Sun-Kissed Christmas (Summer) (10 page)

“That whole thing must have been a shock for you,” Seth said. “Finding out the accident victim you’ve been hired to take care of is really an old boyfriend.”

“It wasn’t so bad, really. If you watched more soap operas, Seth, you’d realize that kind of thing happens all the time.”

“But that’s fiction, Summer. This is real life.”

She grinned. “How can you tell the difference?”

“Twelve-fifty,” the clerk said as she labeled the package. Summer handed her a twenty.

“What do you buy a guy covered from head to toe in bandages, anyway?” Seth asked. “I’m guessing he
doesn’t need any sunscreen.”

Summer rolled her eyes. “I got him a new computer chess game. Nearly wiped out my meager savings, but I knew he’d like it. He used to slaughter me whenever we played.”

The clerk handed Summer her change, and they headed back into the mall. As she tucked the bills in her purse Summer looked up to see Seth staring at her oddly.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

Seth rolled his eyes. “Actually, I was just thinking what a great person you are. And that I’m really glad we can still be friends.”

“Great how?”

“The way you got over Adam lying to you, the way you’re okay with Diana and me … I don’t know. You don’t hold grudges. You let things go. That’s why you’re great.”

Summer took Seth’s arm. “You’re pretty great yourself, Seth Warner.”

He looked dubious. “Think Diana will figure that out?”

“I do, actually. But just to be on the safe side, when we get near Santa, I’ll let go of your arm, okay?”

Seth laughed. “Good thinking.”

“Where do you think they went?” Diana asked again.

“I’m going out on a limb here and guessing the mailing center,” Marquez replied.

Diana chewed on a thumbnail. “You think?”

“No, Diana. The package to Adam was just an elaborate ruse so that Summer could seduce Seth in the romantic candlelit atmosphere of Mailboxes Etcetera. Will you get a grip already?”

Diana scanned the Santa display. “Where’s Sarah?”

“Right over there.” Marquez pointed. “Checking out the fake elves. You know, all things considered, we were much better fake reindeer.”

“Are you as tired as I am?” Diana asked. “This mommy stuff is exhausting.”

“This mommy stuff sucks,” Marquez corrected. “You know”—she lowered her voice—“there was a time, last summer, when I was seriously thinking that the only way I could hold on to Diver was to sleep with him. Now I’m really glad I got my act together and decided to wait. Sarah’s a cute kid and all, but I’ll tell you something—being around her is, like, the ultimate in birth control.”

Diana laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve been chasing after her since six this morning. If I sing one more chorus of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ I want you to shoot me, okay?”

“No way. Then I’d be stuck with her full time.”

Diana rubbed her eyes. “You think this whole
thing is crazy?”

Marquez arched one eyebrow. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“I was kind of hoping Jennie might call or show up today. After a little time to decompress, I figured she’d come to her senses.”

“Jennie isn’t going to show up, Diana. And after Christmas we’re going to have to do the hard thing and—”

“Shh!”

Diana knelt down as Sarah rushed over. “So, what did you think of the elves?”

Sarah shrugged. “They’re not real.”

“Well, no—”

“And neither is Santa.”

“Still, you promised me you’d give it a shot, remember?”

“I’m going to look at the giant candy canes.”

“Okay. No farther, though.” Diana watcher her run off. “God, I just realized I sounded like Mallory. Now you really do have to shoot me.”

They watched a little boy sob inconsolably on Santa’s lap while a woman dressed as Mrs. Claus tried to snap the boy’s picture.

“This really is kind of a cruel ritual, isn’t it?” Marquez mused.

“Actually, Mallory never bothered with this stuff.
I think it’s charming … in a cheesy mini-mall sort of way. Hey, I was thinking that after we’re done here maybe we could hit the toy store. Summer could take Sarah while we stock up on gifts. I really want to do this right.”

“You’re not going to get carried away, are you?”

“No.” Diana smiled. “Just a few dozen toys, give or take a dozen. And she really needs some clothes.”

