A Christmas Miracle for Daisy (Taming of the Sheenans Book 5) (9 page)

Fortunately, things were progressing nicely at the Crookshank Building. Josie was already on site when Whitney arrived, with stone and tile samples for Whitney’s approval. There were four different sets of bathrooms—a public one on the ground floor, and then employee bathrooms on each floor –plus the kitchen on the third floor for the staff but Whitney wasn’t a fan of the stone Josie was proposing for the counter tops in the bathrooms and kitchen.

“It’s not the most attractive granite,” Whitney said. “It reminds me too much of the 80s and 90s.”

“It’s durable though.”

“Maybe, but I can’t imagine Cormac would like to look at it for the next ten years. Do we have time to visit the stone yard in Bozeman?”

“Absolutely,” Josie answered. “Let’s go.”

Josie drove and they chatted as they headed towards Bozeman. Josie shared that she’d grown up in Clyde Park twenty-some minutes north of Livingston on the 89, but her family had moved to Bozeman when she was in high school so her younger brother could get the medical help he needed and she was glad she was able to work in Park County and Crawford County with the design firm. “I love it out here…Livingston, Marietta, Paradise Valley. My kind of place.”

“I grew up in Bozeman, too,” Whitney said. “But haven’t lived here for almost ten years.”

“You were in Denver, right?”

“It’s a great city. A very livable city.”

“Marietta must feel really small for you.”

“It does. But it’s okay. I’m only here through the end of the year. In January I’m moving on to something else.”

Josie shot Whitney a swift side glance. “You’re not staying?”

“No. This is just temporary.”

“Mr. Sheenan knows that?”

Whitney nodded, ignoring the bubble of regret, and asked Josie about her younger brother, the one who needed medical care, in an attempt to change the topic.

Josie’s smile faded. “He died when he was nineteen. We thought we’d have another ten years with him if we were lucky, but….” Her shoulders lifted and fell. She glanced at Whitney. “He had Duchenne muscular dystrophy.”

“I don’t know much about muscular dystrophy.”

“It’s awful.” Her voice dropped, thickening. “Muscular dystrophy is never good, but Duchenne is the worst. Because the gene mutation is in the X chromosome it affects primarily boys. And it’s always fatal.”

They didn’t talk much more until they reached the stone yard, and then they were totally focused on the slabs of granite and marble.

Whitney selected a stunning chocolate-veined Brazilian granite that looked like polished mahogany for the bathroom and kitchen counters. “I think this would look excellent with white subway titles in the kitchen and paired with travertine in the bathrooms,” Whitney said. “What do you think?”

“I like the idea of a Tuscany travertine. The tumbled stone look would suit the building.”

With the selections made, they stopped for lunch in downtown Bozeman and then headed back to Marietta. Josie pulled up in front of the Graff to drop Whitney off, but Whitney hesitated before getting out of the car.

“I’m sorry,” she said, searching for the right words. “Sorry about your brother. That must have been so devastating for everyone.”

“Michael taught us a lot about love and life,” Josie answered. “I wouldn’t be who I am without him, and I wouldn’t have become a designer if it weren’t for him. He made me interested in design, making things accessible for him. So in a way, he’s still with me every day.”

“I like that,” Whitney said.

Josie smiled. “Me, too.”

Whitney got out of the car and waved goodbye, then quickly climbed the steps to the Graff’s entrance. She nodded at the doorman as he opened one of the glass doors for her and was immediately struck by the smell of Christmas.

It didn’t take her long to spot the source of the wonderful fragrance as a massive fir tree filled the center of the lobby floor.

The Graff’s handsome lobby was already striking with its impressive columns, dark gleaming wood walls, and polished marble floor, but it was even more wonderful with the addition of the tree.

A team of three was in the middle of decorating it, too, hanging glittering glass ornaments between the yards of dark red velvet ribbon.

There was something truly magical about a soaring Christmas tree, and even though Thanksgiving was still a few days away, she felt a little bit of holiday magic now.

There was nothing like Christmas in Montana. She’d always loved the sparkling snow, the frozen ponds for ice skating, the sleigh rides, the trip to the local Christmas tree farm to cut down one’s tree.

