Mischief Under The Mistletoe

by Maren Smith

  For a brief moment, his thoughts flew to Leslie. The familiar ache of loneliness and sadness was still there but it seemed to ease a bit when he thought of Marlie. Perhaps it was time to move on. He would always love Leslie but Andi needed a mother. And he needed a wife.

  The next day Ben’s fatherly smiled was bestowed benignly on Max, the glint of mischief in his eyes unmistakable. “So how do you like your new landlady?”

  Max leaned back in his brown leather office chair and casually worried a pencil through his lean fingers. “She’s a lot younger than I expected, but then somehow, I think you knew that, you sly dog.”

  Ben was unrepentant. “I told you the truth, there wasn’t a lie in the conversation.”

  “Apparently, I didn’t ask enough questions,” replied Max dryly. “That doesn’t change the fact that you misled me intentionally.”

  Ben spread his beefy hands, broadened by hard work and age, and shrugged his shoulders. “If I’d told you she was a young fox would that have stopped you?”

  Max leaned forward and dropped the pencil into the pen holder. “Probably not, since it’s the only accommodation here in town. But at least I’d have been warned. You mislead her too,” he added.

  “I knew she wouldn’t go for it if I told her your age,” agreed Ben with a nod. “She avoids men like the plague and I can’t say as I blame her. But you needed a place to live and she needed the money so I figure I did you both a favor.”

  “What’s her story?” asked Max curiously.

  Ben shook his bald head ruefully. “She was married to real asshole and he didn’t want kids. She lost her baby just before it was due and he left her right after. That was three years ago, right around Christmas, as I remember. He’s getting remarried now but Marlie won’t have anything to do with men. Such a shame too. She’s a beautiful girl and was really looking forward to being a mother.”

  That explained a lot, thought Max. No wonder she thinks Santa is a rat bastard. “So you’re not trying to set us up? It was all just to get us both what we needed?”

  Ben’s face took on a crafty look. “It was to get you both what you needed, but who's to say you might not find out you need each other? It could happen.”

  Max rolled his eyes and sighed. “I figured as much.”

  “Hey, maybe it was meant to be,” protested Ben. “I mean, what are the chances that this exact situation would happen? Hell, I think God, or Santa, or both might just be looking out for the pair of you. Maybe you need to take advantage of the opportunity you’ve been given to spend some time together. Maybe you’ll like each other—and lord knows you both need someone whether you want it or not.”

  “I know you’re a butt ugly matchmaker,” snorted Max. “And I’ll thank you to stay out of my business.”

  Ben beamed at his young friend. “And you’re a stubborn hard ass, but I still like you—Chief!”

  “Speaking of which, why didn’t you take the job, Ben? You’d have made a great chief.”

  “Speaking of which—are you through testing out that chair? Because it’s still mine until tomorrow morning. Being acting chief and all.” He walked behind the desk and waved his thumb over his shoulder in a gesture for Max to vacate.

  Max gave up the chair and walked around to the front of the desk and then leaned forward, his hands planted on the smooth oak finish. “You didn’t answer me.”

  “I’m taking my fifty-five and out in six months,” he replied slowly. “The wife and I want to do some traveling.” He looked up at Max. “Getting older has given me a sense of mortality and that tends to change priorities. Also, Karen's cancer is still in remission. She’s always wanted to visit Europe so we’re going to go while she’s up to it.”

  Max frowned. “I thought the cancer was gone, Ben.”

  “It is gone for now, but they think it will eventually come back. So we have to keep a close eye on her. Right now, she feels really good and the prognosis is extremely positive.” He waved his hands around the small office seemingly intent on changing the subject. “So, do you see anything you want to change right off?”

  Taking the hint, Max twirled slowly around the 14 by 18 office space. The previous chief had obviously taken his personal awards, belongings, and mementos with him when he left, so the nail pricked walls were bare except for the licensing agreements for the radio bandwidths and a picture of the Rocky Mountains in their full autumn glory. The desk arrangement was a nice set up with a credenza holding a computer monitor and keyboard. There was a tall bookshelf at the end of the room with books and manuals in it, and two side-by-side windows with cream colored blinds. No curtains, which suited him just fine. He looked down at the threadbare, faded brown carpet. “How old is this carpet?” he asked, scuffing his toe along a tear that curled up on the edges.

