Page 21 of Christmas Wishes
Chapter Six
The tingling in her fingers wouldn’t stop. Blix flexed her hands, fisted them, rubbed her palms together. It had been the first time in a hundred years that she had had to leave work early. She couldn’t hold the rolling pin or the pastry bag of cookie icing.
“Blix?”
“Hi Daddy.”
“This is a lovely surprise, but I must admit that your being here in the middle of the day is odd. Did you take the day off?”
“No. I’m… Something is wrong.”
“I see. Well, then. Come with me and let’s talk about it.”
Visiting her father was a last resort. It was always a last resort for her. She adored him, loved him so much, but he was also her doctor and sometimes he had a hard time not being a doctor.
She waited while he put the portable step in front of the exam table so she could climb up. He rolled his stool over and sat in front of her. “Okay, Blixie… What’s going on? Is this about Rand?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s all over the North Pole that he’s been banished. We all know how you feel about him and your sister mentioned that —”
Blix shook her head. “No. This isn’t about Rand.” At least, she hoped it wasn’t about Rand. She hoped it wasn’t linked to the amount of magic she channeled and put into his cookies. No one knew she’d done that. Unless… No. She hoped Santa didn’t know. “I can’t hold anything in my hands.”
“Why not?”
She held out her hands. They didn’t look any different, but they sure felt different. “Last night, they started tingling, like points and pricks. Then, they started going numb.”
Her father cupped one of his palms under her hand. “Do they hurt?”
“No. They just… I can’t hold anything. I can barely turn on the mixer. Getting dressed this morning was laughable. It was like being a child all over again. My hair is a nest because I can’t hold the brush.”
“Is the tingling only in your hands and fingers?” As he talked, he drew a line through the center from the base of her fingers to the top of her wrist. “Can you feel that?”
“Yes, I can feel it. It’s like sparks shooting out from where you touch.”
“Is it only in your hands?” he asked again.
“It’s starting to flare out to my arms and my legs. It’s still mild in those areas, though.”
“Have you been sick?”
“No, of course not.” Elves rarely caught colds.
“Have you eaten anything that could have been too old or moldy?”
“I keep an immaculate kitchen.”
“I wasn’t implying that you don’t. I know exactly how you keep things, my young elfling. But I also know you spend the majority of your time there or at home.”
“So, I’m a workaholic or a boring homebody? Thanks, Pop.”
“Yes. You’re a workaholic. And I know why you are. You come by it honestly. You love what you do. You’ve given it everything from the time you first held a spoon in your hand.”
He was right. She was all about her bakery, her cookies. And Rand.
“I… I did something,” she confessed.
“Did you now?”
