“Hey, bud, how's your drive?”
“We aren’t there yet,” he said, his voice breaking. “What if Santa forgets? What if he comes and I’m not there?”
Her heart stuttered, but at least it wasn’t worse. Saylor caught sight of the elf who handed her the flier waving off the last of the stragglers waiting in line. “I’m at the mall, Parks, and guess what? Santa’s still here. He’s getting ready to go out in just a few minutes, actually. His elf just came and told me.”
Parker’s face lit up. He gave her a goofy, gap-toothed grin. “He did? Talk to him, Mommy! Tell him where I am.”
“What? I can’t—he’s leaving.” Saylor stared at the North Pole, mouth agape, trying to think of a solution.
“Please?”
She snatched the coupon, still on the storefront table she’d placed it on a moment ago. “Hang on.”
She hurried through the crowds, accidentally knocking into a woman who bent over to pick something up. After a hasty apology, she darted to the line, but the elves were turning people away, leading Santa toward the back part of the mall’s North Pole.
They were closing. They couldn’t be closing, not now.
“Mommy?”
“Hang on, bud.”
Saylor rushed through more people, circling around to the back of the North Pole. Checking both ways—and grateful she wore leggings with her new dress—Saylor hopped the fence, landing on the faux green flooring bordered by fluffy snow.
Several elves stared in surprise. One elf called out, “Hey!”
Saylor ignored them and caught the phony Santa by the arm.
Chapter Two
This was not how Cole imagined spending Christmas Eve. Yet, here he was, seated in a velvet chair, surrounded by fake snow stapled on the side of a makeshift set of boards painted to look like a house. Not only that, but he was wearing a scratchy white beard and fur-trimmed hat to match his festive, red suit.
Cole knew this was how his friend Jack supplemented the holiday lay-off hours. As a contractor, Cole scheduled as much business as he could manage, but things always hit a crawl whenever the snow fell, and this winter was no different. While he had enough to get by installing Christmas lights for the occasional family, or clearing people’s sidewalks of packed white snow, Cole kept many of his workers on call. That way, if jobs came up, they could still work for him through the slower months. Many of them took part time jobs to stay busy in between.
For Cole’s neighbor, Jack, it was playing the mall Santa Claus every year. When Jack’s family had come into Twin Falls for an unexpected visit, Cole couldn’t help but step in to give his old friend a hand. Jack and his wife had welcomed Cole into their lives with open arms after his rocky divorce, and he was all too eager to return the favor when he could.
While Jack fit the part, with his pleasantly rotund midsection, rosy cheeks, friendly manner, and white hair, it took an adequate amount of stuffing to keep the surprisingly warm red suit from drowning Cole. He couldn’t wait to get out of it, but he had to admit, he was enjoying the experience.
The light in the children’s eyes, their eagerness as they yanked on their parents’ sleeves and pant legs, prying for their attention to ask if it was their turn yet. It brought the excitement of Christmas skyrocketing back for Cole, a feeling he hadn’t had since he was a child himself.
To be the center of it all for these children, even for just a few hours, warmed him with satisfaction. He couldn’t help responding to their requests with a cheery laugh and encouraging words.
This was what he’d always wanted. To sit with a child on his lap. Call him crazy, but Cole had always wanted a family of his own.
“Don’t tell my mom this,” said the young girl on his knee, “but I really want an iPod. She says I’m too little, but she never lets me listen to the music I want.”
Cole smiled with what he hoped was understanding at the girl’s predicament. She couldn’t be older than eight. Did he even have an opinion on music when he was eight?
“I won’t tell her, Charley, I promise,” he whispered back to her. “But I do have a secret for you.”
Charley’s eyes glittered. “You do?”
Cole added a smile to the words. “Santa works pretty closely with moms and dads. Sometimes I know your mom has good reason for not wanting you to get certain things.” Her face slowly fell. Way to go, Cole, crush the girl’s hopes and dreams. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to promise her something he knew she wouldn’t get—not if her mom didn’t want her to have an iPod.
He brushed her nose with a white-gloved finger. “But I can tell you that you’re absolutely going to love your presents this Christmas.”
There. The spark beamed in the young girl’s brown eyes. “Really?”
“Really.”
She leaned in, one eyebrow raised. Strange, that someone so young could already have the sleuth look mastered. “You going to tell me what they are?”
Cole laughed and lifted her from his lap. Clint, the elf directing traffic near the mall’s North Pole entrance, signaled Cole and pointed to his watch. They’d made it extremely clear when Cole arrived that the North Pole closed at ten sharp so they had time to get the suit rental turned back in before the shop closed and they were charged for another day. Seems like Christmas cheer only spread so far sometimes.
Cole gave Clint a slight nod before turning his smile to the pigtailed, anxious girl awaiting an answer. He handed her a candy cane from the basket beside his seat. “It won’t be long now until you find out
