She saw his car pull up in Sarah’s driveway as she began making an assembly line on the counter to put together the rolled breakfast steaks called rouladen. He was probably going to slow her down, since she imagined his primary contact with food had been in restaurants. She noted his car had been restored to its classic elegant line—all traces of the fender bender vanished. Her insurance had covered it.
He was as elegant as his car. Even casually dressed in slacks and a blue sweater beneath his bomber jacket, he appeared sleek and powerfully sexy.
Midnight set up a racket when she heard the doorbell, but went back to her usual spot by the picture window watching the birds at the feeder when Hollie shooed her away.
When Noel entered the house, he began to walk in the direction of the kitchen. “The TV is in there, if you recall,” Hollie said, pointing to the living room.
“But I came to help,” Noel insisted.
“I thought you were kidding.”
He just stared at her. “I never kid.”
“I should know that by now. What must I have been thinking? Okay, hang your jacket in the closet, push up your sleeves and I’ll put you to work.”
Why hadn’t she said no from the start? Hollie chastised herself. She hadn’t liked how much she’d liked seeing him. Was used to seeing him every day. It occurred to her that she was going to miss him when he left…if he ever did. She had never had a client quite like him. And she had never gotten so involved with one.
“What do you want me to do?”
Noel’s words filtered into her musing and she caught herself before she said, Kiss me again the way you did at the mall. What was wrong with her?
“Do the bacon strips in the microwave,” she ordered. “I’ll get the other ingredients ready while you’re doing that.”
Hollie took off her stack rings and laid them on the countertop out of the way. She focused on the task at hand, deliberately ignoring how good Noel smelled, and how disturbing and unnerving having him so close by was.
She got out the Italian bread crumbs and the Italian salad dressing and put both into deep bowls. She added a large package of shredded cheese to another bowl and then began shredding a dozen carrots.
When Noel had the bacon crisped, she showed him how to make the rouladens; demonstrating with one breakfast steak, she dipped it first in the Italian salad dressing, then in the Italian bread crumbs. Next she placed a piece of crisp bacon in the middle of the steak and added the shredded cheese and grated carrots by the heaping tablespoon. The finishing touch was rolling the stuffed strips up, jelly-roll fashion, and securing them with three toothpicks per rouladen.
“If you assemble the rouladens, I’ll make a big pan of gravy to bake them in. Think you can manage—and aren’t you sorry you offered to help?”
“I can manage,” he assured her.
They worked in companionable silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
He finally interrupted her with a question.
“So how did you get into real estate?”
“I’ve always loved houses and I guess I just sort of drifted into it,” Hollie answered, stirring the gravy continuously.
“It seems like a pretty tough way to make a living,” he observed. “Don’t you have to take a lot of grief from customers?”
“You may have noticed an agent learns to let the customer’s frustration slide off—most of the time. It’s tenacity that gets the sale. You have to be prepared to make sales calls and follow-up calls or face losing potential customers to another agent.”
He was quiet for a moment, as he absorbed her answer.
“Why? Are you thinking of taking it up?” Hollie asked, turning up the gas flame beneath the pan of gravy.
“Not a chance. I don’t enjoy working with the public.”
“Good choice, because you’d kill your clients when they changed their minds for the thirty-eighth time.”
“Is that a dig?”
“No, you’ve made up your mind. I’m working on changing it.”
“Why are you so stubborn?”
“Me?” She frowned.
“Yes, you. I’m offering you more money than your house is worth.”
“You can’t put a monetary value on some things. But I guess when you come from a wealthy background the way you do you wouldn’t know that.”
UPS drove up at that moment, and the deliveryman ran up the walk and rang the doorbell. Midnight began barking and Hollie dropped the spoon she was stirring the gravy with into the pan of hot liquid. She swore beneath her breath, momentarily flustered.
“I’ll get the door,” Noel offered, washing off his hands and grabbing a towel as he headed for the front door. “You deal with the dog.”
Midnight escaped Hollie’s lunge and raced out the door between Noel’s legs when Noel opened the door.
“Midnight!” Hollie yelled after the fleeing dog.
The dog had a taste of freedom and was scampering away across the muddy lawn as fast as its little feet would go. The ever changing St. Louis weather had turned warmer, melting the snow that had previously fallen.
“You sign for the package and I’ll go get the dog,” Noel ordered, taking charge.
“But—”
“I don’t know what to do in the kitchen without you,” Noel rationalized. “It shouldn’t take me long to retrieve Midnight. She’s just a little bit of a thing.”
As Noel took off after Midnight, Hollie didn’t have the heart to tell him that he’d met his match, little bitty or not.
“Ma’am?” The deliveryman was in a hurry. The preholiday schedule had him swinging double shifts.
Hollie signed for the package for Sarah and went back to the kitchen. She had mounds of spuds to peel for the mashed potatoes to go with the rouladens. Trust a man to disappear when the drudgery part of cooking arrived.
“DAMN IT,” Noel swore as his loafers hit a slick patch of muddy lawn and he went sprawling.
Midnight barked at him and scampered beyond his reach.
