Page 84 of The Santa Rules
“I know you did, but you cannot run into a burning building. You scared the crap out of me.”
“Your mom’s right,” Hardy says from behind me. “That was incredibly reckless and stupid.” He pulls Isaac out of my arms and hugs him against his body, clapping a hand on his back. “So stupid and brave. And stupid. Thank you,” he says, his voice breaking on the last couple words.
“Wait, if that call for a medic wasn’t for Isaac, then who did they find?” I ask, turning toward Mike.
“I can’t talk about an active investigation,” Mike says as he walks back to the building.
Just as the panic subsides and I breathe a sigh of relief that all my people are safe, Mike’s early words about the fire’s location hit me. “Oh my God, the Workshop!”
CHAPTER 27
HARDY
The gym is a total loss. Half of the framework is burned, and the rest isn’t structurally sound. You can see into the building from the outside that half of the Workshop is gone, and what’s left is covered in snow and water from the hose.
“All that work. We worked so hard on this, and now it’s gone. And there’s nowhere for the kids to shop.” Bella’s voice breaks as she snuggles into my chest. We’re huddled in the parking lot as the crew puts out the last embers. The students have long since gone home, and only a few of us are gathered.
“But everyone’s safe,” I say. “The kids are with Delilah, and no students were harmed.”
“Oh my God, Amber was right. She knew I would screw this up, and here we are, one day left before break with nothing to show for it. I do ruin everything I touch. And I managed to ruin everyone’s Christmas in the process.”
I grab her shoulders and force her to look me in the eyes. “This is not your fault. You didn’t ruin anything. You made magic, and something happened that was out of your control.”
She grips my forearms, running her hands up and down. “I know that in my head, but my heart’s a different story. I didn’t start the fire, but bad things seem to follow me. My mom’saccident wasn’t my fault, my marriage ending wasn’t my fault, but bad things keep happening, like the universe thinks I don’t deserve happiness. How is this any different?”
I don’t even know how to respond to that even though I know it’s not true. But after everything she’s done for me, for Avery, and for her students, I can’t let her think that any of her thoughts hold merit.
“Sometimes bad things happen to the people that least deserve it. But you’re so much stronger than the bad shit that happens to you. I’ve seen how you used that pain to sharpen your sword and defeat your adversaries. You have this incredible way of turning tragedy into hope, using your grief to make things better for others. You’ve experienced profound loss, yet you’re determined to learn from it and make the world a better place because of it.”
“So even if someone screws up Christmas, I can help them make it better?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s a fun way to describe my optimism.” She chuckles. “Like I’m a badass spreading joy whether you like it or not. Like some little elf running around throwing glitter in your face saying, ‘You’re going to make this a Merry Christmas or else!’”
“Exactly. We’ll get through this too. We’ll figure something out for the kids.”
She snuggles into my chest again just as something occurs to me. “What if it was Amber? She’s had it out for you since you signed up. Do you think she would go this far?” I ask.
Her head pops up. “I don’t know. She doesn’t like me, but it seems more like her projecting her insecurities than actual hatred. I don’t think she’d do this.”
“Well, we’ll find out once they wrap the investigation,” I say as I pull her back against my chest.
“Bella!” a voice calls out, and I see Lucy run up, Summer and Raven close behind her. “Did you hear?”
“Hear what?” Bella asks.
“They made an arrest, or they will as soon as he’s out of the ICU. It was Chuck. Apparently, he got so blitzed when Amber didn’t come home last night that he came up to the school today looking for her and snuck into the gym. Rumor has it, he passed out on Santa’s throne with a lit cigarette in his mouth.”
“And everything around the throne was wood…and flammable,” I say.
“Exactly,” Lucy says.
“Why didn’t Amber go home? We saw them fighting last night, but I don’t know what it was about,” Raven asks.
All four women turn to me.
“Don’t look at me. He didn’t say anything other than drunk ramblings when I drove him home.”
