One Season And Dynasties Collection

“That woman’s got way too much energy,” he murmured as he began to change.

Chapter Sixteen

Miranda turned around when she heard the office door behind her opening. About to tell Colin that she’d gotten the bulging sack of toys for him to hand out while he’d been changing into his costume, she instead wound up saying, “Wow.”

“Does it fit all right?” He glanced down at himself critically.

“You look just like Santa Claus,” Miranda declared. “I wouldn’t have known it was you if I hadn’t handed you the costume.” She circled him, then nodded with approval. “Laugh.”

He eyed her warily. “What?”

“Santa’s jolly, remember? You’re going to have to go ‘ho, ho, ho’ at least a few times, so let’s hear it.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Colin said.

“You’re frowning under that beard, aren’t you?” she guessed. “Never mind,” she told him when he started to answer. “The beard covers it. But put some gusto into it. And here’s your bag of presents.” She indicated the sack next to her.

Taking hold of it, he began to swing it over his shoulder. Then his eyes widened. “You carried this here?”

“Dragged, actually,” she admitted. “It’s kind of heavy.”

“That’s an understatement,” Colin muttered under his breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

“A little more ‘ho, ho, ho’ spirit,” she advised.

“I’m saving myself,” he responded, following her back to the main room.

“Hey, look, everybody! Look who’s here,” Miranda called out to the children the moment Colin walked into the common area.

The space was filled with kids of all sizes who had been anxiously waiting for the legendary elf to make his appearance. As they turned almost in unison in his direction, their faces lit up with delight, Colin saw.

“It’s Santa!”

“Santa’s here!”

“Santa!”

A chorus of excited voices called out, creating a cacophony of eagerness and joy blended with disbelief that Santa had actually come to the shelter—and he’d made it ahead of Christmas Eve, as well.

The next second, Colin found himself surrounded as children eagerly rushed up to him.

Miranda took control. Raising her voice, she told the children, “Okay, give him a little space. We don’t want to overwhelm Santa. He’s still got a lot of places to visit before the holidays are here.” Waving the little ones over to her side, she instructed, “Line up, kids. You’ll all get your turn, I promise.”

As Colin watched in surprise, the children obediently lined up as ordered and patiently awaited their turn.

His eyes shifted in Miranda’s direction. This was definitely a new side to her, he thought in admiration.

“That’s your cue to get started,” she prompted.

“Oh, right.” Colin set down his sack and opened it.

To his relief, Miranda stayed by his side the entire time and helped him hand out the gifts. As each child came up to him, she very subtly fed him his or her name to personalize the experience for the child.

Any doubts or uncertainty he’d harbored about volunteering to play Santa vanished within the first few minutes. The excitement, gratitude and awe he saw shining in the eyes of the children who surrounded him managed to create nothing short of an epiphany for Colin.

He began to understand why Miranda did what she did. Being there for these children brought about an incredibly warm feeling that he’d been unacquainted with prior to today.

He really got into the part.

Colin continued digging into the sack and handing out gifts until the very last child in line cried, “Thank you, Santa!” and hurried away, clutching her present against her.

It took him a second to process the fact that there was no one left in line. Turning toward Miranda, he asked, “Is that it?”

“Yup. You saw every last kid in the place,” she told him happily.

The sack sagged as he released it, and it fell to the floor. “Good, because there’s only a couple of gifts left. I would have hated to run out of presents before you ran out of kids,” he told her. He saw the wide grin on her face. “What?”

“Look at you,” she said proudly. “All full of Christmas spirit.”

He didn’t want her making a big deal of it. “There’s a difference between being full of Christmas spirit and not behaving like Scrooge.”

“Not in my book,” Miranda responded. Leaning into him, she whispered, “Lighten up, Santa, and take the compliment.”

Colin glanced down at the suit he was wearing. She saw the look in his eyes and took an educated guess as to what he was thinking. “Itchy, huh?”

He lowered his voice. “You have no idea.”

