Mrs. Miracle Part 5

"You know what Mrs. Miracle said?"

Seth didn't have a clue. "What?"

"She said we should take a vacation."

Seth hesitated. "A vacation?"

"Yup. During spring break. When's that?"

"March or April." He'd need to check the school calendar. It was an odd comment for the housekeeper to make, although she'd made a habit of saying some pretty unusual things. Just the other night she'd gotten a chuckle out of him. She'd said something about a woodp.e.c.k.e.r owing his success to his head and not just his p.e.c.k.e.r. He chuckled anew.

"Are we going on vacation?"

He had plenty of vacation time due him, and it sounded like a fun thing to do. "I'll think about it." He brushed the bread crumbs from his hands and ruffled his son's hair affectionately. "First let's go see the Seahawks whop the Broncos."

"Yeah." Judd thrust his fist into the air.

Smiling to himself, Seth walked from the garage into the kitchen.

Mrs. Merkle was busy, Jason at her side, helping her prepare dinner-"helping" being the operative word. What he saw set his mouth to watering. The woman cooked like a dream.

"I'm making pie," Jason proclaimed proudly. "From scratch."

"Great." He beamed Mrs. Miracle an appreciative smile. Apple pie was his personal favorite.

The housekeeper skillfully ran the sharp edge of the knife around the Granny Smith apple. The peeling twisted and curled away from the blade like a tight ringlet. "I always said that a good cook starts from scratch and keeps on scratching."

Seth grinned, acknowledging her wit. "Judd and I are about to watch the football game."

"Are we going on vacation?" The same question, this time from Jason.

"I'm thinking about it."

"There's a travel agency," the housekeeper commented, her eye on the apple. "Right next to the Safeway store-you know the one I mean, don't you? There's that nice young lady who owns it. The same one who was in church this morning with Harriett Foster's niece. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you plan a trip with the children." owns it. The same one who was in church this morning with Harriett Foster's niece. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you plan a trip with the children."

Seth stopped abruptly, and so did his heart. "How is it you know Harriett Foster?" To the best of his knowledge, this was Mrs. Merkle's first week at the church.

"Oh, my, anyone who attends Community Christian knows Harriett Foster."

It wasn't possible that the housekeeper knew that he held any tenderness for this nameless woman he'd spotted in church that very morning. Was it?

"You might stop after work in the next day or so. It isn't too early to book now for springtime," she continued, concentrating on peeling the apples.

"I'll need to think on it," he stated matter-offactly, making sure no emotion bled into his voice.

"Don't wait too long. He who hesitates misses the worm."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it doesn't matter what you miss, just that you're going to be missing. Right?"

"I suppose," Seth said, and moved into the family room, where Judd had already turned on the television. It was a relief to focus his attention on the sporting event rather than dwell on Mrs. Merkle's uncanny suggestions.

Chapter 8

Pick your friends, but not to pieces.-Mrs. Miracle

"We did it," Jayne announced triumphantly when she walked into work bright and early Monday morning. Reba had been at the office since seven, going over the books, checking the finances. The profit margin on the travel agency was so narrow that she had to keep close tabs on expenses.

She glanced up from the computer screen. "Did what?"

"Escaped Aunt Harriett. She didn't corner me in church, thanks to you." Jayne's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Naturally I screened my calls all day, and yes, Aunt Harriett did try a number of times, but I thwarted her. We thwarted her," Jayne amended.

Reba chewed on the end of her pen. She hadn't been able to take her mind off Seth Webster from the moment she'd seen him in church. A little investigative work had helped dig up a few cherished facts. First and foremost was his first name and the fact he'd remained single following his wife's death.

He had two children. Six-year-old twins. Apparently there was a housekeeper, too, one the children referred to as Mrs. Miracle. The one who'd made a point of making eye contact with her. The woman seemed a bit unusual. She looked perfectly normal, an older version of Mary Poppins. Twinkling eyes, a mischievous smile, a look about her that said she knew far more than she let on. Reba suspected she was reading too much into that pointed look the Websters' housekeeper had sent her, but it had given her an uncanny feeling.

"What's with you and Mr. Webster?" Jayne shocked her by asking. It was almost as if her employee had read her mind.

"What's with me and...Nothing! How could there be? I don't even know the man." Reba attempted to hide how fl.u.s.tered the question made her, but it was obvious by the way her hands fluttered over the keyboard.

"But you'd like to know him."

It would do no good to pretend otherwise. Reba lifted one delicate shoulder. "I suppose..."

"I wish you could have seen the way your eyes lit up when you first saw him. Even Cindy noticed." eyes lit up when you first saw him. Even Cindy noticed."

Reba's face colored.

Jayne hung up her coat and sat down at the desk across from her. "You know what I've been thinking?"

Reba hadn't a clue, and furthermore she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. "You intend to tell me whether I want to know or not, right?"

Jayne chuckled. "You guessed it."

Reba waited. Jayne glanced at her almost as if she were afraid to speak. "The church needs an adult, someone who's good with children, to step in and oversee the Christmas pageant."

"Yes, and your wonderfully generous aunt Harriett volunteered you. Remember?"

"I'm not the right person." Jayne's objection was adamant. "But I know someone well suited to the task. A woman who's familiar with overseeing large projects. Someone with infinite patience, flexible hours, and a love of children. Someone who sings like a dream."

Reba shook her head before Jayne got around to making the suggestion. She raised both hands to stop her friend from continuing. "Don't even say it."

"You, Reba Maxwell. You're the perfect choice."

