california christmas dreams Page 5

  Noelle held out her hand. “I’m Noelle, Merry’s baby sister, though I’m only a year younger,” she said with a grin. “You must be Jake.”

  He looked startled. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Funny, you don’t look like Scrooge.”

  Merry glared at her sister. She wanted to die. How could Noelle say such a thing?

  He laughed a little uneasily. “I see we’ve been sharing sister confidences.”

  “Which were supposed to be confidential,” Merry said, seriously considering slapping her hand over Noelle’s mouth.

  Noelle waved her hand.

  “What do you do?” Jake asked politely.

  “I’m a blower,” Noelle said with a grin.

  Merry pinched the bridge of her nose. Her sister just loved to toss that one out to strangers.

  “A what...?”

  “Noelle’s a glass blower,” Merry said hastily.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever met a glassblower. I didn’t even know there was such a thing,” he replied. He cast a glance at Merry and she could see he was comparing her to her sister.

  “So you’re thinking about renting space,” Jake said.

  “Yes, I am,” Noelle replied.

  Jake tilted his head. “I’m trying to visualize this.”

  “I do glass jewelry, knickknacks like little glass flowers or for this park, I did a little Benny the Bear. It’s in Merry’s office.”

  His eyebrows went up. “Do those kinds of things sell?”

  “I thought I’d theme my products to the park, like carousel horses, Benny the Bear, maybe orange paperweights, and some of my own jewelry creations. People want classy mementos, they don’t want cheesy stuff.”

  Jake looked thoughtful. “I have an errand to run. Why not meet me in my office in thirty minutes?” He shook her hand and walked away.

  Merry was stunned. Except for their afternoon on the carousel, she’d never seen him be this civil before.

  Noelle studied him as he walked away. When he was out of sight, she pulled Merry back into the building and gave her sister a crushing hug. “He’s a hottie. Wrapped a little too tight, but still hot.”

  “He’s my boss, Noelle.”

  “Tell me you’re not having inappropriate thoughts about him.”

  Merry’s cheeks blazed with heat. “I don’t have inappropriate thoughts.”

  “Then appropriate ones,” Noelle said.

  “Some days I want to stick a pickax in his head. That’s the most appropriate thought I can come up with at the moment.” Though at other times, she wanted to jump his bones. She didn’t like that she had hot thoughts about him. “Besides, he’s not my type.”

  Noelle burst out laughing. “Sweetie, he’s every girl’s type.”

  “Have at it, Noelle.”

  “I think not. Did you see the way he looked at you?”

  “With scorn and distrust?”

  “Girl, he likes you.”

  Merry rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. The only things that man likes are money, control and power. You should hear how he talks to his clients. Like they’re five years old.”

  Noelle shook her head. She opened the door and stepped out into the hot September afternoon. “From what you’ve already told me, I suspect most of them act like five-year-olds.”

  “Come on, let’s go back to my office. You’ll probably want to take your little bear with you to show him what you can do.”

  Noelle just grinned. “By the time I get to his office, he’ll already know. I can guarantee he’ll check the internet first. But before I head over, I want to take a look at the carousel and get photos of the horses.”

  Merry closed the door to the shop and pointed her sister in the right direction. Noelle marched off, camera in hand.

  * * *

  Jake spent a few minutes looking up Noelle Alcott on the internet, preparing for her visit. What he discovered surprised him. She was quite the celebrated glass artist, having done several large commissions in Las Vegas and San Francisco. His cell phone rang. He glanced at the display and considered not answering it. He really didn’t want to have a conversation with Annie Gray, but he had an obligation.

  “What’s wrong, Annie?” he asked, wondering if she was going to threaten him again, or try to talk him into another ten-thousand-dollar belt.

  “Jake,” Annie wailed. “I’ve been arrested and it’s your fault. You need to come bail me out now.”

  “How is you being arrested my fault?”

  “If you hadn’t hijacked all my money, I could have paid for the shoes.”

