Author's Note: We'll be posting on Sundays for the time being. RL hasn't let up so for now we're gonna take a bit of a break from posting twice weekly and shoot for Sundays.
Part 27
Julia smiled as Dayna and Isabel bounced ideas off of each other. It hadn't taken long to realize that the two of them were kindred spirits and this year's Christmas on the Lake was going to be something really special. They were talking about a fitting for Santa Claus and the elves and when Dayna said that the costumes were a little out of date Isabel had quickly offered to take them off of her hands and spruce them up a bit.
"Oh, your husband mentioned something about reindeer," Dayna said as she glanced up from sliding a new batch of cookies, ready for baking, across the counter for Julia. She glanced at Maggie, making sure she was out of earshot as she lowered her voice. The little girl had abandoned them halfway through the cookie marathon to play with Cleopatra. "I did a little research yesterday evening and we can have reindeer brought in but I have to confess I don't know anything about them and neither does Dave."
"That's not a problem. My brother's very knowledgeable about all sorts of animals and he can handle the reindeer."
Liz nearly choked on the cookie she had been snacking on when she heard Isabel's declaration. She had a feeling Max wouldn't be as excited as his sister was when he found out they had found actual reindeer for him to wrangle. She held a hand up when her sister-in-law shot a look in her direction.
"But first he has a tree to find."
Maria rolled her eyes when discussion of the tree diagram came into play and she exchanged a look with Liz. "I thought sure she was the only one who had that whole diagram thing going on," she whispered when she realized that Dayna was in complete agreement on the subject.
"Can you imagine Max's expression when he finds out not only did they manage to get reindeer for him to look after but he's also expected to go out and find the tree?" Liz snickered when the conversation turned to decorations and the correct ratio of popcorn to cranberries when stringing them.
"Yeah, at least you won't have to live with a cranky Santa," Maria said in a hushed voice.
Liz snorted softly. "Yeah, because a cranky reindeer wrangler's gonna be so much better."
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Dean dropped the three of them off and assured them once more that he'd give them a call the next day before he zipped out of the parking lot. Kyle nudged Max, nodding at their silent companion. Michael stared at the entrance to the local Wal-Mart, watching the shoppers as they flowed through the automatic enter and exit doors at a regular pace. With the news about the van fresh in his mind this was the last place he wanted to be. The Jetta had eased his tension for a while as he had gotten lost in his memories and neither of them had tried to draw him into the conversation, leaving him to his brief but much-needed escape.
A Salvation Army Santa Claus stood between the doors, ringing his bell and belting out a hearty Ho Ho Ho and a Merry Christmas to everyone coming and going. Many of the shoppers would pause to drop a donation into the red bucket hanging from a tripod frame beside him before continuing on their way with a smile and a candy cane from Santa. As they passed through the doors Kyle leaned over and dropped a couple dollars in the bucket and nodded in thanks when Santa handed him a candy cane. He opened it up and broke off a piece that he popped in his mouth, snapped off a section that he gave to Max, and then held out what was left to Michael.
"Here, suck on this." He grinned when that earned him a glare. "It'll improve your mood."
"Do you realize just how serious this is?" Michael snapped as he shoved Kyle's hand and his offering away. "Once that VIN gets logged it's over."
Max shook his head. "His computer's outta whack. He wrote the work order up on an old paper form." He shrugged. "I altered it while I was signing it. It'll buy us some time if his computer comes back online anytime soon." He smiled as he raised his hand, curling his fingers over to blow on them. "Which I doubt."
"That's perfect." He narrowed his eyes. "When his computer's either workin' again or it's been replaced, all he's gotta do is double check the VIN on the van and he'll have that and your signature. Why don't we just take out an ad on a fuckin' billboard while we're at it?"
Kyle hummed around the candy in his mouth as he shook his head and pointed off to the left where the frozen foods section could be seen. "I don't think we can afford that," he deadpanned. He glanced at Max when he didn't defend his actions. "I give, El Presidente, wanna explain?"
