Page 45 of Blame It On The Reindeer

“Alright, little elves, you’re done for the day. Grab some lunch and your parents will be in to get you shortly. Junior elves, you have about fifteen minutes before you need to head out to your assigned station. Most of the vendors are fine, but work your way through the different booths to see if they need anything. Those working at the Santa station have an hour before you start. Have lunch and take a break. Catie will be in here for the rest of the day so go to her with any questions if you can’t find me.”

There were a bunch of mumbled responses as I made my way around the children and caught up with Jasmin.

“Hey,” she said, leaning in to hug me. “What did you think of the parade?”

“Pure magic.”

“I knew I could make you love Christmas,” she teased, kissing me softly on the lips.

“You didn’t make me love Christmas, Princess. You made me love you.”

“So you still don’t love Christmas?”

I shrugged, not wanting to disappoint her.

“It hasn’t even happened yet, so there’s still time.”

She pouted, but I could tell it was just an act.

“Where are you headed now?” I asked, lacing my fingers in hers as we walked out of the breakroom and into the mall.

“The giving tree. Santa and Mrs. Claus are heading there shortly.”

“Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all. This is my favorite part, so I would love for you to be here to experience it, too.”

“I thought the reindeer were your favorite part?” I teased, lowering my brows at her. “Were you just saying that to get me to give them to you?”

Her jaw dropped open as a blush crossed her face.

“No! I love them too! This is just different. I love both, but not the same.”

“I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“Well, maybe you can give me areal hard timelater,” she whispered, trying not to move her mouth as we approached the crowd that was already waiting.

“I’m going to say hi to a few people, then I need to go up and give a quick speech. After that, I’ll come join you. Okay?”

I nodded and smiled as she rushed off.

I stood to the side, making sure we had a good spot to watch everything without being in the way. I felt someone tug on my arm and moved to the side to get out of their way.

“Brody Truman,” an old, gruff voice said, startling me.

I looked beside me to see an older man with silver hair and a checkered cardigan wrapped around his frail body.

“Hi,” I replied, a little uncertainty in my voice. “Do I know you?”

He shook his head and stood beside me. His eyes stayed locked on the tree in front of us as he rested his hands on the cane he was using to walk.

“I’ve been waiting to see you,” he commented, still not looking at me. “At my age, tracking people down gets to be too much work. But I trusted that I would run into you when the time was right.”

“Okay...” I didn’t want to be rude, but I had no idea who he was or what he was talking about.

“Eighteen years ago, a distraught woman walked into my pawn shop,” he started, and my heart sank. I lowered my head, not sure that I was ready to hear the story. “She was crying, telling me how she needed to sell something to be able to put food on the table because her husband had died.”

My jaw tightened as I continued to listen.

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