Steele Curious3
Part One
The cab driver glanced in the rearview mirror. "Spending the holiday with family?" he asked conversationally.

"Not really," Harry answered. "Here to help a friend get married," he answered.

"Well, you're lucky to be here now. There's nothing like Christmas in Connecticut," the driver told him.

Harry nodded, muttering under his breath. "'Christmas In Connecticut'." Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan. 1945. He was already regretting agreeing to come here. It wasn't bad enough that this was the one holiday that Harry disliked more than any other, but to have to come HERE, where it was celebrated on such a grand scale - He shuddered as the taxi turned onto the decorated, snow edged street where his hotel was located.

He had used every excuse he'd been able to think of in order not to be here - but Daniel had been insistant.

"Really, Harry," he'd said over the telephone just two days ago. "How can I possibly marry Abigail without a Best Man?"

"What about the Major?" Harry had suggested.

"He's tied up in Rome, I'm afraid."

"Louis?"

"Haven't heard from him in months," Daniel said brightly. "I'm afraid you're stuck with the job, my boy. Now, the hotel reservations are all made. Same hotel where I'm staying. You're in Room 213. I'm in 212. Call me here at Frances and Donald's when you arrive."

"Daniel -"

"No more arguements, Harry. It's important to me that you be here, my boy. Don't let me down."

So here he was, Harry thought, paying the smiling cab driver as he grabbed his suitcase. "Thanks."

"Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas," he said, tipping his cap.

"Yes, well, same to you," Harry replied, turning to enter the lobby of the hotel. He very nearly groaned aloud upon seeing the huge Christmas tree in the center of the room, pristene white, decorated with red bows and ornaments. Steering a wide path around the area, Harry made his way to the desk. "Harry Chalmers," he told the clerk. "I believe I have a reservation?"

The clerk, wearing a red and white cap, smiled. "Chalmers? Ah, yes. Room 213." He summoned a bell hop. "Steve, could you see Mr. Chalmers to Room 213, please?"

"Yes, sir."

"Enjoy your stay, Mr. Chalmers."

Harry glanced at the over decorated room. "Yes, well, I'll try."

**********

Across town, Laura Holt jumped as the telephone rang. "Could you get that, Laura?" Frances asked, her mouth full of pins as she finished working on the dress Laura was going to wear for the wedding.

"What if it's-"

Frances took the pins from her mouth. "Really, Laura-"

Laura grabbed the telephone. "Hello?" she answered cautiously, then sighed a deep breath of relief. "It's for Mother," she told Frances. "Mother! Telephone!"

"Stop figeting, Laura," Frances admonished.

"I really don't want to be doing this, Frances," she said. "I don't know why you couldn't-"

Frances stood up with some effort, looking down at her swollen belly. "Because Mother and I didn't think it would look right for her Maid of Honor to be eight months pregnant. Now turn around." She continued talking as Laura slowly turned. "Besides, just because you'll have to let him escort you down the aisle doesn't mean to have to actually TALK to him. Unless you WANT to, of course."

"I don't," Laura insisted. "I don't want to see him at all, really. The only reason I agreed to do this is that Mother and Daniel refused to take no for an answer."

"You're going to have to work on that lying if you want to be a good private detective, my dear," Daniel said from the doorway.

"I'm NOT lying, Daniel," she said. "Harry left ME, remember? While I was still in the hospital. Didn't even say goodbye -"

"Rather like you did when you left London," Daniel pointed out.

"It's not the same," Laura declared. "Ouch! Be careful with those pins, Frances!"

Daniel hid his grin as Frances said, "Well, stop moving around."

The telephone rang again, and this time Daniel answered it. "Hello?"

"I'm here, Daniel," Harry said shortly.

"Harry, my boy. How was the flight?" he asked, watching as Laura ducked her head in an apparent show of disinterest. But Daniel could tell she was listening to every word.

"Not too bad."

"I've made reservations in the hotel dining room for all of us to have dinner," he explained. "At seven - "

"ALL of us?" Harry questioned.

"ALL of us," Daniel confirmed. "Why don't you get some rest?" he suggested. "We'll talk later."

"Rest?" Harry asked. "How the bloody hell am I supposed to rest in this place? There's a blasted Christmas tree in my room, Daniel-"

"Well, Harry, it IS Christmas, after all."

"Bah, humbug," Harry responded, only in part because he knew Daniel would expect it.

"Get some sleep. Perhaps you'll be a in a better frame of mind once you've rested. Later."

"Later."

Laura looked at him, her eyes filled with questions that she fought asking. Daniel stood there, smiling at her expectantly. "You'd better ask your questions, Laura," Daniel said at last, "or you're liable to explode. And I'd hate to see you undo all of Frances' hard work," he said, winking at Frances as she spoke.

"What was that about Christmas?" Laura asked in one breath, as if asking against her will.

"I'm afraid this time of year doesn't hold a great many happy memories for Harry, Laura."

"No, I guess it wouldn't," Laura realized, recalling the few things he'd told her about his early years.

"After he came to me, I tried to make it a pleasant time for him, but - I'm afraid that the memories of earlier Christmases just- overshadowed all my attempts."