"Nothing to explain," Max denied. "My own mother wouldn't recognize the signature on that work order, and as far as the VIN's concerned I just inverted a couple of the numbers on the form. No, it's not like it'll buy much time once it's noticed, but I've been thinkin' about that. We don't even know where Jesse got the van but my guess is he did his best to cover his tracks… he knew what was at stake. It was pretty last minute, so there was no time for him to get it and have the title and everything transferred by the time he showed up with it that night. Besides, your dad would know how easily we could be traced through the VIN."
"You think my dad transferred ownership to someone who would never be suspected, maybe even made somethin' up," Kyle said and nodded. "That's possible."
Michael snatched what was left of the candy cane out of Kyle's hand and tore the plastic wrapping off of it. "It's possible, but we don't know for sure… this thing with the VIN is still a major problem." He grunted when someone flew out of one of the aisles and around the corner, ramming into him with their cart.
"Oh, I am soooo sorry," a woman apologized as she rushed around to make sure he was alright. "Are you okay?"
Was he okay? After a full frontal assault?
"Wow," Kyle mumbled around his candy cane, "that looked like it hurt." Well, Guerin was still upright, so it couldn't be too bad, he decided. He smiled at the pretty brunette when she turned to look at him.
"Hi," she said, forgetting all about the victim of her dash to the registers.
Finally! A woman who recognized a good thing when she saw it! Kyle thought triumphantly.
Max glanced at the bulging vein in Michael's forehead and the tic in his jaw. It was like watching the countdown to an explosion, he mused. But, since an explosion was the last thing they needed at the moment he intervened in an attempt to diffuse the ticking time bomb that had just been mown down by a shopper. "He's married," he said out as she introduced herself to Kyle.
Kyle glared at him when she paused with her hand partially extended in greeting. "Shut up, Evans." He smiled at the woman and shook his head. "You can ignore him."
"I don't think my sister would appreciate you flirting with another woman while she's at home with the twins. Jeez, man, she sent you out to pick up cough medicine for your kids… no wonder she wanted me to go with you." He put his most sincere expression on and looked at the woman. "You'll excuse us, won't you?"
She shook her head at Kyle and started to walk away, hauling her overburdened grocery cart behind her.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, young man."
Michael snorted when an elderly woman poked Kyle's leg with her cane as she passed him. They were saved from the speech he was sure she was warming up to when Edward suddenly appeared with two carts already in the stages of being filled.
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The conversation stalled when they heard doors slamming and before long the back door opened and Edward walked in laden down with grocery sacks. Julia gave him a kiss and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Your favorite overly-brown cutout cookies are in the tin on the counter," as she reached for a couple of them, relieving him of his burden.
"How'd it go at the dealership?" Maria asked. She watched Michael's features, seeing the answer written there.
Isabel looked over at Michael and Max when they unloaded their sacks and she craned her neck, looking for the third musketeer. "Where's Kyle?"
Max snorted as he twisted his hand to free it from the handle on one of the sacks. "He's gonna be a minute or so. He's um," he snickered, "he's got a monster frozen turkey in his lap and he's buried under several more things too." He turned to look at her. "The van's beyond repair, but we've got a couple of options to consider."
Maggie came running into the kitchen, eager to see what was in the bags. She was making her way over to Michael when Mama called her, telling her to stay back and let the guys get inside with the groceries. Edward took the momentary break to call the boys to come and unpack the groceries. While Brian was relieved to have the guys back, Eddie looked a little put out that Maria's attention was no longer his.
Maria's gaze stayed on Michael as he fought with a bag that kept trying to tip over and she could tell it was only further trying his patience. She glanced down at the next gingerbread man in line to be decorated and a slow smile appeared as she grabbed a tube of icing and the sprinkles.
"Michael," she called after a minute or so of working on her creation.
He came up behind her to slip his arms around her waist, lowering his head to nuzzle her neck when he caught Eddie's expression. Poor kid didn't even know what was happening to him. He smirked when the boy was called away by his dad and he glanced down when Maria's head settled against his neck. "Great decorating job," he grinned, taking in the warm gingerbread man cookie with Kyle's name written vertically down the torso and two tiny blue sprinkles placed… strategically.
"Well, you did say the poor guy had a lapful of frozen turkey."
