Chapter 2

We made a pit stop at the sandwich shop and then caught a taxi. I took her to Fashion Valley Center. She looked a bit nervous when she saw how everyone else was dressed. I was wearing the same comfortable polo shirt and jeans that I'd been wearing when she met me. Seeing that she was nervous I led her into Nordstrom's and then into the women's clothing section where I located a sales attendant.

"Hi Barbara. My name is Rich and this is my friend Lynn."

"Hi Rich, Lynn, it's a pleasure to meet you. How can I help you?" the elegantly dressed young lady replied.

"Well you see my friend Lynn here is the victim of the airlines. I'm afraid all of her luggage has been lost. If you could help her select some new luggage and clothing, undergarments, shoes, perfume, make-up - really everything she'll need for about two months on vacation here in San Diego - I'd be very appreciative."

Lynn's eyes had grown to the size of half dollars as she listened to my instructions to Barbara.

Barbara wanted to make certain she'd understood me correctly and she seemed pretty professional about the whole thing. She picked up a clipboard and pen and wrote down my instructions before reading them back to me.

"Luggage, clothing, shoes, undergarments, perfume, make-up and anything else an attractive young woman might need for two months of vacation here in San Diego. Is that correct sir?" Barbara asked with a smile.

"Yes. Make sure that her wardrobe includes clothing suitable for casual outings as well as formal settings."

Lynn turned to Barbara and said "Would you excuse us for just a minute Barbara? I need a word with Rich." She grabbed my hand and led me away from the sales attendant.

"Rich, do you have any idea how much this is going to cost?" Lynn asked with obvious concern.

"No, not really; but don't worry about it Lynn."

"Don't worry! Rich this is Nordstrom's. This could be really expensive! You don't even know me? Why would you do this for me? I don't understand?"

I took her hand in both of mine and said "You don't have to understand why Lynn. Just let me do this. You might say that I'm doing it for the daughter I may never get to see again." I couldn't quite keep all of the emotion out of my voice as I told her this and she seemed to accept my sincerity.

We walked back to Barbara and I told her "Lynn was concerned that this might cost me quite a lot of money. This is important to me Barbara. I'm not worried about how much it may cost as I can afford it. I trust both of you will follow my instructions?"

"Yes sir," Barbara replied. "My manager would love for me to follow your instructions," she laughed.

"Good. I need a good spot to camp out and read my book. Any suggestions?"

"Sure. There's a nice café right here in the store. If you'd like, I can call up there if Lynn needs your opinion on something or when we're ready to ring it all up."

"That sounds good. Just have them ask for Mr. Ard whenever you need me."

Up in the café, while sipping my coffee, I hit upon another idea. I saw three young teenage girls and a woman of thirty or so all sitting together. I moved to the table next to them when I noticed that the woman seemed to be largely left out of the teenage chatter.

"Happy Holidays ladies," I said with a friendly smile.

"Happy Holidays," they replied.

"I was wondering if you might be able to do me a small favor? You see my niece has arrived quite unexpectedly. It's not much past Christmas, but I didn't know she was coming; I'm afraid I don't have any presents for her. She's about sixteen and I thought you ladies might have a better idea of what kinds of presents a young woman would like than I would."

The three started asking a few questions which I answered as best as I could but I really didn't know much about Lynn yet. "I guess part of the problem is I just haven't had that much time with my niece since she was quite little. I don't know the answers to most of your questions.

Do you ladies like shopping?" I said changing tracks just a bit.

They laughed at my question and answered "We're female aren't we?"

"Okay. Dumb question I guess. Let me put it another way. Could I hire all four of you to do some Christmas shopping for me? Lynn would probably like what you pick out better than anything I might."

"You want us to shop for you?" the woman asked.

I laughed and replied, "Yes! And yes I know it probably sounds a little weird; but I'll make it worth your while I promise."

"Let me get this straight. You want to pay young women to shop?" one of the girls asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I do."

"How would this work?" the older woman asked.

"Go together as a group and fill up a cart or two with presents you might like to get yourself. I don't know her clothing sizes, so don't worry about clothes. Once you have a cartful, have them page Mr. Ard here in the café. I'll come to the register and pay for it all. Try to keep it all under a thousand dollars. I'll give each of you a hundred for your time. I'll make it a hundred and fifty if you can do a good job and still be done in the next hour and a half."

"Are you for real?" the woman wanted to know.

"I suppose you could pinch me and find out; but I'm quite serious about the whole thing. I want her to have a nice Christmas and she's been having a really tough time recently."