“Diana,” Marquez said seriously, “I had great Christmases, and a lot of times I was lucky to get one or two toys. One year, our first year here in the States, all I got was a box of crayons. But it was the best present I ever got.”

“Okay.” Diana waved her hand. “I won’t overdo. Just tell me this—where do you think I could get a stuffed lamb?”

“She loves that thing. No way would she want a replacement.”

“It’s hemorrhaging fuzz.”

Marquez nudged her. “There’s Summer and Seth. Hmm. They both look a little flushed to me. …”

“Not funny,” Diana snapped. “Not even remotely funny.”

“Hey, guys,” Summer called as she approached. “Looks like Sarah’s next up, huh?”

Seth gave Diana a light kiss. “Miss me?”

“The real question is, did you miss me?” Diana
said. It was supposed to be a joke, but even to her ears she sounded a little paranoid.

“Okay, who’s next?” Mrs. Claus asked. She had a thick southern accent. Her right ear was pierced three times.

“Sarah!” Diana called.

Sarah ran over obediently. “Go on, sweetie,” Diana said, herding her forward. “Say hi to Santa.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Santa said in a singsong voice. “What’s your name, little girl?”

“Sarah,” she replied. “What’s your name?’

Santa looked a little nonplussed. “Why, Santa Claus, of course!”

“I mean your
real
name. Like Sarah’s my real name.”

Santa sent an annoyed glance at Diana. “She’s very precocious,” Diana explained.

“Isn’t she just?” he grumbled. Above his fake beard he had a bad patch of pimples.

“Let’s get this over with, Sarah,” Marquez said, stepping in. “Aunt Diana wants you to suffer the way she never had to.” She lifted Sarah onto Santa’s lap.

“Have you lost weight, Santa?” Marquez asked. “Lookin’ good, my man. Quality time on the treadmill, eh?” She stepped back. “Santa’s wearing CK One,” she whispered to Diana.

“Tell Santa what you want him to bring you for
Christmas,” Santa said wearily. “But here are my ground rules—no ponies, no cash, no getting rid of siblings.”

“I don’t want anything.”

“Yeah, right,” Santa chortled. “That’d be a first.”

“But I don’t.”

Santa glared at Diana. “Don’t look at me,” Diana protested.

“Maybe she’s not very materialistic.”

“You’re telling me you don’t want anything?” Santa asked Sarah.

Sarah pursed her lips, deep in thought. She shook her head.

“Come on, kid,” Santa whispered. “You’re making me look bad here.”

“Just tell Santa one thing, Sarah,” Diana urged.

“Do it, kid,” Marquez said. “It’s your only way out of this nightmare.”

“Well, there is one thing,” Sarah said softly. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a little piece of torn paper.

“What’s that?” Summer asked Diana.

“I don’t have a clue. Looks like it’s from a magazine.”

“That’s the way,” Santa said, taking the picture. “Let me guess—a doll? A game? Maybe a—” He fell silent. “Kid, this is a
house!
”

“Smile and say Rudolph!” Mrs. Claus commanded, snapping Sarah’s photo.

“Where’d you get that picture, Sarah?” Diana asked.

“Your magazines. It’s a house for my mom and me.”

Santa sent a look of pure poison at Diana. “She couldn’t just ask for a dollhouse, Mom?”

“I’m not her mom.”

“That’s the other thing,” Sarah tugged on Santa’s beard, revealing a wispy brown starter mustache. “If you’re really Santa, then you’ll make my mom come home.”

“Man, this isn’t worth six-forty an hour,” Santa muttered. “Okay, kid. Here’s the deal. I am Santa, really I am. And I’m going to do right by you. I’m going to do my damn—my darnedest to find you a house. And your mom. Deal?”

Diana winced. “Uh, Santa? You don’t want to over—” she began, but Sarah was already scampering off.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Summer said.

“A depressing scene from your Midwestern childhood?” Marquez ventured.