“You held up your end very well,” she told him. “Let’s get you back to Amelia’s office so you can get out of that suit.” Miranda looked around at the children, all of whom were happily playing with their toys from Santa. Some were still regarding their gifts in awe. “C’mon, the coast is clear,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

Following her lead, Colin slipped out of the room. When he didn’t hear any of the children calling after him, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went down the hall to the small office at the rear of the building.

He went in and was surprised when Miranda followed.

“I’ll leave in a minute,” she promised, “so you can get out of that costume. I just wanted to indulge a fantasy.”

“A fantasy?” he questioned, surprised. She struck him as being so squeaky clean, so grounded, and not the type to have fantasies. His curiosity was aroused. “What kind of a fantasy?”

Mischief danced in her eyes. “I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to kiss Santa Claus,” she told him. “Do you mind?”

Was she kidding? He could feel the whiskers in his fake beard spreading as he grinned. “Not at all.”

Miranda wasn’t certain just what had possessed her to behave like this. Maybe it was the fact that Colin had volunteered—of his own accord—to help, and by doing so, had literally managed to save the day, which in turn had created a really warm feeling within her.

Or maybe it was because the memory of that last kiss was still lingering on her mind, making her long for a replay. Besides, there was something safe about kissing “Santa Claus” here in the director’s office, with a building full of people nearby.

Whatever excuse she gave herself didn’t really matter. What did matter was that a moment after she’d asked, she found herself being kissed by “Santa.”

Or more specifically, by Colin.

And she discovered that the third time around was even better.

This time, her knees turned to mush right along with the rest of her, and she really did have to hold on for dear life as Colin/Santa deepened the kiss by soul-melting degrees until her mind slipped into a black hole.

Only the sudden awkward noise in the doorway kept the kiss from totally engulfing not just her but both of them.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I—I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Amelia stuttered, obviously embarrassed about having walked in on them like this. Averting her eyes and addressing the nearby wall, she said, “I just wanted to thank you, Officer Kirby. You really made all those kids extremely happy.”

The director turned her head slowly, as if to make sure it was safe to look at them. She breathed a sigh of relief to see that neither was annoyed with her for the accidental intrusion.

“Well, I’ve said my piece,” she added, “so I’ll leave you two alone. Thank you again, Officer Kirby.”

“Um, yeah. Don’t mention it. I got a kick out of it,” Colin confessed.

“I’ll wait for you out here,” Miranda told him, quickly slipping out of the room right behind Amelia. She closed the door in her wake.

When he came out less than five minutes later, the director was nowhere in sight. However, true to her word, Miranda was standing out in the hall close by, waiting for him.

“I’m leaving the suit on the chair in the office,” Colin said, nodding toward the room.

“That’s perfect,” Miranda assured him. “Amelia’ll put it away until next year.”

He’d already forgotten about the costume. His mind was on something more important. He searched for the right words.

“Are you going home?” he asked.

Miranda nodded. “Lola’s waiting for her dinner. She’s probably right in front of the door.”

“So she’s still with you.” It wasn’t really a question. He’d just assumed that the dog had become more or less of a fixture at Miranda’s house, even though she’d called the situation temporary.

Miranda smiled as she nodded. “Still with me. And I have to say that I’m really getting used to having her around.”

“Then why not keep her?”

“It wouldn’t be fair,” she told him. “Lola needs kids to play with.”

He didn’t understand why she thought that. “What that dog needs more is love, and you seem to have that covered.”

His comment surprised her. It wasn’t like him. “I think that Santa suit transformed you.”

Colin waved away her assessment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just say it like it is. Speaking of which...” He let his voice trail off as he framed his next sentence. He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea, but didn’t want to be so low-key that she turned him down.

When he paused, Miranda cocked her head, waiting for him to finish. “Yes?”

“Would you mind if I came home with you? Just for a while,” he qualified a little too quickly. “I feel like I need to wind down a bit after this whole Santa thing.”

She laughed. “Too much adulation to handle?” she guessed, amused. This had to be all new to him.

