Page 20 of Donner

I had taken pride in my accomplishments since then. Santa 30 had kept me on for the last ten years. He trusted me to do the heavy lifting. He listened to me during our route strategy meetings. Last year, my suggestion helped us circumvent a storm system by going west around it before we swung back to the east. To everyone else, it seemed too far out of our way, but the alternative would have been to skip some good children, which wasn't an option for any of the Santas.

I glanced up from my kayak to find Beau several yards ahead of me. His paddle was balanced on the body of his kayak and he glanced over his shoulder at me. I tried to paddle faster and only ended up twisting and turning before moving toward him.

"Where did you go?" he asked. "You were far away for a few minutes."

"I was thinking about Christmas," I admitted.

"What do you like most about it?"

That was easy and had nothing to do with the Santas' sleighs or delivering presents. "Derek's hot chocolate party on Christmas Eve eve." I watched my paddle glide through the water as I pulled even with him, not wanting to see the disappointment on his face when he realized how juvenile our parties were. "Each mug has a candy cane stir stick that changes color as the layers peel off. We drink the hot chocolate, dance with anyone with the same color stir stick, and go to bed early to get ready for the big night."

I dared a glance at Beau. His eyes were soft around the edges and his grin made my heart light. "That sounds like fun. What's your dance music?"

"Christmas carols, of course!" I grinned. "Derek mixes in some techno beats so they're not the same old standards. He understands music better than I do. He knows how to speed things up or slow them down to make them work together without sounding weird."

"A friend of mine does sound mixing, too," Beau said. "He used to work at Neon Haze, but now he's further south at Everglade Oasis, not too far from here. Want to go clubbing tonight?"

"Only if we can stop back at the hotel first. There's no way I'm going to a club smelling like the swamp monster."

Beau laughed. "They're open all night," he said. "We can take our time."

After at least an hour under the shade of the mangroves, we came to a beautiful clearing in the canopy above us. I would have called it a lake, but we'd been in the water all along. Sunlight sparkled off the ripples and silver fish darted away from our paddles.

My skin already felt too tight and hot to the touch. The shade had convinced me I didn't need sunblock, even though I was still so pale from all my time up north.

"Did you bring sunblock?" I asked Beau.

"Never leave home without it," he said. Instead of tossing the bottle between our kayaks, he paddled closer and handed it to me. The bright orange bottle felt cool in my hand, and the lotion soothed my aching skin immediately.

"Thank you."

"I was beginning to think reindeer shifters were made of sterner stuff than the rest of us," he said.

"I've been doing well in the pool," I said, sounding petulant even to me.

"You remembered to bring your sunscreen to the zoo," Beau said, bolstering my crumbling self-esteem.

"I forgot to bring it today," I said.

"We've been in the shade for so long, I almost forgot, too." He humored me by coating his nose, ears, neck, and arms with a fresh coat of white before putting the tube back in his pocket. He looked as silly as I felt, but it quickly faded and sank into his skin.

We explored the clearing together and let a family of four pass us in their kayaks. Their two teenagers were already better than me with a kayak paddle. I tried not to envy them, or worse, flip myself upside down, as I followed Beau. Soon, I was distracted by the large fish close enough for me to reach out and touch with my paddle, though I didn't dare. They occasionally launched themselves out of the water at insects that ignored us.

At lunch time, Beau passed me a granola bar to tide me over until we returned to the marina. Even though we had timed our trip with the tide, it still felt like we were paddling upstream on our way back. My arms and legs felt spongy and weak when we finally hauled our boats onto the dock and turned in our paddles.

Instead of stopping by the sandwich stand across from the rental shack, Beau pulled me back to the parking lot and his truck. I was happy to stretch my legs, but my sight blurred with each step and my head throbbed.

"Don't worry," Beau said. "We'll grab some takeout and a shower before leaving again."

I was expecting fast food, but instead, he pulled into the parking lot of a fancy restaurant and told me to sit tight while he picked up our order. I barely had time to read all the store names on the strip mall behind the restaurant before Beau returned. The to-go boxes smelled delicious, but when I attempted to open the knot on the top bag, he patted my hand.

"Wait."

We were still a long way from the hotel, so I was surprised when we drove onto a residential street with tiny houses separated by picket fences and hedges. Beau turned into the short drive of a house with yellow vinyl siding. This house didn't have a hedge or a fence of its own, but it had a large eagle carved from a tree trunk taking center stage on the front lawn.

"My mom had it made for me after the tree was struck by lightning," he said. "It's the only thing I'll miss."

He hopped out of the truck, and I followed.

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