This was all a bad joke. Limitless patience, her? Besides, Reba knew next to nothing about children, zilch about the Christmas program and what it entailed, and although she liked children, her experience with them was limited to her teenage baby-sitting years. She'd be an idiot to step into the coordinator's role with less than a month before Christmas. what it entailed, and although she liked children, her experience with them was limited to her teenage baby-sitting years. She'd be an idiot to step into the coordinator's role with less than a month before Christmas.

"You're wrong, Jayne. I'm flattered you think so highly of my talents, but in this case it'd never work."

"You want to meet Mr. Webster, don't you?"

She hesitated.

"What better way than to involve yourself with his children?"

It was too cold, too calculated. Too ridiculous. Reba dismissed the idea immediately.

She walked over to the coffee machine and refilled her mug. To hear her employee, this might well be her one and only chance of having a relations.h.i.+p. While it was true that eligible men weren't beating a path to her door, she didn't think of herself as desperate, either. She was attracted to Seth Webster, but that didn't mean she was willing to take on the impossible task of directing the Christmas pageant.

Jayne followed her. "You do want to meet him, don't you?" she stressed once more.

"It seems to me," Reba said, exhaling softly, "that you inherited more from your aunt Harriett than you realize."

"Ouch." Jayne grimaced.

"You deserved that for even suggesting such a thing. Me directing a Christmas program? Why, that's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard." thing. Me directing a Christmas program? Why, that's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard."

"You're missing something here."

Reba gazed pointedly at her watch and removed the CLOSED sign from the front window. "It's starting time."

"We've got a couple of minutes yet. First I want to know if you heard what I said."

"Yes, but I don't have a response."

"The Christmas pageant takes place Christmas Eve." Her voice escalated softly, as if this fact were of some importance.

"So?" Reba was growing tired of this conversation. She returned to her desk, intent on refocusing her attention on the ledgers.

"Wasn't it Christmas Eve your parents wanted you to attend some big family s.h.i.+ndig?"

"Yes," Reba answered tiredly.

"And doesn't the Christmas program offer you the perfect excuse not to be stuck with relatives you don't want to see?"

Reba hesitated. Her mother couldn't very well take issue with her if she was involved with the church Christmas program. Still, she wasn't convinced a ready excuse would be worth all the time and effort it would take to direct thirty or more grade-school children in some play revolving around the Nativity. There were limits to how far she was willing to go to keep the peace with her family.

Her parents had taken Vicki's side in the issue. That much had been painfully obvious from the first. But she didn't want to drag her aunt Gerty and uncle Bill into this mess. If she failed to attend the family dinner, they were sure to feel hurt, especially since they were her G.o.dparents.

There was something else, too. The thought of everyone gathered around the festive holiday table, talking about her when she wasn't there to defend herself...It was grossly unfair.

"As an extra benefit you'd have the perfect opportunity to meet Judd and Jason Webster." Jayne's piercing eyes held hers. "And their father," she added with meaning.

"Jayne Preston, you're shameless."

"True. Are you going to do it?"

Reba hesitated, unsure. "I don't know yet. The church might already have someone."

"They don't," Jayne said, sounding utterly confident.

"And I know why." She was a fool for even considering taking on the responsibility. But Jayne made a strong point on a number of issues. It did offer her a ready excuse to avoid the family get-together. It wasn't as if her mother could argue when she learned Reba was involved in a church activity.

Jayne made a good case regarding Reba's organizational skills. Her hours were flexible, and she could leave the office on short notice. Her staff of two full-time and one part-time employee were well trained and able to carry on their duties without her standing over them with a whip and chair. well trained and able to carry on their duties without her standing over them with a whip and chair.

She was a natural with children, although she hadn't had much opportunity of late to get involved with them. Working with the younger generation didn't intimidate her, not the way it would others. The truth was, she was desperately lonely. The holidays were always difficult for her. Others had family, friends, obligations. At no other time of the year did it bother her more that she wasn't married. The Christmas project would help take her mind off all that she'd missed.

But the most convincing argument, the one that carried the most weight, was what her employee had said about meeting Seth Webster. He didn't know her. Had no reason to make her acquaintance. Weeks, months, could pa.s.s before she had an opportunity to invent an excuse to meet him. Yet here was the golden opportunity to not only meet him, but work with his children, get to know him and his sons. Talk about having something handed to her on a silver platter.

"No one knows me," she said several minutes later, picking up the conversation where they'd left off.

Jayne looked at her and blinked. "You mean at church? Sure they do. Maybe not by name, but certainly they know your face."

"It'd be like asking a stranger to step in."

"There'll be other adults there as well. It isn't unusual for a number of parents to pitch in."

"It isn't?" This gave her hope.

"Mrs. Darling has been teaching the children the music ever since September. I think you'll find that it isn't nearly as demanding as everyone's made it seem. All that's really required is the right person."

"And you think that's me?" She remained skeptical, but Jayne was right: this was a golden opportunity.

"Beyond a doubt. You're perfect."

"Hardly," Reba said. She was a long way from that.

"As an added bonus you get to meet Mr. Webster."

"Seth," she supplied without thinking.

"Seth, is it? And just how did you find that out?" is it? And just how did you find that out?"

The corners of Reba's mouth tickled with the effort to repress a smile. "I have my ways."

"I'm sure you do."

The morning pa.s.sed quickly. With the holidays fast approaching, the foot traffic was higher than usual. It amazed Reba that people actually expected to walk into a travel agency and book an extensive trip for the holidays. November and December were two of the most popular vacation months of the entire year.