The Santa Sleuth Page 12

  "The stakes have gone up," Kirk murmured.

  Amanda itched to say something as Virginia joined them, but that was really the province of her father.

  "Look at my doll." Virginia held it up for his inspection.

  "Did you remember to thank Santa?" Kirk prompted as he admired the doll.

  Santa wanted more than thanks, Amanda knew. Santa wanted to be named "Best Santa of the Mall." It would look great on a resume.

  "Yes, Daddy." Virginia lifted the doll's skirts to check for underwear. "Lace!"

  Good grief, the doll wore better underwear than Amanda did.

  "Are you ready for another ride in the limousine?" Kirk asked.

  "Uh huh." Virginia held her doll in one hand and clasped her father's hand in the other. "C'mon, Amanda," she said.

  Was that it? No lecture on the evils of bribery?

  Kirk gave Amanda a warning look and she reluctantly remained silent.

  As the three of them walked toward the exit, Amanda caught their reflection in the store windows. A man, a woman and a child--a child who skipped and swung the man's arm.

  They looked just like a family.

  Amanda stared at the picture they made and noticed Kirk doing the same. He smiled, first at her, then at Virginia, then at Amanda again.

  She shivered, feeling uneasy. He was attracted to her, she knew. But was he attracted to Amanda solely for herself--or because she and Virginia had hit it off? What would he feel toward her if he didn't have Virginia to consider?

  To her surprise, Amanda discovered that it had become terribly important to clarify Kirk's feelings toward her and her alone. Even more surprising, was the realization that her feelings for him had undergone a fundamental shift.

  She was falling in love with him and she couldn't seem to stop.

  Confessing the story of her failed marriage had removed a layer of bitterness that had smothered all prior romantic relationships. It left her free to love again, and love was coming faster than she'd ever imagined it could. She wasn't ready to love again, especially when loving Kirk would mean changing everything about her life.

  Late in the afternoon, a local television reporter waylaid them as they waited for Virginia to finish talking with Santa at the last mall they would visit.

  Amanda, remembering her days as a reporter scrambling for a quote, indicated that she agreed to be interviewed.

  "And we want the dad, too," the woman said, pulling Kirk into camera range.

  "What do I do?" Kirk whispered as the reporter began setting up for her introduction.

  "Remember to look at her and not the camera," Amanda instructed him, "Keep your answers short and--"

  She broke off abruptly as the reporter began speaking.

  "--here with Virginia McEnery's parents."

  "Oh, no!"

  "It's okay," Kirk murmured.

  Amanda was torn between correcting the reporter and knowing that to do so would make the woman look bad. Unfortunately they were broadcasting a live remote.

  "How did Virginia become a Santa expert?" the reporter asked and thrust a microphone at Amanda.

  "I'm Amanda Donnelly with Hello Houston," Amanda identified herself. The woman maintained a professional smile, not the slightest glimmer of recognition in her eyes. Miffed, Amanda continued, "We wanted to do a story on children visiting Santa Clauses--"

  "And so you started taping your daughter's visits to Santa."

  "She's--"

  The reporter turned to Kirk. "Has Virginia decided on a favorite Santa Claus yet?"

  "She hasn't said," Kirk replied, bending too close to the microphone.

  "I heard Virginia's looking for the real Santa Claus. How will she identify him?"

  Kirk's brow wrinkled. "She says she has a secret test, but she won't tell us what it is."

  "Well, we hope she finds Santa Claus in Dallas." The reporter turned back to the camera, advised viewers to watch Virginia's reports and signed off.

  "Wait ..." Amanda wanted to correct the woman, but Kirk stopped her.

  "Let it go." He nodded toward a small figure. "Here comes one tired little girl."

  A drooping Virginia, carrying the world's largest candy cane, trudged toward them. "Can I go home now?"

  Kirk grinned and swung her into his arms. "Back to the hotel for you."

  Over his shoulder, Virginia beckoned. "Amanda, will you carry this for me, please?"

  "Sure." Amanda took the candy cane, mentally tallying up the bribes Virginia had received and hoping they wouldn't interfere with her ratings. "You've done a great job today. Better than some grown-ups I've worked with."

