Page 34 of Just A Dash of Holiday Magic
Chapter 2
JULIANNA
Finding aGo-Go Sonic Scooterthis close to Christmas Eve is nearly impossible. I’ve been trying to track one down for weeks, ever since David gave me his letter to mail to Santa asking for one. It’s the hottest toy on the market this holiday season. But after reading his letter to Santa, my heart broke for him, and I knew that I’d have to get him this gift. I can’t have him miss out on Christmas with his mom andnotget the gift he asked for.
I don’t know how parents do this every year for their kids. This is my first Christmas taking care of David full-time while my sister is deployed overseas, and I'm already floundering.
“Any word on tracking down a scooter?” I ask Macy, my assistant, as I pass her desk and head into my office.
She follows me in, but when I see the expression on her face when I turn around, I lose another flicker of hope that we will find one.
“I thought I found one online, but I noticed before I submitted a bid that it was a knockoff called aNo-No Sonic Scooter.”
“This is insane. How is it that a stupid scooter could be the hottest item of the year? Don’t most kids have a bike or something like it to play with?”
“Bikes don’t have a turbo button that makes you go faster like the Go-Go Sonic Scooter does.”
I slump into my desk chair. “I give up.”
“Don’t give up yet,” Macy says. “I still have a few more ideas before we throw in the towel.”
“Thank you for going above and beyond on this,” I tell her.
"Please," she waves her hand as if it's nothing that she's been devoting ninety percent of her workday to tracking down this gift. “I’d do anything for that little guy.”
“Oh,” I reach into my bag and pull out Macy’s wrapped muffin. “I almost forgot.”
“Yes! I’m starving.” She takes the muffin and sits down in the chair across from me to eat it. “I was wondering if you were going make your daily visit to the sexy barista when you texted this morning that you slept through your alarm.”
“He’s the one you should be thanking for that. In all the chaos of getting David and I ready and him out the door to the bus, I forgot my wallet.”
“He gave you this for free?”
I tell her about what he said about so many coffees and muffins that today’s order was on the house. I feel that familiar pleasurable ache between my thighs when I think about his crooked smile and the sexy scruff he’s been sporting the last few weeks.
“When are you going to marry him, so I can have all the oatmeal raisin muffins I can eat?” Macy asks, taking a big bite.
I shake my head. “I don’t know how you can eat a muffin every day and still keep the figure. I just watch you eat that, and my imaginary thigh gap becomes even more imaginary.”
“I burn a lot of calories because my boss works me to the bone,” she teases.
“Speaking of which, I better get to work," I tell Macy, and she returns to her desk.
My last-minute Christmas online shopping will have to wait until lunch. I have so much work to get through.
RYAN
I can't get this letter out of my mind. Working in a coffee shop, you hear a lot of things, and I've heard all about how theGo-Go Sonic Scooteris sold out everywhere. When I told Javi about the situation with the scooter, he mentioned in passing that his Uncle Ernesto might know a guy who knows a guy who deals with hot ticket toys around the holidays. If Julianna doesn’t have one, it’s going to be a bleak Christmas for her little boy.
I'm doing my final walk-through of the shop to make sure everything is shut down before heading out for the evening. I let Javi leave early to take his grandma to the store for their Christmas Day dinner.
There is a knock on the door that makes me jump. I look up and see Julianna with her face nearly pressed to the glass, trying to see in. Her eyes widen, and her shoulders sag in relief when she sees me.
I open the door and step back to let her inside.
“Please tell me that you found a letter to Santa Claus somewhere.” She glances around the shop.
I pull the envelope from my back pocket. “We found it this morning after you left. I was going to give it back to you tomorrow.”
