Winning Her Love (The Rocky Mountain Christmas Train)

5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

S eth waited for the crowd to disperse before leaving the train. A twenty-something man stood on the platform holding a sign with their names. Joy and Chantal were making their way toward him. He watched Chantal move; she didn’t seem to have any difficulty with her crutches, though there were a couple of icy patches on the platform. He gave them a moment to reach their driver before striding forward to join them. He didn’t want them to feel rushed. They had plenty of time to do their shopping. At least he hoped they did.

The dull winter sun made Joy’s hair shine like gold. She wore a stylish, but well-loved, red wool jacket. The black and gold scarf draped around her neck glittered in the dim sunlight. She looked happy, but nervous.

He echoed those emotions. He was worried about failing. The burn unit needed this money. With the winners being broadcast on both Canadian and American television and widely on social media, the publicity would be enormous. He’d get a chance to talk about fire prevention and safety too, thus raising awareness.

“Are you Seth?” the dark-haired man asked.

“I am.”

“I’m Adesh. I’ll be your driver. The car is just over here.” He pointed and led them through the thinning crowd. “Where to?” he asked once they were all piled into the back seat.

They hadn’t had any time before now to come up with a plan. “Can we have a few minutes to decide?” Seth scratched his ear. He turned to Joy. “Any thoughts on how to create a coordinated look? Do we want actual choir robes, or something else?”

“I was thinking black pants for the boys, skirts for the girls, and a brightly colored top. Maybe rich green or red?”

“If they all had button shirts, they could wear matching ties,” Chantal said. “Or white shirts and bright ties.”

“Interesting idea. I like the idea of choir robes, myself.” He watched his partners to see what their honest opinion was. Chantal frowned; Joy looked thoughtful. “Jenny did specify choir robes,” he reminded them.

“She also said some other sort of cohesive outfits. I think the pants idea would work.” Joy snapped her seatbelt closed and watched her daughter do the same.

“Hm. I still prefer robes. It is a children’s choir. Let me do a quick internet search and see if I can find robes.” After five minutes, he came up dry. Only one shop carried choir robes, and their lead time was too long.

“I guess matching outfits is the solution,” Joy said. “I’m not sure how to do it. Retail probably won’t work. We’d have to hit dozens of stores to find everything and might fail in the end.”

The worry in her voice bothered him. They both wanted this badly. He didn’t like the idea of potentially sharing the prize money. He’d rather have it all. But since he didn’t want to lose, he searched frantically for a solution.

“Mama, I’m hungry. Can we think and get something to eat at the same time?”

Seth laughed. “I could use coffee. Maybe we could hit a drive-through. If it’s okay with you, Joy.”

“We really should get started.” Joy’s frown sucked all the good vibes from the car.

“If I may,” Adesh said. “There’s a small coffee shop about five blocks down and probably not out of our way if we’re searching for garments. It isn’t a drive-through, but they have the best coffee and treats.” He smiled at them in the rearview mirror.

“Fine.” Her frown said it was anything but fine. “Take us there.”

Seth hid his grin and started searching for clothing companies in Boulder. By the time they reached The Coffee Loft, he had narrowed the possibility to two manufacturers. One was close, only about twenty minutes. The other was almost an hour away. That meant they’d be pushing their time limit. He explained the situation as they waited their turn in line.

“I say go to the closest one. We can’t risk being late getting back to the train. We’ll fail if we don’t make it back in time.”

“Or we could split up.” The idea made sense to Seth.

“I don’t think we can. Besides, if we split up, how would we know what the other has chosen?”

“We could send pictures. I could take a cab to the far place.” He really didn’t want to mess this up by ending up without proper outfits for the kids. “Jenny didn’t say we had to stay together.”

“True. But do you want to separate and find out we were wrong? I can’t take the risk of being accused of cheating and getting thrown off the train.”

“No! I want to ride to Canada,” Chantal blurted, grasping Seth’s sleeve, and pulling on it. “Please, Mr. Mathison. Stay together. I want to see Canada.” Her eyes shone with tears.

A little piece of the ice he’d protected his heart with since his niece’s death melted. He could picture his niece begging to finish the trip. “We’ll stay together.” He tapped her on the nose. “Just for you, munchkin.”

“Where do you want to start?” Joy smiled gratefully over Chantal’s head.

“Let’s get our order to go and hit the closest place.” She agreed. With luck, this would be their last argument of the day.

