Christmas Elopement

“But will you excuse me a minute? Have to go check out the plumbing.” She started to leave the table, then whispered near his ear,”My dad’s company actually did the plumbing here, you know.”

“No! Really?” He could picture a fleet of work vans with happy-face toilets painted on the sides.

She smiled and gave a proud nod before swinging her hair around and heading toward the restrooms.

Through the tinted window Cash watched a sea lion struggle to top a boulder that rose above shallow waters. Each time he tried, a wave would take him back out. With another valiant effort he shimmied higher, finally flopping over on his back, looking exhausted as he prepared for a nap. He knew just how the guy felt, Cash thought as Carrie rejoined the table.

She turned in her seat and followed his gaze.”Aren’t they adorable?” Then she faced him again.”Do you ever go over to the aquarium and watch the otters? I love the way they groom themselves with their little hands. Kind of like raccoons, don’t you think?”

Cash leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers and trying his hardest to get the conversation back on track.”I’ve never been to the aquarium and I’ve never given much thought to sea otters. Now about—”

“You’ve never been to the aquarium? Oh, Cash, you don’t know what you’re missing. Monterey has one of the biggest and best in the world. Some of the tanks are thirty feet high…with sharks in them! You know—” she glanced over her shoulder at the sea lion, then back to Cash”—it would be great to have a Saturday or Sunday outing for all the employees at the aquarium…They could bring their families, too.” She slapped the table, seeming proud of herself.”Yep. Just what you need to boost morale.”

Cash lifted his arm and stared at his watch. Thank God it was time to leave. Just wait till the next time he ran into Flutie. How could that man possibly think she would last at a company like Cunningham?

He picked up the check and calculated fifteen percent. Standing, he extracted two singles from his wallet, then dug in his pocket for change and counted out the thirty-six cents he needed. When he placed the tip on the table, he noticed Carrie eyeing him from the side of her face.

“Come on…We’ll talk more about your…ideas…in the car,” he said, escorting her out.

All the way back to the office, Carrie talked nonstop. She never seemed to falter in her positive attitude and her firm belief that her ideas could solve any problem.

She sprang from her side of the car as soon as they parked and came alongside him.”So what do you think?” she asked.

He thought he had a headache. The fact that he’d be out of town on job sites for the next week only marginally relieved the throbbing in his temples. He should have nipped this thing in the bud. Now he’d have to wait till he got back. He stepped up his pace to the front door and tried to convey his shortness of time, if not patience. She practically ran to keep up.

“Okay,” he conceded.”Your intercompany newsletter idea sounds fine.” And less expensive than some of the other things.”And you can order a new chair.” Whoever replaced her would need one anyway. He opened the door and let her precede him. “Is there anything else for now?” Once inside, he brushed past her and punched the elevator button. She caught up as the door slid open and they stepped in.

“Just one more thing.”

Exasperated, he shot her an impatient glance, and she finished quickly.

“About those morale boosters. There’re a couple of little things I could do while you’re gone that could show immediate results. Nothing extravagant.”

She was looking up at him with those adorable green eyes, reminding him of a little girl pleading for a pony ride. With eyes like those, she’d probably gotten away with her outrageous behavior all her life. It occurred to him to ask exactly how much these”couple of little things” were going to cost him, but then he’d be late for his next appointment while she enumerated the endless details.

The door slid open and he strode toward his office, grabbing a stack of messages off Peggy’s desk as he passed. Carrie was right on his heels. At his doorway he stopped and faced her, making it clear that he had other things to do and she wasn’t invited in.

“Okay. Try a few things.” He watched her face light up, and he couldn’t help but smile.”But be conservative with the spending, okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but instead walked to his chair and turned his attention to the messages in his hand.

“Thanks, Cash,” he heard her say, halfway to her own office.

He dropped the notes on his desk. Damn. He’d meant to tell her not to call him that. And her clothes…

He rocked back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his aching head. Oh, my God! I’ve hired a hurricane…and let her loose in my nice, neat, orderly world.

