Page 46 of Better Watch Out
“No, smaller productions outside of the city and in New Jersey but it was her dream.” The grandmother looked back to where her daughter and granddaughter had disappeared. “She’s the most amazing mom and works so hard to give Kate the best life possible.”
The sweet sentiment made Frannie think of her own mom and while Kate’s mom was a warrior mom of a different sort, Frannie’s mom was also pretty amazing. A pang of guilt rose in Frannie’s chest at how embarrassed she’d been of her family situation growing up, and even now, as an adult, she still allowed her father’s decision to negatively influence her.
“I have two tickets to theNutcrackerfor tomorrow night.” Frannie pulled out her cell phone. “I won’t be able to go but do you think your daughter would use them?”
The grandmother’s eyes widened. “What? Those tickets must’ve cost a fortune and are nearly impossible to get.”
Frannie was very much aware of those two facts. It had taken her weeks of monitoring the website and setting alarms to be able to purchase the tickets, but with her flight leaving tomorrow night, they would go to waste.
“I have the tickets here.” She held up her phone. “I can text them to you.”
The woman’s eyes glistened as she pulled out her phone, but then she hesitated. “Are you sure you …” Her gaze moved between Frannie and Andrew. “Are you sure you and your beau aren’t going to use them?”
“I’m sure.” Frannie’s cheeks warmed and she dared not look at Andrew. “If you give me your number, I’ll text you the tickets.”
Two minutes later, Frannie had given away her tickets, the grandmother thanking her for giving her daughter the best Christmas gift ever, and was now following an elf to see Santa Claus.
“I hope you’ve thought about what you’re going to ask Santa for,” Andrew whispered over her shoulder. “Because you are definitely on the nice list.”
ChapterEighteen
There wasn’t supposed to beanythingromantic about visiting Santa. He was a fat man in a red suit who tempted children to believe he could fly a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer to deliver toys across the planet in one night.
Nothing romantic about it at all.
Except Andrew hadn’t been able to keep his heart from pounding against his ribs from the second Frannie walked in to meet the very, in his opinion, realistic Santa perched on a red velvet chair. His white hair and beard were real; even his cheeks were rosy beneath a pair of round golden glasses. But it was Frannie who kept his attention, the sheer joy glowing in her expression as she talked with Santa and then whispered what she wanted for Christmas in his ear—an action that had Andrew ridiculously jealous of the jolly saint.
Frannie radiated this light, an energy that was impossible to ignore. And it had become increasingly clear that he’d underestimated his ability to remain neutral—especially when she gave away herNutcrackertickets.
“Is this really what little girls want to play with?” Frannie held up a doll that was marketed for girls ages three to seven but the doll was all curves, pouty lips, and in a cringe-inducing outfit. “Whatever happened to astronaut Barbie?”
Santaland conveniently exited into Macy’s toy department and based on the shrill of whining, he didn’t know if it was advantageous to sales or just torture to parents. Probably both.
Andrew pointed to a table of board games and puzzles. “Is she too young for games?”
“She loves to play games.”
Frannie browsed through the selection and while she was distracted, Andrew kept a vigil on their surroundings. Mac’s update the night before didn’t sit well with him and as he tried to obey Amanda’s directive to get some rest, he couldn’t stop worrying about what could happen today.
He didn’t want anything to make the smile on Frannie’s face disappear.
“Way to keep it professional, Bishop,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“There are, um, books.” Andrew walked to a short shelf. “Does Jisoo like to read?”
“I think so. I know Ryan and Vivian read to her.” Frannie’s eyes sparked. “Oh, look, it’sEloise at Christmastime. This is perfect!”
Andrew studied the illustrated cover. “Yeah?”
“Yes. This is about a little girl who lives at The Plaza in New York City and her name is Eloise, which is my middle name. Even though I’m not staying at the same hotel, it’ll be fun to show Jisoo photos of The Peninsula as I read her the book. Don’t you think?”
Her smile was infectious and it reached deep inside of him. “I think it’s perfect.”
They spent some more time picking up a few more items before Frannie seemed satisfied that she’d spoiled her niece sufficiently. With bags in hand, they walked through the store and Andrew found it hard not to keep sneaking looks at her.
It was like she’d stepped out of one of those black-and-white films his grandma used to make him and his sister watch. There was always something intriguing about those leading ladies but his eight-year-old self wasn’t mature enough to identify the allure of their spark for life—their moxie, as his grandma used to say—as the reason behind the heroes’ inability to avoid falling for the dames.
