Cupid's Holiday Trilogy

by Geeta Kakade

  He had on old jeans, a torn jacket and the blue hat he had mentioned. He held up a sign that hid the lower half of his face and read, ‘Need work.’ It was exactly one minute to two o’clock when Bridget pulled up there and she spotted him right away. He waited till a group crossed in front of him then slid into the back seat and lay down on the floor mats. She was out of there within a minute. She took two side roads, as Andrew had told her to, to make sure no one was following before she got on the road home.

  “I’m Bridget. Are you all right back there?” she asked finally.

  “I’m Viktor. Thank you for coming to get me.” he said.

  Andrew had sent him a text that it was best he didn’t come along in case someone recognized him and Viktor had agreed one hundred percent.

  “Pull the sheet over your head and lie down on the back seat now,” Bridget told him. “You’re perfectly safe. The holes are for your eyes and mouth. You are going to the party as a ghost and if anyone talks to you just howl or moan.”

  Andrew had said he didn’t want her to take any chances on the way back. She was to keep on the side roads away from all other traffic. He’d told her that if there was any obstacle on the road she was to go around it, or reverse or do anything else but stop. Bridget’s heart had never beaten so fast as it did all the way back to the house.

  Once there she took Viktor in through the kitchen glad that the house was full of guests and Mrs. Kemp was greeting every one as they came through the front door. He could lose himself in the crowd in the room. There were a couple of other ghosts but she was glad to note they were both shorter than Viktor. At least she and Andrew wouldn’t lose sight of him in the crowd.

  “What took you so long?” asked Frank looking good in his space suit as she handed him the bag with the prizes. He’d outgrown the one he wore last year and Moira said she’d just let him pick one out at the store for this year. “We’ve got the puppies locked in the back with their toys. Andrew and I drew up a timetable for them and he told me how important it is for them to be alone some of the time. This is their alone time for today.”

  “It wasn’t long at all,” Bridget said. “It just seemed long because you can’t wait to get this party going. I know the feeling. Shall we start the first game?”

  Over the guest’s heads her eyes met those of the pirate’s who raised his cutlass in a salute.

  Viktor did well sitting in a corner, a glass of Blood Punch in his hand. The pirate sat next to him as Bridget announced each game. Everyone had a wonderful time judging from the laughter and noise but to Bridget it was all a blur. At one time she was aware that Mr. Kemp had Mark and Christy on Facetime so they could see everyone in costume. Bridget froze as if she expected them to see through the sheet the ghost was in and guess what she and Andrew were doing but when Mr. Kemp took the iPad over to Andrew to say a few words the ghost had made his way to the bathroom. When Mrs. Kemp announced the food was ready, Bridget went over and sat down the other side of Viktor.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said to Andrew who was looking grim again.

  “Yes it is,” he said though his mouth was one tight line. Bridget guessed the Facetime interlude had him tense.

  “Let me get you some food,” she told him, “and some for myself.” Turning to Viktor she said, “Come with me.”

  She and Viktor got to the table and she filled two plates.

  “Who’s the ghost?” asked Mrs. Kemp replenishing one of the serving dishes as Viktor turned away to return to his chair.

  “One of the neighbors I guess. She just told me her name and I can’t remember it. The names have all run together in my head. Christy said she had ten of them coming this year. These hands look better than ever,” Bridget helped herself to a hand with blood red nails. “Moira and you have outdone yourselves this year with the cookies. I hope Mr. Kemp got pictures of those tombstone bars with the edible writing on them. You have to get a prize for those. That was a good idea to get Mark and Christy on Facetime for a while. Christy will be so happy when she see the pictures Mr. Kemp’s been taking.” Nervousness had Bridget babbling and Mrs. Kemp looked at her sharply.

  “Yes she will and I’m freezing two pieces of your carrot cake for Christy and Mark…it’s one of the best things on the menu and Moira said it was better than hers last year though it’s the same recipe.” Mrs. Kemp turned away to get some more food and Bridget made good her escape.

  She handed Andrew his plate and his hand touched hers as he took it.

  His eyes widened. Bridget’s hand was icy cold. He didn’t know what to say. Not to feel fear and do things was one thing but to be afraid and still help Viktor and him was really courageous. He’d thought at first she didn’t realize the gravity of the situation that she was taking it like a game but the state of her hands told him she was aware how dangerous what she was doing was.

  “Bridget can you please come meet Peter’s Mom and Dad now?”

  Frank introduced her to his classmates sitting around the kitchen table and then she met some of the parents.

  “She’s an ангел,” said Viktor to Andrew, using the Russian pronunciation for angel.

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Your Bridget of course who else? She’s so calm I would have thought she was a trained agent if you hadn’t told me different. I don’t know any civilian who would put themselves in jeopardy the way she has. The call on Friday night and then coming to pick me up like that …”

  “I know,” said Andrew quietly.

  “You’re a lucky man.”

  About to refute Viktor’s assumption that Bridget and he were an item, Andrew changed his mind. Maybe the thought made Viktor feel more secure. “She was raised by nuns and I think their attitude to most things has rubbed off on her.”

  “Really?”

  A couple came and sat in the chairs next to them bringing their conversation to an end.