"Okay. We get her one or two carts full of things that a young teenage woman would like to receive as Christmas gifts. Then we have them page you, Mr. Ard, up here in the café. You'll come pay for it all and give us each some money for doing the thing we love to do the most - shop! It sounds too good to be true; but what the heck - we all do love to shop so we'll do it."

"Great! Thank you ladies - this means a lot to me. I'll pick up the check for your meal here, that way you can get started."

They headed off chattering happily among themselves. My thoughts wandered back to what I'd said to Lynn and realized there was quite a bit of truth in it. I really missed being able to see the happy smile on Stacy's face around Christmas time. Just like anyone she enjoyed receiving presents; but she enjoyed giving them and bringing happiness to others just as much. This year I was cheated out of the opportunity to spend Christmas with Stacy - but it wasn't too late to bring some joy to Lynn.

I tried reading my book, but I just couldn't concentrate on it very well. I finally gave up and called the hotel on my cell phone. I hired a limo for the evening and arranged for the driver to meet us in the Nordstrom's parking garage in two hours. They already had my credit card info on file and took care of all of the arrangements for me.

The café attendant called me to the phone. A somewhat startled cashier told me that she had four women at her register who wanted me to come down and pay for their purchases. I asked her where her register was located and then hustled to her location. I pulled out my American Express card and handed it to the confused cashier.

"I know that Christmas is past; but would it be possible to have these wrapped in Christmas paper?"

"Hold on. I'll see what I can do."

She called someone and relayed my request, then looked at me and smiled. "We aim to please Mr. Ard. The manager said it might take a bit longer, but if you'll wait here for a moment he'll be out to take care of it for you."

While I was waiting I took a quick look at the assortment the ladies had picked. They'd done a really outstanding job. "Thank you Ladies, I'm sure Lynn will enjoy these."

I pulled out eight one hundred dollar bills from my wallet and handed two to each of them.

"This is more than what you told us Mr. Ard!" the women objected.

"That's okay. You did a wonderful job and I do appreciate it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

They left with big smiles on their faces just as the manager walked up to the register where I was waiting.

"I understand you'd like these gift wrapped with a Christmas theme?" he said.

"That's correct. How much would it cost to have it done within the hour? I've a limousine waiting in your parking garage to take them back to my hotel."

"We can do that. There will be the normal wrapping fees but no extra charges to get it done in an hour Mr. Ard. We're happy to do it for you."

"Good. Would it be alright if I waited in the café? I'm expecting the young woman who all of this is for to be calling me there."

"Certainly, we'll page you there when it's all wrapped up."

When I got back to the café the attendant told me that Barbara was ready for me to come back to Women's clothing. The café attendant told me they would forward any other messages to me down there.

I went down to the place Lynn and I had first met Barbara and found her waiting there with quite a large number of packages. Lynn wasn't in sight.

"There you are Mr. Ard," Barbara said with a smile. "I followed your instructions to the best of my ability. Lynn is changing into the outfit she wanted to wear to go out with you for dinner. I've rung everything up into the register and it's ready for you to pay; but I'm wondering the same thing Lynn is. How are you going to get all of this back to your hotel?"

Between the purchases that Lynn and Barbara didn't know about and the ones she had managed to put together down here it probably wouldn't all fit into the Limo.

"I guess I didn't think about all of that Barbara. Any chance that you folks could have this delivered to my suite at the Manchester Grand Hyatt?" I asked.

"I'm sure we can arrange something."

"Good, but it's more than just what you have down here I'm afraid. I also have a few other purchases upstairs in gift wrap. I've already paid for those and they'll be calling you down here any moment to let you know that they're ready."

"How many packages are we talking about?"

"Well with what you have here it would probably fill up the back of a Van."

She looked at me with a grin and said "Just reading your book and sipping coffee Mr. Ard? It sounds like you've been doing a little shopping of your own."

"You might say that."

"Let me call the manager."

This time, when she reached the manager on the phone, the man asked to speak with me.

"Mr. Ard, what a pleasure to speak with you again. Please provide Barbara with your room number at the Hyatt. I know the manager there and would be happy to have your purchases delivered. Also, I didn't know that you had made such a large purchase in Barbara's department as well. I'll be waiving the delivery charges and the gift wrap fees. They are our gift to you sir, Happy Holidays."

I thanked the man and handed Barbara my credit card.

"Aren't you even going to ask what the total is?" she asked.

"No. I'm sure it will be at the bottom of the receipt. I can look at it later."

