Holiday Sparks

“Hiya, sweet cheeks. How goes it?” Her fingers never paused over the calculator keys and the rubber tipped thumb on her other hand flipped through receipts.

“Another day of eternal bliss.”

Mo snapped her gum with a grin. “I don’t think your definition of bliss and mine are the same. Mine? Daniel Craig kidnapping me for a secret assignment.”

Darcy shook her head. “Your bliss definitely wins.”

She took her mini-tablet from the slot and signed it out, then looked over the schedule loaded. One thing she did like about working for the Blackstones was the toys. Miriam had upgraded them from walkie-talkies to a network of handheld computers. She smiled at Mo on her way out the door.

“Remember, Daniel Craig doesn’t have security clearance for back here.”

“Spoilsport.”

Darcy laughed and tapped through the various screens, noting that there were no callouts so far, but the day was still young. Her feet knew the store by heart, so she continued to look through the day’s schedule while she walked.

“There’s my gorgeous Darcy. How you doin’, kid?”

Darcy’s easy smile tightened. “Morning, Gary.” Shock and dread roiled in her stomach, her smile long gone. “What did you do with all the decorations I had on the tree?” She’d worked for an hour to get them back on.

“Miriam took them down before I got in. She said it looks too much like a Hallmark card. Which, if you ask me, is the point of a department store tree, but what do I know?”

“I couldn’t agree more.” And that was a first.

He moved closer, his arm brushing hers. Hugo Boss cologne assaulted her nostrils and made her eyes burn. Did he bathe in it?

“She wants us to put these up instead.” He toed an open case of lights. “I don’t understand them myself, but what do I know, you know?”

Obviously not much—you know? She took a step to the side and away from his aura of cologne. “These?” She flipped the top box and groaned. A listing of typical songs made her want to weep. She unearthed the end of the string and plugged them in.

Instead of the real songs, a horrible electronic facsimile of Come, All Ye Faithful filled the air. It sounded like a sample from a Casio piano that her mother had given her one Christmas. She’d lose her mind if she had to listen to that for the next month.

Gary leaned into her. “See, they play tunes. Pretty cool.”

Darcy leaned away and set the lights down. She ignored the hovering Gary and looked up at the fifteen-foot spruce that they’d had delivered the week before. It still had a root ball that would be planted along the side of the store in the spring. Very green and very PR of her boss. The heavy ceramic pot was hidden by a huge red skirt with a fluffy white cuff.

It was lovely. Truly. And as much as she hated Christmas, she didn’t want those tacky lights ruining her store.

All she could think of was her neighbor and his ingenious, if annoying, display. Now that would make a statement. She looked at her watch, then at the tree again. “I’ll be right back.” She headed to the back of the store where Miriam’s office was and knocked.

“Come!”

She squelched the need to roll her eyes. Imperial decree, how comforting. “Ms. Blackstone, I was wondering if I could talk t

o you for a moment?”

Miriam looked at the slim gold watch on her wrist. “I have a few minutes.”

“I was thinking about the tree. The lights you chose aren’t exactly Blackstone material, if you ask me.”

Her eyebrows rose as she sat back and steepled her fingers. “Oh, really?”

With an inward wince, Darcy kept going. “No, I think that once you saw them on the tree and heard the unfortunate songs, you’d feel the same. I was wondering if I could check in with a…friend of mine. He might be able to help us out.” Now that she was actually in Miriam’s office Darcy wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but she forged ahead. It was too late to back down now. “He’s done a neighborhood display that’s quite impressive.”

Miriam tapped her lips with her scarlet-tipped nail. “How impressive?”

“My homeowners’ association is fairly taken with him and he loves Christmas.” Darcy’s voice strengthened. Surely she’d be able to get Ben Hartley to help her. If she begged. And allowed him to keep his display up on her house—if a little more…tempered. She tucked a strand that had escaped her ponytail around her ear. “Since we have an abundance of managers on right now I could go back to my house and be back within forty minutes.” She’d probably wake him up. “At most an hour.”

Miriam nodded. “You were here late last night, I think that would be fine. I appreciate all you did to salvage the tree. What is this person’s name?”