Page 16 of Colorado Christmas Carol
She shrugged. “Okay. I’m game. I love celebrating dead peoples’ birthdays. Should I bring a cake?”
“Only if you want to end up wearing it,” he said as he released her.
She smiled sarcastically. “Or you could wear it.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Okay. I’m gone. I’m already a memory . . . !” She headed back to the kitchen.
“In the lobby, at four!” he called after her.
She threw up a hand and kept moving. She wondered if she’d lost her mind. She also wondered what he knew about Dean . . .
CHAPTER3
Mellie, all excited, was waiting for Essa in the lobby at exactly five minutes to four. But Duke wasn’t there.
“Where’s your dad?” Essa asked, looking around.
“On the phone in our room,” Mellie said. “But he said he’d only be a minute. You look nice,” she added in a faintly surprised tone.
“It’s the way I usually dress,” Essa protested, glancing down at her jeans and Save the Cobras T-shirt, with sneakers.
“Your hair,” came the amused reply.
“Oh.” Essa had left it long. It came to her waist in back, pale blond and thick and beautiful. She wasn’t sure why she’d worn it down. She usually didn’t.
“It looks pretty,” the child told her, smiling from ear to ear.
“Thank you,” she replied gently, brushing back a stray strand of Mellie’s blond hair. “Yours always looks pretty.”
“Thank you,” was the quick reply.
“Hello there,” Dean said, coming down the staircase. “Both of you down here?”
“Yes, Daddy’s got a surprise for me! And I wanted Essa to come, too.” She lowered her voice. “Daddy wasn’t pleased,” she confided.
Essa laughed. “Yes, well, we’re not exactly sociable,” she agreed.
Dean shook his head and chuckled. “I’m sorry you couldn’t come today,” he told Mellie. He cocked his head. “You’re a nice child,” he added in an odd tone. He glanced at Essa. “And you’re a nice woman. Not just nice. You have . . . you’re odd. I don’t mean that in a demeaning way . . .”
“I am odd,” Essa said softly and with a smile. She studied him. “And I think you are, too. In a nice way. You have a . . . a sad background. But it’s nothing you can’t overcome.”
He looked downcast. “That might have been possible,” he said, “if I’d met you two sooner. But there are things we have to do that we don’t want to do.”
“I understand,” she said, still smiling kindly at him.
He sighed and smiled back. “You really are exceptional. Don’t think too badly of me in the future,” he said, surprisingly. “I didn’t know the right people at the right time. It might have changed everything.”
“I see.”
“You don’t,” he corrected. “But you will.” He smiled at Mellie. “I’ve enjoyed knowing you. I’m sad and happy that you couldn’t come with me today. You’re a sweet child. I hope you have a wonderful life.”
“Thank you. I think you’re nice, too,” Mellie said warmly.
Dean looked torn. He glanced at Essa. “I think maybe her dad has a sixth sense,” he commented. He smiled. “Or maybe you do. What a lucky thing. Or maybe it’s just fate. See you.”
He left them with a wave.
