Page 7 of Naughty Santa

Paris walked toward the counter, surprised to find a little boy, who couldn’t have been more than seven or eight, chowing down on a Lunchable.

She was even more surprised when she realized the man—Roger, Joe had called him—was talking to the kid, not her.

“Sure thing, Roger,” the little boy said, hopping down from the stool where he’d been perched. He looked up at her when she didn’t step aside, and she realized she was in his way.

“Oh, sorry,” Paris said, taking one step to the right to allow him to pass.

The little boy led Roger to two bags of feed. “These are yours.”

So Lydia’s staff consisted of Sandy and a small child? What the hell had Paris gotten herself into? Was she going to get sued for child labor law violations?

For God’s sake, the kid was wearing a name tag, though she couldn’t read what it said.

Roger stepped back to the counter and looked at her like she was six eggs short of a dozen when she failed to move.

“Oh, sorry,” Paris said again, feeling like an idiot. She opened the notebook and marked off Roger’s order, taking his money.

“Thanks for shopping here,” she said, trying to recover from her previous missteps.

Roger wrinkled his nose, shaking his head as if confused. “Where else would I buy my feed?”

Clearly, he didn’t need an answer to that as he slung the two bags over his shoulders and walked out.

The little boy slid behind her and reclaimed his stool and his Lunchable.

“And who might you be?” she asked.

“I’m Jaden.”

Ooookay. That answered nothing.

“Do you work here, Jaden?”

Jaden giggled. “No. I get off the bus here. My grandma Sandy works here.” He tapped his name badge. “But I help out because I know where everything is, and I’m super strong.”

And now it all made sense. “I see. You’ve got all kinds of muscles there.” He was scrawny and lanky, but Paris didn’t want to burst his bubble. Living in California had taught her how fragile the male ego was.

Then she put the rest of the pieces together. If Sandy was Jaden’s grandmother, then Jaden must be… She glanced toward the back room.

Damn. Was Joe married with a kid? She’d been so distracted by the man’s six-pack abs, she had made the rookie mistake of not looking for a wedding ring.

Jaden finished his after-school snack and hopped back down from the stool. “Are you Paris?”

She nodded. “Yes. I am.”

“Miss Lydia told me about you. She said you were coming to run the store when she was gone.” From the sad expression on Jaden’s face, it was clear he’d loved Aunt Lydia as much as his grandmother had. Paris briefly considered asking him if he’d gotten the same birthday cards with five dollars in them as well.

Jaden walked over to the middle of the building, his feet straddling the line between the Christmas shop and the Feed and Seed. He started swaying slightly. What an odd kid.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Jaden waved her over. “This is the best spot in the whole store.”

Paris moved until she was next to him, glancing around, wondering what made it so special. “Looks the same here as it does over there.”

Jaden shook his head. “No. You have to listen.”

She focused on the music and realized there were two different stations playing. “Deck the Halls” was ringing out onthe Christmas side, while Kenny Rogers’s voice filled the Feed and Seed side with the sad tale of “The Gambler.”

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