“Pretty tree, isn’t it?”

Whitney turned her head to look at the stocky older man standing at her side. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners and his round cheeks were ruddy from the cold, making his blue eyes even brighter. “Breathtaking,” she agreed. “Smells heavenly, too.”

“You can’t go wrong with a Noble Fir.”

“I can never tell firs and pines apart. Can you?”

“Well, of course. That’s my job.”

“Is it?”

“Mmm. Joy. Hope. Christmas. You know. The works.”

“Well, if it’s the
works
, you can’t forget world peace.”

“Never. That’s right there at the top.” He smiled at her.

She smiled back, not sure if he was a local or a guest at the hotel but he had a very endearing quality. “It’s nice to know there are still people who take their work seriously.”

“I like my job so it helps.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m Santa Claus.”

Her lips twitched. “Aren’t you out and about just a little bit early?”

“I never put on the red suit until after Thanksgiving.”

“That makes sense. I think it’d be difficult to wear it 365 days a year.”

“Especially during summer. Far too hot.”

“I thought the North Pole had snow all year long?”

“It does, which is why I try to take the missus to Hawaii each year. Just a week or two, not any longer.” His white bushy eyebrows lifted. “I’ve a Christmas tree joke for you, written by my friend, Zoey. She’s eight.”

“I’d love to hear.”

“What do you get when you cross a Christmas tree with an iPhone?”

Whitney shook her head. “I give up. What?”

“A pine-Apple.” He laughed, a big belly laugh that made her giggle. “A pineapple,” he repeated in case she hadn’t got the joke.

But she had, and she laughed as his bushy brows waggled. He seemed delighted with the joke and her response, and he laughed once more, a deep belly laugh that made Whitney feel like a child again, in the best sort of way.

“I’m Whitney Alder,” she said, extending a hand.

“Kris,” he answered, giving her hand a vigorous shake. “Krinkles.”

“Krinkles?” she repeated, not sure she’d heard him right. “Not Kringle?”

“No, and people always ask me that. But it’s Krinkles like wrinkles.”

She was smiling so hard her cheeks ached and her chest was filled with warmth. There was something about him that made her happy, and hopeful. “It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Krinkles.”

“It was nice to meet you, too, Whitney.”

She had a sudden urge to hug him, but she stopped herself in the nick of time—no pun intended. “Hopefully I’ll see you again.”

“Well, I’m in Marietta for the holidays.”

“Wonderful. See you soon.”

At the wall of brass elevators, Whitney pushed the up button, and glanced behind her at the massive Christmas tree still being worked on, checking to see if Kris was still there but the older man was nowhere to be seen.

Her lips curved remembering his silly joke about the iPhone and the Christmas tree and she didn’t know what it was about him that made him so likeable, but he felt solid and familiar and reassuring, too. As if he were someone she’d known her entire life. For the first time since arriving in Marietta she felt calm and steady.

For the first time in ages she felt good.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped forward right as Cormac Sheenan stepped out and they nearly collided.

Cormac took her elbow to steady her. “You all right?”

“I’m fine,” she answered, startled and a little bit breathless. She’d forgotten how tall he was and she tipped her head back to see his face. “I didn’t know you were in Marietta.”

“Daisy and I arrived today.”

“Daisy’s here?” she asked, excited.

“In Marietta, yes, but I dropped her off a little bit ago at Trey and McKenna’s to play with TJ.”

“I didn’t think you two were coming until after Thanksgiving.”

“Daisy started Thanksgiving break today so we flew out early so I could get her enrolled in preschool here.”

A man stepped around them, wanting to enter the open elevator. Whitney and Cormac both stepped away and the elevator doors closed.

“You’re both staying at the hotel?” Whitney asked.

“While Heath wraps up the remodel on my house,” Cormac said. “I don’t know if he mentioned it to you, but the house wasn’t kid friendly but Heath thinks he’ll have us in before Christmas.”

He’d bought the house overlooking the Yellowstone River after they’d stopped dating so she’d never seen it, but April and Daryl had been there and April had said it was an incredible place with soaring log ceilings, and floor to ceiling windows along the front of the house giving stunning views of the river valley nestled between the jagged Absaroka and Gallatin mountain ranges.

