Season of Joy

by Virginia Carmichael

  * * *

  Grant watched Calista’s eyes change as if a door had slammed shut inside. Where there had been softness and vulnerability, there was only icy silence.

  “It’s time to get back to your real life, boss, because the office is falling apart.” The pretty girl flicked a curl over her shoulder as if she was talking about the weather.

  When Calista found her voice, the tone was impersonal. “My phone is in my purse, which is in the file room.” She turned to Grant, face expressionless. “Is it all right if I go back inside?”

  He nodded, but held up a hand. “You two can talk while I go get it.” And he walked away without waiting for an answer.

  The door was propped open and he stepped carefully through the flooded patches in the lobby. His heart was pounding, but not in anticipation this time. He was angry, and he needed a few minutes to compose himself or he was going to give that woman a piece of his mind. Calista had been in a fire, saved a friend, confronted her worst fears, and all she could say was that Calista missed a big meeting? He felt the blood rushing in his ears and shook his head.

  What was all that about her “real life”? He pushed back a whisper of fear. She had a job, a high-powered position that she didn’t make any effort to hide. He was just reacting to the stew of lies his father concocted. It was an offhand comment and nothing more.

  The hallway to the offices was a little hazy, but otherwise there was no smoke damage. He stopped to open a few windows at the end of the hall then headed for the file room. Calista’s small black purse was sitting on the desk by the door. Grant grabbed it and her coat, and walked back toward the lobby. His head was still whirling with relief and anger and disbelief when he walked through the lobby door, straight into his father.

  Kurt Daniels stood at the front of the Downtown Denver Mission as if he owned the place, but that’s how he looked wherever he went. With thick, wavy hair that was more silver than black and a stature that made other men feel small, the powerful businessman didn’t have to work for respect. It just came to him naturally, whether he had earned it or not. A suit that must cost as much as the average mortgage payment was the final touch. He was awesome to behold. As long as you didn’t know what kind of person was on the inside.

  Grant planted himself a few feet away, waiting for his father to speak. Those dark blue eyes were exactly like his own, except for the calculating look.

  “I have to talk to you.” The gravelly voice was utterly familiar and it set Grant’s teeth on edge.

  “So you can force me to do everything your way? You’re absolutely predictable.” He was too tired to argue about this, not now.

  “Please.” Kurt Daniels held up a long, elegant hand.

  Grant waited, eyebrows raised, not trusting for a moment that his father actually had a valid reason to be here, at this moment.

  “I made a mistake.”

  Grant couldn’t keep from shaking his head and taking a step toward the parking lot.

  “Grant, you need to hear this, no matter what’s between us.” The intensity of his tone, the set of his jaw, slowed Grant’s steps.

  After a short debate, he said, “Five seconds. Which is more than you ever gave me until this year.”

  His father sighed, closed his eyes for a moment and then said, “I hired someone to convince you to see things my way, to make sure you let me get involved in your life. I didn’t know what he was doing.” He stopped, looking up, pain in his eyes. “No, I made sure not to know. Which is different.”

  Grant’s mind was stuck, spinning like car wheels in the snow. “You...hired someone to write me threatening letters?”

  Kurt Daniels glanced at the parking lot, the reporters with camera equipment. “I thought it would hurry things along, if you thought you had to admit to the world we were related.”

  Grant heaved a sigh. “I don’t even know what to say. I’m glad to know who was behind it all. But this is a bad time to be having this conversation. As you can see—” he swept a hand behind him at the smoking shell of the mission “—we’ve had a fire.”

  His father stepped forward and grabbed his arm, eyes flashing. “That’s why I’m here,” he hissed.

  Grant jerked his arm away. “What are you talking about?”

  “I think the man I hired started that fire.”

  He felt the words drop one by one, like ice cubes down his spine. “You...did this?” Even after all he knew about his father, he could never have imagined this. It was too horrible, too evil.

  “I didn’t know, I swear. I thought he was trying to scare you with anonymous threats. When I saw the fire on the news, it occurred to me for the first time that he might do something more.”

  Grant shook his head, hardly able to form words. He looked over at Calista, standing near the ambulance. How could she ever want to be part of this soap opera? People could have been hurt; Marisol could have died. Fury choked him and Grant struggled to speak calmly.

  “If you’re here to beg forgiveness, that’s not for me to decide. The police will be involved if this was arson, and I’m not going to jail for you.” With those words he stalked past him into the parking lot.

  Calista stood with her arms folded across her waist, while Jackie paced a few feet away, speaking urgently into her cell phone.

  “I’m sorry for the delay.” He handed over her purse, hoping he didn’t sound as furious as he felt.

  Calista accepted her purse without comment, but she shot a dubious look behind him.

  “You don’t want to know,” he said, trying for black humor and ending up somewhere near bitterness.

  “Grant, I’m going to go home and get cleaned up, then head back to work so I can handle the crisis that erupted there today. But...” She fixed him with a steady look. “I’m hoping we can talk tomorrow. I don’t understand why you can’t take his money.”

  He felt her words like a slap to the face. Of course, everyone wanted him to take the money. That was all that really mattered, unless you knew the truth.

