Chapter Eleven

Lance

Through the gossamer veil of snow, I gaze out the door of the balcony at the house across the street.

Perry's car has just driven off and the lights in the house have just come on.

Finally, they're home.

I'm relieved, but the fact does little to ease my annoyance.

I sit on an armchair and let out a sigh.

So Jordan's been avoiding me, has she?

First, she asked that Audrey to drag me to the town council meeting for some 'free consultancy work' - or so Audrey told me - and then she nearly spent the night at Perry's place.

That last bit makes me grit my teeth in frustration.

Of course, she and Claus would go over there sometimes, what with Perry being Claus's father and all. Even so, just thinking of them together makes my blood simmer, and not in a good way. My hand rolls into a fist on the arm of the chair.

This is turning out to be more difficult than I thought.

Giving up isn't an option, though. A change of tactics is.

Each time I make a move, she backs off. I manage to corner her but something goes wrong or she pushes me away. Maybe I'm pushing her too hard.

Usually, when I'm trying to woo a client, I try not to make it too obvious that I want the project. I express my intentions. I explain what I have to offer. Then I back off and give the client room. I give him time to consider my offer, and in time, he does come back to me.

Maybe that's what I should do. Maybe I should just leave Jordan alone for now. Well, maybe for a day or two.

She knows what I want, after all. And she wants it, too. She just hasn't realized it yet. Or rather, she won't accept it.

A day or two should give her time to think. And then she'll come running.

My fist relaxes and my fingers tap on the woolen upholstery. My lips curve into a smile.

I'll be waiting.

~

In the morning, the snow has stopped falling again. I think of driving in to Dover, maybe have the broken key of my laptop fixed and get a few things. As I open the front door, though, I hear a gasp and find Mrs. Cooper holding a hammer.

"Sorry," I tell her.

My eyes go to the wreath on the door, then to the box on the steps, which seems to be overflowing with wreaths, boughs of holly and strings of lights.

"You're decorating?" I ask the housekeeper.

"Well, it is almost Christmas, after all," she answers as she closes the front door. "I don't usually decorate, but then there's usually no one staying at the house."

"If you're saying you're decorating for me, Mrs. Cooper, please save yourself the - "

"Nonsense. I'm decorating for the house." She continues hammering the nail to hold the wreath in place. "It used to be so pretty at this time of year, but after Mr. and Mrs. Marsh passed away and no one came home for the holidays, no one bothered decorating anymore. And then it just started falling apart little by little, fading away like little old me."

I shake my head. "You're not that old, Mrs. - "

"The other day, when little Claus was here, it seemed happy," she goes on without letting me speak. "It made me realize it's been lonely all this time. I thought putting up a few trimmings would make it even just a bit happier."

I narrow my gaze at her. "You're decorating to make the house happy?"

"Yes." She pounds at the nail one more time, then stops. "Dear me. It's crooked, isn't it?"

I realize it is.

"If you want to decorate the house, Mrs. Cooper, I'm sure William won't mind if I hire someone to do it."

"Hire someone?" She turns to me with creased eyebrows. "To put up the wreaths?"

"And the lights and everything else, even a tree."

The thought seems to send a shiver down Mrs. Cooper's spine.

"No, thanks." She turns the hammer around and tries to get the nail out. "That's a waste of money. I've got nothing else to do. I'll do it myself. Besides, what if they break stuff? Or steal stuff?"

I understand her concern perfectly. This is her turf and she doesn't want anyone taking over.

"Fine." I set my bag against the pillar, roll up my sleeves and extend my hand. "Let me help you with the decorating, then."

Her eyes grow wide. "You will?"

I nod.

"You sure you know how to use a hammer?"

I wonder if she should be asking me that, but I say nothing. I just leave my palm outstretched.

Finally, she puts the hammer on top of it and steps aside.

I take the nail out, then the wreath. I hand Mrs. Cooper the wreath and try to position the nail in the right spot.

"This is the middle, isn't it?" I ask.

"I think it needs to be moved to the left just a little," a voice younger than Mrs. Cooper's answers behind me.

I turn my head and find Jordan standing at the bottom of the steps with Claus. Cascades of her ash brown hair peek out from beneath her red and green bonnet, which somehow resembles a strawberry. Excitement twinkles in her wide, brown eyes.