  Andrew had to give Bridget full marks for the front she was putting up. Talk about still waters running deep. One never guessed how deep till they were tested. He would never have imagined when he first met her that she would partner him on a mission like this or that she would be so cool in a crisis.

  He was still very uneasy about how he would explain all this to Mark and Christy; especially Bridget’s part in it. He’d never gone back on his word before but with Viktor’s life at stake, he’d had to backtrack and have him here for a few hours tonight.

  Would Mark and Christy understand?

  Bridget smuggled Viktor out the back and into the car while everyone was in the living room for the entry ticket prize draw, followed by the other prizes for the games and the distribution of the gift bags everyone got to take home. It signaled the end of the party. Andrew was to tell anyone who asked that she’d gone to bed with a bad headache. She’d had a couple of those since she’d arrived at Cupid Lodge so they all knew that when she had one she just went to bed and slept it off.

  If anyone at the party was watching them they’d decided not to arouse suspicion by both of them leaving. She’d left Christy’s car on the road by the lilac hedges and hopefully anyone who noticed it was missing from the garage would just assume it was on the drive and vice versa.

  “Where are we going?” Viktor asked from his place on the floor between the two rows of seats.

  “You’ll know when we get there,” said Bridget. “Just relax.” She and Andrew had both agreed to give Viktor information as the occasion arose. He was as wound up as a cat trying to walk on live coals and she didn’t want him giving her a hard time about their destination. As it was, she’d had a hard time convincing Andrew her plan would work.

  She’d placed a couple of thick cushions in the back on the floor to give Viktor a more comfortable ride and hoped he would take a nap. Slipping a CD in she listened to an Andrea Bocelli concert in an effort to calm her nerves and hoped it would have the same effect on Viktor. The drive took exactly one hour as there was very little traffic at this time on a
Sunday night. Hurrying Viktor up the path from the car took only a few minutes.

  Sister Winifred had the side gate of the Convent open and Viktor stared in amazement at her.

  Bridget made the introductions and turned to Viktor. “You’ll be safer here than anywhere else in the world. No more contacts through your cell phone so give it to me. Sister Winifred will send any messages necessary to me.”

  She kissed Sister Winfred and whispered, “Thank you all so much.”

  Outside she smashed Viktor’s cell phone with her heel, picked up the pieces and half way back home she flung them out of the window. Multiple checks in the rear view window to show she wasn’t being followed and she was back and slipping into the house to let Andrew know everything had gone without a hitch.

  He was in the kitchen with a mug of hot cocoa at her place at the kitchen table.

  “Thanks,” she said pulling off her cap and gloves. “I’m sure it will snow by morning. Temperature’s dropping”

  He passed her chair and suddenly she felt his hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

  “Thank you.” His voice whispering the words, his touch made her long to lean into him as she had once before.

  “How did the party end?” Bridget had to say something to cover up the cacophony of sound her heart was responsible for. She was barely able to clamp down on the urge to fling herself into his arms.

  “Very well, I think. Mrs. Kemp wondered where you were and I heard Moira mention you had gone to bed as you had a headache. I told Moira that as soon as I got a chance so she could pass it on. Then they both talked about how you were up at the crack of dawn every day to tend to the puppies.”

  “I had to say something to Moira so she’d believe the headache story,” Bridget said, mentally apologizing to Sister Winifred for lying.

  “It worked. They both agreed you have been overdoing things since Christy left and needed to have a day off tomorrow. Said you were up till 2 a.m icing the cake and then up again at 4 this morning.”

  “I haven’t done anything more than usual.”

  “On the subject of a day off do you think you can give me a ride tomorrow?”

  “Of course,” said Bridget automatically. “Where to and what time?”

  “About ten suit you? Moira says you are not to enter the kitchen tomorrow.”

  “I’ll just tidy up the living room now then,” said Bridget. “I’m too wired to sleep now anyway.”

  Andrew helped her and as they worked in silence Bridget found herself thinking that the day had been amazing. She’d challenged herself to do things she wouldn’t have dreamed of doing in the Convent and she’d enjoyed finding out that when it came to it she was capable of rising to the occasion.

  It wasn’t till she was almost asleep a good two hours later that she realized Andrew hadn’t told her where she was driving him to the next day.

  CHAPTER SIX

  It had snowed but it was just a light smattering on the ground that would melt by nightfall. There was much more expected by the weekend.

  There were two men in the backyard putting in two-foot reinforcements underground for the chain link fence so the puppies would not be able to dig their way out later. For now Sheba and Coco were safe in the smaller fenced in area in front of the apartments but they were going to be big dogs and would need a much larger area eventually. The men had told Mr. Kemp they would put in fences for a dog run too and then cut a doggie door that led directly from the garage to the run. In the garage an iron rail fence would mark the indoor doggie area. Mark had called and asked the men to finish the work before it started snowing in earnest. The two men had worked in the yard in the summer and Bridget went up to them and talked to them for a few minutes though it was something she wouldn’t do normally. She wanted to make sure they were the same men who’d been here before and not just anyone pretending to be workers on the pretext of getting close to Andrew. Last night on the way back she had admitted to herself that Andrew could still be in danger if anyone recognized him. She couldn’t bear the thought of any more harm coming his way.