He cracked his neck from side to side trying to alleviate the tension. Maybe he should have been more specific when he told her to keep the spending conservative. Then again, she’d seemed happy with that old desk and computer. Nah. The new employee manual would keep her occupied. He had other things to worry about right now. Next week was soon enough to decide what to do with his new employee.

He picked up the first message and swiveled to the window, phone nestled at his neck. He was getting all worked up over nothing.

Besides…how much damage could she do in just one short week?

Five (#ulink_aa64ec0b-4c2c-5eb9-ac14-8fec15c13844)

“Gus? Am I calling at a bad time?” Carrie hiked her right shoulder to the receiver and lifted a pen and paper from Fran’s desk.

“Nope. Just finished restocking the bar…Ten minutes till I open the door. Everything goin’ okay, lass?”

“Hunky-dory. I just called to get a name and phone number from you. Do you have a business card or receipt or something from that T-shirt place you use for the pub?”

“Hold on. I think I know where I put it.” She heard the phone clunk against the counter and she smiled, picturing the old place. In a way she missed working at Day’s, but this job was right up her alley. Challenges galore. Besides, she had dinner at Day’s most nights and still lived upstairs.

“Here it is,” Gus said, huffing into the phone.”Got a pencil?”

“Yep. Shoot.” She wrote out the name and phone number, then made plans for a late dinner with him. When she hung up, Fran was eyeing her, an obvious question on the tip of her tongue.

“Boyfriend?” she asked shyly, acting as though she knew it was none of her business.

Carrie laughed and shook her head.”No, no. Gus is my father’s best friend…kind of my surrogate dad since mine went back east. I rent an apartment above his pub.” Fran’s eyebrows shot up, concern on her wrinkled brow.”It’s a very nice pub, actually.” Then the idea came to her.”Fran! Why don’t you join us for dinner tonight?”

Her hand flew to her chest.”Oh, no. I couldn’t intrude.”

She was dying to go, and Carrie could see it in the lonely widow’s face.”It won’t be an intrusion at all. You’d be doing me a favor, since I need a ride home anyway.”

Fran smoothed back her perfectly coiffed hair.”Well, if you need a ride—”

“Great! It’s settled then. Unless there’s a problem with Fefe…”

“Oh, no. I go shopping or to movies some nights, and she’s perfectly content to snuggle on the sofa and sleep while I’m gone.” She frowned and thought a moment.”Maybe we should stop by and let her go out to do her business, though.”

“No problem. Then I can meet Fefe in person.” Carrie smiled, pecking her finger at the picture Fran had brought in to show off her toy poodle.”Now…about those T-shirts…”

Another hour and they put down the employee list with a sigh. They’d done their best to guess how many smalls, mediums, larges and extra larges. Now they were debating color and style.

“The knit shirts with collars are nice, don’t you think?” Carrie looked up from the catalog to Fran’s small face. She pushed her glasses a notch higher on her nose, then glanced at Carrie before pointing to the price.

“The T-shirts would be several hundred dollars less…with as many as we have to order.” She shot Carrie a worried”Know what I mean?” look.

“Ah, yes. We’ll have to order some extra, too, in case somebody needs a different size and for future employees. T-shirts it is. Now what about color?”

“The dark teal with mauve lettering is very attractive,” Fran said, looking at the chart.

“Hmm…Yes, it is. But do you think the macho men in the field and shop would like it?”

“I see your point. How about this?” She pointed to a burgundy shirt with a hunter-green logo.

“Ooh. I like that. And with the holidays coming, won’t it look great on everyone…with all the red and green decorations?” Carrie watched Fran purse her lips and drop her chin.”What? Did I say something wrong?”

Fran fidgeted with the corner of the page and avoided eye contact.”No…it’s just that…well, Mr. Cunningham doesn’t decorate for the holidays.”