Page 7 of The Santa of the Mountain

I. Don’t. Have.Time.

I sip my drink, trying to soothe my nerves as Juliet describes the man she’s found for me. In any other circumstance, I’d consider it. I would love to spend a week with a man hand-selected for me in a remote mountain cabin but that time isn’t now.

I make eye contact with Mr. Christmas, the man whose reindeer antlers I knocked off earlier. He’s been looking at us the entire time, drinking his hot cocoa and… smiling. I smile awkwardly at him as he sips his drink, and when he sets it back down he has whipped cream all over his lip and nose.

He’s not unattractive but it’s more than a little off-putting being openly gawked at by a man lit up like a Christmas tree with antlers on his head… and a red nose? Did he seriously paint Rudolph’s—Okay.Abort.Look away and disengagenow. I mean, I’m not opposed to someone expressing their love for Christmas but there are limits.

“He’s a real Christmas fanatic,” Juliet says, reclaiming my attention. “And I think you two will mesh well together.”

“My sister loves Christmas,” Pearl says as Henry pokes at his croissant. “And I think you’ve outdone yourself, Juliet. That file you sent over was perfect.He’sperfect.”

Henry clears his throat and Pearl grabs his arm. “For Kate, of course.”

“There was a file?” I ask blankly.

“You didn’t review it?” Juliet asks, turning to me.

I shake my head. “I had no idea about any of this.”

Juliet frowns, recovers quickly, and turns to Pearl. “This isn’t what we agreed to.”

“I know but…” She looks at me. “Will you give it a chance?Him,”she says, nodding to the man next to us.

My stomach drops. My body turns ice cold. I’m resisting the urge to turn my head to the left because I know what’s waiting for me. I can feel his gaze on me, although it might be the heat from the Christmas lights on his shirt.

“No,” I mutter, shaking my head. And then a little bit louder. “You’re not talking about Rudolph, right?”

Pearl laughs nervously, and then, “Surprise! He’s a wonderful guy, Kate. He’s fun. He’s kind. He?—”

“He’s been next to us for the last twenty minutes,staring.”I’m trying to be discreet, lowering my voice and covering the side of my face with my hand. “Didn’t it cross your mind to, you know, invite him over and not awkwardly sit next to us?”

Good grief. I’d have preferred Pearl to replace me over this.

“I know you don’t like surprises,” she says, unironically. “And I didn’t want to spook you, so I had Evan sit at a different table while we explained everything.”

The ship has sailed on both accounts. Surprised? Yup. Spooked? Hell yeah. I’m trying my best not to acknowledge the man to my left. The man who apparently will be my plus oneat Pearl’s wedding. The man I’m supposed to share a cabin with for the next couple of days,Christmasincluded. But it’s hard to ignore the blinking lights, antlers, and red nose when they’re trained right at the side of my face. How did Pearl think this was a good idea?

“I tried to veto that,” Juliet whispers, leaning in. “But now it’s making sense. I’m.Sorry. I thought you knew about this.”

It’s not her fault. It’s my sister, and I’m assuming, my mother. I swear every single year I hear whispering about finding a man. And that’s when Henry stepped in. We’d met at another wedding I’d planned. He was in the wedding party and showed me a bit of interest. With the holiday season creeping up, I figured why not? Not exactly the best way to start a relationship…

And last Christmas at my parents’ home made it clear that neither of us were really in it. I spent more time binging holiday movies, making sugar cookies and gingerbread men, decorating, and partaking in all the activities that brought me joy during the holiday season. Henry spent the holiday with Pearl. I didn’t mind because I had an entire Christmas with my mother off my back.

But now I’m back to square one. I never thought she’d take it this far. No wonder she had Pearl deliver the Christmas surprise.

“I just want you to be as happy as I am,” Pearl says, squeezing Henry’s hand and leaning into him.

“This is a lot, Pearl. Could we put this off until after the wedding?”

“Evan’s leaving the day after. He lives in California, so not exactly an easy commute.”

I pinch my brows. “Long. Distance?”

Did no one think this through? Before I can protest, Pearl waves Evan over. He scoots over, inch by grating inchas the metal chair grinds against the tiled floor. Death by embarrassment is real, and I’m experiencing it firsthand.

“Excuse me,” Evan says as he tries to scoot by a group of people. “Sorry,” he mumbles, still scooting. Still grating.

Clomp. Scrape. Clomp.

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