Page 52 of Sleighing You
“I want you to have this snow globe as a reminder,” he said. “A reminder to not end up a grumpy old bugger like me.”
“We’re from different worlds, Chris and me…” I shook my head and a single tear fell onto the top of the domed glass, slipping down the curve.
“Nah, c’mon,” Ed gently hugged me again. “You two aren’t so different. If the Grinch can learn his lesson, then it’s not too late for you. Let’s get you on that float with your Mr. Claus.”
I still wasn’t so sure… but Ed had thawed my heart, just a little.
I wasn’tsure what to feel as I approached our float in the parade. From behind, I could see Chris sitting, dressed in his Santa costume, the back of his white wig peeking over top of the red velvet chair.
My heart slammed in my chest. I didn’t want this to be goodbye. I didn’t want us to be from two different worlds with irreconcilable differences. More than anything, I wanted to make it work. I looked down at the gift bag from Ed where the snow globe was sticking out.
“Chris?” I hopped up on the float, my heart pounding in my chest.
Santa popped to his feet at the sound of my voice… or rather, Santa popped toherfeet. It wasn’t Chris in that costume. It was Mallery.
“Avery!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? What areyoudoing here?”
“Chris said you weren’t feeling well and probably wouldn’t make it to the parade today.”
I gulped. “He said that?”
“Was it too much celebrating?” Mallery leaned in, whispering. “You left so early last night, we were all bummed we didn’t get to toast to your new promotion.”
Oh, yeah. In that horrible fight last night, Chris said something about a promotion… a raise.
“This is huge,” Mallery said. “You’re the first board member to ever come up the ranks having worked as a manager in a store first.” She paused, rolling her eyes. “Well, I guess Chris and I worked in the stores, but that was different. Those were really just summer jobs during college.”
Fog enveloped my brain. “I’m sorry… what did you just say?”
She paused, looking at me like I had sprouted elf ears. “Uh… summer jobs?”
“No… the part about me being a board member?”
“Chris nominated you last night and the board voted last night to make you an official member. Plus, you’re heading up our new non-profit division.” She paused, taking my hand in hers. “Are you okay? Did you… not know any of this?”
I shook my head, trying to clear out the fuzziness. “But Helena…”
Mallery rolled her eyes. “Oh, she made some flimsy attempt to get herself onto the board by convincing Tristan to nominate her last night, but it was quickly voted down. We all saw right through that stunt as easily as we could see through her dress. That girl has never held down a real job in her entire life. As hard as she’s tried to squeeze her way into this family, she’ll never fit in.”
I clamped my eyes shut.Oh, God. I had to ask… I had to know. “Mallery, last night… when you were talking about someone being dressed inappropriately, did you mean…”
“Helena. Of course. Her dress was so low cut, her boobs were nearly dipping into her salad,” she whispered, then waved at some families walking by the parked float.
My stomach sank. “I’ve made a horrible mistake,” I said. “Where’s Chris? Why isn’t he here as Santa?”
“I’m just filling in for the parade. He said he’d be back in time for the meet and greet at the store.”
“I need to find him now. Do you know where he is?”
She pulled open her phone and tapped on his name under text messages. “He said he had to deliver the store’s presents to the group home. Do you know where that is?”
My heart squeezed. “Of course.” I blinked as a tear slipped out of my eye. “Of course that’s where he went. We’re not so different.”
I spun to run down the stairs off of the float and came face to face with Ed. He was beaming. “When you get there, be sure to look at the bottom of that gift bag! Might be something useful in there for you!”
I leaned down and gave Ed a quick kiss on the cheek before Kringle and I took off running for my car.
