Sweet Christmas Kisses (67 page)

Sasha finished lapping water and looked up. Kim pulled the glass away and set it on her nightstand. “She never understood how it affected me. I would go into a depression just as deeply as she did every time we found ourselves alone again. Veronica missed the attention, expensive gifts, limousines and flattery, but I lost the only thing that gave me hope.”

“
Hope
is highly overrated, darlin’.” Rock stared intently into her eyes. “You don’t get anywhere by hoping for anything. You take responsibility for yourself and start over, especially in matters of the heart. There’s a saying, ‘change your mind, change your life.’ It works. I’m living proof. Diona’s betrayal hurt more than I care to admit, but I’m leaving the past behind and taking life one day at a time,” he said as he reached over and wrapped his fingers around hers, “and you can, too.”

Saturday afternoon, December 19

Christmas spirit decked the halls at the Mall of America in twinkling lights, glittering ornaments and miles of garland strung everywhere as Rock maneuvered Zelda’s wheelchair through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.

Are we having fun yet?

Never in his life had he witnessed so many stressed out people, waiting in the checkout line to pay, waiting for sales help to discuss an item or waiting for people to simply get out of the way. Disorganized, slow-moving masses always gave him a monster headache and today proved no different. He needed a painkiller before his head exploded, but this circus of a mall housed over five hundred stores and if it did have a drugstore, he’d never find it in a million years. A glass of Chardonnay would have to suffice. That is, if they could get a reservation for dinner.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He’d deliberately set it on vibrate because he knew that between the nauseating drone of holiday elevator music and the clamor of thousands of people, he’d never hear it, anyway. He stopped Zelda’s wheelchair in the sea of milling shoppers, ignoring the flow of people around them and motioned for the nurse to take over as he turned away to answer his phone. “Hey, where are you?”

“I’m in front of the tea shop. I found the sandwiches and the scones your mother wanted.” Kim’s sweet voice sounded unnaturally tinny against the din. “Where are
you
?”

Darned if I know....

He looked around. “We’re on the second level…close to Macy’s. Is that in the ballpark of your location?”

“I think so. If you stay put I should be able to catch up with you in a couple minutes.” Her reply took on a breathless quality, as though she’d begun to maneuver—or fight—her way to the escalator. “How’s your mother holding up?”

“She’s shopping up a storm, but she still hasn’t found anything for you.”

“And that surprises you? Rock, she drummed up that excuse just to get you to bring her here.” Kim laughed. “It worked, didn’t it?”

He glanced at his mother. Zelda held three large bags on her lap besides her full-length Chinchilla coat and purse. Despite her delicate health, she showed no signs of slowing down. She gestured to him to hurry up as she barked orders to the nurse to wheel her over to the department store.

Marie didn’t utter a word. Instead, she smiled coyly at Rock, batting her eyelashes through her oversized eyeglasses while she waited for him to finish his call and rejoin them. She’d been doing that eye thing all day. At first he’d ignored her flirting, considering it harmless and amusing, but through the morning she’d become so friendly that it bordered on annoying.

He pushed the thought aside for now, straining to hear Kim. “What did you say?”

“I said it’s odd you mentioned the word
storm
. I just heard that—ouch!” After a short pause and some unintelligible grumbling she said, “Somebody’s kid just whacked me with his new light saber. I’d better pay attention to where I’m going. Talk to you soon.”

He’d barely put his phone away and walked back to Zelda when Kim rushed through the crowd, waving.

“My dear,” Zelda said, wheeling her chair around, looking festive in her green sweater and slacks, “did you get the reservations for dinner?”

Kim put her hand over her heart to calm her breathing and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Zelda, but the restaurant isn’t taking any more customers. The storm has arrived,” she said in between breaths. “It just started snowing about fifteen minutes ago, but it’s already coming down so hard that visibility is less than a quarter mile. I heard a security guard say the mall is closing early.” She turned to Rock. “Perhaps we’d better get going, too.”

Zelda looked annoyed and turned to her son. “You’ve been driving in snow for years. What’s a storm now and then? We can’t go yet. I still haven’t found a wedding present for you.”

Kim looked up from her phone and visibly shivered. “According to the Channel 4 weather app, blizzard-like conditions are coming and we could receive at least a foot of snow.”