“No, that movie. That Santa Claus movie. We watched it last week. You know the one.
Miracle on 34th Street
. I swear, this is just like it.”

“Yeah,” Marquez said. “Except in that movie Santa
didn’t have acne.”

“One other important difference,” Diana added grimly. “The movie had a happy ending.”

Laughable Kisses, and Serious Ones

“Boy, it’s really coming down,” Seth said that evening, standing in the doorway of the girls’ house. “I’d forgotten what Florida monsoons are like. It’s weird for this time of year, though.”

Marquez came out of her room, sighing. “The roof is leaking again. My mattress is getting soaked.”

“Seth, how about you and I move the bed out of the way?” Diver suggested.

“Does this happen often?” Seth asked.

“Only every time it rains,” Diana replied as she idly channel-surfed.

“I can fix it,” Seth volunteered. “I’ll see about getting some shingles. My grandfather’s got a ladder I can borrow.”

“Meantime, I’ll get a bucket,” Marquez said. “And tomorrow I’ll complain to our cheapskate landlord. Again.”

Just then the phone rang. “I’ll get it,” Summer called. She reached across the kitchen table for the phone and was rewarded with a dial tone.

“That’s the second time this evening,” she said, carefully rearranging the piles of index cards she was preparing for her history report.

“You don’t suppose it could be Jennie, do you?” Diana asked. She whispered it, even though Sarah had been in bed for hours.

“Maybe it’s Santa,” Marquez said as she rummaged under the sink for a bucket. “Checking to see whether Sarah would prefer a ranch or a colonial.”

“That jerk. There ought to be some kind of license required for Santas,” Diana muttered.

Again the phone rang. Summer groaned as she grabbed it. “Yeah?” she demanded. “Please, whoever you are. Say something. Anything.”

“Man, if I’d know you were that desperate for conversation, I’d have called earlier.”

“Austin?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Is it too late?”

“No, no. It’s just that we’ve had a couple of hang-ups tonight. Hey, that wasn’t you, by any chance?”

“Sorry, no. I just got home from work. Listen, I wanted to make sure I didn’t offend you this afternoon with my full-body tackle.”

“Offend?” Summer turned toward the wall to avoid her friends’ curious stares. “No.” She lowered her voice. “Not at all.”

“Because it was just, like, one of those brain disconnects, you know? Esme and I were laughing about it tonight.”

“She
saw
us?”

“No, but I told her all about it.”

“You
told
her?”

“She said she’d done the same thing with one of her old boyfriends. A reflex kiss, I mean. Minus the tackle, of course.”

Summer swallowed past a dry lump in her throat. Esme and he had gotten a good laugh out of it? Summer had half seriously considered never putting Blistex on her lips again, she’d been so blown away by Austin’s kiss.

“Anyway, I wanted to tell you that if you want to
go ahead with the Harris and Vera thing, I guess it’s all right with me. I just don’t think you should expect too much. Or push too hard.”

“Well, there is one thing you could help me with.”

“Okay.”

“Do you know anybody with a big tent?”

“A tent?”

“For re-creating their Christmas Eve.”

“Summer, I think maybe that would fall into the category of pushing too hard,” Austin said.

“I know this will work. I have instincts.”

“Why don’t you just, I don’t know, give Harris Vera’s number and let nature take its course?”

“You do not have a romantic bone in your body, are you aware of that?” Summer snapped.

“Okay, okay, I surrender to your womanly instincts. There’s a guy at work who does a lot of backpacking and stuff. I’ll check with him on the tent.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“How are you going to get them together, though?”

“I have a plan,” Summer lied. “Now, I really should go. I have to work on my history paper.”

“Okay. So no hard feelings, right?”

“Oh, no,” Summer said frostily. “And for the record, I also found your kiss laughable.”

She slammed down the phone. When she turned around, Marquez and Diana were very busy pretending
they hadn’t been listening.

“Show’s over,” Summer said.

Diana winked at Marquez. “Denial,” she whispered. “Just like we said.”