Page 49 of Snowflakes Over Starr's Fall
He smiled as he slid his arm around her waist. “It was a genius idea of yours.”
“You had plenty of genius ideas too,” she replied with a laugh as she hugged him. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
The rest of the afternoon spun out in a golden thread. Jenna was kept busy chatting to customers, ringing up sales, and generally swirling about the store, the star of the show. Laurie had pitched in, helping with orders, and Jack became the unofficial bagging boy.
Then, at four o’clock, Jenna came up to Jack looking anxious. “Mike has just texted me to say he can’t be Santa. Annie needs him… Barb has taken a turn for the worse.”
“Oh, no.” Jack put his arm around Jenna. “Poor Annie.”
“We all knew it was coming, but…” She swallowed. “It’s still hard to face.” She glanced around at the children milling around the story expectantly, having been promised a visit by Santa. “What am I going to tell these kids? A lot of them still believe in Santa. I can’t say he was a no-show!”
Jack hesitated, because while he was more than ready to be the hero of the hour… could he be a convincing Santa? Well, he’d just have to be. “I can do it,” he told Jenna, and she looked at him in complete surprise. The notion clearly hadn’t occurred to her.
“You?”
“I think, with a suit and a beard, I could do an adequate job,” Jack replied with dignity, and Jenna let out a laugh.
“Oh, Jack, I didn’t mean that. I’m sure you could,” she exclaimed. “I just didn’t think you’d want to be.”
“Well, want and willing are two different things,” Jack replied, and Jenna laughed again as she threw her arms around him.
“You’re amazing,” she told him. “Truly amazing. Come in the back and I’ll get you the suit.”
The suit, of slightly motheaten velvet and trimmed with frayed white felt, made Jack question the wisdom of his suggestion. It smelled like mothballs and old sweat and clearly had been neither washed nor worn in some time.
“Mike didn’t need a beard,” Jenna remarked with a frown. “But you obviously do. I’m sure I can find one somewhere…” She dug through the box of Christmas costumes that had come, Jack had learned, from the church basement, where the Starr’s Fall Theater Group’s costumes were all kept. Apparently they’d once done a Christmas play. “Ah, here we are!” She held up a beard that looked as well-used as the Santa suit. Itchy, too. Jack had to stifle a groan.
“Great,” he said, and Jenna stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Did I tell you you were amazing?”
“Yes, but you can tell me again.”
Laughing, Jenna slid her arms around his waist and gave him a lingering kiss on the mouth as Jack pulled her even closer. “You’re amazing,” she murmured against his lips, and for that, Jack thought he’d do just about anything.
Still, he couldn’t help but feel he made a rather self-conscious Santa as he made his grand entrance, to a chorus of raggedy cheers—and one poor toddler who burst into tears. Fortunately, that wasn’t a sign of things to come, and within a few “ho ho ho”s, Jack had found his Santa Claus groove, asking children what they wanted for Christmas, laughing heartily and even riffing about what the reindeer were up to. He only heard one kid whisper that he thought he might not be the real Santa, but instead “the guy who owned that fancy car,” which he counted as a win, although in truth he suspected that every single child knew he wasn’t Santa. No one seemed to mind, though; there were presents involved, after all.
Outside dusk was drawing in, and the Christmas lights Jenna had strung along the porch railings began to glow in the misty twilight. Jenna was ringing up last orders as people started to trickle outside to join the parade to the center of town for the Christmas tree lighting.
“You’re meant to lead the parade, you know,” Jenna told him with a twinkle in her eye as she tucked an unruly strand of strawberry-gold hair behind one ear. “Don’t fail me now, Santa.”
“I won’t,” Jack promised. He adjusted his beard as he leaned forward for a quick kiss. “But first I need to ask you whatyouwant for Christmas.”
To his delight, Jenna blushed pink. “Maybe you’ll find out later,” she murmured over her shoulder as she went to serve a customer, and Jack gave a very unSantalike grin.
As he headed outside, Jack found himself getting even more into the spirit of the thing, and he held two children’s hands as he “ho ho hoed” his way down Main Street, with what felt like half of Starr’s Fall following behind, everyone in a jolly, festive mood.
By the time he’d made it to the village green, he was ready for a stiff drink, although he still had to be man—or Santa—of the hour, and switch on the Christmas tree lights. He waited until everyone was assembled, and Lizzy Harper, as chair of the Business Association, gave him the nod before he flipped the switch and a cheer went up as the lights thankfully switched on in a blaze of cheerful color.
Jack took a step back and then, while everyone was focused on the tree, ducked into the church to divest himself of his red velvet.
“Oh, no, Santa’s leaving already?”
He was wearing only the pants as he whirled around to see Jenna standing in the church doorway, smiling.
“I think I’ve done my time.”
“You have,” she agreed as she walked toward him. “Thank you, Jack. You’re a superhero.”
“Well, I don’t know if I would go that far,” he joked, only to have Jenna turn serious on him.