He smirked and pressed a kiss against her cheek before taking his cookie and turning around. "C'mon, Maxwell, we'd better give your brother-in-law a hand with that bird."
Max was listening to his sister and Dayna as they rattled off ideas at a rate that made his head spin. Liz was helping Julia with the groceries and discussing the preparations for lunch so he brushed his hand over her arm on his way out the door behind Michael. He laughed out loud before shaking his head when his friend showed off his gingerbread man. "Maria's got a sick sense of humor."
"I know."
They rounded the hood of the truck just as a sack full of bread and dinner rolls flew out through the open back door followed by a sack of potato chips.
"Jeez, Valenti, what's your hurry?"
Kyle glared at Max since he was the first one to appear. "I've got a block of ice freezin' everything south of the border so if you guys wanna get a move on I'd appreciate it." He was wedged into his seat and packed in by so many sacks of groceries that he could barely move.
"Check it out," Michael said as he sat in the front passenger's seat and reached back to show off Maria's creation. "Maria made one that looks like you."
"Huh," Kyle grunted, his eyes narrowing at the two miniscule blue sprinkles, "it does almost look like me but there's one difference."
Michael turned it around to look at it. "I don't know. Similarities are pretty obvious."
Kyle lunged forward as well as he could to snatch it out of his hand and take a big bite of it. "Damn thing was too tall," he mumbled and handed it back.
"Hell, I'm not gonna eat it now that you've slobbered all over it."
"Whatever."
Michael snapped off the lower half of the cookie and tossed it to Kyle. "C'mon, let's get the rest of this haul into the house. I heard somethin' about lunch bein' ready before long." He pointed at one of the sacks that had been kept separate. "That one needs to go down to our cabin."
"Yeah, and the other one goes to ours," Max said, nodding at one stuffed against the door on the floor behind the drivers' seat.
Kyle leveled a look at them. "Is this your way of askin' me to carry your crap down to your cabins? If it is you both need to work on it." He glared at each of them in turn. "Get this frozen turkey carcass off my nuts and I'll haul your crap down to your cabins."
"Oh, right." Max leaned in and started to unbury Kyle from his grocery cocoon.
"Hey, watch out for my stuff," Michael growled when a sack of cans landed dangerously close to his grocery sack.
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Edward sighed as he settled back in his recliner, feet propped up on the footrest just as Julia came into the living room with his favorite sandwich on a plate and a cup of hot chocolate. He looked up at her, taking in her happy smile and the sparkle in her eyes. Is this my reward or just bait for another mission to help put Christmas on the Lake together? Ah, who was he kidding? She was just so damn beautiful and he knew it was a lost cause trying to understand the why of it.
As he took in his favorite sandwich piled high with ham and Swiss, slathered with horsey sauce, cut in half and separated with a small mountain of chips in between them his mind started screaming. No, no, no! Whatever it is, no! But he knew better. Here he was in his favorite chair and she was waiting on him with her bright, shining smile. He was so glad to see her and especially Maggie excited about Christmas again. He glanced at his boys where they were huddled up over the fixings for lunch, shoving each other and generally making a mess of things while making their sandwiches. They weren't as overt about it but he knew they were excited that Christmas on the Lake would be making an appearance this year.
He was settling in and getting ready to chow down when the others started to filter in, one and two at a time. He let them find their way around the room and take their seats, paying little attention to anything being said as he focused on his food.
Max grabbed Isabel's arm when Dayna excused herself for a moment and he pulled her aside.
"What are you doing?" Isabel demanded.
"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed.
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know anything about animals and I know even less about reindeer! You told that woman I could handle reindeer!"
Isabel waved him off. "Didn't we cover this the other night?" Her eyes gleamed as she grinned from ear to ear. "Imagine all the children's faces when they see real live reindeer, Max! And you'll get to be a part of that." She made another waving motion with her free hand. "Now go eat. You'll want to make sure you've had a good meal before you go out with Michael to find a tree this afternoon."
Michael blocked the doorway as he came to a stop and stared at Isabel. "What?" he mumbled around a mouthful of potato chips.
"Dayna said there's a Christmas tree farm just a couple miles away."
He stared at his sister. "Well, can't you just send Kyle?"
