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THE TOWN LOOKED BEAUTIFUL but barren. Out beyond the weather barrier that my grandmother had created, the weather stung bitterly cold. Fine ice sliced through the air, and right through the scarf pulled up around my nose. My body trembled by the time I’d made a quick stop into a store and then drew a basic sketch of Town Square. I pushed my way through a set of double glass doors and into Town Hall in search of the mayor. I didn’t think even Santa Claus could plan an impromptu party that would shut down the center of town without some sort of permission.
I stood in front of the office door the receptionist had directed me to. “I... Danny?” I asked.
I recognized the man now standing in front of me. Or at least I thought I did. It looked like he’d gotten a haircut and his expression didn’t return the same familiarity I had expected. I leaned my head back outside his door and checked the name on the door. Gavin Grace, mayor.
“Umm...” I sputtered out. My mind was unable to muddle through the confusion. I blamed my slow brain cells on plugging myself into the computer for the Naughty List. I unbuttoned my coat and tugged off my hood. Glitter cascaded around me, still clinging relentlessly to my hair. At least I had the peace of mind to change out of my Christmas clothes.
“Ah!” he said, as my red curls sparkled in the light. “You must be Cinnamon.” He smiled and came around his desk, hand extended.
I shook his hand, yet I still didn’t know who he was. If my intuition still lingered, it lingered deep in the recesses of my mind.
“I’m Gavin,” he said. “Danny’s brother.” I must still have looked lost because he continued, “His identical twin brother.”
“Oh,” I finally breathed out. I got it now. Whoa, did my brain need to un-fog!
“How about some coffee to warm you?” he asked as he gestured for me to sit.
“Yes, please,” I said. He poured me a coffee, and we sat down on opposite sides of his desk. I took a tentative sip. “It’s good,” I said. But not like Santa’s coffee. Yeah, the subject of Santa... “So, how much has your brother told you about me?”
He scrutinized me for a moment, giving me the feeling he knew more about me than I wished he did. “I know your name is Cinnamon Mercy Claus and that you’re in town for the holidays.”
Okay, not bad.
“He said he met you after elves abducted him from his shop.”
Not good...
“I know you cast a spell on my brother and asked him to hack into Santa’s Command Center.”
Really not good.
I felt my face heating. At this point, he thought either his brother was insane, or I was. I opened my mouth to speak, but he went on.
“I also know that you helped my brother. After his wife left, Addelyn became his entire world. And he’d do anything for her. All he could talk about was how you made sure she would get some blacksmithing tools, and that this would get her off the Naughty List, and she’d find the thing that reconnected her with her father and would give her a purpose. He rambled on, and at that point, I got a bit confused. But if my brother likes you, then so do I. Now,” he said, finally taking a breath, “what can I do for you?”
My mouth hung open. Something in that outrageous story should have set off alarm bells in the mayor’s mind, but he either trusted his brother implicitly, or he was just as nuts as the rest of us. I forced my mouth closed. I’d opened it to speak but became uncertain where to start now that he didn’t seem fazed by spells or Santa.
“Listen,” Gavin said, and he leaned over his desk, his blue eyes softening, “I know you have a lot on your plate right now, so I’ll make this easy on you. I’ve been friendly with Mr. and Mrs. Claus for quite some time. And I’m the mayor of this town for a reason. I’m good at what I do. I also know who lives in my town and what they do.
“Our winter business is increasing, albeit slowly. My brother, Danny, opened the bison outfitting shop and I have the Greenhorn family pumping out bison calves like you can’t believe. Through a town rebuilding initiative, all those living on work land will receive a bison calf to replace their work animals during the coldest months. But there are still a lot of families that don’t live on work land—those that own shops in town, or those who work in the shops in town.
“A family’s income dies off significantly this time of year, almost reaching the point of nonexistence, depending on the year’s weather. Now if you’re here to get me to believe in witches and Santa Claus, you’re wasting your time, because I’m one step ahead of you. Heck, half this town is one step ahead of you. Your grandmother may tote about her brain-zapping spell, but she’s getting softer as the years go on. She doesn’t use the spell quite as often as you’d think. So,” he said and leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing, “how can we be mutually beneficial to one another?”
He stared at me, and I stared back. I was used to men in charge, very used to men in charge. But this man had not only pulled off the, I’m the big man on campus spiel, but he had the, I’m doing this because I care about things, down pat. And that was a deadly combination. I pulled myself out of his piercing blue eyes and looked at the notebook in front of me.
“Yes...” I said slowly, feeling my brain cells recharging. “What I wish to put together is a Winter Solstice celebration in Town Square.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, seemingly quite uncertain how a party would suddenly fix all the town’s troubles. I sat up higher in my chair, preparing to prove myself to this man and get my grandmother, and everybody else, the celebration they deserved. I turned my notebook around to show him my sketch of the Square and started marking where different events could take place.
“We can use this time not only to get my grandmother back but to allow both sides to join forces in a non-threatening way. We don’t want to invade your town any more than we want a bunch of townsfolk wandering around Santa’s workshop. We want to see the talents of those in town and allow them to see the business opportunities we could offer them. Not only that, but it’ll give people time to socialize, to take a minute to breathe during such a hectic time of year. Our elves are overworked and overstressed. They are tired of hiding and tired of having nothing else in their lives except for Christmas. This time of year can be so lonely.” My voice suddenly grew less sure, quiet. I cleared my throat. “I don’t want to see anyone lonely.”
He didn’t speak right away, so I looked up at him. He appeared to be examining the plans detailed in my notebook, yet his expression had changed. His eyes were distant like a memory captured him. My hand reached out to his. Whether the intuition spell still lingered in my body, or the elves had finally gotten to me, I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to comfort this stranger. As my fingers reached for his balled-up hand, his head snapped up, and he stared at me for a moment. He blinked long and hard, as if dislodging his swirling thoughts, and he refocused on me.
“Your plan is perfect,” he said, straightening to his full height and running his hands down the front of his blazer as if forcibly putting himself back into mayor mode.
I hurriedly grabbed my notebook and stood. He reached out to shake my hand, but then quickly changed his mind. I feared he refused to have direct contact with me and my lingering intuition, so instead, he motioned me to the door.
“Please have Ms. Anna at the front desk copy your plans for the gathering,” he said, as he ushered me out. “We’ll get everything in motion on our end and we’ll be in touch.” He seemed to cringe at that last part in touch, but he backed into his office and had the door shut before I could even respond.