Page 12 of Kringle and the Kraken

He thought about it for a moment. “Calder has been mayor for the last seven years. He’s up for reelection next year. But a Delmar has been mayor for as long as I can remember.”

That was interesting, and I wondered, not for the first time since I’d arrived in Lifeboat, why my grandfather left. I had a gut feeling it had something to do with the Delmar family. I would have to see what I could find out.

“Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?” Kris asked, changing the subject.

“That’s the American holiday with the turkey, right?”

He laughed. “Yep, that about covers it.”

I shook my head. “No. Thanksgiving obviously wasn’t a thing in Ireland, and despite having family roots in the US, we never picked up the tradition. Why do you ask?”

“I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this when I specifically told her I wouldn’t, but you might have come up in conversation while I was with my family this afternoon, and my mother might have told me to invite you to Thanksgiving.”

My hearts flip-flopped in my chest. Before our impromptu date, Kris and I had barely met. What did it mean that he’d brought me up to his family? Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was feeling the fast and electric connection between us? But was it too early to do the whole meet-the-family thing, especially when there were essential truths Kris was currently in the dark about? Probably. But I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I cared all that much.

My tentacles twitched in excitement at getting to spend more time with Kris, and I quickly rubbed my hands over where they rested hidden against my skin before Kris could notice.

“Are you cold?” The cutest little crease appeared between his brows as he looked at me with concern.

“Oh, uh, no. Not really. Just a sudden chill. Better now.”

“Good.” He rubbed a hand over his beard, and my mind flashed to what it would feel like to have his facial hair brush against my sensitive skin. Another shudder rolled through me, my tentacles reacting to my thoughts again.

“Tell me more about this Thanksgiving thing?”

Kris groaned. “Honestly, I feel bad even bringing it up. The Kringles don’t Thanksgiving like most people. In fact, we usually order takeout from here instead of doing the whole turkey and all the trimmings. Mostly, it’s the first day I’m forced into holiday indentured servitude. My parents and siblings have been getting everything out of storage and ready for the season, but on Thanksgiving, we hang everything and transform our giant barn into Santa’s workshop.” He paused and took a big breath. “If you agree, you will be put to work. But since you’re new in town and haven’t ever seen the operation, it might be fun to have a behind-the-scenes look.”

I already knew I was going to say yes, but I also wanted Kris to know where my head was at. “To be clear, I will get to spend the day with you?”

“And my very intense family, yes.”

“Then I’m in.”

Kris smiled, his full lips a rosy pink contrast to the dark brown of his beard. “Was it the intense family or the manual labor that snared you?”

His hand rested palm down on the table, and in a move that might have been a little bold for a first date, I covered his hand with mine and met his gaze. “No, it was all you.”

To my surprise, Kris turned his hand over and gave mine a squeeze. “For the first time in a long time, I’m actually looking forward to Thanksgiving.”

“Me too.”

We kept our hands intertwined on the table and chatted until dusk turned into dark and the restaurant grew quiet around us. It was the most comfortable first date I’d ever had. In a lot of ways, it felt like I’d known Kris forever despite having known him for only a little over a day. I was halfway to smitten and a whole lot interested in getting my hands, and eventually my tentacles, all over him.

Kori dropped off our check, our server having already left for the night, and Kris made a grab for it, but I got there faster. “This is on me. Least I can do for spitting sake all over you.”

He shook his head. “You barely got any on my hand. I should pay as a welcome-to-town thing.”

I held up a hand, fending off any further protest. “You get the next one.”

Kris’s eyes went bright like he was happy I was planning to go out with him again, but then that little crease I wanted to kiss smooth appeared between his brows. “Maybe you should hold that thought until after your Kringle trial by fire.”

I shook my head. “Nah. Won’t change anything.”

Kris’s answering smile was so bright it probably could have been seen from space.

We slipped back into our coats and said goodnight to Kori, who was closing up at the front of the restaurant, the sign on the door already flipped to closed, and stepped out into the chilly evening.

Kris took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “It’s going to snow soon.”

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