Page 48 of Kringle and the Kraken

I shook my head. “I really wish I was. Even during Easter, the motion sensor Santa in the dining room is still ho-ho-hoing.”

Levi laughed as we walked through the house and past the aforementioned Santa, which did, in fact, ho-ho-ho, making us both laugh. It was easier being in my childhood home with Levi by my side. I loved my parents and my family, but living in a holiday Hallmark movie was just a little too much sometimes.Especially when I was myself the ultimate cliche—Grinch-y tree farmer with an advanced degree and a good-paying job that had nothing to do with the tree farm. All I needed to do was become a closet millionaire, and I could probably sue Hallmark for some sort of royalty rights. Or they’d at least have to start putting in one of those disclaimers about how the events depicted in the film were in no way meant to resemble real people.

But seeing it all through Levi’s eyes made it easier to breathe, and the red and green glitter and the flashing multicolor twinkle lights actually seemed kind of cheerful with him by my side with his hand in mine.

My parents had put an addition on the back of the house when I’d been in my twenties, and the sunroom had become their favorite place in the house. The room had floor-to-ceiling windows that took up the majority of the wall space except for where there was a large wood-burning fireplace with a large TV mounted to it. Sometimes they’d put one of those fake fireplace scenes on the TV while they also had a real fire going, but mostly, they liked to sit in the sunroom when it was snowing. My mom called it her living snow globe, and I guessed it kind of made sense.

Today, both my parents were in their matching recliners, each with the floor lamp on behind them and a book in hand. My dad’s gold-rimmed readers were perched low on his nose, a John Grisham novel I was pretty sure he’d read about nine hundred times in his hands. My mom had on red readers that matched her holiday sweater and plaid leggings, and she was reading the latest book in the cozy mystery series about capers that occurred during the holidays that my sister Kimmy had gotten her hooked on.

They both looked up when we walked in.

“Hi, honey.” She looked around me to Levi. “Levi. It’s wonderful to see you again, dear.”

Levi’s cheeks went a little pink, but he was smiling wide. “It’s nice to see you again too, Mary Kate.”

“What brings you boys by?” My dad lowered the footstool on his recliner and slid forward to get up, setting his book aside.

“Uh, I was actually wondering if I could go through the craft cupboard. We need a bunch of little bottles.” I held up my thumb and forefinger about three inches apart. “I thought maybe the sugar plum fairy dust bottles would work if there were any of those left.

“Oh! I forgot about those.” My mom clutched her hands to her chest. “Those were darling. We should bring those back.”

My dad laughed. “Katie, I’m pretty sure you stopped giving them out after parents started complaining about all the glitter in their kids’ beds.”

My mom slid her readers off and bit her lip sheepishly. “Oh, right. Oops.”

“Do you know if there are any bottles left in the shed?”

“Probably. I think we bought fifteen hundred. You’re welcome to go look.”

My dad rested his elbows on his knees and looked at Levi and me over his glasses. “What are you going to do with the bottles, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Levi jumped in before I had a chance to tell the truth—that we were making protective talismans to keep the town safe. “Uh, I just wanted to make some little gifts for folks in town. I’m going to drop them off with a, uh, coupon for the record store. Hopefully, drum up a little business.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely. You feel free to help yourself to anything you find out there.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that, Mom.”

I towed Levi back through the house and out the back door off the kitchen. My parents’ house was at the opposite end of the tree farm from where the entrance to the workshop experiencewas, but they were closest to the storage buildings, which worked out well when my mom was doing her painting classes in the offseason because it meant she was always close to extra supplies.

The supply barn had an electronic lock with a keypad on it, and I tapped in my code and hit the little open lock. The door clicked open, and I reached inside, blindly looking for the light switch. My dad had decided all the outbuildings needed electricity about ten years ago, and he’d made it happen. LED lights flicked on overhead.

“Holy crap. Is that an entire shelf of glitter?” Levi asked as he peeked over my shoulder into the space.

“Yes, yes it is.” My mom and sisters kept the supply barn organized with military precision and everything had a place, neatly labeled with what belonged where. All the storage containers were see-through, so you could tell at a glance if something was running low.

Levi moved through the rows of supplies oohing and ahhing over the sheer quantity of stuff that was inside. “What are we looking for again? I’m getting distracted.” He reached out and spun a spool of ribbon where it was hanging on a dowel rod mounted to the wall.

“Your dad said the talismans would work best in glass, right?”

Levi nodded.

“My mom used to make these little sugar plum fairy dust bottles that she gave to the kids as part of their treat bags after the Santa’s workshop experience. It was just glitter and these little candy charms in a glass bottle with a cork lid. She ordered the bottles in bulk and there should be boxes of them in here somewhere. The Kringles never throw away a craft supply.”

We each moved down another row, scanning the shelves for what we needed.

“Oh, hey.” Levi waved me over. “It’s not the little bottles, but can we take some of these?” He’d stopped in front of a shelf of mason jars in all sizes.

“Sure. You heard my mom. We can take whatever we want.”

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