The Man Under The Mistletoe

“Control yourself, woman!” Shorty hung the contact sheet by a clothespin to an overhead line. He pointed a pen to one particular shot, as usual picking out the best one on the roll. It wasn’t showy or necessarily dramatic, but a ten-year-old boy’s excitement in his science experiment shone from a pair of dark blue eyes. “That’s it, Matt. Discovery. Pride. How do you always manage to find the definitive face?”

“I don’t find it, Shorty. I just shoot what’s there.”

“Come, now. When you have a fifty-thousand-dollar advance in your pocket, there’s no need to be modest.”

“Ma-att! I need you! There’s a fire at Hudson’s Department Store! Top floor completely engulfed!”

“Too bad,” Shorty said as Matt snatched his camera off the stainless-steel table. “I thought she just wanted you for a quickie in the news van.”

Matt reached for film in an overhead cabinet and headed for the door. “Well, I can always dream,” he said with a chuckle, opening the door to a small hallway.

“Come on, Matt, let’s go!” Jenny Morrow grabbed Matt’s arm and pulled him down a corridor to the back door and the newspaper’s parking lot. Matt marveled at her energy. She was out-of-control enthusiasm and mouth.

She was also very beautiful, glossy brown hair flying as she ran toward her Honda.

Matt peeled off toward his Mustang, unlocking the door with the remote as he approached.

She finally realized he’d taken off in another direction and raced to follow. “Why don’t I ever get to drive?” she asked, catching up with him. She climbed into the passenger seat as he got in behind the wheel.

The Mustang did zero to sixty in five seconds, shooting out of the parking lot like a thumbed rubber band. It wasn’t as though the fire would be out before they got there, but he always wondered what he was missing while he was still on his way.

“You have a tendency to drive where other cars are parked.” He braked at the corner and cast her a grinning glance before looking quickly left, then right.

“One time! I hit a parked car one time!”

“It was a police car.”

She groaned. “The cop forgave me. Isn’t it time you did?”

“It was embarrassing.”

“Oh, get over yourself. It’s time you trusted me.” She put commands into her laptop even as she spoke to him and helped him watch for a break in the traffic. “We’ve been on stakeouts together, we’ve barfed at traffic accidents, we’ve lied our way out of tight spots, we’ve cried together…”

“When?”

“That story on the children’s wing of the hospital. Remember? The little girl with—”

“Oh, yeah.” He raised a hand to silence her. Somehow that little girl fighting lymphoma had reminded him of his own child, who’d never even lived to see the light of day. “I remember.”

The road clear, he sped off, as much to escape the memory as to take advantage of the opening in traffic. “I’m an important photojournalist now.” He faked an imperious air. “I have an image to protect.”

Jenny made a scornful sound. “Well, unfortunately for you, my mother believes that. You’re invited to dinner again next weekend.”

Jenny’s mother had designs on him for her daughter. She tried to be subtle about it and failed miserably. Matt and Jenny smiled at her matchmaking efforts, knowing that nothing more than friendship was possible between them. Matt was too reserved for Jenny, and her hyper behavior made him crazy.

He made the turn toward the department store. Smoke and flaming cinders filled the air. She pointed ahead. “There’s the police barricade.” He pulled over to park.

“Notice how I did that without hitting anything?” he said.

She punched him in the arm.

In the next block fire trucks and hoses were entangled in the street and a crowd of people had gathered to watch the flames. “Please offer your mom my apologies,” he said, reaching for his camera, “But I can’t go. I’m leaving tomorrow for my sister-in-law’s wedding.”

Jenny frowned at him. “You mean, the dragon’s sister is getting married?”

“Who said she was a dragon?”

“Aren’t exes always dragons?”

“I don’t know. Rosie’s the only ex I have, and she’s more of a…” What? he wondered. What described a woman who’d withdrawn so completely he could no longer reach her? “A turtle, I think.”

“You mean she moves slowly?”

“No.” He shook his head to end the discussion. She didn’t get it. But then, he’d been there, and he didn’t get it completely, either. He pushed his door open. “Come on before they put the damn thing out.”

CHAPTER TWO

“WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Rosie’s mother did a turn in her deep pink mother-of-the-bride silk suit. “Imagine silver hoop earrings, a white poinsettia corsage with silver ribbon, and Ferragamo pumps and clutch.”

Rosie opened her mouth to tell her she looked spectacular even without the accessories. But she was interrupted by her aunt Virginia, who’d arrived two days ago for the wedding. Known as Ginger to everyone, she’d earned her nickname because of her sharp opinions on everything.

“Very pretty,” Ginger said, walking around her smaller, more curvaceous sister. Then she swatted Sonny’s backside with sibling familiarity. “But I’m not sure you need two layers of fabric right there where you’ve always had more than the rest of us. You should have gone for a shorter jacket.”

Sonny put both hands behind her and looked over her shoulder, checking her reflection in the mirror over the mantel. She had to walk some distance away before she could see herself.

“It looks beautiful,” Rosie assured her, then said politely to her aunt, “We Erickson women are proud of our curves. And the heels will give her more height. She’ll look perfect.”

“They’ll also give her more jiggle,” Ginger declared. “You are wearing a shape enhancer, Sonny?”

“A what?”

“A girdle,” Rosie translated, then made a point of looking at her watch. “You don’t need one, Mom. And aren’t you two meeting Camille Malone for dinner?”

The ormolu clock on the mantel chimed six as though in compliance with Rosie’s need to get her mother and aunt out of the house—and out of her hair. She had every detail of the wedding under control except for those two.

“We are!” Ginger exclaimed, shooing her sister toward the stairs and the bedrooms. “Hurry up! Let’s get changed.”

“Relax.” Sonny resisted the attempt to hurry her. “Camille won’t be upset if we’re a few minutes late.”

“I want to try to charm her into writing her autobiography,” Ginger said, hurrying around Sonny and starting up the stairs. “Old movie stars are hot stuff these days,” she said.

“But she’s led a very quiet personal life.”

Ginger nodded greedily. “But I understand there’s a scandal involving her oldest daughter’s father.”

“Jasper O’Hara?” Sonny asked, clearly puzzled.

Ginger continued up. “He wasn’t the father,” she said.