Page 16 of Marcel

Unaware of his effecton her, he asked warmly, “What did you do?”

“I let himthink that he had not ruined everything for me. When he asked me thenext morning if the tooth fairy had visited me at night, I smiled,lied, and said yes.”

“You never toldhim the truth?”

“Nope. Ifigured he enjoyed the charade, and I let the farce continue. Then, Istarted thinking logically. The old Jolly fellow had a big belly andwas quite chubby- the laws of physics naturally would work againsthim climbing up and down a chimney with a bag full of toys.

Then I startedreflecting on this chubby guy staring through my window at night andtrying to see what I was up to.” She made a face that had himchuckling deeply. “So, all of my childhood illusions were blownto hell.”

Marcel could notbelieve he was in bed with a woman, and they were just talking. Hewas enjoying her company so much and seeing another side of her. Atthe firm, he barely had contact with her, except when they wereworking on the same case, which was not frequent. “Were youdisappointed?”

“A little,’She admitted, scooping up some potatoes and shoveling them into hermouth. “But it freed me. As soon as I realized that nothinglike that existed, I started asking for outrageous things, like a bigred bike I had seen in the department store when I went shopping withmy mom and a silver necklace in the jewelry store.”

“Did you getthem?”

She shook her head,eyes dancing. “I was caught in my trap. I never told them Iknew Santa and that the tooth fairy was not real, so they used theold ‘Oh, I don’t think Santa can afford that, honey.Think of all the little boys and girls he has to take care of in thatone night.’”

“Why didn’tyou tell them they were busted?”

She rolled her eyesat the term and looked so enchanting that he wanted to shove the trayaway and pull her into his arms.

“I wanted tosee how much longer they were going to play that card, and I was asucker for my dad. He was so into the whole Santa and tooth fairydeal that I could not bear to burst his bubble. But I wanted thebike.”

“What did youdo?”

“I waiteduntil he approached my room, and then I started praying loudly andasking the Lord to touch Santa’s heart so he could give me thebike. I upped my prayer by saying that I knew there were little boysand girls out there who had specific needs, and I was praying forthem, too.

I reminded God I hadbeen a very good girl throughout the year, doing my chores andlistening to my parents. I also reminded him that I was a straight-Astudent and had made my parents proud.” She sent him an impishsmile. “Guess who got her bike that Christmas?”

Shaking his head, hesent her a wry look. “I cannot believe you managed tomanipulate him like that.”

“I did.”

“For howlong?”

“Until I wasten.”

“And hefell for it.”

She nodded.

“It seems youare very good at getting what you want.”

Nikki felt her heartsink as she lifted her head to look at him. His tone and demeanor hadchanged, and she realized their magical mood had dissipated.

“Marcel-”

“Finisheating,” he said curtly, placing the tray over her lap andshoving off the bed. “I am returning to the cabin to catch upon some work.”

She was about toremind him that it was supposed to be her honeymoon; he was alreadystriding out and closing the door behind him. Slumping back againstthe pillows, she closed her eyes wearily.

It felt so amazingjust sitting here and talking to him, to see him laugh at her jokesand feel the warmth between them. She had even harbored the hope thatafter they ate, he would take the tray away and make love to her. Shehad seen the hardened look on his face and realized that somethingshe said had reminded him of what she had agreed to.

Taking up the tray,she put it away, her appetite disappearing. Shoving off the bed, shedecided to shower and change into something less wrinkled for theirarrival.

*****

Determined not toallow him to spoil her excitement, Nikki picked up the booklet lefton the back seat of the town car they were traveling in and pouredover the history and breathtaking images of the place.

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