Holiday Escort (7 page)

We talked for several minutes. I couldn't answer all their questions, but I did what I could. They didn't come to any decisions while we were talking, but I had given them more to think about it.

A short while later I turned to Karen and said, "
Snookie
kins
."

"Yes, sugar lips?"

I smiled. "Can we dance now?"

"Yes," she said. "But only because you've been so charming with everyone."

* * *

I continued to flirt with her the rest of the night. We eventually found ourselves back in her car, and I continued to flirt shamelessly. "I think you can drop out of character now," she said, frowning at me as she put the car into gear and we drove away. She didn't say it very kindly.

"All right," I said quietly. Up until then, I'd been having fun. I thought she had been, too. It was a stupid reaction on my part. I was her fake girlfriend, not her real girlfriend, so it shouldn't have bothered me that she'd asked me to quit.
I sat quietly for the ride home.

We got home and I caught her in the kitchen. "Did I embarrass you tonight?"

"What?" I think she'd been thinking of something else. I watched her catch up to my question. "No. You were brilliant. Why did you think I was embarrassed?"

"Nothing. Good night."

Our routine settled in. I made the house look as much like a welcoming home as I could. I cooked dinners that were flexible so they'd still be good regardless of when Karen got home. I did more cooking than I'd ever done in my entire life
, and I decided I liked it.

I took to baking in the late afternoons so that the house would
always smell wonderful when
Karen got home. I sent her to work each day with baked goods to share with the office.
The third time I did it, Karen asked me about it.

"It's no big deal," I said. "I thought you would like how the house smelled, that's all." She looked away and I thought maybe she was upset with me. "I should have asked. You may not have wanted me to spend the money on groceries. I can stop."

"Madeline, it's a very sweet gesture. I hope you won't stop." She paused. "My grandmother used to make something. Have you heard of
krumkake
?"

"I'd have to buy an iron for it," I told her, smiling.

The next night she came home to fresh-baked
krumkake
. I didn't let her see the failures. She walked in at seven fifteen looking exhausted,
then
she saw the tray of
krumkake
sitting on the center island in the kitchen. Her eyes lit up and she looked at me in amazement.

Krumkake
are a Scandinavian cookie. They are made on an iron similar to a waffle iron, although very thin. While still hot, you can wrap them around a wooden cone. They cool in that shape. I had dusted these with powdered sugar. I had to play with the recipe. I didn't like the recipe that came with the
krumkake
iron I had purchased. I thought the results were a little thick and doughy. I was pretty pleased with my later batches. I'd made enough for her to bring some to the office, but they wouldn't last long.

Karen looked between
me and the waiting
krumkake
. "May I have one?"

"One," I said. "Don't ruin your appetite." I paused. "They probably aren't quite like your grandmother's."

She took one and bit into it, closing her eyes. She finished the cooking, leaning forward to avoid spilling powdered sugar down her front,
her
eyes closed the entire time. When she opened them and looked at me, her eyes were glistening.
"They're exactly like Grandma's," she said. "Thank you."

She took two steps up to me and pulled me into her arms and kissed me.

The kiss didn't last long before she jerked away.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." Her face had a look of horror.

"It was a nice kiss, Karen." I stepped forward and hugged her. "I'm glad you liked the
krumkake
."

She still looked embarrassed. "Do I have time to change before dinner?"

"Please be quick."

* * *

I got all her cards out. I made her sit down with me and write the ones she really needed to do herself. There weren't that many. She thanked me afterwards. "I would have put it off if you hadn't insisted."

* * *

She was hosting four events during December: a holiday party for her employees, a dinner party for her friends, Christmas Eve for her family, and New Year's Eve for a lengthy list of people. The first was the holiday party.

I actually didn't have that much to do for it. She gave me a list of names and asked me to buy little presents for everyone. "In the past, I've given gift cards," she said. "That would be fine this year. If you can buy them and have them ready, I'd appreciate it."

"These are for your employees?"

"Actually, they're for the spouses."

"Are you set on the gift cards?" She wasn't. So instead I bought little baskets and assembled pampering kits for everyone. I bought bubble baths, fancy soap, hot chocolate, sweets, candles, and whatever else I could think of then
assembled baskets for everyone.

Other than that, I simply had to coordinate with the caterer.
Before hiring me,
Karen
had already handled invitations,
arranged the caterer,
and bought a mixed case of wine,
so my job was a snap. The caterer would provide all the
food and two people to serve it and help clean up afterwards.

The part
y
was set for the Friday after the event at Ryan and Cor
r
ine's. I baked like a banshee for the two days previously and was obsessive making sure everything was perfect.

The caterers arrived
at four. I was already primped and dressed. I managed the caterers but let them do all the setup. Everything was ready to go by four thirty.

Our first guest arrived at five fifteen. Karen wasn't home yet. I met
Erik
and Mary. They were barely inside the door when Mary turned to
Erik
and hit him on the arm.

"I told you that your boss wouldn't be here yet."

I laughed. "Which is perfect.
Erik
, you can tell me all about Karen before she gets here."