  “I have no idea,” replied Ben. “It’s been here as long as I can remember and that’s about ten years.

  Max’s eyebrows raced upward. “I can’t believe nobody has put it in the budget before this.”

  Ben came around the corner of the desk and shrugged lazily. “I don’t think anyone ever cared before. Chief Connors was more interested in making happy hour than in changing carpet.” He grinned. “And he usually made it too.”

  Max shook his head. “Well, then, I guess there are going to be some changes around here.”

  “Just take my advice and take it slow,” cautioned Ben. “There are a few of us old timers that have been around a few years and we’re set in our ways. I’ll back you of course, but there are one or two who might not, Sergeant Bolt being one of those. He doesn’t work on Sunday so you didn’t meet him on the tour of the place.”

  “Duly noted,” Max replied with a grin. “Now I need to collect Andi from your dispatcher and find a Wal-Mart. We need some things for her room. Is there one anywhere near Buckeye?”

  “There’s one about twenty miles from here, just as you’re getting into the suburbs of Fort Collins. It’s off of Route eighty-seven, just before Wellington. You can’t miss it.”

  “Thanks, Ben,” he replied, shaking hands with his old friend. See you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Max collected Andi and headed to Wal-Mart. The first thing he was going to buy was an elf on the shelf and let Andi name her. If he played it right, maybe he could steer Andi into naming the elf Marlie.

  He grinned wickedly to himself.

  Last night after Andi was in bed, he had snuck down the stairs and placed Max the elf on a small shelf over the stove in Marlie’s kitchen. When he and Andi came down to fix some breakfast this morning, Max—the elf—was back on the table lying flat on his back. Marlie had gone through to the laundry room with a smile for Andi and a frozen glare for him. It had been all he could do to keep from laughing at her. Of course she’d gotten even with him without even knowing it. Bending over the dryer to take her towels out had outlined her saucy butt-cheeks in the knee length soft-knit shirt she must have worn for pajamas. The sight had left him with a painful hard on for the next hour, but it had been worth it.

  He glanced sideways at Andi who was chattering ninety to nothing and empathy for Marlie caressed his heart. He couldn’t imagine his life without his daughter and he would defend her with his own life if need be. Whoever Tristan was, he must have been a first-class jerk. He had a feeling there was a lot more to the story than the bare bones Ben had given him. Marlie was stiff and shaky when he got close to her and she emitted very powerful I hate men vibes. Whatever her ex had done to her had left a lasting impression and shattered her faith and trust in his gender.

  And it was obvious to him that the Christmas season brought back the painful memories.

  MARLIE WAS IN A DITHER. “I just know he put that stupid elf on my shelf,” she ranted to no one. There wasn’t anyone there to listen, but she didn’t care at this point. “I know Andi couldn’t have done it, she can’t reach the shelf over the stove. I need a drink!” She slammed the empty laundry basket down on the kitchen tabl
e and opened the fridge for another strawberry wine cooler at the same time her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out, grabbed her drink, and plopped into one of the chairs with a grunt. Pushing the button on her Samsung she put it on speaker to talk to her twin. “Hello!” She practically shouted it as she opened her wine cooler and took a deep swig.

  “Hello, yourself.” Savannah’s smooth voice came across the line sounding slightly amused. “You sound like you’ve been running in a marathon. Been working out?”

  “No,” snapped Marlie. “I’ve been bringing every Christmas curse I can think of down on my new tenant’s head.”

  “I was wondering how that was going. Did they arrive today?”

  “No, they arrived yesterday—a day early, I might add. I called the police because I thought someone had broken in.” She snorted in disgust. “Apparently he’d changed his phone number and didn’t tell me so I wasn’t answering his phone calls.”

  “Okay.”

