long and slender and exotic. A little haughty, a lot sexy.
He’d learned a lot about her life, just from that conversation in her work space. A lot about her. She’d lost someone she’d loved very much—her grandmother—at a tender age. She hadn’t been very close with her parents. And had lost them as well. Her relatives were far-flung, and it didn’t appear she had close relations with any of them.
Other than her sons, she had no one.
And after her husband’s death, she’d had only herself to depend on, only herself to turn to while she raised three boys.
But he’d detected no sense of pity, certainly no weakness in her.
Independent, direct, strong. But there was humor there, and a good heart. Hadn’t she helped him out when he’d been floundering over a toy for a little girl? And hadn’t she been amused by his dilemma?
Now that he’d begun to get a good sense of her, he only wanted to know more.
What was the deal with the second husband and the divorce, for instance? None of his business, of course, but he could justify the curiosity. The more he knew, the more he knew. And it wouldn’t be difficult to find out. People just loved to talk.
All you had to do was ask the questions.
On impulse, he detoured back into the center. There were a few customers debating over the poinsettias and some sort of cactus-looking plant that was loaded with pink blossoms. Mitch had barely raked a hand through his wet hair when Hayley arrowed in his direction.
“Dr. Carnegie! What a nice surprise.”
“Mitch. How are you, Hayley, and the baby?”
“We both couldn’t be better. But look at you, you’re soaked! Can I get you a towel?”
“No, I’m fine. I couldn’t resist walking around, looking the place over.”
“Oh.” She beamed at him, all innocence. “Were you looking for Roz?”
“Found her. I’m about to head over to the house, get a sense of my work space there. But I thought maybe I’d pick up one of those tabletop trees. The ones that’re already decorated.”
“Aren’t they sweet? Really nice for a small space, or an office.”
“A lot nicer than the old artificial one I fight to put together every year.”
“And they smell just like Christmas.” She steered him over. “You see one you like?”
“Ah . . . this one’s fine.”
“I just love all the little red bows and those tiny Santas. I’ll get you a box for it.”
“Thanks. What are those?”
“Those are Christmas cacti. Aren’t they beautiful? Harper grafts them. He’s going to show me how one of these days. You know, you should have one. They’re so celebrational. And they bloom for Christmas and Easter.”
“I’m not good with plants.”
“Why, you don’t have to do much of anything for it.” She set those big baby blue eyes on him. “You live in an apartment, don’t you? If you take the tree, a Christmas cactus, a couple of poinsettias, you’ll be all decorated for the holidays. You can have company over, and be set.”
“I don’t know how much attention Josh is going to pay to a cactus.”
She smiled. “Maybe not, but you must have a date over for a holiday drink, right?”
“Ah . . . I’ve been pretty busy with the book.”
“A handsome single man like you must have to beat the ladies off with a stick.”
“Not lately. Um—”
“You should have a wreath for the door, too.”
“A wreath.” He began to feel slightly desperate as she took his arm.
“Let me show you what we’ve got. I made some of these myself. See this one here? Just smell that pine. What’s Christmas without a wreath on the door?”
He knew when he was outgunned. “You’re really good at this, aren’t you?”
“You bet,” she said with a laugh and selected a wreath. “This one goes so well with your tree.”
She talked him into the wreath, three windowsill-size poinsettias, and the cactus. He looked bemused and a little dazed as she rang it all up and boxed his purchases.
And when he left, Hayley knew what she wanted to know.
She dashed into Stella’s office.
“Mitch Carnegie’s not seeing anybody.”
“Was he recently blinded?”
“Come on, Stella, you know what I mean. He doesn’t have a sweetie.” She drew off her cap, raked her fingers through her oak-brown hair she was wearing long enough to pull back into a stubby tail.
“And he just spent a good half hour in the propagation house with Roz before he came in here to buy a tabletop tree. Harper sent him in there without even letting her know. Just go right on in while she’s working and doesn’t even have time to swipe on some lipstick.”
“Just sent him in? What is Harper, stupid?”
“Exactly what I asked him—Harper, that is. Anyway, then he—Mitch—came in all wet because he’d been walking around the place checking it out. He’s going over to the house for a while now.”
“Hayley.” Stella turned from her computer. “What are you cooking?”
“Just observing, that’s all. He’s not seeing anybody, she’s not seeing anybody.” She lifted her hands, pointing both index fingers, then wiggled them toward each other. “Now they’re both going to be seeing a lot of each other. And besides being a hottie, he’s so cute. I talked him into buying a wreath, three mini poinsettias, and a Christmas cactus as well as the tree.”
“Go, Hayley.”
“But see, he didn’t know how to say no, that was the cute part. If Roz doesn’t go for him, I might myself. Okay, no.” She laughed at Stella’s bland stare. “He’s old enough to be my daddy and blah blah blah, but he’s just perfect for Roz. I’m telling you, I know this stuff. Wasn’t I right about you and Logan?”
Stella sighed as she looked at the aquamarine he’d given her as an engagement ring. “I can’t argue about that. And while I’m going to say, firmly, that observing’s all we should do, I can’t deny this may be a lot of fun to watch.”
FOUR
AS A RULEwhen he was working, Mitch remembered to clean his apartment when he ran out of places to sit, or coffee cups. Between projects he was slightly better at shoveling out, or at least rearranging the debris.
He hired cleaning services. In fact, he hired them routinely. They never lasted long, and the fault—he was willing to admit—was largely his.
He’d forget which day he’d scheduled them and, invariably, pick that day to run errands, do research, or meet his kid for a quick game of Horse or one-on-one. There was probably something Freudian about that, but he didn’t want to think too deeply about it.
Or he’d remember, and the team would come in, goggle at the job facing them. And he’d never see them again.
But a man had to—or at least should—make an effort for the holidays. He spent an entire day hauling out, scrubbing down, and sweeping up, and was forced to admit that if he were being paid to do the job, he’d quit, too.
Still, it was nice to have some order back in his apartment, to actually be able to see the surface of tables, the cushions of chairs. Though he didn’t hold out much hope he’d keep them alive for the long-term, the plants Hayley had talked him into added a nice holiday touch.
And the little tree, well, that was ingenious. Now instead of dragging the box out of storage, fighting with parts, cursing the tangle of lights only to discover half of them didn’t work anyway, all he had to do was set the cheerful tree on the Hepplewhite stand by his living room window and plug the sucker in.
He hung the wreath on the front door, set the blooming cactus on his coffee table, and the three little
