"Whew!" Maurice sank back on his heels and didn't complain when the image of Jo and Ken kissing faded from the surface of the Wishing Ball. He mimed wiping nervous sweat from his forehead and looked up at Angela. "Worked out, didn't it?"
"This
time." Her expression serene, Angela continued counting out the cash
register.
"This
time?"
"That was a
little heavy-handed, chasing them with the mistletoe."
"Got the job
done, didn't it? They finally took the hint, didn't they?"
"Yes, they did.
At the end of two years, I think you'll shape up into quite a fine matchmaker.
Maybe you'll like it so much, you'll want to stay just as you are." Angela
held onto her calm expression while Maurice stared at her, mouth open and eyes
wide in dismay. When he let out a moan of utter horror, she burst out laughing,
warm and rolling, so it brightened the lights on the Christmas tree. Maurice
couldn't help but join in.
"They really do
look great together, don't they?" he said, his laughter dying away as a
sigh.
"You know,
Maurice, I think more important than teaching you to mix some mercy into your
justice, Asmondius wanted you to learn to care, to get to know the people you
set out to help. You care about Jo and Ken now, don't you?"
"Yeah, they're
great. You can't help getting to know folks when you spend your whole day
following them around, trying to stop the creepolas from winning out over
them." He turned around and took a perch on the bent leg of the dragon
holding the Wishing Ball. "So, do I get time off for Christmas, or do I
get a new assignment?"
"Let's call it
research, rather than an assignment. I want you to get to know Holly." She
paused, but Maurice just nodded. "What? No complaints that she'd be
impossible to hook up with someone?"
"She's okay. You
gotta like a kid like her, the way she cares about books. And I've seen her
with the kids at the library." He sighed, his elbows on his knees and his
chin on his fists. "The problem is, hooking her up with a guy who's good
enough for her. A guy looks at the outside package first -- I know, because I'm
a guy. So nobody's gonna stick around long enough to see the gold mine hiding
inside that dumpy librarian look."
"So get to know
her and figure out a way to make the real Holly shine." She nudged him
with the tip of her index finger.
"Okay, okay,
I'll think about it."
"Don't think
about it. Do it." She stepped back from the counter and crossed her arms,
looking down at him. "I want you to find her someone who makes her feel
like the special person she is by next Christmas."
"Or else?"
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