He shrugged carelessly. “Something like that. Is it all right?” he asked, still waiting for her to tell him whether or not he could come over.

“Sure,” Miranda replied, wondering why Colin would think that it wouldn’t be. “Lola would love to see you.”

He laughed drily. Miranda made it sound as if he had some sort of a relationship with the German shepherd. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“I am,” she said, hooking her arm through his. Thinking he might like to leave with a minimum of fuss, she suggested, “We can take the side door if you want to avoid walking through the main room and running into the kids.”

“No, that’s all right,” he told her. “We can go out the front.”

He really had changed, she marveled. And she definitely liked this new, improved Colin. “Maybe you should have put on that Santa suit earlier.”

He shrugged. It wasn’t the suit; it was what had prompted him to put it on: Miranda.

“Maybe I should have,” he allowed casually. “By the way, how was it?”

He’d lost her. “How was what?”

“Back in the director’s office, you said you wanted to see what it felt like, kissing Santa Claus,” he reminded her. He knew he was leaving himself wide-open, but he was curious about what Miranda would say. “So how was it?”

She smiled up at him and said, “Magical.”

He had no idea if she was kidding or not, but they had just entered the common room. Most of the kids were still there and he didn’t want to say anything that could draw attention to them, so made no comment on her response.

As they crossed the floor to the front door, he saw the director looking their way. Colin nodded at the woman and she mouthed, “Thank you.” He smiled in response but kept walking.

“I’ve got a question for you,” Miranda said once they were out the door and in the parking area.

Colin braced himself. “Go ahead.”

It was already cold and the wind had picked up. Miranda pulled her jacket more tightly around herself. “How did it feel to save the day? Or is that something you’ve pretty much gotten used to, being a police officer and all?”

Colin laughed to himself, shaking his head. She was serious, he realized. “Miranda, I’m a motorcycle cop, remember? I usually ruin people’s day, not save it.”

“You know, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Oh? And what is it that you suggest?” he asked, humoring her.

“Well, did you ever think about switching departments?” Miranda asked.

Colin grew solemn. “I was in a different department when I worked in LA.”

“What happened?”

His expression grew grim as he remembered. “My partner got killed. On the job,” he added. Confronted with that information, she would surely drop the subject. But he’d obviously forgotten who he was dealing with.

“All right,” she said slowly, processing what he’d just told her and extrapolating. “Bedford’s got a canine unit. You could ask to be transferred there,” she told him. She thought of the way he interacted with Lola. “You’d be really good at it.”

“We’ll see,” Colin answered, just to get her to stop taking about it.

But Miranda was on to the way he operated. “Just something to think about,” she told him. For now, she tabled the subject. Pointing to her vehicle, which was farther down the lot, she said, “I’m parked over there. Do you want to follow me home?”

“I do know where you live, Miranda,” Colin reminded her.

Miranda’s smile widened as she inclined her head. “Then I’ll see you there. I’ll make dinner,” she added.

He didn’t want her to feel obligated. “You don’t have to—”

“I’ve got to eat,” she told him. “And I’ve seen you eat, so I know that you do, too.” She gave him a knowing look. “You don’t have to turn everything into a debate, Colin.”

He supposed he was guilty of that—at least part of the time. “You do have a way with words.”

She grinned. “As long as you know that, everything’ll be fine.”

He wasn’t sure about that, Colin thought, as he walked over to his car. Ever since he’d met Miranda, he’d been doing things completely out of character.

Getting into his vehicle, he started it up and pulled out of the parking lot.

His simple routine of eat, sleep, work, repeat, had gone completely out the window. Ever since he’d moved back to Bedford, he hadn’t socialized, even remotely. But since he’d crossed paths with Miranda, he found himself entertaining strange thoughts. He wanted to socialize. How else could he explain what he had done today?

Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that he’d put on a Santa suit, much less wear it for more than two hours the way he’d done, while handing out toys to a whole bunch of kids. Even letting those kids crawl onto his lap, and not just putting up with having some of them hug him, but actually, deep down in his soul, liking it.

