Steele Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Final Part
Choral selections of the Stanford glee club Christmas album floated through the loft, Laura adding a melodic contralto as she set yet another empty ornament box carefully into a plastic storage bin bought just for that purpose. Silent for a moment, she stepped back to survey the final effect.
A tree sparkling with tiny white lights and twined with deep-red wired ribbon filled the bay window of the loft. Ornaments danced on nearly every limb of the tree, matching those hanging on slender red ribbons from a line strung across the kitchen windows. The scent of the evergreen mingled with bayberry scented candles and dishes of striped peppermints.
A white porcelain nativity set was artfully arranged on top of the piano, set off by the inky-coat of Nero standing guard over a delicate donkey and camel.
The beautifully decorated loft, complete with coordinating packages under the tree, rivaled the most exquisite window in a department store display.
At the sound of three sharp raps on the door, Laura turned.
She threw the heavy metal door back and, seeing her partner, leaned forward with a grin to kiss his cheek. “Mr. Steele! Feeling better today?”
“Oddly well rested. I have a sense, though, that I missed large segments of last night’s activities.” Steele looked quizzically around Laura’s loft. He held a large envelope in one hand and a sprig of holly in the other. “I was afraid I’d miss you. Weren’t you were headed off to snowy Connecticut this evening?“
“Too snowy, I’m afraid. All the flights into Bradley are grounded for the next 48 hours. We’ve pushed back the Holt family Christmas celebration for a few days.” Laura shoved the door back into place, turning to lean against it as she contemplated Steele. “Leaves my Christmas unexpectedly open. You wouldn’t, by any chance, be free?”
“To spend the holiday with you?” Steele smiled slowly, folding and tucking the envelope into his breast pocket, “Why, Laura! I would consider that an unexpected pleasure!”
Taking the holly he held, Laura gestured at the loft with a theatrical flourish, proudly showing off the results of her decorating efforts. “What do you think?”
“My, my. A veritable Christmas wonderland: Laura you never cease to amaze me!” Steele gave the room a long look, lingering with a grin on the porcelain nativity with its contrasting feline embellishment. At last, he walked over to the shimmering tree and reached out to touch one of the ornaments. Turning, he looked gently at Laura.
“It seems you’ve created a Christmas ‘present’ to replace the ghost of Christmas ‘past’.”
Laura focused carefully on the holly in her hands. “No more ghosts, Mr. Steele. When Vekmer blew up my house, every family Christmas ornament from my childhood went up in flames. I’ve made this Christmas my very own.”
“Is there room for anyone else in this Currier and Ives scene of yours?”
“It’s hardly Currier and Ives, Mr. Steele,” Laura said with raised eyebrows, “I’d call it more … hmmm, The Sound of Music.”
“Christmas carols?” Steele looked puzzled.
“Julie Andrews, 1965. All my favorite things - music, sparkling lights, red bows, evergreens…” Walking closer as she spoke, Laura slipped her arms up to Steele’s neck, the sprig of holly still clutched in her fingertips. “And you.”
Steele’s arms settled around Laura’s waist, pulling her close as he smiled down at her. “So fill me in. Did I solve the case of the Symphony thefts?”
The ring of Laura’s phone interrupted him.” With a grin and a slight shrug, Laura stepped away to answer it. Listening for a moment, Laura’s face flickered with amusement. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Miss Krebs!”
Steele sat on the arm of the sofa, popping a soft peppermint into his mouth.
“All wrapped up last night - Mr. Steele was brilliant. Uh huh… You did what!? … No, no, I know you wanted to help him feel better. … No, I’m afraid my travel plans are delayed for a few days because of the snow storms out east. I’ll spend Christmas Eve here and leave late the day after Christmas to visit my family …Mr. Steele? He’s here, actually. Would you like to talk to him? Travel safely - see you after the holiday.”
Laura handed the phone to Steele, who smiled as he said warmly, “Yes, Miss Krebs, Happy Christmas to you, too. No, it seems that time frame won’t work after all. A missed opportunity, I’m afraid. Not to worry - I’ll take care of canceling the arrangements. Go and have fun! … Thank you, Mildred.”
“What was that all about?” Laura asked a bit suspiciously. “I hope you haven’t encouraged Mildred to order anything terribly expensive for the office.”
“Not at all - just that coffee maker we talked about. I’ll make sure it’s installed before Mildred gets back from her sister’s.” Steele smiled as he settled his arms around Laura once again.
“I have a bit of a confession to make, Mr. Steele. You kept claiming to feel fine, but I was worried about you yesterday, so I slipped you some cold medication. It seems Mildred did the same thing. The combination is probably what knocked you out last night.“
Looking slightly stricken, Steele leaned back from Laura to contemplate her slight form. “I’m touched that both of you were so concerned about my well being. Laura, would you like to tell me exactly what happened last night? I remember the Symphony fund-raiser, and I vaguely remember pursuing Tasha backstage, but things get a bit blurry after that.”
“The second chair viola and third violin left late in the performance and led us straight to the entire collection of stolen items. Natasha was absolutely honest with you, Mr. Steele. She’s limited her talents to the violin in recent years, but even musicians get bored now and then. Apparently she’d demonstrated her talents - simply for fun - for several other strings players. While Miss Popavnic garnered attention at the Gala last night, several less noteworthy string players were able to follow in her wake, using their talented fingers to make a final sweep of the reception before bowing out during the Handel. We caught them red handed.”
“Was I vaguely coherent?”
Laura laughed as her long fingers stroked the back of Steele’s head. “More like absent. I told Bell you’d been unavoidably pulled away following the performance.”
“What would I do without you, Miss Holt?”
“Speaking of which - exactly what were your plans for today? I don’t want to steal you away from anything special.”
As Laura spoke, a record dropped onto the turntable. The melodic opening to Judy Garland’s Christmas classic from Meet Me in St. Louis unfolded into the sparkling lights and evergreen smells of the room.
Steele smiled with contentment, notching Laura a bit closer in his arms as he murmured into her ear. “There are wonderful Christmas movies on the telly all day, the deli down the street will have everything we need for dinner, and you’ve already taken care of providing the appropriate setting. What’s say we follow Miss Garland’s lead, eh?”
“And have our selves a Merry Little Christmas?”
His eyes held hers until the irresistible desire to taste her smile with his own brought the sounds and lights of the season together in the sweet taste of a peppermint kiss.
Having abandoned his watch over the Nativity, Nero twined unnoticed through the bells and balls hanging low from the tree, sending the shivering ornaments into a silvery concert of Christmas joy.
The sound of delicate bells gave an aura of movie magic to the softly crooned words of the song.
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now