  Bridget spent an hour talking to Toby in the greenhouse, admiring the row of orchids he had against one wall, the dwarf banana and fig trees. Any vegetable that could grow in a container was doing well indoors. The tomatoes and eggplant were next to the sunny wall; the carrots, chard and lettuce in rows full of promise in shadier spots. He had containers with strawberries.

  “You don’t have just a green thumb,” she told Toby. “All twenty digits of your fingers and your toes are green.”

  “I cannot tell you what a difference this greenhouse has made to me,” Toby said looking around. “In previous years winter hasn’t been easy. I’ve come in for a few hours to clear the drive but other than sit in the kitchen and help with some light work I couldn’t do much. I get very stiff if I sit around all day but now with the greenhouse I have work to keep me happy and busy in the mornings. Then there’s the garage in the afternoons. Mr. Kemp waits for me to start watching the pre-recorded matches. He even tapes the English cricket matches now for us to watch. He’s teaching me to use the treadmill too. He says he doesn’t want to be the only one who has to work out. Mr. Blackwell, I mean Andrew, got me a new pair of shoes for the treadmill. He brought three pairs home for me to try on.”

  Toby looked happy as he snipped lettuce and put it into a basket. Bridget was glad Andrew had gotten him the shoes. She’d wondered about the three boxes a store assistant had carried to the SUV last week. Toby deserved the best. Christy always said Toby was worth his weight in gold and the salary she paid him didn’t cover the amount of work he did. He refused to take a raise saying he didn’t need it.

  “If we get the solar panels that Mark and Christy are thinking of I won’t have to worry about the heating bill come next winter,” said Toby. “As it is I don’t use much power as the greenhouse captures maximum sunlight.”

  He stole a look at Bridget. She was staring at the bunch of bananas on the dwarf tree as if she’d never seen them before. Didn’t seem that she was paying attention to what he was saying.

  “Nice party last night. Shame you weren’t feeling well towards the end.”

  She looked at him. “I get these headaches sometimes.”

  Was an implication the same as a lie? Sister Winifred would say it was.

  Toby looked as if he was going to say something, then he shrugged. “Well a day off never hurts anybody and I’m glad they won’t let you in the kitchen today except at mealtime. Did Andrew tell you he and Frank won the pumpkin carving contest?”

  “He didn’t. That was a great pumpkin wasn’t it?”

  “Someone took a picture and said they would send it to the Lake Herald.” Toby said proudly.

  “Oh?” Suddenly she was on full alert. “Did they ask who’d carved it?”

  “I heard Mr. Kemp tell them it was Mr. Blackwell and Frank.”

  “I have to go,” she said suddenly.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Toby.

  “Nothing. Andrew’s waiting for me. I’ve forgotten the time. See you later.”

  As Toby later told Moira ‘she lit out of there like she had to report a forest fire.’

  “What’s next?” Phillip demanded. “They’ve got this fellow stashed at the convent and he’s safe now.”

  “Yes, it’s time they got a move on with the romantic part,” agreed Agnes.

  “Why can’t he just tell her how he feels?”

  “Because he wants his knee to be completely healed before he proposes.”

  “Why? She can take care of him, can’t she?”

  Agnes sighed. Phillip still didn’t get how different things were nowadays.

  “What’s your hurry?" she asked.

  “Well, I want to be out of here before my rheumatism starts acting up and I get all stiff,” said Phillip. “The first snowfall always heralded the pain in my back. If it wasn’t for the willow bark the Indian woman brought us I don’t know what I would have don
e.”

  Agnes laughed. “Phillip,” she said, using his Christian name as she occasionally did. “Believe me you won’t have any rheumatism this time around.”

  “Well in that case I’m going along for the ride Agnes.”

  Andrew made a few calls on her phone and then turned to Bridget as she got on the highway that circled Silver Lake. “Damage control completed successfully. Mark’s having someone high up call the paper and tell them not to put my name in.”

  He didn’t want to contact HQ and give away his location in case he would be used as bait to trap Viktor. He had put away his phone in case anyone had put a trace on it using Bridget’s to relay messages in code. The words ‘too careful’ didn’t exist if Viktor was to be saved. As it is, Harry’s life had been a high price to pay and if Viktor couldn’t stay behind, none of this would be worth a damn.

  Bridget nodded. “I’m glad that was easy.”

  Her response met with silence and then Andrew said, “Have you found the last few days very difficult?”

  She turned to give him a quick look. “What do you mean?”

  “All this cloak and dagger stuff, hiding the truth, aiding someone who wants to defect…does all this go against the grain?”

  “What grain?”

  “I mean aren’t there certain rules you have to obey in the Convent?”

  “There are certain rules every human being has to obey wherever they are in the world and I don’t think I’ve broken any of them. Protecting the defenseless, assuring peace in the world, are some of the most important don’t you think?”

  “Yes, but I don’t want you to get into any trouble because of me.”

  “I won’t. I think everyone has their own internal compass and as long as it is linked to what’s good and true and right by all standards, one only has to follow it to do what is right.”