| |
I STOOD IN FRONT OF Town Hall, my eyes closed, and my head tilted to the sky, when I heard my name being called. I turned my eyes down slowly and looked at Danny, sitting in a jet-black Cadillac sedan, or what would have been a black Cadillac had it not been covered in layers of snow and dirt. I walked over and peeked my head into his open passenger window.
“This car is ridiculous for this weather,” I said.
He gave me a little smirk and a shrug of his shoulders. “It made a bit more sense when we lived out of town and I worked in an office.” He looked down at the marbled wood dash. “Now, it’s a bit out of place.” He paused. “What do you think I should get instead?”
“Perhaps with your daughter’s soon-to-be jewelry business, you should get something a little more practical for art shows and deliveries to the post office.”
His eyes lit up, and the biggest smile crossed his face. He grabbed me by the back of my neck and planted a huge kiss on my cheek. “Thank you so much,” he said. “I will take Addelyn car shopping with me after Christmas. We’ll trade this thing in for something more useful. I’ll show her I’m fully committed to her and her new business.”
“Good,” I said and smiled back at him.
He motioned me to join him in the car, and after I seated myself inside, he carefully pulled away from the curb. We rode for a while in silence until he said, “I saw you go into Town Hall. I figured you were here to see my brother and thought you could use a little backup, just in case.” He looked over to me, assessing me as if trying to discern if I was still in one piece or not. “Things went okay?”
“Oh sure,” I said. “I’m planning a celebration in town and he thought it was a great idea.”
“And how did you convince him of that?” he questioned. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as he maneuvered through the grazing reindeer scattered around the front of Santa’s workshop.
I chuckled. “You’re worried about me, but you don’t need to be. I haven’t gotten where I was... am in the corporate world by allowing men in power to walk all over me. You just need to let them hear what they want to hear and poof.” I flicked open my hands in a display of magic. A couple of sputtering bursts of light shimmered around my fingers, and Danny stopped the car and turned, a look of shock on his face.
“Don’t give me that look,” I told him. “I didn’t use actual magic on your brother. I just gave him the version of the celebration that would benefit him as the mayor, which is seeing the town prosper. He’ll have everyone setting up booths for their shops, whether it be pastries, books, or music lessons—or the Greenhorn family, who’s apparently running a bison breeding factory.”
He shook his head at me but then smiled. “I don’t think it’s a breeding factory—” he started, but I interrupted him.
“Well, whatever it is they’re doing, everyone will be in one place. Not only will the elves be able to connect with people who can benefit them, but people can connect with each other. And I can bet your brother has already figured out a way to magically make everyone completely comfortable with the fact they’ve been living amongst elves and Santa Claus for all these years. Although from the way he spoke, half the town is already well aware.” I eyed him sternly. “You really should pay closer attention to the world around you.”
Danny shook his head at me. I could feel his desire to tell me I hadn’t even known that my grandfather is Santa Claus—or that I’m a witch—but he didn’t. I guessed he knew I already struggled with my lack of family, lack of connection.
He turned his head, looking solemnly out the side window. We watched in silence as a reindeer crossed in front of the car, giving us a half-curious look as he passed by. “Why are you helping us?” he blurted as if he had mulled this question over all day.
“I’m helping my grandmother,” I said. “I’m helping her reconnect with my grandfather. And then if Santa is happy, the elves are happy and all the kids who love Christmas will be happy. The naughties...” I cleared my throat, admonishing myself for being so crass. “I will give the kids who need it, a second chance.” I gathered my things and got out of the car. “They have tasked me with saving Christmas, and that’s what I intend to do. Without my grandmother, everything else unravels. I’m going to help her and then I’ll be on my way.”
I didn’t know why I’d suddenly put my walls back up. But I could imagine it had something to do with the fact that once I got my grandmother back, I’d have no purpose here.
I turned to walk away but realized I’d forgotten one step in the preparations. Pulling a box from my bag, I stuffed it through Danny’s window. “This is the art set Addelyn wanted.” Danny’s face lit as he took in the beautiful wood grain of the box.
“See to it she prepares an invitation layout for the celebration. I have Tom’s Printing on standby. They have the capabilities to print as many invites as we need.”
I looked at him for a moment, the smile still lighting his face as he gently ran his fingers over the box. Then he looked at me, and his eyes grew sad. He opened his mouth to speak and reached for me through the window, but I cut him off.
“No, don’t,” I said.
I turned from him and walked away. The wind tried to blow the tears from my eyes, but it only made them water more. I hurried my way inside. I’d never been good at the family thing, and even worse at the friend thing. To be rejected by these people after I pieced their lives back together, I just didn’t know what I’d do. The thought of going back to my old life terrified me. I’d been content in that life, but now I could see the other side. I could see what a purpose could give a person.
I liked it here. I really liked it here. But where would my place be after I got my grandmother back?