  “Excuse me,” Jake said, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “The stupid store manager says I stole them. I’m famous. He should have just given them to me.”

  Jake felt a laugh forming. “You shoplifted a pair of shoes.”

  “They were Louboutin shoes and they were on sale for only four thousand dollars.”

  Jake gulped. Four grand for a pair of shoes! This child was insane. “Again, what do you want me to do?”

  “You go down to that store, pay the man for the shoes and get him to drop the charges.”

  Before he could answer, his phone buzzed, announcing another caller. “I’ll call your mom,” he said, and hung up in the middle of her wail.

  “Hello, Gwen,” he said to Annie’s mother.

  “I swear to God if you pay for those shoes or bail her out of jail, I will fire you,” Gwen said swiftly.

  “It’s against my religion to pay four grand for a pair of shoes.” Or ten grand for a belt.

  “Thank you,” Gwen said with a sigh. She started crying. “I don’t know what happened to my daughter. She used to be sweet and thoughtful and caring. I blame my ex-husband. He didn’t have the talent to live his rock-star dreams, so he pushed our daughter. She hates me.”

  Jake had met Annie’s father. Mickey Gray was a feckless charmer with no thought for the future. He’d fought the court to gain conservatorship over his daughter, but the judge had his measure and appointed Jake instead. “Gwen, she just thinks she hates you, but there will be a point when she figures out you have her best interests at heart. Stay strong. You’ll survive. She’ll survive.” And I’ll survive, he thought.

  “The best therapist I’ve ever had is you, an accountant.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to bail her out?” he asked.

  “Hell, yes, I’m sure. Let her spend the night in jail. She’s in an isolated cell with a twenty-four-hour guard. She needs to think about what she did. I’d leave her there for a week if I could.”

  “If you don’t have a lawyer, I can recommend someone who will be responsive to your needs as well as Annie’s.”

  “Thanks, but I’m good,” Gwen said with a sigh. “I’ll talk to you later.” She disconnected and Jake set his phone down.

  A knock sounded at his door. Noelle Alcott opened it and peeked in. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.”

  She entered his office and sat down across from him. “You look like a man who’s got troubles. I hope it’s not my sister.”

  How did he answer a question like that? Yeah, Merry was a handful, but he’d never admit it to anyone. He rather enjoyed their confrontations. The memory of her on the carousel came back to him and he almost smiled. She had looked so beautiful sitting on her horse, with her eyes half closed and a tiny smile on her face.

  “So what do you want to know about Merry?” Noelle asked as she settled herself in the chair.

  “I’d rather know about you.”

  “I’m sure you and Google have already checked me out.”

  “Am I that transparent?” he asked, surprised.

  “You’re looking for a chink in Merry’s armor, and you’re hoping it’s me.”

  Well, that put him in his place. She was a lot like her sister. The sassy apple didn’t fall far from the tree, but she wasn’t Merry. Merry was so vibrant; he didn’t know enough about Noelle yet to even form an opinion, tho
ugh he sensed she was very protective of her sister. “After the past few years of receiving big commissions for highly visible jobs, you’re going to be happy doing knickknacks?”

  “Harsh,” she said. She set a glass bear on his desk. “And not totally accurate. I’m looking to expand my opportunities.”

  He sat back in his chair and studied her. “So what you’re really saying is that big-commission work has fallen off.”

  “You got it. In this economy, how can you be surprised? You should know that ‘pretty’ is the first victim of a recession.”

  That fact that she could change direction in a heartbeat told him she was a pretty shrewd businessperson. Very much like Merry. He admired that ability in Merry.

  “So about the retail space,” she said.

  “This park is hardly high-profile.”

  “Maybe, maybe not, but you are,” she said. “I know you’ve already negotiated with two of your clients to perform in this park during the Christmas season. That’s going to draw people in, and I’ll be creating exactly the type of memorabilia that people are going to want to take home and place somewhere they can see to remember their experiences. And who knows? Maybe one of your high-profile clients will see something, buy it and take it home to show their friends, who then might just come and purchase their own.”