"Just a little," she repeats with a gesture of her two fingers.

I comply. "There?"

"Try that."

As I hammer the nail in place, I wonder what Jordan is doing here. I haven't even left her for a day and here she is. She must like my offer more than I thought. I try not to grin and give myself away.

Once the nail is buried in the wood, I take the wreath from Mrs. Cooper and hang it.

"Well?" I ask.

"It looks better," Mrs. Cooper answers.

"Nice," Jordan remarks.

I glance at Claus. "What do you think, buddy?"

He gives me a thumbs-up sign.

I pat the bonnet on his head before turning to Jordan. "So, why did you guys come over?"

"I want to play," Claus answers.

Jordan throws him a stern glance, then looks at me. "Actually, we saw you and Mrs. Cooper decorating, or trying to, and we thought we'd help."

My eyebrows rise. "You'll help us decorate?"

Mrs. Cooper smiles. "Why, that's so kind of you, dear."

Jordan nods. "Well, we don't really have anything else to do. And I've never seen the house decorated before, and I think I'd like to see it."

Mrs. Cooper's eyes twinkle. "Oh, just you wait there. It will be lovely."

Jordan climbs up a step and meets my gaze. "Besides, it's the least I can do to thank you for watching Claus the other day."

My eyebrows rise even higher.

Well, this is a surprise. I wonder why her attitude has changed. I'm not going to ask, though.

What was that saying? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

"Okay then." I give Jordan a smile and grab the box on the stairs. "I guess we're decorating."

~

"It really is tough decorating a big house, isn't it?"

Jordan lets out a sigh in the living room as Mrs. Cooper prepares lunch. On the rug, Claus is busy sticking the pine cones that came off some old wreaths together to make his own reindeer, although it looks more like a porcupine at this point.

"No wonder rich people hire other people for these things."

"I did mention that to Mrs. Cooper," I say as I try to untangle a string of Christmas lights. "But she would hear nothing of it."

"I understand why, though." Jordan sits back. "The people who decorate professionally, they do it for money and they go for perfection. Christmas is about neither. It's about pouring your heart out into simple things."

"You like Christmas," I observe out loud.

"Yes," she admits. "In spite of all the bad memories, I do."

Bad memories. She's not talking about that time in the lounge, is she?

"Why?" I ask her curiously.

Jordan shrugs. "I don't really know myself. Maybe it's because I like to bake and people bake the most at Christmas. Maybe it's because I like sitting by the fire, just watching the flames. Or gazing at Christmas lights. Or the smell of wrapping paper."

I throw her a puzzled look. "The smell of wrapping paper?"

She chuckles. "Or knitted things."

She tugs the front of her sweater.

"Or the sound of Christmas carols. The traditional ones, sung by choirs. Not the pop ones or the remixes. I can barely hear the words of those, much less sing along."

This time, I chuckle.

"Or the smiles of children," Jordan adds. "When you have a child who lights up even brighter than the bulbs around a tree, Christmas suddenly becomes even more special."

I glance at Claus and remember how his face lit up after I gave him that toy robot.

"What about you?" She leans forward. "Why don't you like Christmas?"

My eyebrows arch. "Who said?"

"I can tell."

I put down the string of lights I've given up on and sigh.

"It's not that I don't like Christmas. It's just that I don't like how it brings out the worst in some people, instead of the best."

"Does it bring out the worst in you?" she asks.

I shrug. "What do you think?"

Jordan scratches her chin. Her brown eyes narrow. Then she, too, shrugs.

"I don't know."

And here I thought she'd say yes, after all the things I've tried to do to her.

She grabs the string of lights I've been working on and starts trying to untangle them herself.

"So you're friends with the owner of this house?"

"Yes."

"And you asked him to lend you his house?"

I shake my head. "He was the one who offered, insisted on it even. I had no idea you lived just across. If I had, I might have accepted his offer faster."

Her fingers freeze on the string for a moment.

"I'm glad I got to see you again."

Her cheeks turn pink.

She shakes her head. "Yeah, right. You must have forgotten all about me."

"I thought I did," I admit.

Again, her fingers grow still.

I get the string from her again and begin another attempt.

Jordan clears her throat. "Don't you want to spend Christmas with your family?"

I grimace.

She grins. "Okay. Are they that bad?"