  She seemed to read his thoughts because she said, “It just doesn’t make sense and I want to understand, if you’ll trust me.”

  Her look gripped his heart and he hauled in a deep breath. He did trust her. As much as he trusted Marisol or Eric, friends he’d known for years. There was a powerful ache to tell her the whole story right here and now, but not because he thought she wasn’t going to come back. His heart told him Calista was here to stay. He glanced behind him and wasn’t surprised to see Kurt Daniels had already disappeared. He was good at that.

  “All right. But it’s not a pretty story.”

  “I wasn’t hoping for a fairy tale.” Calista’s lips twitched for a moment and Grant felt his heart lighten at the sight. This woman could lead him anywhere with one word, one look. It would be sort of scary, if it didn’t feel so right.

  Jackie snapped her cell phone closed and strode over to them. “We’ve got to get moving. The board has called a meeting for this evening. I told them what happened and that you needed a few hours to get ready.” She nodded at Grant, her eyes taking in his appearance from his head to his shoes, then flickering past him to where his father had been just minutes before.

  Calista nodded, her expression all business. “Let’s go.” She hesitated, and Grant wished he could give her a kiss goodbye. But Jackie was waiting and Calista reached out a hand to touch his sleeve, then turned away and walked toward the far parking lot.

  He watched them until they had turned the corner. Please keep her safe. Because whatever had gone wrong today at VitaWow, her expression showed that it was a bigger threat to her peace of mind than a raging fire.

  * * *

  Calista flipped the switch inside that took her from normal girl to CEO. It wasn’t a hard move, considering she had spent the past decade being fearlessly in cont
rol. But this time there was a piece of her, her mind or even her heart, that seemed stuck back in the Downtown Denver Mission parking lot. She could almost feel Grant’s thumb moving along her jaw, his warm lips on hers. She struggled to focus on Jackie’s fast-paced chatter.

  “The board received a last-minute offer on a new location for the headquarters. It’s better than the last by a long shot. It’s so good I thought it was a joke. As soon as I heard this morning, I tried to call you about twenty times to give you a heads-up before the meeting but you must have had your phone turned off.”

  Calista frowned, shaking her head. They were standing in front of her car, Jackie’s sports car pulled up at an angle to hers. A testament of how panicked she’d been when she’d arrived. Not for her safety, of course, but because of the meeting. Calista swallowed the hurt that swamped her and focused on what seemed like the palest details in a dramatic day.

  “I never turn my phone off, but I did go to the kitchen around ten because they needed help in there. I forgot to take it with me.” Forgot because she’d been rattled at having a sweet conversation with Grant about babies. Instead of smiling at the memory, she felt her jaw clench. Grant’s presence had thrown her into a blushing frenzy, like a teenager. She couldn’t even trust herself to keep track of minor things like her phone when he was around.

  “Then when the kitchen caught fire, I panicked and got out.” Calista left the rest of the story for another time. Or maybe never. She was so tired her teeth ached but she still needed to get cleaned up and head to VitaWow.

  For the first time Jackie seemed to consider the implications of finding Calista sitting in the ambulance. “Are you sure you’re okay to meet with the board this evening? I could try to get them all rescheduled for tomorrow morning.”

  Calista almost snorted. Of course she wasn’t, but she didn’t really have a choice. “It’s fine, but see if you can get my hairdresser to meet me at my apartment in thirty minutes. Tell her it’s an emergency.”

  Jackie nodded, eyes wide. “Oh, wow. Your hair is really...going to need some help.”

  She sighed, hating to admit how shallow Jackie was, if her hair got a bigger reaction than the mission losing a major part of its operation.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Grant felt a buzz in his pocket for the tenth time that hour. He resisted the urge to throw the cell phone out the open window of his office and answered it like the good director he was. But if today got any longer, he didn’t know how much goodness was left in him.

  “I saw it on the news. I’m on my way over.”

  Eric’s statement, instead of a greeting, made Grant smile in spite of himself.

  “You were just here. There’s not much difference except the big black, smokin’ hole where the kitchen used to be.”

  “Be there in ten.” And with a click, Grant was reminded why Eric was his best friend. He closed his own phone and laid it on the desk, wanting to lay his head in his arms and close his eyes. The few minutes of quiet in his office was supposed to give him energy to get through the day, but all it seemed to do was remind him how very tired he was. And smoky. And wishing Calista was still here.

  Instead she was on her way back to VitaWow, which wasn’t fair because she needed to go home and rest. Jackie’s lack of compassion to Calista irked him every time he thought about it. She was supposed to run off to a meeting after what had happened here? Poor woman, no wonder she felt as though she had no real friends if that was as close as she got to friendship. But somehow Calista showed compassion, loyalty, generosity, when she was at the mission...and amazing bravery today. Give her strength, Lord, for what she needs to do today. Whatever it is.

  His father jumped to mind and he shoved the image away. He just didn’t have time to even consider the implications. Was his father really so unhinged he would hire someone to burn the mission down? Just to get attention?

  His desk phone rang and he stared at it. What he wouldn’t give to pretend he wasn’t sitting six inches away. He rubbed a hand over his face and picked it up.