  Jake studied her. He hadn’t thought of it that way. But she had. She was laying a foundation for her future, which he found very perceptive of her. She’d obviously given her idea a lot of thought. “I feel like I’ve been tag-teamed by the Alcott sisters.”

  Noelle laughed. “We have each other’s backs. I’m delighted I’m getting the chance to work with my sister.”

  “You weren’t in show business?”

  She smiled. “Can’t sing, can’t dance, can’t remember lines and have absolutely no acting talent. Our mother encouraged us to develop what we were good at and I was more the artist than Merry. Merry always wanted to be an actress. Set design was just her fallback position if acting didn’t work out. And it didn’t.”

  In his practice, Jake had encountered siblings who wanted their more famous family members to fail. Jealousy had been a constant with them. He didn’t detect any jealousy in Noelle. She seemed genuinely pleased with her sister’s success. He liked that.

  “Is she unhappy?” Jake asked with a start. The thought of Merry being unhappy made him want to do something about it.

  “Hell, no. She’s thrilled.”

  “What would you have done if your glass art didn’t work for you?”

  “I have a degree in English. I like teaching.”

  Jake picked up the bear and saw his face reflected in the blue translucent side. “You did a good job capturing Benny’s playfulness.”

  “Yeah, I had to work on that. It’s hard making a grizzly bear look playful and not end up with it looking like Winnie the Pooh.”

  “Do you want to rent the store you were looking at?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  He pulled a contract out of the drawer. “You live in L.A. Why don’t you want to get a retail space there?”

  “For the price of what I’m getting here, I’d get a postage stamp in Los Angeles. More space, less money and the commute won’t kill me. Besides, my studio is in Rancho Cucamonga, so I’m out here most days anyway.”

  Jake nodded. He gazed thoughtfully at the bear again and realized he liked it and wanted one for himself. He’d have his own Benny. “What will the price of this be?”

  “I figured out it will cost around forty-five dollars. I’m going to work out a smaller one for twenty-seven and maybe one or two larger bears that will go for a hundred. I also want to create some carousel horses, which will cost more since they’ll be more labor intensive. I have to figure that out. I’ll have jewelry to sell, which will go for anywhere from thirty to fifty dollars. And I’ll do special projects for Christmas. I thought Benny in a Christmas hat or holding a wreath would be fun.”

  “I want everything involved with the art to be exclusive to the park.”

  “Of course,” she replied. She pulled a notebook out of her pocket and started writing in it. “I want my lawyer to look over the contract. What’s negotiable?”

  She haggled cheerfully with him for a few minutes, and finally they agreed on the rent and some other negotiable items. He made notes on the contract and told her he would send it to her within a couple of days. After a firm handshake, she left.

  He stood at the window and watched her stroll down the path back toward Merry’s office. He’d had a plum opportunity to pump her for information about Merry, and he’d let the chance get away from him. He’d enjoyed talking to Noelle, but she made him feel like her big brother. He would never feel that way about Merry.

  * * *

  Candace Frenche walked around the staff performer, studying the elf costume she’d created. Wrapped around one wrist was a pink pincushion studded with straight pins. Merry sat in the first row of seats in the amphitheater with John Walters while Candace worked her magic.

  Candace had had her start in costuming on Maddie’s Mad World. From there she had moved on to various TV shows and into the movies. She and Merry had been friends since Merry’s first day on the set. Merry had enjoyed watching Candace grow into the costume designer she was now.

  Candace was a tall, slender woman with gleaming dark skin and amber-colored eyes. She wore her dark brown hair in a stylish ponytail at the back of her head with small clips on the sides to hold strays hairs in place. She was dramatic with a Naomi Campbell type of beauty.

  “So you’re saying we only have to buy one costume and it can be adjusted to fit whatever performer we have for the day.”