  Marlie could have sworn she heard a smothered laugh but she was willing to give her twin the benefit of the doubt.

  “So what’s he like? Is his teen daughter nice or is she a brat?”

  “That’s the other thing,” snarled Marlie. “His daughter isn’t a teen at all, she’s only five, and mister police chief himself would be lucky to be a day over thirty. How in the hell do you get to be a chief of police that young?”

  “Oh, really?” she asked curiously. “Is he good looking? Why is he single?”

  The interest in Savannah’s voice was not lost on Marlie. “I know you’re thinking and stop. I can’t afford to evict him at this point so I’m stuck with him, but he better stop moving this dumb elf around or I’ll borrow the money to pay him back and get rid of him anyway.” She slammed the empty wine cooler alongside the previous four she had already drunk and noted she was feeling slightly better. At least it didn’t seem to matter as much anymore.

  “He’s moving your elf around? How did that come about?”

  Savannah was definitely interested in her situation, she could tell, and she didn’t want her sister getting any match making ideas. She was a pit bull when she latched onto something. “Never mind, I gotta go. Talk to you later.”

  Marlie punched the off button and then for good measure, dropped her fist into Max the elf’s stomach where he lay on the table, then headed for the living room. Her head was feeling slightly fuzzy and she needed to lay down for a while. Her thoughts drifted to Savannah and she suddenly felt giggly and started singing an old tune from the Fiddler on the Roof musical. “Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match... light me a fire... catch me a catch... no no... forget I said that,” she muttered to herself.

  As she made her way to the overstuffed sofa, another tune entered her mind. “When did she get to be a beauty, when did she grow to be so tall? Wasn’t it yesterday when they were small? Sunrise, sunset...” Marlie drifted into sleep dreaming about her baby girl that would never grow to be a beauty. The healing tears she refused herself when she was awake visited her in her sleep, and she moaned restlessly from time to time.

  Footsteps and voices coming from the kitchen awakened Marlie several hours later, and she realized that Max and Andi must be back. Then she remembered the wine cooler bottles she had left lined up on the kitchen table. And her laundry basket and phone. Not to mention her clothes in the dryer. Too bad... it was her house. He could just deal with it.

  A huge yawn almost split her face in two and she swore there was something growing on her tongue as she sat up and stretched. Staggering slightly, she stood up and made her way to the bathroom for a shower. Hot water coursing over her shoulders and into her mouth was sheer bliss. She didn’t usually drink much, but today had been more stressful than usual. Those wine coolers had the same alcohol content as beer, which was why she had slept all afternoon. She never could hold her liquor.

  With a towel wrapped around her hair and a long terry cloth robe wrapped around her slender body, she made her way toward the kitchen. There was no light under the crack in the door so she assumed her tenants had retired for the evening. That was good, she needed her laundry and some hot coffee. Maybe a sandwich too, or more leftover spaghetti.

  When she turned the light on she was surprised to see the wine cooler bottles gone from the table, as well as the laundry basket. Going through to the laundry room, she saw that her laundry had been folded neatly and was in her basket sitting on the dryer. Grudgingly she had to give Max some credit. Tristan had never cleaned up after himself, let alone any mess she’d made.

  Deciding on a baloney sandwich, she pulled the mayo and lettuce from the fridge and took the bread out of the bread box. She had just sat down with a Keurig cup of coffee and started making her sandwich when it occurred to her that Max the elf was not in his usual supine position on the kitchen table. Her temper started to rise. Had Max put that dumb doll somewhere again?

  Marlie stood and swiftly scanned the room. There was only the kitchen and laundry room, so it wasn’t like he had a lot of places to put it. Munching on her baloney sandwich, she finally spotted it between the Tide laundry soap and the box of dryer sheets above the washer. “Ha! There you are, you little rat bastard,” she exclaimed. She grabbed the doll and something fell out of its lap onto the top of the washer. It was a note attached to a milky way candy bar. The note read: Have a sweet day at work.