  "Yeah?" Virginia rested her head on Kirk's shoulder and grinned.

  He kissed her lightly on the temple and hoisted her more firmly against him, murmuring something only Virginia could hear. She nodded and closed her eyes, a smile of contentment on her face.

  The sight caused a surprising yank on Amanda's heartstrings. "Yeah," she managed, her voice rough.

  CHAPTER TEN

  When her alarm buzzed on Monday morning, Amanda batted it into silence. Without hesitating an instant, she called Kay and told her she wouldn't be in until Virginia's taping later in the afternoon.

  Amanda had some thinking to do. Serious thinking. She stared at the ceiling above her bed and thought. And what she thought was that she was becoming too emotionally involved with Kirk and his daughter.

  Virginia was like no child Amanda had ever known. Previously children had been an abstract concept to her, something that was not a part of her life or her life-style. She'd never considered them as people with opinions and ideas. She either worked with them or avoided them. Actually, she rarely considered them at all. She’d even congratulated herself for coming to the realization that she wasn't destined for motherhood.

  And then she'd met Virginia.

  And Virginia's father.

  And she'd become dissatisfied with her life.

  But why? Was this just her normal Christmas blues? Would all be well after the holidays?

  She and Kirk had had an unusual courtship, if one could call it a courtship. Too many times in the years since her divorce, she'd engaged in surface dating, investing weeks in someone without ever really knowing him at all. She and Kirk had skipped the surface and had begun on a deeper level than she'd reached with any man since her marriage.

  Her marriage. She'd thought she'd known Trenton and she obviously hadn't. The experience made her wary.

  But all that had happened nine years ago. Hadn't she grown any in nine years? Hadn't her judgment matured? Just because her feelings for Kirk had developed quickly, did that make them less genuine?

  Restless, Amanda threw back the covers. Kirk was right. She engaged in an annual pity parties. It was time to grab Christmas back from Trenton.

  Several hours later Amanda dragged the last of the shopping bags upstairs to her apartment and carefully dumped them in the middle of her living room.

  She'd bought Christmas. And Christmas took up a lot of space. Most of the space. Amanda shoved sacks of ornaments to one side and sat on her couch.

  Had she gone berserk? Where was she going to put everything?

  On the tree, naturally. Amanda poked the large box containing her brand-new artificial Christmas tree and the magic words, "assembly required."

  Sighing, she began to assemble.

  Half an hour later, she acknowledged that assembling by herself was no fun. She turned on the radio, hoping for Christmas music. For years, she'd avoided Christmas music, which had been nearly impossible. So where was a good carol when you needed one?

  By the time she had to leave to pick up Virginia, Amanda felt the Christmas spirit had slipped away. Unfortunately her living room was still covered in Christmas slop.

  What had she been thinking? No one would ever see the tree. She would barely have time to enjoy it. Maybe Virginia ...

  Yes, Virginia. Time to go pick her up. With a shake of her head, Amanda grabbed her car key
s.

  When she and Virginia arrived at the Hello Houston studio, there was a message from Kirk's housekeeper asking if Amanda could drive Virginia home after the day's taping. It seemed that Kirk was showing the Rambling Ranch again. Amanda didn't mind. She was curious to see where Kirk and Virginia lived.

  Around dinnertime, Amanda found herself parked in front of a two-story contemporary house in West University.

  "Is this your house?" she asked Virginia.

  "Uh huh." Virginia nodded. "Want to see my room?"

  "Uh huh." Amanda nodded back. She was desperate to see the inside of Kirk's house. Desperate to learn more about the man who'd turned her life upside down.

  From the two-story entry to the block-glass walls, the house was an architectural showplace. Amanda felt as though she'd stepped into a magazine. Did people actually live here?

  "Thank you for bringing Virginia home," said a slim bright-eyed woman in her fifties.

  "Amanda's come to see my room!"

  "How nice." Mrs. Webster gave Amanda a warm smile. "Go hang up your jacket," she reminded Virginia.

