“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.”