  “Mr. Monohan, this is Chief Andrew Neilly of the Denver Police.”

  That got his attention.

  The chief continued. “Just wanted to confirm the fire chief’s finding of an accidental fire. Since you’ve had trouble with the threatening letters, we want to be doubly sure.”

  “As far as I know, it was a fan that shorted out. A kitchen worker also witnessed the fire start. But I need to tell you something about those letters.”

  “Go ahead.” Grant could hear the chief tearing a sheet of paper off a notepad.

  He took a steadying breath and gave the chief as much information as he had, about his father and the man he’d hired.

  “Oh, boy.”

  Grant smiled a little at Chief Neilly’s comment. “Oh, boy” didn’t really cover it, but what else was there to say? “If the fire is accidental, then I don’t want to press charges. I’m going to try and talk to him, see if we can reach some kind of understanding.”

  There was a pause. “I understand. But Mr. Monohan? Be careful. And if you ever need help, be sure to call.”

  Careful. He wished he knew if it was wise to even speak to his father again. But something in the old man’s face today was different. He seemed to realize, for the first time, that he couldn’t always get his way. Grant thanked him and hung up the phone. Another knock at the door announced Lana.

  “I know you’re taking a break, but I thought you’d want to know about the call I just got from Janet Jeffrey at Seventh Street Mission.”

  He came around the side of his desk and leaned against it, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Janet’s probably wondering how many people to expect over there.”

  To his surprise, Lana grinned. “Not exactly. She’s been on the phone as soon as they heard about the fire. They’ve got some meals lined up, dinner for starters.”

  “Dinner?”

  “Yeah. They pulled in some favors and dinner will be coming to the mission at six, right on the dot. A full, balanced meal for two hundred and fifty.”

  So his residents didn’t have to find somewhere else, at least for the immediate future. He felt as if an enormous weight just lifted from his shoulders. “Well, that’s some seriously good news. I guess we’ll worry about breakfast later.”

  Lana ran her fingers through her hair and stared innocently at the ceiling. “Maybe we will, maybe we won’t.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She laughed outright, glee written on her features. “Calista sent out a petition and they’ve already got donors scheduled for the next two weeks. Every meal is covered at least that far, maybe farther if they keep at it.”

  Grant felt his mouth drop open. He leaned heavily back against the desk, his mind spinning. “How? She’s back at work.”

  “You’ve got to hand it to the girl. She knows her stuff.” Lana shook her head, eyes bright.

  “What do you mean by donors?”

  “Hospitals, a few sports teams, banks, corporations, you name it!” She was laughing as she ticked off the places on her fingers. “Isn’t God amazing, Grant? I could hardly believe it when that assistant of hers called. I asked if she wanted to tell you, but she said she was supposed to keep working and see if they can get the whole month covered.”

  “Unbelievable. We can set up the classrooms as meal rooms. Maybe use some of the bigger cafeteria tables, if they’ll fit. Some of them might have to go in the lobby.” He frowned, working the logistics in his head. So many people, so little space.

  “Outdoor Rentals called and said they had some all-purpose tents that can be used with a wooden floor for outdoor seating if we need it. It comes with a few heaters. They’ll be over later to set it up, just in case we need it for overflow.”

  It was so much to take in, he had to sit down.
Grant went back behind his desk and carefully lowered his long frame into the chair. His legs felt numb. Maybe he was having a delayed reaction from the fire. “Why would they do this? I’ve never even heard of Outdoor Rentals.”

  Lana wheeled closer to the desk and reached out for his hand. “Grant, they’ve heard of you. And not because you’re famous now. Every phone call I’ve taken since the fire, and I’ve taken dozens, has been someone asking to help, wanting to give back to the mission, the same way this place has fed and sheltered people in need.”

  As if a warm blanket had settled around his shoulders, Grant felt the truth of her words. Calista had told him that there were so many good corporations out there, wanting to help. But every year he had watched downtown businesses call for the city to close the mission and to “clean up” the area. What they really wanted was to hide the problems of homelessness, abuse, addiction and hunger. Every year the city refused to bow to the megacorporations. But he had wondered how many were on the side of the mission. A few? A handful?

  He didn’t try to hide the moistness in his eyes. “I feel like Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life. You know, the part where everybody starts throwing money into a big pot?”

  Lana chuckled. “Does that make me the goofy angel, Clarence?”

  “No, no, you’re definitely Uncle Billy,” Grant teased, lacing his fingers behind his head.

  “And we all know who plays Mary in this version. I saw a little lip-on-lip action this afternoon.” She gave him a wink, then started to laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you turn that color, boss.”

  He shrugged, wishing he could force the grin from his face. But with the immediate needs of the residents taken care of, his mind was free to wander back to Calista...and that kiss. “It was the world’s worst timing but it somehow felt right. And she didn’t run.”

  “Always a good sign,” Lana agreed. Her eyes were bright with happiness. “Forget about her superhero powers and lining up all these donors. I knew you were meant for each other from the very beginning. Remember the day she told you not to handle the PR for the mission?”