  As Virginia raced up the stairs, Mrs. Webster turned to Amanda. "Her father called and he's going to be late again. I must leave as soon as this batch of cookies comes out of the oven."

  "I can stay for awhile," Amanda offered quickly, finding that she would rather stay with Virginia than go back to her Christmas-messy apartment.

  Mrs. Webster hesitated, obviously considering. "I do have a sitter list--"

  "Go ahead and leave," Amanda urged. "We'll be fine."

  Mrs. Webster gave her an abrupt nod and gestured for Amanda to follow her into the kitchen. "Virginia talks about you all the time," she said in the midst of giving instructions about dinner and checking on the cookies.

  Pleased, Amanda couldn't suppress a smile. "We've spent a lot of time together lately."

  Mrs. Webster programmed the microwave and set green beans inside. "It's been good for her," she said carefully, and darted a glance toward Amanda. "She's lonely at times."

  Amanda, with new awareness, realized she was being cautioned. "I think it's been good for me, as well," she admitted, surprised she could do so with a complete stranger.

  Virginia, waiting at the bottom of the stairs, hugged Mrs. Webster goodbye and pulled Amanda upstairs.

  Amanda didn't know what she’d expect, but it wasn't the painfully neat and pristine room Virginia led her to.

  It was all white, like something designed by the Sugar Plum Fairy. Nothing was out of place and there were no toys visible, except for a few white stuffed animals that looked as if they’d never been played with.

  "Do you sleep in here?" Amanda asked, looking at the starched eyelet comforter and beribboned pillows.

  Virginia nodded.

  "Where are your things?" No sign of trinkets or junky giveaways from fast-food restaurants.

  "In here." Virginia ran to a cabinet and opened the doors where, with some relief, Amanda saw toys arranged. But they were arranged as if for display. The dolls were dressed and waiting. Books were shelved alphabetically by author. No posters of juvenile heartthrobs.

  "It's all so pretty and neat," Amanda complimented her. But it looked like a room no one lived in, certainly not the room of a real flesh-and-blood child.

  "Just like the picture," Virginia said.

  "Picture?"

  Virginia opened her closet door. Taped inside was a photograph from a magazine. Virginia’s room was almost an exact duplicate, including the stuffed animals. It was obvious that Kirk had torn out this picture and handed it to a decorator. And for some reason, Virginia believed she had to keep her room exactly as it appeared in the photograph.

  "Mrs. Webster left food," Amanda told her. "Are you hungry?"

  Grinning, Virginia raced Amanda down the stairs.

  After they ate, they watched a Christmas special on television and Amanda tried not to notice how late it was getting.

  Then, during a commercial, she bolted upright and stared around her. "Where are all your Christmas decorations?"

  "I don't know." Virginia didn't seem concerned.

  Christmas Eve was at the end of next week. Shouldn't Kirk have decorated by now? "Are you going to put up decorations?" Amanda questioned her cautiously.

  "We've been busy," Virginia said, obviously quoting either Kirk or Mrs. Webster.

  "Well, let's go hunt for them and put them up right now." Amanda found she had an irresistible urge to mess up Kirk's house.

  Thus, Amanda found herself assembling her second artificial tree of the day. Virginia poked around in boxes and searched for strings of lights all the while singing songs from her Christmas around the World pageant.

  Amanda fetched the last of the cookies from the kitchen and she and Virginia polished them off.

  Kirk arrived home seconds after the last cookie disappeared into his daughter's mouth.

  "What's all this?" he asked, his face visibly brightening when he saw Amanda.

  "Amanda and I are making Christmas!" Virginia jumped up and ran to him, dragging a string of lights behind her.

  "Amanda’s making Christmas?" The pleased look he sent Amanda should have struck fear into her heart, but didn't.

  Instead, she felt it swell with love, even as she stood in the center of the room, awkwardly clutching a fake tree branch.

  Kirk followed Virginia over to the nearly assembled tree. "You're decorating for Christmas," he said, his smile wide.

  "I... " Amanda twisted the branch in her hands, bending it at an angle that would never be found in nature. "I just had this strange urge."

  "Sounds encouraging," he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Can I help?" He took the branch from her useless fingers, straightened it and handed it back.