She took my card and ran it through while shaking her head. "This has been the most unusual day I've had in a long time," she said.

"I hope it has been a good one," I replied.

"It has at that," Barbara said with a smile. "Happy New Year Mr. Ard."

I signed for the purchase and placed my card back in my wallet.

"Thanks for your help Barbara. I really appreciate it," I said just as I saw Lynn approaching.

Wow! She looked just incredible! She had just enough makeup on to compliment her natural beauty. I was dressed casually and she must have decided that would be the theme for the evening. Her look was casual yet elegant. I walked towards her.

"Lynn you're gorgeous!"

I was rewarded with a dazzling smile and another blush.

"Thanks Rich. Do you really like this outfit?"

"Well, I wouldn't wear it myself," I said earning a soft punch in the arm, "but on you it looks great. Have you decided where you'd like to eat Dinner?"

"Yes, but what about the packages? Don't we need to take them back to the hotel first?"

"No Lynn. Barbara has kindly offered to see to it that they're delivered so we can leave now."

Lynn turned to Barbara and thanked her for all of her help and gave her a friendly hug. When she turned back to me there were tears running down her cheeks, but she was smiling. I offered her my arm and she took it. I led her to the parking garage as she wiped her tears.

"Why are we going to the garage? We didn't drive here," Lynn wondered.

"You'll see. By the way, where are we going anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"To eat. Where are we going to eat? You said you'd picked somewhere."

"Oh, right! Well we don't have to go there if you don't want to," she said somewhat nervously.

"Can you let me know where it is before I have to decide if I want to go there?" I said in a teasing voice.

"Right. Well I asked Barbie-"

"Excuse me, did you say Barbie?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, you know Barbara. Anyway, I asked her if she knew of any Italian restaurants around here and she mentioned a few. One of them I've eaten at before and really liked."

"Okay we'll go there then. Which one is it?" I asked.

"Well it's probably not what you had in mind."

"Are you going to keep me in suspense all evening Lynn?"

"Oh alright, but don't laugh. I want to go to the Old Spaghetti Factory."

"Why would I laugh? It might not be the fanciest restaurant, but I've often enjoyed a meal there with friends."

By now we were nearing the limo. The driver opened the door and I waited until Lynn had slipped in first. Then I told him we were going to the Old Spaghetti Factory and he didn't even bat an eye.

"A limo Rich? Wow! I've never ridden in a limo before. Why?" Lynn asked.

"Why not?"

Meals at the Old Spaghetti Factory aren't generally written up in gourmet magazines, but they are pretty good none the less. You have a nice variety of pasta dishes to choose from, fresh bread served hot to your table, and at the end of your meal they treat you to a scoop of spumoni ice cream.

Lynn was clearly enjoying herself during the meal, but after I paid the waiter and we headed back to the limo she seemed to be getting a bit tense and I wondered why. It seemed that the closer we drew to the hotel, the more her signs of anxiety increased.

When we pulled up to the hotel entrance, I asked the driver how much I owed him for the evening's services. He informed me that the charges had been added to my hotel bill. I handed him a generous tip and then offered Lynn my arm.

By the time we got back to the elevator and where riding up to the suite her agitation was palpable. "Lynn, you seem a bit upset. Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Well, I'm sorry if I've done something to upset you. I must tell you that I enjoyed eating dinner in the company of such a lovely companion. You made a good choice of restaurants too. That baked lasagna really hit the spot!"

"Yes, but now..." her voice drifted into silence.

I opened the door to the suite and led her inside. Whoever had brought up the packages had done a wonderful job. The things that Barbara had helped Lynn pick out must have been placed in one of the bedrooms because the only packages in sight were wrapped in Christmas paper and had bows and ribbons on them. They were stacked underneath a Christmas tree! I really owed someone big time for this!

"What? How? When?" all came stumbling from Lynn's lips.

"Well, it looks like Christmas to me Lynn. As for how, I've never been able to catch Santa in the act myself. I think the when must have been while we were enjoying our dinner.

Why don't you sit down on the couch and I'll see if there are any packages here with your name on them," I suggested as I led the newly stunned Lynn to the couch and then headed to the tree.

"Yes, this one has your name on it," I said handing one of them to her. She opened it and found that the box contained a rather good portable radio and CD player combo.

Before she could think about it too much I handed her the next one. It contained about a dozen CDs from popular artists; I just kept the packages flowing until she'd opened all fourteen of them. She seemed delighted with her gifts, but when it was all over she got really agitated again.

"Now what?" she asked in a very subdued voice.