Before he finished his coffee, they arrived at Galliger’s Dress Works. Silly name for a clothing company, if you asked him. Though they must know what they were doing, the sign indicated they’d been in business since 1856.

He hopped out and tried to remain patient while Chantal fumbled her way out of the vehicle. He had to admire the strength in her arms as she lifted herself, scooted across the seat, and moved her legs one at a time. Joy held out her crutches, Chantal grabbed them and they hurried toward the warehouse entry.

“Are they open to the public?” Joy asked.

He gestured for her to go ahead of him up the narrow walk. “I don’t know. Their website didn’t say they weren’t.” He shrugged, even though she couldn’t see it.

“Oh boy. Maybe we should have gone to the other place,” she fretted.

He placed his hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her to a halt. She turned to look at him, questions in her eyes. “We’re here now. I’m sure we’ll find what we need. We can always hit a mega mall if we need to. If we rented a scooter for Chantal, we could shop an entire mall in no time flat. She opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and nodded.

“Here’s hoping they’ll let us in.”

A receptionist greeted them with an unhappy look. “Sorry, we aren’t open to the public.”

Seth stepped forward and smiled. “We’re on a mission of mercy,” he explained their situation, hoping she’d like the smile his mother said was so amazing. Quickly, he laid out their mission.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “We aren’t open to the public. This isn’t a retail shop.”

“Thanks for your time.” He turned to leave.

“Wait,” another voice called. He turned toward the double doors behind the receptionist.

“You said you’re with the Rocky Mountain Christmas Train?”

“Yes, we are,” Joy said. Her voice rang with enthusiasm.

“My brother applied to be on the train, though he never got in. He did make the shortlist in case someone canceled. Apparently, nobody did.”

“That’s too bad,” Seth said. “I heard there were thousands of applicants for the one hundred spots.”

“What is your charity?”

“Mine is the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.”

The woman smiled, obviously understanding why. “What’s yours?” She nodded towards Seth.

“The Alberta Children’s Hospital Burn Unit.” He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat every time he thought about his niece.

“Wonderful charities.” She turned to the receptionist. “Helen, why don’t you take an early break? Be back in an hour. I’ll help these lovely people out.”

Helen sputtered for a moment, clearly not pleased to have her control usurped. The other woman stepped forward and offered her hand. “I’m Michaela Frost. Call me Mikki.” After they all shook hands, including Chantal, she rubbed her hands briskly together. “Let’s get this party started.”

She flung open the double doors to the warehouse with a flourish. “Welcome to my domain. I’m going to recommend against a black-and-white color scheme,” she said. “The choir will look like a private school. This is a Christmas concert. Let’s liven it up with color.”

“That’s what I said,” Chantal exclaimed.

“Right this way. I just received a shipment from our Canadian factory. It’s the last of our Christmas jewel tones.” She walked toward the back. Several workers nodded or smiled as they passed. A couple of people looked surprised to see them.

Mikki pulled out a rolling rack of hanging shirts. “Look at these beauties.”

The rack was filled with boldly colored dress shirts. The rack beside it held matching blouses with small frills on the cuffs.

“Oh, they’re pretty,” Chantal exclaimed. “We need the bright pink and gold.”

“The fuchsia is lovely, isn’t it?” Mikki said. Seth admired the way she corrected the girl without seeming to.

“The boys would look good in the deep green and the royal blue,” Joy suggested.

“What about red? It is a classic Christmas color,” he said.

“You don’t want to overwhelm the audience with too much. You need to limit it to four, maximum, or you’ll lose the cohesiveness. I suggest red and gold for the boys. Silver and green for the girls. Those are the colors we have the most of. What sizes do you need?”

Seth handed over the list and Mikki called over one of her staff members. “Would you please pull shirts in these sizes? Try to keep the amount of each color even. Joy will help you while Chantal and Seth come with me to find pants and skirts.”

“Oh, Chantal can stay with me,” Joy said hurriedly, her worry clear.

“Mo-om,” Chantal groaned. “I’ll be fine with Mr. Mathison. I’ll be good.”

“I’ll keep a close eye on her,” Seth offered, a touch annoyed that Joy didn’t trust him. She was very protective of Chantal, maybe over-protective.

Joy twisted her purse strap between her fingers. “Let me give you my phone number in case you need me,” she said.

