A Mum for Christmas. Doreen Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ understood what she’d said. Finally he cleared his throat. “I’m almost afraid to ask,” he said, clasping his hands as if in prayer, “but who the devil is Donna?”

      “Blitzen’s partner, of course.”

      He looked at her blankly.

      “You know,” Sherrie said, allowing a tiny note of impatience to enter her voice. “Donna and Blitzen. Santa’s reindeer?”

      He still looked at her as if she’d suddenly appeared from outer space.

      She placed her hands on the desk, leaned forward and pronounced each word as if she were translating a foreign language. “You have two reindeer in your Christmas display. I call them Donna and Blitzen. Had I not removed that brat from the platform, Blitzen would have been looking for a new mate.”

      A look of apprehension slowly dawned on Matt’s face. “I see,” he said weakly.

      Sensing that she was getting through to him at last, she straightened up. “I didn’t hurt the child. He was out of control, and upsetting the other children. I did what I thought was necessary to restore the peace.”

      Matt nodded. “I sympathize with your predicament, Miss Latimer. It might have been more prudent, however, to have let the child’s mother deal with him.”

      “The child’s mother,” Sherrie said grimly, “was nowhere to be found. If she can’t be bothered to discipline the child, she must learn to accept the consequences. In my opinion, women like that shouldn’t have children if they can’t accept the responsibility.”

      She got the feeling she might have said too much as Matt’s face darkened. “That’s beside the point. We have to remember that our customers are the reason we are in business. Without them, we would not have a Blanchard’s Department Store.”

      “Yes, but—”

      “In situations like this,” Matt went on firmly, “we must hold on to our temper and do our utmost to soothe ruffled feathers. Throwing the child off the platform was not the best way to handle things, no matter how much he might have deserved it. I must ask you to use more restraint in the future, if you want to keep your job.”

      It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him where to stuff his job. “I was hired to talk to the children and listen to their Christmas wishes,” she said stiffly. “I did not expect to act as nursemaid, baby-sitter or disciplinarian, nor did I expect to be subjected to harassment, ridicule or abuse, all of which has been directed at me in the past two days.”

      Matt sighed, and leaned back in his chair. “I had an idea the job might be too much for you. If you remember, I did warn you that it was a tough job for a woman. Perhaps I could rustle up a couple of elves to help out.”

      “In my opinion, Mr. Blanchard, this would be a tough job for that marine sergeant you were looking for.” She puffed out her breath. She had promised Tom she would do this job. She would do her best to see it through for his sake, certainly not for the stuffed shirt who sat glowering at her across his too-tidy desk.

      Softening her tone with difficulty, she added, “That doesn’t mean I can’t handle it. There’s no need to hire elves. I apologize for losing my patience. I can assure you, it won’t happen again.”

      She waited while he sat in silence, apparently torn by indecision. Miserably she wondered how she was going to explain to Tom that she botched the job after less than two days.

      She jumped when Matthew Blanchard suddenly looked up. His eyes looked very blue, and very direct. “Miss Latimer,” he said quietly, “everyone around here calls me Matt. I would appreciate it if you would do the same.”

      She could feel tiny ripples of awareness course down her back. For some reason she really wished she was wearing something other than the frumpy Mrs. Claus costume. She had the distinct feeling that when she spoke, her voice would sound about an octave too high. “Does that mean I’m still Mrs. Claus?”

      Matt sighed, as if he had just made an earth-shattering decision. “If you’re really sure you want to be harassed and abused for the next month, the job is still yours.”

      He didn’t have to sound quite so enthusiastic about it, Sherrie thought gloomily. If he knew how tough it had been for her to step down and apologize, he wouldn’t be nearly so condescending. “I’ll manage,” she said, her voice deceptively meek. “Thank you, Mr. Blanchard.”

      “Matt,” he reminded her.

      Again she felt the shiver of pleasure down her spine. How, she wondered, could he possibly have this effect on her, when she found him so infuriating?

      “I think I’d find it easier to call you Matt,” she said carefully, “if you’d stop calling me Miss Latimer.”

      He didn’t quite smile, but she had the feeling that one lurked behind the firm line of his mouth. The thought made the ripples travel faster.

      “I’ll do my best,” he murmured. “Now, as long as we’ve got that settled, you’d better get back to your chair. There’s probably a hundred kids waiting for you by now.”

      “God, I hope not,” Sherrie murmured fervently. “By the time Christmas gets here I might not be needing the gray hair. I’ll have enough of my own.”

      She thought she heard him chuckle as she closed the door behind her but she couldn’t be sure. She only knew that she would give anything to hear Matthew Blanchard laugh out loud, and to be the one who caused it.

      The sooner she started work on her quest for Lucy’s mother, the better, she told herself as she walked through the department store. Matthew Blanchard did strange things to her senses.

      If he wasn’t quite so pompous and patronizing, she might even be tempted to forget her convictions about men in general. And that would be a disastrous mistake. Horrified with her treacherous mind, she hurried back to her seat in the Christmas display.

      All that afternoon, when she wasn’t chatting to the children, Sherrie racked her brains trying to come up with a suitable candidate for Lucy’s mother.

      What she really needed, she decided, was more information about Matthew Blanchard. Since he would be a primary factor in the success of her plan, she needed to know what kind of woman might appeal to him.

      The line of children had abated and her shift was almost over when Sherrie saw her impervious boss heading in her direction with Lucy in tow. Apparently his daughter was checking up on her request.

      Sherrie smiled when the serious little girl climbed onto her lap. The child looked enchanting in a pleated red tartan skirt worn over white tights. The ensemble was completed with a white sweater, decorated with an appliquéd black Scottish terrier. Someone knew how to dress a child, Sherrie thought as she settled the child into the crook of her arm.

      “Hello, Lucy,” she said, “It’s very nice to see you again.”

      Lucy glanced over at her father, who stood a few feet away, watching his daughter with a worried expression on his face. After a moment’s hesitation, Matt stepped up to the platform and said in an urgent voice, “It’s pretty quiet out here now. Could you keep an eye on her for a few minutes? I have an important call to make.”

      Sherrie СКАЧАТЬ