"How sad," Frances said. "There, Laura. You can go take it off, now. Just becareful of the pins."

But Laura didn't move right away. "What does he usually do for Christmas?" she asked.

"Oh, San Moritz, Monaco, anywhere he can lose himself in a crowd of people that doesn't know him."

"I'd better change," Laura said.

"Bring the dress back here," Frances told her. "So I can finish the stitching."

Laura nodded absently.

Daniel watched her go. "That wasn't fair, Daniel," Frances pointed out. "You know how Laura is about Christmas. You basically guaranteed that she'd feel sorry for Harry and -"

"And forget how angry she is at him," Daniel finished. "You're onto me, Frances," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

**********

Harry found himself unable to sleep, his thoughts constantly turning to a pair of dark eyes, a contagious smiled framed by an endearing set of dimples. How was he ever going to get through dinner this evening? he wondered, exiting the elevator into the lobby. Hell, how was he going to get through the next three days?

He needed a diversion. Something to keep Laura at bay. To keep her from ruining her life by chasing after someone as unsuitable for her as he was. His eyes fell on a tall, statuesque blonde standing before the Christmas tree, her expression petulant. She was wearing a designer dress, and looked as if she had just stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine. An idea came to Harry. Daniel would probably skin him alive for it, but Daniel wasn't his father- and Harry had a right to see whoever he pleased.

He moved closer to the woman, hands in his pockets. "Nice tree, isn't it?"

She turned her jade green eyes toward him. "Yes. Yes, I guess so. You're not from around here, are you?"

Harry grinned. "No. I'm - visiting."

"Family?"

"No. A friend's getting married - I'm the best man."

"Oh. I was SUPPOSED to be getting married," she sighed. "But James decided he couldn't go against his mother's wishes."

"I can't imagine why she would object to his marrying you," Harry said.

"You would if you knew her. She's a dried up old hag who doesn't want James to leave her side. I came all the way to Connecticut only to find myself alone at Christmas."

"I'm rather in the same boat," Harry told her. "Tell you what, why don't you join me for dinner this evening?"

"I don't know -" she said, looking uncertain. "We haven't even been introduced -"

"That's easy enough," he said, smiling. He took his hands from his pockets. "Harry Chalmers, at your service, Miss-"

"Burns. Penny Burns."

"Penny?" Harry asked, lifting her hand to his lips. "Lucky Penny." He had her. Harry could tell that she was ready to fall as she giggled. He noticed her quick glance at his ring finger, her look of relief to find it bare. "Where are you from?" he asked, drawing her arm through his to lead her away from the Christmas tree to the bar.

"Atlanta," she told him. "James and I met while he was there on business. I'm a model- or, I WANT to be a model."

"And what do you do when you're not modeling?"

"Working as a secretary," she confided as he pulled out a chair for her at a table.

With a little luck, Harry thought, sitting down across from her and ordering drinks, things might work out. It wasn't going to be easy, but it WAS for Laura's own good, after all. At least, that's what he kept telling himself, anyway.

**********

Abigail looked at Daniel's thoughtful expression as he hung up the telephone. "What did Harry want, dear?" she asked.

"He wanted to know if it would be alright for him to bring a friend to dinner this evening."

"A friend?" Abigail questioned.

"Apparently he met someone at the hotel and invited - this person to have dinner -"

"You're TRYING not to tell me that it's a woman, aren't you, Daniel?" Abigail asked. As he smiled, she slipped her arm though his. "What ARE we going to do with that young man, Daniel?"

"I wish I knew, my dear."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him I could change the dinner arrangements - but I wonder if we shouldn't warn Laura -"

Abigail looked thoughtful now. "SHE says she doesn't care what he does anymore, remember?" she reminded him. "This COULD be what she needs to force her to get on with her life and find someone else."

"Possibly," Daniel said, but he wasn't as certain that getting on with their lives was what Laura OR Harry really wanted to do.

**********

"Laura Holt, you are NOT wearing THAT to dinner this evening," Abigail informed her younger daughter the moment she came downstairs.

Laura looked down at the blue jeans and blouse. "The jeans are new, Mother," she pointed out-"

"I don't care. You march right back up those stairs and put on a dress."

"It's not like I'm trying to impress anyone," Laura reminded her.

Daniel took the drink that Donald handed him. "How about that light blue frock, Laura?" he suggested. "The one you wore to dinner before you left for college? It suited you wonderfully -" Laura was tempted to tell him that she hadn't brought the dress. But she had. She'd bought it on a whim, thinking it far too sophisticated for her. But Daniel had raved about how grown up she looked in it. "For me?" he asked, his smile making the edges of his eyes crinkle.

"All right. But ONLY for you. I don't care WHO else is going to be there," Laura insisted, turning on her heel and heading for the stairs again, thinking about how long it would take her to twist her hair onto the top of her head. And she hoped she'd brought the heels that matched that dress.

Daniel lifted his glass to the others. "To an- interesting evening." He had a feeling that he had just made a major understatement.

To Be Continued-----
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