It felt as if he’d lost sight of all the rules he’d always adhered to. Not just lost sight of them but willfully abandoned them.

If he wasn’t careful, he would never be the same again.

What “if”? he silently jeered. There was no “if” about it. He wasn’t the same now—and did he even want to be?

All these years, he’d been sleepwalking, moving like a shadow figure through his own life—and that wasn’t living at all, he silently insisted.

For weeks now he’d kept thinking that if he hadn’t crossed paths with Miranda, his life wouldn’t have been turned upside down. As if that was a bad thing.

But maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it—and she—had actually been his salvation.

And maybe, he told himself as he approached Miranda’s house, he’d be better off if he just stopped thinking altogether.

Chapter Seventeen

Colin never got a chance to ring Miranda’s doorbell. The front door flew open the minute he walked up to it.

Seeing the surprised look on his face, Miranda explained, “Lola heard your car pulling up and she barked to let me know you were here. I looked out the window and saw she was right.”

Walking in, Colin paused to pet the German shepherd’s head. He didn’t really have much of a choice since she was blocking his path into the house.

“She let you know it was me,” he repeated incredulously.

Moving around them, Miranda smiled as she closed the door. “She has a different bark when a stranger comes.”

“I’m flattered, Lola.” In response, the dog jumped up, placing her paws against his chest. He had a feeling he knew what she was after. “I’m sorry, girl, I don’t have anything for you this time. I came straight here from the shelter.”

“Don’t worry,” Miranda said. “I’m always prepared.” To his surprise, she reached around the dog and slipped something into the front pocket of his jeans. “I’m not getting fresh,” she told him. “I’m just giving you a couple of treats to give her. What?” she asked, when she saw the amused expression on his face.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that phrase—getting fresh—outside of an old movie from the sixties, maybe earlier. No offense,” he added quickly. “I think it’s kind of cute.”

“None taken—now that you’ve redeemed yourself,” she added cheerfully. “C’mon, dinner’s on the table.”

Colin stared at the back of her head, stunned, as he followed her to the dining room. “How did you manage to get anything ready so fast? You couldn’t have gotten here more than five minutes ago.”

“Ten,” she corrected. “I know a shortcut. And I really didn’t have to cook. Those are leftovers from yesterday.” She gestured at the covered tureen in the center of the table. “Nothing fancy. Just some chicken Alfredo over angel-hair spaghetti.”

“Leftovers,” Colin repeated, nodding. “That makes more sense. I didn’t think even you were that fast.”

She dished out the spaghetti, then the chicken Alfredo, first on one plate, then the other.

“Am I being challenged?” she asked him, the corners of her mouth curving.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said, then qualified, “Unless you wanted me to.”

All she wanted right now was to sit down to a peaceful dinner with him.

“Eat,” she prompted. “Dinner’s getting cold. And, you,” she said, looking down at Lola, who had presented herself at the table. “Let the man eat in peace, girl. He already gave you a bribe.”

He was amused by the dog’s antics. “I think she’s expecting more.”

Miranda sighed. “You were right. I have been spoiling her. But her new owner is going to do a better job of making her toe the line,” she said.

Surprised, Colin lowered his fork. “New owner? Lola’s been adopted?”

Miranda nodded, looking oddly calm to him. He would have expected her to be more upset. “Her papers were all put through and her fee was paid.”

“Fee?” he questioned. He had no idea how pet adoption was conducted.

“Every dog and cat that the shelter takes in gets all their shots and they’re neutered or spayed, depending on the animal’s gender. When they’re adopted, the new owner is charged a nominal fee for those services. It’s to ensure that the next homeless animal can be taken care of.”

Something didn’t make sense to him. “If Lola’s been adopted, why is she still here?” he asked.

The surge of disappointment he was experiencing over the news of the adoption really caught him off guard. He realized with a pang that he was going to miss Lola once her owner picked her up.

“That’s rather a funny story,” Miranda answered. “I’ll tell it to you once we finish eating.”

Colin filled in the blanks: they were going to be taking Lola to her new owner right after dinner. That was why Miranda was holding off telling him the story until later.