Rock grabbed the wheelchair by the handles and turned toward the nearest exit. Though he hated to disappoint Zelda, her safety mattered more. “I’m sorry, Mother, but we can’t delay. It’s going to be tough getting home if the roads are slippery.”

Kim fell into step beside him. Marie, looking like a blizzard herself in her starched white dress, stockings and shoes, fell into step on his other side—sticking closer than an ace bandage. As they passed an upscale jewelry store, a tall, gray-haired gentleman in a navy wool suit stood at the forefront, pulling a metal curtain across the opening.

“Well, hello,” he said in a smooth, but jovial voice and stopped to offer his hand. “Rock Henderson, what brings you out to the mall on a day like this?”

“Harry,” Rock replied evenly, nodding as he halted the wheelchair and leaned forward to shake Harry’s hand. “Not a thing. I’m just the chauffeur today.”

He introduced the women to Harry Silverstone. When Zelda shook his hand, she refused to let go. “My good man, how do you know my son?”

Harry smiled and extracted himself from her grip then placed a hand on Rock’s shoulder. “Why, he’s one of my best customers and a good friend. We meet for golf nearly every Wednesday in the summer.”

“Oh, he is, is he?” She craned her neck to look through the curtain at the sparkling gems displayed in the glass cases. “Then you must be sizing the rings.”

Harry’s practiced aplomb faltered ever so slightly. He glanced from Rock to Kim to Zelda. “The rings...?”

“That’s what I said,” Zelda replied in an imperious tone. “If the set is ready, we’ll take it now. I’m ill you know,” she put her hand over her heart, “and I’d like to see the wedding ring before I leave this world.”

Kim suddenly became extremely interested in a loose button on the gold silk blouse she’d picked out of Diona’s wardrobe that morning.

Rock put his arm around her and pulled her close, buying time while wondering how to explain his way out of this one. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. Harry knew about his tumultuous relationship with Diona and the reason for breaking off their engagement, but he had no idea what Rock was up to now. Rock stared hard at his favorite salesman and friend, hoping Harry would read between the lines and come up with something. Anything.

“Ah, yeah...you know...the—the wedding rings...”

Harry hesitated for a moment then an odd light flickered in his eyes. “Oh,
those rings
. Of course, the set is ready. I’d planned to give you a call this afternoon. How fortunate of you to stop by.” He sounded just a tad too enthusiastic as he pulled back the metal curtain. “Come right in. I’ll just be a minute.”

Rock pushed Zelda’s chair into the store, wondering what Harry had up his sleeve. He stopped at a long glass case where an employee stood pulling out the display boxes to be stored in the vault. That didn’t dampen Zelda’s spirits, though. She began shopping the moment her gaze fell on the jewels, her eyes sparkling brighter than the gems.

The nurse stood off to one side, however, checking her watch and tapping her foot as though impatient to leave.

Within a minute, Harry reappeared with a small black box. He headed straight for Kim and held it out, displaying a four-carat diamond.

“Here you are, Mrs. Henderson. Your princess cut solitaire set is going to look so beautiful on your hand, but I’ll give Rock the pleasure of performing that little duty.”

Harry flashed a megawatt smile and handed the box to Rock. He had no choice now but to follow through with this little charade.

Kim’s eyes grew wide as her gaze fell on the exquisite wedding set. Everyone moved in close to watch Rock carefully remove it from the box and place it on her finger. Somehow, this little scene seemed too real for comfort. He’d been through this ritual before and never felt a thing, but this time a fine sheen of perspiration formed on his upper lip. He hoped no one would notice his nervousness as he took the solitaire, paired with a plain wedding band and slipped it on her finger.

The solitaire went on easily and looked stunning, as though the jeweler had custom made it just for her. Kim held her hand out, her wide blue eyes shining as she stared with fascination at the shimmering diamond. She looked up; their gazes met. When she smiled, the protective wall around the core of his heart began to soften. She didn’t fit his image of a perfect woman, she’d said so herself, but perhaps he’d been ascribing to the wrong image all along. Maybe someday he would find a woman he could trust—perhaps someone like her, who would promise to have and to hold forever, in sickness and in health and not divulge corporate secrets. A simple thought startled him. Maybe he already had...