Noel scowled at the little piece of fluff, then down at his ruined slacks. A large grass stain covered one knee and his hand hurt where it had landed on a rock, scraping off some skin.
“Come here, Midnight,” he said in a tone that meant business.
No response.
“I said, come here.”
Midnight barked again and began walking away.
The stupid mutt thought they were playing a game, Noel soon realized. It would serve the animal right if he just left her outside until she got hungry enough to come home. But it might be a while. Midnight was well fed and used to being outside in the fenced yard. The delicious taste of freedom wasn’t something she’d give up so easily.
Noel couldn’t abandon the silly dog, because the animal was dumb enough to run out in front of a car. But it didn’t keep him from feeling like a fool, he grumbled as he rose to chase the creature. It wasn’t seemly. If the dog were a German shepherd or something, okay. But a wee little dog made him look ridiculous.
Still, Elena would be distraught if she returned home and her dog was missing, so he continued chasing Midnight.
“Come here, girl,” Noel called, trying ever so discreetly to inch closer and closer to the dog without Midnight noticing what Noel was doing. How hard could it be to catch such a little bitty thing? He was certainly not about to be outsmarted by a piece of fluff.
Midnight sat down and waited, watching Noel’s slow approach. She cocked her head and listened to him coax her to come to him.
“That’s it, girl. Just sit very still until I reach you and pick you up ever so gently and wring your silly little neck.”
But just as soon as Noel got within lunging distance of Midnight, the dog would bounce away as though she were on tiny springs, then bark at him from a safe distance, as if Noel were some mean old dognapper.
Frustrated, Noel tried flat out running after the scampering dog and nearly knoc
ked himself out when he ran smack into a low tree branch; he actually saw a burst of tiny stars momentarily. Feeling a little dizzy, he stayed put where he’d landed on the ground.
Which was what he should have done all along, because Midnight began whining and walked back over to him, jumping into Noel’s lap and licking his face.
But a couple of neighborhood kids riding by on their bikes attracted Midnight’s attention and the dog leaped from Noel’s grasp to take off after the boys, yapping at their feet.
Noel held his head in his hands, wishing he were on a warm sunny island with his head hurting because he was hung over.
He had to get up and go after the dog.
Before he lost sight of it.
Sound of it, anyway.
Pushing himself up off the damp ground, he resumed the chase.
NOEL HAD BEEN GONE a long time, Hollie thought uneasily.
She prayed nothing had happened to Midnight. Elena would be upset and her holiday would be completely ruined.
She emptied the boiling water from the large stockpot full of potatoes and shook them into a bowl for whipping.
By the time she’d finished making the mashed potatoes and checked on the rouladens in the oven, Noel and Midnight still had not returned.
Her worry increased as she worked to make the rest of the dishes for the dinner party Sarah was catering. Helping Sarah from time to time had taught her a lot about catering.
She checked her watch. “Where are you, Noel?” she asked aloud. Sarah and Elena weren’t due back for a while, but that still didn’t prevent Hollie from worrying.
To distract herself, she went to the stereo system and put on the radio, turning from a talk radio station to a station playing Christmas carols.
Returning to the refrigerator, she got out the endive bunches, red leaf lettuce and romaine to wash for the tub of salad. While her hands were busy with the idle task of rinsing the lettuce, she let herself itemize the holiday tasks she had yet to do. First on the list was finding the Barbie in the pink dress for Elena.
Then she wanted to try making sugared fruit. Oh, yes, she needed to get the makings for a gingerbread house because she’d promised Elena she could spend the night and they would make one together. And as of yet, she hadn’t found the special ornament for this year to add to the tree, a custom she’d started when she’d bought the house.
She let out a little gasp, suddenly remembering she’d forgotten to kiss a pomegranate on December 15, which would have meant all her Christmas wishes would come true. Instead she’d kissed a grinch—it was impossible to know what that meant.
Noel could have easily spent the day doing something besides helping her cook and, now, chasing down Midnight. Was he trying to get into her good graces so she’d sell the house to him? He’d claimed he was helping so they could look at some houses later in the day. But, she wondered if the real reason he’d offered was that he was lonely.
She’d just finished the lettuce and drained the water, when the doorbell rang. Wiping her hands dry on a dish towel, she went to get the door, hoping it was Noel with Midnight.
Her hopes were answered. Midnight was squirming, but safe and sound in Noel’s arms. Noel, however, looked as though he’d been hit by a truck.
“What happened to you?” she cried, taking the dog as Noel came inside. “Are you all right?”
“I need to sit down.”
She helped Noel to the sofa, while Midnight made her way to her water dish and lapped loudly.
Noel gingerly lowered himself to the sofa. “Can you turn off the music, please? And turn out the lights.”
Hollie hurried to do as he requested. Midnight, tired from her adventure, headed for the bed in Elena’s room.
“What happened to you?” Hollie asked again when she returned to Noel’s side.
“A low branch knocked me senseless when I was chasing that, that…dog! And then I had to crawl under a car to get her in the end.”
“I’m so sorry, Noel. Can I do anything for you?”
