forgot your broom. You called me a money-hungry jerk. So now I’m a pissant. Well, it takes a pissant to know a pissant.”

  The captive audience gasped as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. Even Betsy, mouth hanging open, could only stare at the two hissing enemies.

  “I called you that because I was too polite to call you what you really are. Now, if you don’t get out of my way, you are going to be minus a very important part of your anatomy.” To her chagrin, Angie realized her voice had risen several decibels. Stricken, she looked around at the patients staring at her. All she could think of to do was wave.

  As one, the rapt audience gasped. They returned her wave, even Angus.

  The final bell for visitation rang.