  Obviously, the note had been written in Andi’s childish handwriting. Either that or her father had the worst scrawl this side of the Rocky Mountains. Disgruntled she laid the doll back on the kitchen table and pounded it a few times. This was turning into a great stress reliever she decided.

  After finishing her make-shift supper, she cleaned up and went to get dressed in her sleep shirt. She had plans for Max the elf.

  Twenty minutes later Marlie grinned wickedly in satisfaction at the sight before her. Max the elf was hanging by one arm lodged carefully in the fridge door. His cherubic grin had been pulled down on the ends with a Magic Marker to make him look sad and a note was pinned to his red plaid shirt. The note read: Help me Santa! This is all Max’s fault! Somebody save me!

  Marlie snickered as she turned off the kitchen lights and made her way to bed. She didn’t have to work tomorrow because the office was closed for state conferences which she didn’t have to attend. So she would be around for the fun when big Max came downstairs and she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face. That would teach him to mess with her, she decided.

  It was seven in the morning when Marlie heard the childish scream. She hadn’t slept well most of the night. Probably because she’d slept all afternoon yesterday, but she’d finally dozed off again about six thirty. Instantly the macabre spectacle of the doll hanging from the refrigerator door popped into her mind.

  Damn! She’d forgotten about Andi.

  She threw her clothes on and raced to the kitchen, only to be met by the sight of the little girl sitting on her father’s lap crying. He was dressed out in full police uniform and Andi had a Shopkins backpack lying at her feet. Obviously, they were ready for work and school and had intended to get something to eat. Max the elf was nowhere in sight.

  Marlie felt like six kinds of a fool and she didn’t know what to say. How do you explain something like that to a five-year-old? Her heart leaped into her throat when Max raised his head and shot her an angry glare. No doubt about it, the man was majorly pissed. “Wh-what’s going on?” she quavered bravely, desperately trying to think of a way to save face.

  “Oh, Marlie,” sobbed Andi, staring up at her with big fat tears rolling down her small cheeks. “Someone hurt your elf; someone named Max!”

  Think, Marlie, think, she thought frantically. There has to be a way out of this. Like a flash of brilliance, it popped into her mind. “Oh. Oh no, sweetie. My elf isn’t hurt at all. He and another elf named Max were just... just playing a trick on Santa.” She knelt beside the little girl. “You see... my elf’s name is Max, and he has a friend named Max, too
... they are always up to something. Santa really has to keep an eye on them.”

  Andi looked doubtful but she stopped crying. “Are you sure?” She cocked her head and stared curiously at Marlie. “I thought he didn’t even have a name, yet?”

  Marlie waved her hand airily around. “Oh sure he has a name, he just likes people to think he doesn’t. Don’t you worry about him, he’s a real prankster.”

  Andi brightened and smiled. “Okay, if you say so. But guess what? Santa sent me an elf. I named her Marlie because you’re so nice and I love your name. I brought her downstairs to show you but then I found Max. That was scary.” Her eyes were huge.

  “I love your elf,” enthused Marlie as Andi held up the girl doll that looked eerily like Max except in feminine form. She shuddered inside.

  “I’m going to leave her with Max for the day so she can keep him company,” Andi announced. “It will make his arm feel better.”

  Marlie looked up at big Max but the look on his face dared her to refute that so she shrugged. “Okay... yeah... sure.”

  Max stood and set Andi on her feet. “Why don’t you take your backpack and head to the truck, Andi. I’ll be right there and we can grab something from McDonalds this morning. It is your first day in a new school so that makes the day special. Right?” He waited for her to leave and then turned to Marlie. She gulped at the stern look in his eyes and nervously shuffled backwards.

  “I take it you’re not going to work, today?” he asked smoothly.

  She shook her head. “No, not today. It’s a conference day.”

  “Good. I’ll be back after I take Marlie to school. You and I need to have a talk.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “T-TALK? WAIT,” SHE yelped after his departing figure. “Talk about what?” She ran to the screen door he slammed behind him and stuck her head out. “I won’t be here, I have to be... somewhere,” she assured him, her heart beating rapidly.