Mary laughed with me and said, "You, I like. Where's the wine?" She looked at her husband. "You're the designated driver tonight." I took care of their coats and showed them where the wine was.
Erik
poured glasses for both of them while Mary talked to me.

"This isn't at all what I expected." She looked around. "It doesn't seem like Karen's style at all." She looked critically at me. "You did all this?"

"Some days I think the only reason Karen wanted me was for my decorating skills." Mary laughed, eyeing me up and down. "Somehow I think it's more than that."

I blushed.

"Is it true the house has a ballroom? I've never been here."

"It's true," I said. "Would you like to see it?"

"Absolutely!"

So I took them downstairs. I had a playlist running for music, and the place was lit only with the Christmas lights I'd put up. Mary's eyes grew wide when she saw it. "This is amazing!" She listened to the music for a moment. "That's not Christmas music. I suppose that wouldn't be politically correct these days anyway."

"It's tango," I said. "The dance of choice in this house."

Mary looked at me critically. "A dancer's body."

"Former dancer, anyway," I said. I showed her the computer that controlled the music. "Feel free to put something else on, if you want, but there's no Christmas music. It's all dance music. I should go back upstairs, but make yourselves at home."

Another couple and a solo woman arrived ahead of Karen. I managed to avoid giving her a dirty look when she came up behind me and apologized in my ear.

I turned around, melted into her arms, and pulled her lips into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around me automatically, but I could tell she was surprised. She broke the kiss, but I held her tightly so she wouldn't back away and ruin it all. "It's all right, honey. I'm glad you're home."

It was after eight before I pulled Karen downstairs, making a big deal about it. Several couples followed us. The music had stopped, so I put on some tango and changed my shoes then stepped into Karen's arms.

No one else tangoed, but we had several people watching us. When we were done, we got applause. Karen looked embarrassed about it, but sometime later, Charlie and Sue, two of Karen's employees, cornered me. Charlie said, "We've never seen this side of Karen. But now we know where all the treats are coming from."

I laughed. "I think she's just keeping me for the holidays," I said. "But we're having a nice time together while it lasts."

"Don't be crazy," Sue said. "She's madly in love with you." Then Karen wandered close and Charlie changed the subject. I didn't have a chance to tell Sue she was mistaken.

I flirted lightly with Karen throughout the evening, and we stood with our arms around each other while saying goodbye to the guests. As soon as the door was closed, I pulled away from her and checked on how the caterers were doing cleaning up. They were efficient, and the place didn't look too bad when they left.

Karen stood around watching, getting in my way a few times and looking out of place in her own home. Finally I told her, "
I
have it covered, Karen.
You've had a long day. You can relax. I'm almost done.
"

"Are you angry at me? I'm sorry I was late."

"No big deal," I said. "I had it handled. I didn't come across as
pissy
, did I? I thought everyone found me charming."

"You were perfect," she said.
"But you seem mad."

I turned to look at her. I didn't know what she wanted from me. She'd asked for a warm, inviting home. I thought I'd been providing that. She asked for a fake girlfriend in front of other people. I thought I'd done that, too, as weird as it was. I'd done her Christmas cards and handled her party. Finally I
told her, "You're confusing me, boss." I stressed the last word.

She looked into my eyes.

"You were brilliant tonight," she said. "And the party was a great success. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I turned around and finished cleaning up.

* * *

Later in bed, I thought about the kiss I'd given her. I'd been disappointed when it ended.

She was definitely confusing me.

* * *

The next morning, I was relaxing downstairs when Karen came down. "Madeline," she said.

"Good morning."

"I was wondering. Would you cook for the dinner party next Saturday?"

"I thought you were catering all the events."

"This is six close friends," she said. "I can pay you extra."

"It's not the money, Karen," I told her. "It's my personal abilities.
I'm not up to anything much fancier than what I've been making for you. I could try, but it wouldn't turn out very good. If you're trying to impress anyone, it would be a failure."

"What could you do, if you were going to cook?"

I thought about it. "Let's use an example. Let's say I did a turkey dinner. Thanks
giving was just a few weeks ago;
people may not want turkey again. But let's say I did it anyway. I'd make boxed stuffing instead of real stuffing, and canned cranberries from the store instead of canning my own."

"That sounds lovely," Karen told me.

I cocked my head. "What are you trying to do?"

"They are friends. They would appreciate a home cooked meal. They know I'm not Suzie Homemaker."

"So I am?"

She smiled.

I sighed. "You're the boss, Karen." That seemed to pain her. "I'd be happy to do a turkey di
nner for you and your friends."

"Thank you, Madeline," she said. She reached out and squeezed my shoulder. "I appreciate it."

The brief contact felt nice.

I waited a couple of hours and called Mom. I relayed the conversation. She helped me work out a menu that would stretch me slightly, but not too badly. By the time we were off the phone, I had a complete schedule for what had to happen when. I felt pretty good about it.

Then something occurred to me. I found Karen. She was in her office. "Are you going to do this to me for Christmas Eve, too?"

She looked up at me and smiled. "It sure would be nice if you could."

"You must really like turkey," I told her.

I called Mom back. "Are there any people in common between the two events?" Mom asked.