"They don't get me," I answer.

She nods.

"What about you? Where's your family?"

"They're in Western Pennsylvania, just about four hours away by car."

"Why don't you live with them?"

"Because I have a kid," she answers.

I don't really understand.

"They're old. They need peace and quiet. And they have themselves to take care of."

That I understand.

"I thought it was because Claus's father..."

"Oh, yes," Jordan says quickly. "That's another reason. Because Perry lives here."

"Right."

Just then, Claus stands up. He lifts his sticky hands.

"I'm done!"

"Really?" Jordan gets off the couch to look at what he's accomplished. "That's... an interesting reindeer."

"I know." Claus gives her a wide smile, then turns to me. "Do you like it, Lance?"

I give him a thumbs-up sign. He laughs.

Jordan grabs his shoulders. "Now let's get you cleaned up. We'll be eating soon."

"What are we eating?" Claus asks. "I'm hungry."

"I know you are, so eat whatever Mrs. Cooper prepared, okay?"

He doesn't look happy.

"Don't worry," I tell him. "I'm sure Mrs. Cooper made something tasty for you."

~

After lunch, just as we're starting to decorate the second floor balcony, Audrey drops by.

"Wow, look at you." She lifts her head. "Decorating and all."

"Mrs. Cooper's idea," I tell her.

"I'm just helping out," Jordan says.

"I can see that." She grins. "I'd help, too, but you know, I'm busy."

"Oh, you don't have to," Jordan tells her.

"Anyway, I just dropped by to thank you for the cupcakes," Audrey says. "They were lovely. Right, Lance?"

"And they tasted really good," I tell Jordan. "The cake, too."

"And also to drop off a few leaflets." Audrey holds up a few sheets of green paper. "Yesterday, after Lance left, the town council finally reached a decision regarding this year's Christmas festivities and so I've printed them out. There's a cake baking contest which is open to bakers from all over Delaware. Why don't you join, Jordan?"

Jordan shrugs. "I'll think about it."

"And there's a contest for the best decorated house. It seems like you guys already started on that."

"Oh, we're not entering," I say. "We're just doing this for... Mrs. Cooper."

"And for fun," Jordan adds.

"Pity," Audrey says. "Then again, that's probably for the best. I'm entering, too, you know. And I'm hiring professional decorators. They should be done before my Christmas party next week. The two of you will come, won't you?"

"Claus and I will," Jordan answers.

"I'll see," I say.

She frowns, then turns back to the green paper. "Let's see what else we have here. There's the Christmas dance, the Christmas toy drive, the Christmas pet show. And the last event is a special Christmas race the day after Christmas."

"A race?" I throw her a puzzled look.

Jordan looks confused as well.

"A race?" Claus echoes as he comes out on the balcony and looks down.

"It's not just about speed. There are certain tasks to be accomplished at each juncture," Audrey explains. "Oh, but it's only open for families of at least four, so sorry."

Claus's face falls as he goes back inside.

My heart sinks, too.

"Anyway, the details are here on the paper." Audrey lifts them in the air. "I'll slip them beneath the front door. Even the one for you, Jordan."

"Okay," she says.

For a moment, Audrey disappears. When we see her again, she has fewer papers in her hand. She waves with them.

"See you around, neighbors. Spread the Christmas cheer!"

She goes to her car.

"She's a hard worker, isn't she?" I remark to Jordan as I continue wrapping a string of lights around the railing of the balcony.

Jordan chuckles. "I wonder if she considers it work."

"True."

That woman seems to enjoy being in charge of things.

"So are you joining the baking contest?" I ask Jordan.

She gives another shrug. "Maybe. Speaking of baking, I still owe you some baked goods."

My eyebrows crease. "You do?"

"Yes, for all the equipment you gave. You said they were an investment, right?"

I remember now.

"Then consider them an investment in your entry for the baking contest. You just have to enter and win. I'll be like your sponsor."

Jordan snorts. "I still owe you baked goods, though. I might work on that tonight."

"Won't you be tired by then?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "Baking actually helps me to relax."

I pause. "Can I come over and watch you make them?"

She, too, stops for a moment. Then she nods.

"As long as you promise not to touch anything while I work."

Including her?

"Okay."

"Okay." Jordan smiles. "I'll have some coffee ready."