“There you are, Mrs. Henderson,” Harry said smoothly. “It’s a perfect fit—a beautiful diamond for a beautiful woman.”

Rock cleared his throat. “Refresh my memory, Harry. We never got around to dealing on the price. How much did this chunk of ice set me back?”

“Rock, Rock,” Harry implored, raising his hands in protest, “don’t spoil the moment.”

“Harry...”

The jeweler let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “You always drive such a hard bargain with me, Rock, so I’m willing to give you a deal. I’ll let it go for forty-five thousand.”

What!?
They’d played practical jokes on each other in the past, but this time Rock didn’t find the gag very funny.

Harry rested his hand on Rocks’ shoulder again, giving it a fatherly squeeze. “Don’t worry about it; I put it on your account. Take your bride home before the snowstorm forces you all to get a room here. We’ll finalize the terms later.”

Rock blinked, wondering if he’d heard right. How had things gotten so out of control? One little white lie had led to another and now he not only had a wife, but a jewelry bill the size of Rhode Island. What else would he be expected to produce—grandchildren?

****

Two hours later, they finally arrived home, tired, hungry and stressed out from the treacherous conditions.

“That’s the first time it has ever taken me two hours to make a twenty minute drive,” Rock said wearily as he took his mother’s fur coat and hung it in the foyer closet. “I couldn’t believe all the cars we passed stuck in the ditch. I’m glad we didn’t end up like that.”

“You’re a good driver.” Kim handed him her coat to put away. Her new wedding rings sparkled under the foyer chandelier, making her conscious of them on her hand. “Thank you for bringing us home safely.”

“I’m hungry,” Zelda complained loudly. “What are we going to do for dinner? You mentioned earlier that your servant is on holiday this week. I don’t suppose we could find someone to deliver takeaway in this weather.”

Kim took Zelda’s hat and gloves and set them in the closet on the shelf. “I could make dinner.” She turned around to find everyone staring at her. “What, did I say something wrong?”

Zelda signaled Marie to push her into the living room. “My son has servants to do such things. What would you, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, know about domestic duties?”

Kim cast a questioning look at Rock, wondering what to say now. His furrowed brows reminded her they were talking about Diona Daye, a wealthy, spoiled socialite who probably didn’t know a rolling pin from a paint roller, not Kim Stratton, a middle-class working girl.

“Well,” she said casually and forced a laugh, “it’s a hobby of mine. I love to dabble in the kitchen when Rock is at the office and our housekeeper has the day off. My specialty is organic foods.”

Zelda responded with a wry smirk as Marie wheeled her down the hallway. “What do you cook, seeds and twigs?”

Kim put on her best smile and silently counted to ten. Boy, this week had better go fast. “Whatever Rock is hungry for, whether it’s as simple as roast and potatoes or something more interesting, like Italian. He likes everything I make.”

Rock hooked his arm around hers as they fell in behind. “Italian sounds wonderful, darlin’. I haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast. But, you’d better check to see if I—we have any food.”

“We have plenty of food,” Kim said, assuming that Rock probably had no idea what groceries his housekeeper had stocked in his kitchen. She silently pointed downward, indicating that she meant to get additional food from her condominium on the sixth floor. “I’ll poke around in the freezer and check the pantry in our storage locker in the basement to see what we have. I’m sure I can rustle up the ingredients for chicken picatta or lasagna. Which would you like? Chicken picatta is probably healthier.”

Zelda spun her wheelchair around at the doorway to the living room. “What’s wrong with lasagna?”

Rock stopped abruptly behind her. “Mother, are you sure you should eat that? Given your medical issues, aren’t you on a special diet?”

Zelda gave him a stern look. “I’ll make an exception tonight. Since we’re going to be cooped up in this attic until it quits snowing, we must all make sacrifices.”

She turned and motioned to Marie to roll her chair into the living room, leaving Rock and Kim to stare after her.

“
Hoo-kay
,” Kim said to no one in particular. “Lasagna it is then. I use all natural ingredients and...”

Her mouth fell open in shock. The living room, strewn with shredded newspaper, looked like a tornado disaster area. Someone or something had clawed the bottom of one of the ice blue drapes to pieces. An overturned flowerpot lay on the carpet, the dirt spread indiscriminately across the room.