Seth barely resisted rolling his eyes. Instead, he handed her his phone. No sense fighting Mama Bear. He’d learned that from his sisters. “I swear that I’ll watch her.”

Mikki clapped her hands, eager to show off her wares. “This way.” She walked at a speed that didn’t seem to challenge Chantal.

“I hate when Mom does that,” Chantal grumbled as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Does what?” Seth knew but wanted to hear it in the girl’s words.

“Treats me like I’m stupid or an invalid. I’ve told her a billion times that invalid is spelled in valid. I am valid. I’m just…” she paused. “I’m different, but I’m capable too. I know what I can and can’t do. She doesn’t even like to let me try new things.” Her voice quivered like she was on the verge of tears.

Mikki gave her a side glance but said nothing.

“She’s worried,” Seth offered, feeling out of his depth but somehow understanding all the same. “And she let you come with us. Baby steps, right?” He offered his fist, and she gave him a fist bump without wobbling.

“Here we are.” Mikki stopped by a rack. “Oh, we’ll need the list.”

“I’ve got it on my phone. We have fifteen boys and seventeen girls. I’d like skirts for the girls and trousers for the boys.”

They placed the clothing on a rolling rack as they found the correct sizes. Trousers in the right sizes weren’t difficult, though they had to mix two styles of black pants. Close enough in Seth’s mind. Matching knee-length skirts was harder. They came up short on three of the second-largest sizes.

Seth was starting to panic when Chantal said, “Do you have the next size up?”

“I do, why?”

“Mama can sew. Maybe she could fix them. You should call her Mr. Mathison.”

He pulled out his phone and dialed. Joy answered before the first ring finished.

“What’s wrong?” she shouted, panic in her voice. “What happened to Chantal?”

Whoa. Calling was a mistake !

“Joy, wait. She’s fine.”

“What? What’s wrong, Seth?” He had to pull the phone away from his ear. She was shouting so loud he could hear her without the phone.

“Sorry. Chantal is fine. Nothing has happened.”

“Give me the phone,” Chantal said, wiggling her fingers for him to hand it over. He shrugged and passed it to her. She leaned her elbow on her crutch and held the phone to her ear.

“Mom. Mom! I’m fine. I just have a question.” Seth could hear Joy talking, but couldn’t make out the words. “Mom!” Chantal raised her voice. “I have a question. I’m fine.” She listened for a second. “We can’t find enough skirts unless you can make three smaller.” She listened again. “K. Bye.”

She handed the phone back to Seth. He put it up to his ear.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Seth Mathison. I nearly had a heart attack. I thought something had happened to Chantal. Never again.”

“I am sorry. I didn’t think it through.”

“Obviously not. Get the skirts. I can alter them if they aren’t enormously oversized. Did you get ties?”

“Neckties? No. Do we need ties?”

“I think the boys would look dapper with neckties.”

Dapper? He rolled his eyes. “I’ll check with Mikki and get back to you.” He hung up as Mikki shook her head no. “We could probably do without them anyway.”

“They would look good,” she said. “Let me make a call.” She talked and pushed the rack towards the lobby. Seth and Chantal followed.

“Mom was really mad, wasn’t she?”

“Yup. But it’s okay. I’ve been shouted at before.” He winked at her. “My sisters shout at me all the time when I mess up.” Well, one of them did. The other barely spoke since her daughter died. Therapy was helping, but her recovery was slow and painful. Even though he was a firefighter, and had experienced tragedy and loss, Seth had done therapy as well. The entire family had, but Chantal didn’t need to hear about that.

Joy joined them on the way to the lobby and told them her helper had already taken her selections to the desk. Mikki entered their purchase into her computer. “I’m giving these to you at cost,” she said and named a ridiculously low price.

“That’s way below our budget. We were given funds to pay for this. You don’t need to cut your profit out,” Joy said.

“Tell you what, if the organizers agree, you can give the leftover funds to your charities and split it between them with my compliments.”

“That’s so generous,” Joy said, her eyes tearing up.

“We’ll make sure you get a receipt,” Seth promised and slid her enough cash to cover the bill. “All we need now are the ties.”

“My friend is having neckties for the boys and pendants for the girls delivered to the train. She runs an accessory shop. She’s hooking you up for free. But if you happened to mention our businesses to others, that would be great.” She gave them the name of her friend’s shop.

“You can count on that,” Seth promised.