Page 5 of Daycare Santa

She sent up a prayer that Seya could lend a hand. Her mental fog cleared when Luca tugged his grandmother’s hand. “Come on, Grandma. Santa’s leaving.”

Chapter 2

“Thank you, Santa.”The chubby angel wearing a plastic tiara patted Zack’s cheek with a sticky hand. She scooted off his lap, trailing her fingers on his pant leg. Her mother offered an apologetic smile and dabbed at the outside of his thigh with a wet wipe before he could stop her.

He shifted his foot. “It’s okay. This goes with the territory.”

“If you’re sure ...”

Snagging the wipe, he dipped his head and finished the job. “Don’t worry about it.”

The girl waved as they left the area decorated to imitate a living room and headed into the nearest booth.

Zack pulled the collar away from his skin and shifted the padding that represented his belly. The Santa suit was hot and he couldn’t wait to slide out of it. He was only doing this gig as a favor to his father, whose regular Santa came down with the flu.

In the couple of hours he’d been impersonating St. Nick, one toddler peed on him, another upchucked a stomach-turning combination of ice cream and half-digested hot dog, and a little hellion kicked him in the shin. This, after his mother told him he’d get nothing from Santa based on his inappropriate behavior.

The bright spot in his day was meeting Regina Wright. She was the first woman who’d stirred his interest in some time and reminded Zack that he was alive and had needs. Until his gaze fell on her wedding ring and his heart nose-dived into his stomach. But there was her comment about choosing a boyfriend, which was curiousifshe was married.

His fascination with Gina made him uncomfortable, but it didn’t stop him from watching her all afternoon, at least when he wasn’t busy with the kids. He tried, but couldn’t keep his gaze from straying in her direction.

His sister would say he was displaying stalker like tendencies. The only good thing was that when Gina’s assistant caught him staring the first time, he’d been careful not to make that mistake again.

Regina’s actions as she moved around her booth were confident and purposeful, that of a woman who knew her stuff. She was pleasant to her little customers and her brilliant smile made him want to be on the receiving end of it. From her interaction with Luca, Zack knew she was a wonderful mother. Loving, but not overindulgent. Firm, but not abusive.

When his mind strayed to what her husband was like, Zack dragged his attention from Gina and focused on the business his father wasn’t paying him to do. His parents had built the plaza ten years ago and still owned and rented several of the shops. This treat was a tradition he’d only heard about over the years. He and his twin, Eli, had missed out. They had been away at college and, after finishing, remained in America, where they were contractors in the information technology sector. He’d stayed away too long. At thirty-five he had an established business, but his personal life was dull and lacking.

Until a year ago, he’d been engaged. His fiancé, Alana, was American, so he spent most of his time with her and flew home once or twice per year. Life had been wonderful until it went off the rails.

The buzzing at his hip startled Zack, and he reached for the phone he’d forgotten was inside the suit. He swiped the screen and peered at it, certain his eyes were fooling him. One blink and he wondered whether he’d summoned Alana with his thoughts. He dragged a hand over his beard, and a shower of silver glitter fell onto his suit. His mother had playfully insisted on adding that bit of fairy dust, as she called it.

He put aside his impulse to ignore the call and answered. “What can I do for you?”

“Isaac. Is that you?” Alana asked, her tone husky.

“Who were you calling?”

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