"Max," she said patiently, "Kyle has other things to do. He's my assistant and that means I need him here to help out with other things."
"That's right, El Presidente… assistant, got it?" Kyle asked as he squeezed between Michael and Max.
Michael thumped the back of Kyle's head as he passed him. "Yeah, y'know what the first three letters of assistant is?"
"Yes, Santa," he said with a grin, "Kyle can spell. Does Santa know the definition of the word assistant?" Without waiting for a response he wandered into the living room and took a seat on the floor next to the coffee table.
Michael let the subject drop, deciding that if he just ignored it Isabel might forget it. He dropped down in the second recliner and caught Maria's hand when she came into the room, tugging her down to sit in his lap. He wrapped one arm around her loosely and balanced his plate on the arm of the chair.
Eddie slowed down, glancing sideways at the couple until his brother pushed him from behind. "Cut it out, doofus," he muttered.
"Well, move outta the way," Brian
Maggie walked up to the couple in the recliner with the cat cradled in her arms and she smiled at Michael. "Cleopatra is Mrs. Dayna's kitty." She lowered her head to whisper in the cat's ear. "This's Michael an' he knows Santa. And that's Maria, she's his…" She paused, unsure of what to say and pursing her lips as she looked up at them.
Maria spoke up. "I'm his girlfriend," she said, squeezing his arm before reaching out to pet the tuxedo-marked cat.
The little girl smiled at him. "Would you like to hold her?" She placed the cat on the part of Michael's lap that Maria wasn't taking up as she continued. "Cleopatra has a twin sister. Her name is Christina an' she's Mrs. Tony's kitty. She loves to eat cake, the yellow kind with frosting," she rattled on. "Christina doesn't like cake but she likes to eat Fritos corn chips." She turned around, searching for Mama. "If it's okay with Mrs. Dayna can I… um, may I have a little Debbie cake to share with Cleopatra?"
With affirmative answers all around Maggie disappeared to collect the snack cake and Dayna and Isabel paid little attention to their lunch as they took turns filling out the daily planner. Kyle leaned over every once in a while to point things out or make suggestions and much to Max and Michael's displeasure most of those helpful suggestions involved them in some form or other.
"Um, Iz, how do you suggest we go and get a tree?" Max asked after he had watched the two women and their assistant fill out every page for the next six days. As he had listened to them bouncing ideas off of each other he had learned that Christmas on the Lake would take place next Saturday.
"You'll go to the tree farm a couple of miles away and you'll find one that meets the parameters of the diagram… and then you'll cut it down and bring it back."
Michael frowned at that. In the past hour he had heard Dayna reaffirm that she had gotten permission from Mrs. Tony to use the place for Christmas on the Lake but it was everything that had followed that had put the sour expression on his face. The list was packed full of things like plowing Mr. Tony's long driveway to the house and the barn and apparently they were expected to go out and shovel ice? He hadn't signed up for any of that! Then there were the decorations stored in the barn, pulling them down and getting them set up.
Isabel was at her radiant best as she assigned tasks and as usual she had no problem assigning them to anyone and everyone. She was an equal opportunity enslaver and they had all been given jobs for the next six days. Kyle was enjoying the hell out of being her assistant, knowing that he might be run ragged for the duration of this insanity but he wouldn't be doing the more menial jobs the rest of them were expected to do. And if he happened to get stuck with one of those jobs for any reason at least he wouldn't be stuck wearing a ridiculous outfit.
Edward had been silent, mulling over Max's question for several minutes. "You boys can take the snowmobiles out and head down to the farm, pick out that tree an' bring it back." Anything to keep him from being sent back out on another Christmas mission.
"Can I go help cut down Santa's tree, Daddy?" Maggie asked.
"I think we'll let Michael and Max handle that," he answered, trying not to smile at the look of extreme disappointment on her face.
"You're comin' with me," Michael whispered into Maria's ear. He tightened his arm around her, holding her closer. "Non-negotiable."
Maria smiled, enjoying the feel of his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and inhaled his scent. It wasn't like they were going out to pick out their own tree, but she had never gone out to an actual tree farm. Back home she and her mom had always stopped in at the Christmas tree lot. This was so much more exciting!