Page 51 of Miss Humbug
Santa looked directly at me. “Well, I know you.”
“I’ve been good, I swear. Mostly.” An unsteady laugh escaped. He couldn’t tell by sight I was less than thrilled by his main gig holiday, could he?
He laughed in a jolly way. Holding his belly and everything. The man wasgood. “I’m honored to meet the famous Marlowe Holly in person. Your grandmother thinks the world of you.”
Grans bragging on me?
“I know she’s thrilled you’re here visiting,” he went on. “You’re the one she always knew would do incredible and amazing things.”
“Aw, Santa. You flatter me too much.” Inside, my brain processed this information at hyperspeed. Grans kept her praise specific and task related. She wasn’t one for big grand statements. I didn’t doubt she’d thought those things, but to hear her supposed words from the mouth of a trusted Saint Nick? That hit different.
Grans always encouraged me to be me. It’s why I knew I could leave in the first place. She and Gramps encouraged me to explore. They didn’t hassle me to come home.
Maybe I wished they had. Maybe I had been running. Chasing after something I couldn’t pin down.
Families began to arrive, and the tone shifted from my existential pondering to following directions. I came here to serve. As an elf in an emerald green jumpsuit.
As children’s voices filled the room, and the elf suit urged my sweat glands into action, I looked into Ethan’s eyes, and all was right in our little corner of the world.
“Marlowe.” He moved in close. So close. “Your hat is a little too straight.” He slid it to the side. “There. Perfect.”
Chapter 18
Ethan
Bright and early the next day, I made my way to the tree farm. My thoughts buzzed with everything Marlowe.
I wanted to kiss her again. I wanted to kiss her every day. And I would have again last night, but the mood hadn’t been right. She’d looked so stinking cute in that too-big elf suit, probably itching to ditch it. But she’d smiled and handed out presents like she’d been waiting for the opportunity all year.
Marlowe shined. As anelf. It was a sight to behold.
I could still hardly believe she’d kissed me.Shehad kissedme.
I’d never had the nerve to go for it with Marlowe. Even now, spending nearly every day together, I still hadn’t made a move. But she had.
And then immediately freaked out.
I couldn’t blame her. We didn’t have a road map for this. No real idea where our lives would end up after the holidays.
I entered the outbuilding and stopped short at a man sitting in our office. “Dad? You’re not supposed to be here.”
He pointed to a bulky boot with Velcro straps on his foot. “Doc gave me this. I’m allowed to walk if I’m careful and don’t put too much pressure on my ankle.” He hoisted himself up from the kitchenette table and slowly made his way to his desk.
“Let me help.” I gave him an assist to his chair at the desk. “Does Mom know you’re here?”
“She drove me here, so that’s likely a yes.”
I crossed the room and shoved my lunch into the old refrigerator. “Anything you’re doing here you can do from home. With the magic of technology.”
“Son. Your mother wanted me out of the house. If you’re going to lecture anybody, save it for her.”
Ah. So more existed to this story. I would definitely not be lecturing Mom.
He gestured toward the empty chair in front of his desk, the one not piled with tattered notebooks and aging binders. “Sit down a minute. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”
I sat and gave him a rundown of the past several days. Sales figures, small mishaps, and why the screen door leaned against the side of the building instead of hooked into its hinges.
Dad nodded along as he listened. “How about Marlowe? Jan Vasquez told me she saw you both running a table at the church bake sale. And my buddy Ken said she entered a cake in a competition. Marlowe? Baking?” Amusement glinted in his eye.