He honestly didn’t know if he wanted to go with her. Watching the German shepherd being handed over to someone else wasn’t something he wanted to witness.

But then it occurred to him that maybe Miranda was asking him to come along because she was going to need some moral support for this. He knew that she had gotten close to the animal. She’d said as much herself. What surprised him was that he had, too.

Picking up his fork again, Colin continued to eat, but he was no longer tasting anything and twice had to rouse himself because he’d missed what Miranda was saying.

“You’re awfully quiet,” she noted, finishing her dinner.

“I’m just thinking,” Colin told her without elaborating.

“Okay,” she announced, rising from the table. “Let’s do this.”

He looked at the empty plates on the table. She was leaving them where they were. “You’re not going to do the dishes first?”

“They can wait,” she told him loftily. “I’ll do them later.”

That wasn’t like her. Giving up Lola and taking her to her new owner was undoubtedly hard on Miranda, he thought. He wanted to shield her from this, but had no idea how.

“Okay, let’s get it over with,” he told her.

Responding, Miranda took his hand and led him into the living room.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked, nodding at Lola. Miranda hadn’t stopped to put a leash on the dog. In fact, she’d left her in the dining room, gnawing on a bone that she had given her.

“I don’t think so,” Miranda answered innocently.

Instead of walking to the front door, she stopped in front of the Christmas tree. Bending down, she picked up a flat, rectangular box sporting shiny blue wrapping paper and held it out to him.

“Merry Christmas,” Miranda declared. “A little early.”

“What is it?” he asked, perplexed.

When he didn’t take it from her, she gently shoved the box into his hands. “You could open it and see.”

She was being very mysterious about this, Colin thought. Still not opening it, he told her uncomfortably, “I didn’t get you anything.”

“You’ve given me more than you think—and you were Santa Claus for all those kids,” she added. “Now, are you going to open that? Or are you going to just keep looking at it?”

He would have preferred going with the latter, but knew that wouldn’t be fair to her, especially after she had gone through all the trouble of not just getting him something but wrapping it, as well.

Colin made his decision. “I’ll open it.”

“Good choice,” she told him with approval. Watching him do so, she could only marvel. “You tear off wrapping paper slower than anyone I’ve ever seen.” Finally, he finished removing the wrapping paper to reveal a decorative gift box beneath. “Now take the top off the box and see what’s in it,” she coaxed.

When he did, Colin found paperwork. Specifically, paperwork that belonged to Lola, saying that she’d received her rabies vaccination as well as a number of other vaccinations. There was also confirmation of a license registration with the city of Bedford that was good for one year. The certificate stated that her name was Lola Kirby and that she belonged to—

Colin’s head jerked up. “Me?” he asked, stunned. “I’m Lola’s owner?”

Nodding, Miranda told him, “I didn’t know what to get you for Christmas and then it came to me. You needed to have a friendly face to come home to, and Lola needed a home. It seemed like the perfect solution.”

“But I can’t take care of her,” he protested. “I’m never home.”

“Sure, you can take care of her. And when you need to take a break, you can leave her with me. I’ll dog-sit Lola for you,” she volunteered cheerfully.

He was as close to being speechless as he had ever been in his life. Shaking his head, Colin muttered, “I don’t know what to say—you’re crazy, you know that?”

“I would have accepted ‘Thank you, Miranda. It’s just what I wanted,’” she responded. Then, growing serious, she told him, “I saw it in your eyes, you know. The way you felt about Lola.”

Moved, he came closer to her. So close there was hardly any space for even a breath between them. His gaze met hers. “What else did you see in my eyes?”

Lola was still in the dining room, working away at her soup bone. Except for the sound of teeth meeting bone, there was nothing but silence in the house.

Silence and heat.

“What else was I supposed to see in your eyes?” Miranda asked, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. Her mouth suddenly felt extremely dry, even as she felt her pulse accelerating, going double time.

“You, Miranda,” he replied softly. “You were supposed to see you.”