“Aren’t a couple of your brothers out that way?”

“Brock’s spread, Copper Mountain Ranch, is there, and our family ranch, where I grew up is another ten minutes south. But we’ve leased the ranch house to a writer from New York. Trey heads that way every day to take care of the cattle, but he and McKenna live in town, just a few minutes from here.”

It was the second time Cormac had mentioned Trey. Trey was the one brother she’d never met as he’d been in prison when she and Cormac were dating.

“And that’s where Daisy is now? At Trey’s?”

“Yes. I don’t think you’ve met him.”

“No. He was…away.”

“Four years of away, but he’s back, which is good because TJ is wild. He needs a father that knows how to handle him.”

“And Trey can handle him?”

“Oh yeah. TJ is a miniature Trey so it’s definitely lively at their house. I just hope TJ and Daisy will get along. McKenna has promised to keep a close eye on Daisy and said she’ll call if Daisy seems overwhelmed in any way.”

“You’re very hands on.”

“I have to be. She’s been through a lot.” He hesitated. “I want this move to Marietta to be good for her. I’m doing this for her. I think she needs cousins and family and all those traditions I had growing up that I took for granted.”

It was such a surprising thing to hear him say. He’d never been overly interested in family or tradition before, and he certainly hadn’t been fond of big family get-togethers. If anything, he was the Sheenan who didn’t attend the birthdays and celebrations. “You have changed.”

“Daisy’s influence,” he said.

“She’s good for you. You’re not the Ice Man you used to be.”

“Ice Man?”

“You could be pretty chilly when you wanted to be.”

He was silent a moment. “I suppose that’s true. I’m sure it’s true. I froze you out, didn’t I?”

There was something so open and real in his expression that the air caught in her throat, reminding her of a time when they’d been so close. When he could do no wrong. It hurt remembering. And she couldn’t help wondering if it would always hurt, remembering. “That’s the past, right?”

“Right,” he said grimly.

She wagged her finger at him, determined to keep things light. “And we can’t live in the past.”

“True.”

“And everyone makes mistakes.”

He was smiling faintly now. “Yes, you’re right. But that’s also why we’re back in Montana. Life is too short, not to do the right thing, and in this case, the right thing for Daisy is to be here, close to April’s parents and my family.”

The bronze elevator doors opened behind them and a couple stepped out but neither Cormac nor Whitney paid them any attention.

“Have you stayed in touch with April’s parents?” Whitney asked, surprised.

“We’ve tried to stay in touch with both sets of grandparents but after Daryl’s mom died, his dad, who has dementia, was put in a home and isn’t able to really participate in Daisy’s life. Fortunately we do see April’s parents a couple times a year. We always see them once a year in Bozeman and then I try to fly them out to Orange County each year, too. The last time Joe and LuAnne visited we all went to Disneyland, but I know they’d love to see more of Daisy, and by being here in Marietta, they can see her regularly.”

Whitney was moved. April would be so happy if she knew. And maybe she did know. “That’s wonderful. I’m impressed.”

“I can do the right thing, Whit.”

“I never said you couldn’t.”

He lifted a brow.

She grimaced. “Well, maybe I have expressed my doubts.”

“Maybe.” He started away and then turned. “But there is a reason we moved now instead of at the end of the year. Something happened in California that woke me up, made me question everything. I’m meeting Heath at the house now but would you be free a little later? I’d like you to hear it from me before Daisy says something.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It wasn’t good.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re scaring me.”

“Don’t be scared. Daisy is here, fine, and everything is going to be fine. But it was a wake-up call. I realized Southern California was just too crowded. There’s too much traffic and too many people and she’ll be safer here in Marietta. More secure.”

The idea of anything happened to Daisy made Whitney physically ill. “When will you be back so we can talk?”

“I hope to be back here by five, and then I’m supposed to meet everyone for dinner at six.”

“How about we meet at five thirty? Would that work?”

“I’ll meet you here.”

He turned to go but she reached out and caught his sleeve, stopping him. “Just tell me one thing. Did anyone touch her? Hurt her?”

“
No
. Nothing like that. I promise.”

*