  "I'm just about done with the tree," Amanda told him, feeling unaccountably shy. "You could give Virginia a hand with the lights."

  "There're crooked, Daddy."

  Chuckling, Kirk removed his suit jacket and sat on the floor. Virginia shoved the empty cookie plate out of the way and sat next to him.

  "Hey!" Kirk retrieved the plate. "What happened to all the cookies?"

  Virginia and Amanda looked at each other and broke into giggles. "That's what happens when you're late for dinner," Amanda told him.

  He plugged in a light string. Three bulbs were burned out. "Thought I was finally about to sell that house. Virginia, can you hand me a package of light bulbs?"

  Amanda stuffed in the last tree branch and stepped back. "No sale?"

  Shaking his head, he tossed the burned-out bulbs into a box lid. "The couple went to eat and I sat in the office and waited. Then they called and said they'd let me know next week."

  "I'm sorry." She knew how much selling the weird house in Memorial meant to him.

  "So am I." His smile was totally for the benefit of Virginia, who had been watching him solemnly. "Bring on the next string of lights," he told her.

  Virginia wasn't fooled. Her lower lip quivered. "I wish we hadn't eaten all the cookies."

  "It’s okay," Kirk told her.

  "We'll just bake more," Amanda announced. "Mrs. Webster left dough in the refrigerator. By the time you decide where you want the tree and finish checking all the lights, the cookies will be done." Surely it couldn't be that hard to bake cookies.

  Okay, it was harder than she thought. How hot should the oven be?

  Amanda found a cookbook and flipped through the cookie section, setting the oven to the average temperature she found in the recipes.

  She had no idea what kind of cookies they were--only that the dough was pale and Mrs. Webster had sprinkled red and green sugar on top.

  Dropping globs of dough on the cookie sheet, Amanda listened to the murmurs of Kirk and Virginia in the next room and felt a peculiar contentment.

  She, who had avoided anything that smacked of domesticity, was baking Christmas cookies--or giving it her best shot. She hadn't thought about the studio or Maria Alvarez o
r her uncompleted projects in hours.

  And she was happy.

  "Amanda, Amanda!"

  Amanda set the oven timer and rushed into the living room.

  "Hurry!" Virginia jumped up and down, her hair bow bobbing.

  The tree, wearing only lights, stood in place in front of the window. Kirk was kneeling underneath, attaching an extension cord. "Okay, Virginia, flip the switch."

  The room darkened, then the tree burst into light.

  "Look!" Virginia shrieked. "Look!" She danced around the tree.

  Of all the elaborate displays the little girl had seen, this tree, devoid of ornaments, was the one that excited her.

  Tears clogged Amanda's throat.

  Kirk came to stand beside her and together they watched Virginia's dance of joy.

  "Thanks for being here tonight," he whispered, and stole a quick kiss.

  "I wouldn't have missed it," Amanda told him, and meant every word.

  ***

  Amanda ate dinner with Kirk and Virginia every night that week. And each night, she found it harder and harder to return to her empty apartment.

  Especially since she and Kirk managed to steal some time together after Virginia had gone to bed.

  Amanda was happy and confused at the same time. How could she have changed so much in such a short time?

  She'd lost her edge. Even finally getting the go-ahead on her child-safety story hadn't brought her the intense satisfaction it should have.

  Is this what love did? Took away your edge and made you sentimental and goofy?

  Virginia's Santa reports continued. If they'd wanted to let her, Virginia could've become a statewide celebrity, but Amanda quietly refused invitations from far-flung cities. She could see that the little girl was getting tired of visiting Santa Claus after Santa Claus, especially when none of them appeared to be the real one.

  But soon it would be over. Christmas was at the end of the week, Virginia's Christmas pageant was tomorrow night, and then school would be out for the holidays. This afternoon, Virginia could tape the last three days’ worth of introductions and ratings. She'd just have to pick the one most like the "real" Santa.

  Virginia had been subdued lately. None of them, not Kirk, Mrs. Webster, nor Amanda, could find out why. Nor could they guess what secret gift Virginia had asked of each Santa.