  “Exactly,” Merry said. “There are hidden tracks inside with fabric ribbons that can be pulled tighter and loosened to fit whoever is wearing that particular costume for the day.”

  “Who knew?” John said. “How come this didn’t exist when my kids were little? My wife wouldn’t have made herself crazy trying to find clothes to fit them.”

  “What it means is that if you have ten different performers inside Benny the Bear’s costume, you will only need one costume because it can be adjusted to fit.”

  “Wow,” John said. “I’m impressed. You two are amazing.” Then he snickered.

  Merry grinned and turned back to watch. Candace had dismissed the elves and was now studying the carolers who would roam the park singing Christmas carols in Victorian-style costumes. The women’s clothes were floor-length dresses in various colors and then men wore top hats and knee-length coats with old-style cravats tied into enormous bows beneath their chins.

  The door to the amphitheater opened, throwing a flash of sunlight across the stage. Candace looked up, distracted and annoyed. Merry glanced back to find Jake bearing down on her.

  He frowned at her as he sat down. He didn’t look as though he was having a good day.

  “So these are the costumes.” Jake didn’t sound enthused as he watched the parade of performers. Merry kept a blank face, but in her mind she was giving him the mental stink eye. She and John had been enjoying themselves and Jake was raining on their parade.

  John gave his son an annoyed look. “Jake, be polite. Merry is working her butt off.”

  Jake’s frown took on a tired edge. Merry was afraid to ask how the meeting had gone between him and Noelle in case that was the reason he was so irritated.

  “What’s got you so twisted up at the moment?” John asked.

  “Sometimes I think my life is as crazy as some of my clients’,” Jake replied.

  “Having client issues?” John asked.

  Jake just shook his head. “Whoever said finance was boring...” His voice trailed away.

  “Maybe you need a vacation,” John said.

  Take one now, Merry thought. Get out of my hair, make my life easier. She turned back to the stage. Candace was pulling at the fabric of one of the women’s skirts. She seemed to be muttering to herself, but Merry couldn
’t quite hear what she was saying.

  Jake leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I guess I’m a little tired. But right now is no time for a vacation.” He shot a meaningful look at Merry.

  From the tone in his voice, Merry figured this was as close to an apology as she was going to get.

  “I just got a call from Max. He’s been Benny for the past two years, but he was accepted at a college in Ohio and he’ll be leaving soon. We’ll have to hire a new Benny. We’ll have to buy another costume.”

  “Okay,” John said, completely unperturbed. “We won’t have to purchase a new costume. Merry was just explaining how there’s all these hidden doodads and strings inside that make the costume one size fits all. It’s Merry magic.”

  “I can’t take credit for that. This is all Candace.”

  Candace had ushered the carolers off and was now motioning to Mrs. Claus. Merry smiled. Mrs. Claus’s costume was Merry’s favorite.

  Jake made no comment as he watched Mrs. Claus prance around the stage.

  “I don’t know when,” Merry said, “but at some point you have to trust me. I’m not in kindergarten like some of your clients. I’m twenty-nine. I’m responsible. I’m as careful with other people’s money as I am with my own. And I wish you would treat me as though I’m adult.”

  “I trust lots of people. I trust them to be childish. I trust them to whine when things are inconvenient and I trust them to get away with everything they can. I just don’t trust them with money.”

  Merry blew out an exasperated sigh. “The caliber of people you associate with must really depress you. Let me help you. I’ll take you out to dinner. I’ll even take you someplace cheap.” Had she just asked him on a date? Where is your brain, girl?

  Jake burst out laughing. “How cheap is cheap?”

  “McDonald’s has a dollar menu. But for you, I’d spring for something costing five, maybe even six bucks, easy. Drink included.”

  She could see by the way he stared at her he was looking for an answer.

  “She’s got you there, son,” John said with a chuckle.

  “I want good, cheap food that doesn’t come from a restaurant with a drive-through window.”