"Well Lynn, I don't know about you. But I'm really tired. I'm going to go to bed," I said as I headed towards the bedroom door. I opened it and peered inside. There were no packages in my room.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lynn. I almost forgot. Your clothes and other items are probably in your room. Let's go see."

"My room?"

"Of course; you didn't think I'd keep everything in my room did you?" I teased as I led her to the other bedroom. When I opened the door she saw that it was filled with her purchases. "This is your room."

"But I thought..." again her voice drifted to silence.

"You thought what Lynn?"

Once again I got an "Oh nothing." But I could see the tension just drain away and when she turned to face me her whole face was lit with a beautiful smile.

"You're wonderful. Did you know that?" she asked.

I didn't really know what to say. It really didn't matter since she seemed to not expect an answer.

"When I woke up this morning it was just another hopeless day. I could have never expected things would turn out so absolutely wonderful!"

"I'm glad to see you happy Lynn. Your smile is the only repayment I could ever desire.

Good night Lynn. I'll see you in the morning honey."

The next morning I was showered and dressed before she woke up. She'd left her door open a crack and I peeked into her room and saw that she was still asleep. My biggest concern had been that she might get scared and leave during the night. I was relieved to see that she was still here.

I ordered a carafe of coffee from room service and sat down with my book and read for a bit. The aroma of the coffee must have drifted into her room as I soon heard her say "What is that lovely smell? Do I smell coffee?"

"Yes you do. I've got an extra mug out here waiting for you whenever you'd like it."

She drifted into the room wearing a baby doll night gown that wasn't quite sheer enough to reveal anything, but it certainly showed enough to keep you guessing.

"How do you take your coffee Lynn?"

"Lots of cream and sugar please."

I added the requested items to the coffee and handed her the hot brew along with the room service menu.

"What's this?" she asked.

"I thought you might like to join me for breakfast out on the balcony. That's the menu. I know what I'd like and once you let me know what you want I can call our order in."

"That sounds nice," she said, "but first Rich, could you please assure me that I'm not really dreaming? Could you convince me that I'm not going to wake up in a few minutes and find that I'm on another park bench?"

She was standing pretty close to me so I gave her a swat on her cute little derriere.

"Ouch! What was that for?" she exclaimed.

"Well Lynn, if that didn't wake you up I guess you must not be dreaming!" I said with a laugh.

Our time was mostly spent sight seeing, pretty much just going to whatever nearby attraction we fancied at the moment. Not wanting Lynn to ever feel as helpless or destitute as she had before I'd given her five hundred dollars to keep as her own telling her to let me know if she needed any more. I wanted her to understand that staying with me was a choice, not a requirement. Even so it seemed that we spent most of our waking hours together, though Lynn did tell me she was going out by herself for a few hours one afternoon. When she came back from her little excursion I found myself comforting a crying young woman without knowing the cause of her distress.

We'd spent two weeks together before Lynn decided to tell me a bit about herself. The conversation started with her asking a question.

"How come you haven't asked me about my past?"

"I didn't want to pry or scare you away. I figured that you'd tell me about yourself in your own time."

"You're not at all curious?" Lynn asked.

"Well, maybe somewhat curious, but I don't have any overwhelming need to know until you're ready to tell."

"I'm ready to talk about it if you're ready to listen; but it's not a short story. Telling you about my past will take awhile," she told me as she looked to see my reaction.

"That's alright Lynn. You've got my ear for as long as you'd like."

We ordered room service and stayed in the suite for the morning, sitting near each other as I listened to a rather disturbing story. Lynn had grown up in a fairly well to do family at the upper end of middle class so to speak. Ironically enough she'd grown up in Tucson not far from where I'd lived. Lynn had enjoyed her life as well as can be expected of anyone, all until she made a very unpleasant discovery: Her parents were living a secret life that Lynn stumbled onto quite accidentally!

One Friday evening about five months ago they'd urged her to go to the mall with her friends for a few hours and handed her fifty dollars for spending money. They had done this on many occasions in the past and it seemed quite normal to Lynn. The mall was within walking distance and Lynn anticipated another fun evening of shopping and hanging out with her friends. This evening turned out to be a bit different though. She looked into the ice cream shop and the arcade next door to it. Not seeing any of her friends she took a quick walk around the mall and still didn't see anybody she knew. As she passed by the cinema a quick look at the list of movies playing showed nothing of real interest. Finding nothing to do at the mall she decided to head for home and spend the evening reading the latest Harry Potter book her friend Kylie had given to her.