“As a matter of fact, you can. I’m prone to tension headaches and I’ve got a prescription to pick up.” He reached in his pants pocket to withdraw his wallet. “Here, take this. There’s cash and my insurance card. Those pills should take care of this headache. I’ll just wait here until you get back.”
“Will you be okay by yourself? You could have a concussion or something,” she said with concern.
“No, I’m fine. I’ve got a goose egg on my forehead and a headache, but I’m not dizzy or nauseous. If you’ll just fetch me my prescription from Walgreens on Lindbergh, I’ll be fine.”
She took his wallet and jotted down her cell phone number on her business card, then placed the card on the table beside him. “You can reach me on my cell phone if you need me,” she said, retrieving the portable phone and setting it beside the business card.
“Thanks.”
Hollie checked the rouladens in the oven to make sure they were ready, then turned off the oven.
“Okay, I’m leaving now,” she told him, heading for the front door.
“It smells good in here,” he mumbled as she left.
Since it was the last Saturday before Christmas the roads as well as the stores were packed. The drugstore was no exception. There was a long line and a long wait.
Standing in line, Hollie began looking through Noel’s wallet for his insurance card. She sorted through a gas credit card, VISA, ATM card and an American Express card, before finding his insurance card. As she was putting the others back in their slots, his driver’s license caught her eye.
No, it couldn’t be. He was taller. Or shorter.
People lied on their driver’s licenses, didn’t they?
But in her heart she knew the driver’s license wasn’t a lie.
Knew it was true.
That Noel Hawksley was a six-foot-one-inch grinch.
“Next,” the pharmacist called out, and she moved to the counter to be waited on.
THE WHOLE TRIP had taken Hollie an hour. When she returned to Sarah’s, Noel was sleeping restfully on the sofa where she’d left him. She touched the bump that had risen on his forehead and winced at its size. Poor Noel! He must have taken quite a knock on the head.
After leaving the sack from the pharmacy on the coffee table, she returned to the kitchen to finish the catered meal for twenty-four. Midnight had come trotting out when she’d returned, recognized her and then lain in a corner of the kitchen, hoping for a bite or two of what smelled so good.
“You don’t deserve a treat,” she admonished the expectant dog.
Midnight barked and got her way, sort of.
Hollie rummaged around in the cabinets and found a dog treat to shut her up so she wouldn’t wake Noel.
She wanted to think about things before she faced him again with her new knowledge that he was the beau Santa was bringing her for Christmas. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
Taking several bunches of carrots from the refrigerator, she began peeling them, readying them for the food processor to make a vegetable dish of sliced carrots and snap peas.
Noel was certainly handsome. And he was tall. Six foot one inch. Smart. Successful. Heroic for rescuing Elena’s mutt. He had a lot of admirable qualities.
But underneath he was a grinch.
And that just wouldn’t do for her.
She insisted her life be sunny-side up. She didn’t let her own unhappy past infringe on her present life. Instead she set about trying to make her life as filled with joy and love and good friends and good times as possible.
It was true, she didn’t have a lot of money. But she was happy.
She hadn’t allowed herself to have a pity party over life’s disappointments. That was the road to Grinchville.
Well, at any rate, at least she knew Santa Claus had a major sense of humor. “Ha, ha,” she mumbled.
“What’s so funny?”
She
jumped, startled that Noel was up and about. He had the sack from the pharmacy in his hand.
“Can I get you something?” she asked. “Are you sure you should be up?”
He leaned against the counter. “What smells so good?”
“The rouladens. Which reminds me, I’ve got to take them out of the oven.” As she reached for the oven mitts to do just that, Noel ripped open the sack from the pharmacy and took out his prescription medicine for his headache.
“Where’re the glasses?”
Hollie opened the cabinet and handed him one.
He ran the tap water while he opened the plastic bottle and shook out two pills. He tossed them in his mouth and washed them down with a glass of water, then set the empty glass down and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think I’ll pass on looking at any houses today. We can start fresh in the morning, if that’s all right with you.”
“Do you want me to drive you back to the hotel?”
“No. I’m fine. All I need is a soak in a hot tub and some sleep. I’ll call you in the morning.”
With a muttered expletive at Midnight, Noel donned his jacket and left.
Unperturbed, Midnight continued lying where she was, a “who, me?” look on her face.
Hollie laughed. “Don’t look so innocent. You’re a very bad doggie.”
All her reprimand got Hollie was a wag of the unrepentant dog’s tail.
Hollie shook her head at Midnight and went to turn the music back on. Singing along with the Christmas carols, she finished the catered meal according to the notes Sarah had left for her. Finally she had everything ready for Sarah to deliver and thought that Noel’s idea of a long soak in a hot tub had a lot of appeal.
While she waited for Sarah and Elena to return she called the number she remembered having put in her purse for the owner of the gingerbread house.
But there was no answer.
By the time Sarah and Elena returned, she had the kitchen cleaned up and was watching the evening news on television.
It was, Hollie decided, a toss-up over whose eyes held the most excitement over the afternoon outing, Sarah’s or Elena’s.
The 6'1 Grinch Page 8